When a client comes in requesting a social strategy I start by asking them what they hope to accomplish via Facebook, Twitter, etc. What is it they want to do, say or offer that makes the social component necessary? I use the word necessary because social executions are burdensome. There are plenty of simpler platforms to develop your programs on that are 100% controllable, more reliable, and more branded. So, as a social media enthusiast, I ask why they're going to all the trouble. 

If it's because social media is very 'now', or because their audience is already using social media and they want to connect with them, I'm all for it. If it's because there are 500 million people on Facebook and they really want a couple hundred thousand targets for some automated marketing messages, I die a little inside. It's not because I'm a purist, it's because I like people, and I don't want to subject people to that kind of unconscious bombardment. 

When I think of building social hooks into an idea, it isn't because I want the 'viral' effect, or because the idea needs you to spam your friends to succeed. Instead, it's that we might be doing something I think people might actually want to share with other people. And this isn't specific to social media at all. It happens in email marketing, direct marketing - anywhere that you have a direct contact with a user who has opted in. 

These channels, what I'm calling "personal media", carry with them the weight of one-to-one communications. As an unfortunate by-product of the scalable marketing solutions offered by modern media, we too often forget that an actual person is going to receive the communications we send. Messages get crafted around what we have to say sell, rather than what they would want to read and engage with. 

In short, please use these exciting new channels to communicate with your audience exactly as if they were living breathing human beings. Take care of them, serve their needs and desires, and they will take care of you and your business.