As powerful as social media is perceived to be there’s still quite a bit of mystery that surrounds it. Brands recognize that they need to be involved, but they’re struggling with assigning a dollar-value on social media exposure and how it equates to revenue. Because there aren’t any tools or systems in place that can spit out data on a company’s return on investment (ROI) for increasing its Twitter followers many businesses find themselves wondering if they’re just spinning their profit wheels in a social media mudslide.

It should come as no surprise that brands small and large share common concerns regarding social media. Even though concerns may be similar brands should be aware that they’ll need to exercise different strategies depending upon whether they’re B2C or B2B. Aside from defining goals and strategies, here are some of the social media obstacles that may confront brands.

1. Choosing the right social media channels.

Brands that know who their target market is and what communities they belong to can integrate those niche social sites into their strategies. Using a blend of social media dominators like Facebook and Twitter with other focused social sites might be a good launch point for some brands. The truth is that the right social channels are the ones where your audience engages itself and that are also right for your brand.

2. Converting fans and followers into customers.

You might be surprised to find out that most of your brand’s supporters are already customers. These people have interacted with your brand on some level and they’re proudly supporting it by liking, following or subscribing to the news that you share. Make it worthwhile for your brand loyalists to enjoy special perks, discounts and sneak previews that others might not be privvy to. Preferential treatment isn’t a bad thing in the land of social media. When word leaks out that your brand awards BOGO offers to Facebook fans each month you can bet that it will be taken advantage of.

3. Creating impactful social media campaigns.

Often brands will find themselves in a creative rut and unable to pull together a meaningful social media campaign. No matter who you are take comfort in knowing that we’ve all been there and this is a challenge that will probably surface from time to time. When you plan a campaign try to build it with your audience in mind, not for yourself. Remember that a campaign isn’t a press release or a widget – it’s an actual strategy. Position, objectives, strategy, tactics and key messages are the core campaign components. Layer in video, blogs, newsletters, PPC and other elements to make your campaign memorable, and sustainable.

4. Managing social media productivity.

One of the most commonly quoted challenges from brands is not being able to budget time and productiveness for social media. Without a plan in place, social media activity can be a major time suck. Execute each social media action with an objective in mind and keep your focus on the task at hand. If you’re responding to customer inquiries on Twitter, only respond to customer inquiries. Avoid jumping over to LinkedIn to see what your groups are buzzing about.

5. Increasing subscribers and fans.

Hands down this is one of the biggest challenges for all brands. Unless you’re a brand that’s been arounds for decades or who has a national presence like Starbucks or McDonald’s, you’re not going to have millions upon millions of fans. Keep scalability in mind and don’t get caught up in what other international brands are doing. Next, remember to share information that your audience would like to know and would appreciate having. This doesn’t mean an endless barrage of details about your brand. It means pulling good, credible data from other sources and funneling it down to your loyalists.

There are plenty of other challenges that brands are facing and will continue to face. This is just a handful to get your wheels turning and to think constructively about how to overcome them.

Let us know what some of your brand challenges are and share with us below.

A little over two months ago, the social network platform Ning made social media headlines when it announced that its longtime CEO would be stepping down and that its free service model was being nixed (don’t forget that 40 percent of Ning’s staff was laid off too). The company has officially announced its new tiered pay models to the public. Well, what if you’re someone who really enjoyed what the free version of Ning had? Maybe you’re a little disappointed that payment is required and you want to explore other options.

Luckily you can. There are actually quite a few alternative platforms to Ning, but rather than bombarding you with all of them (save that one for a future post), let’s just take a quick peek at one of them. Today’s spotlight is on BigTent.

The account interface to set-up BigTent looks fresh and clean. Plenty of support available online to help newbies get up and running in no time. The best part is that BigTent is free. No fees, just a place for folks to gather together which is why it’s worth reviewing.

BigTent’s positioning itself against Yahoo! Groups as a competitor and the contrasts are visually and verbally communicated throughout BigTent’s site. If you’re well-versed in Yahoo! Groups the transition to BigTent should be fairly simple.

Here’s the skinny on some of its features:

• Buzz page – this is the main page that can be customized to explain what your group is about. You can include photos, videos, calendars and just about anything else to make it your own.
• Forum – organized by threads, members have the option of participating directly to a thread or by email.
• Polling – create a poll and get your members to weigh-in.
• Photos – post and exchange with group members. Always a nice feature to have.
• Filesharing – being able to exchange data through the site turns it into a communication tool that can be used in a variety of other ways.
• Group news – admins can publish announcements, send photos and share links through this feature and they can also send out updates to members directly to their emails.
• Events – complete event coordination can be handled from this location including, payment collection, volunteer assignments, sign-up members for the event and more.
• Shop – more than 30 retail affiliates are linked through this tab and members can purchase from iTunes, Benefit Cosmetics and Chico’s, just to name a few.
• Members – click on other member profiles to learn more about each other and connect with people who share common interests.
• Reviews & Classifieds – this is a place where members can share their opinions on products and services, as well as post items that they have for sale. Might not be a feature that every group needs, but it’s available if you want it.
• Subgroups – this helps organize and nurture the interest of group members. It’s a separate place to discuss and exchange ideas with the same functionalities as the Buzz page.

Some of the other features of BigTent let you collect group dues and manage the membership process, as well as increase membership by sending email invites and setting up a sign-up box widget on your blog or website for people to sign-in and join.

So far, BigTent seems to be a good solution for Ning users who are wondering where to go. Again, there are quite a few alternative sites available and each has its pros and cons. The nice thing about so many options is that there’s something out there for everyone.

Let us know about your experiences with BigTent or other social networking platforms. We’re always interested in learning more.

The vast majority of people have pretty tall orders to fill when it comes to their balancing their personal and professional lives. There’s a lot that needs to get done and we don’t alway have enough time to do it in. It’s a bit of juggling act and keeping all those balls up in the air can become exhausting rather quickly. From a business perspective, the challenges of fulfilling your daily duties, responding to clients and keeping up with the competition isn’t always easy, and when you add another ‘to do’ like social media to the mix it makes it seem like a downright impossible task.

Here’s the skinny – social media doesn’t have to be a burden. In fact, it shouldn’t even be a dreaded endeavor. You don’t need to push social media to the back burner due to lack of time. The great thing about social media is that it’s easily accessible and with a little bit of focus and planning, it can be tackled quickly and easily.

1. Take Advantage of Technology

Being able to access the internet doesn’t require a dial-up connection. Thanks to handheld devices, laptops and Wi-Fi you can grab a signal from just about anywhere. This portable accessibility makes it very convenient to pop-in and visit your social media profiles, make a post, send a tweet and monitor activity.

2. Use Your Down Time

Obviously, this is something that most of us don’t have, otherwise there wouldn’t be a need to share insight on how to make more time. However, when you really think about it there plenty of moments where we’re not necessarily engaged in an activity or task. Think about all the times you’ve waited  at an appointment, sat in an airport, taken a cab ride or stood in line. Maximize those minutes and do a little social media networking. Every bit helps.

3. Plan It Out

It might be a business plan for your start-up, a grocery list for this week’s meals or a travel itinerary for your upcoming vacation – what all these things have in common is they’re really planning tools to help keep you focused and on track. Same thing goes for social media. Carve out an hour or two each week to plan out your schedule for posting, sharing tips and outlining what you want to accomplish. Create a social media calendar to get yourself organized and plan what you’re daily activities in advance.

4. Focus On What Matters

You wouldn’t play left field in a game of baseball and walk of the field during the game to check out what the hot dog vendor’s got cooking. You need to stay focused on winning the game and that means concentrating on what’s in front of you. Social media is full of distractions and temptations. If you give in to participating in every Facebook quiz that’s sent your way there’s a good chance that you aren’t going to optimize your social media time. Look at the conversations that are important and build on them. Network with people who are going to make a difference in your bottom line. You’re guaranteed to feel a sense of accomplishment as a result of your efforts.

5. Keep Calm & Carry On

There are no social media rules that state you must write a blog post each and every day. If you don’t have time or skip a few days that’s fine. Don’t let it consume you. Take a deep breath, exhale and put some thought behind what you’d liked to share moving forward. We’re all busy, including your fellow social media followers and all of us understand that sometimes that’s the way things go.

6. Tame The Chaos

At times, social media can be overwhelming when you’re trying to keep track of all those tweets, blog posts, diggs and buzzes. Using some of the online and downloadable tools that are available to manage multiple social media platforms can make the entire process much easier. There are sites that help with monitoring and others that let you schedule and plan your communications in advance. Depending on what you need, you can combine tools to optimize you efficiency and make you the master of your social media universe in no time.

So what do you think? How do you find time for social media? Share your comments below. We’d love to hear from you.