Last week, I had the opportunity to co-present with Lisa T. Oratz of Perkins Coie at Law Seminars International’s Social Media Law workshop. We were the final presenters of the day-long workshop focused on new legal issues arising from social media marketing. Lisa and I discussed the practical and legal considerations for businesses when engaging in social media in a session titled, “Social Media Marketing: Anticipating Legal and Public Relations Issues to Maximize Benefits and Minimize Risk.”

I started the presentation by sharing the approach Dairy Queen has taken with its social media marketing. Dairy Queen has successfully utilized multiple social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, podcasts and blogs to engage directly with its consumers.

Many companies such as Dairy Queen have started using social media to help accomplish their business objectives. However, not all of these organizations have involved their legal teams or proactively considered how they can mitigate some of the risks involved with using these new mediums.

Gartner analyst Adam Sarner, stated in an interview with CNET late last year that more than 50 percent of the Fortune 1000 companies that engage in social media campaigns will see those campaigns fail. Sarner went on to explain, “(Businesses) will rush to the community and try to connect, but essentially they don’t have a mutual purpose, and they’ll fail.”

Organizations should consider these best practices before taking the social media plunge:

Clarify the business objectives you are looking to accomplish
Determine your target audience and understand what constitutes value to that audience
Develop a social media plan and vet the plan with key stakeholders across the organization (legal, HR, PR, marketing, customer support, etc.)
Designate who will own the activity within your organization
Develop a social media policy and provide training to your staff
Consider developing a crisis communication plan

By taking a strategic approach to your social media activities, you will be better positioned to maximize the power and benefits of social media while minimizing the risks.