You’ve got a Twitter and a Facebook. Maybe even a Google+. You post occasionally, or maybe just whenever you feel like it. It may seem like just having the pages is going to suddenly gain you tons of fans and customers, but you’ve got to do more than just click “create a page” to see some real results. You’ve got to have a plan. Here are some important things to consider when writing your social media plan.

Who is your target audience? 

Who are you talking to? Is it kids? Adults? Athletes? Social Media Experts? Or total noobs? This is important. It will help you determine what networks you are on, what you need to say, and how you are going to say it? You probably shouldn’t focus most of your energy on Google+ if most of your audience is tweens. Most of them aren’t really there yet. Now if your target is techies and social media junkies, Google+ is probably a good place for you.

What are you trying to accomplish? 

Do you want to gain customers, or simply awareness. Are you trying to sell a specific product directly through your pages, or are you trying to create buzz about an overlying campaign.

How many times per day will you post? 

Post too much and people might think you’re spamming. Post too little and people might think you’re dead. Find the balance that is right for your business.

What will those posts be?

There is a general 80/20 rule of social media. 80% of your posts should be about other people, or things you find interesting. Only 20% should be about you. Kind of shocking isn’t it. That rule can be bent a little bit, but you still have to decide what it is you’ll be posting. What websites will you share from? How many will be replies to fans? Will they be promotions for your business? A lot of this has to do with what your objective is.

When will you post? 

You may be sleeping at 4am, but that doesn’t mean all your fans are. Services like Tweetdeck and Hootsuite allow you to preschedule Facebook and Twitter posts so you don’t have to be awake at all hours of the night to service your fans. Post consistently. Someone could miss your post by 30 seconds if your don’t post it at just the right time. Mix it up a bit to make sure you give everyone a chance to catch your posts before they fall off the front page of their timeline.

Who are you going to follow? 

Are you going to after your fans, or do you want them to come after you. Choose who you follow carefully. Don’t just follow random people hoping for a follow back. You’ll come off as a spammer. Especially if your following way more people than are following you.

Be prepared to share. Have a plan. What kinds of things do you ask yourself before posting to Facebook, Twitter, or Google+?