I had the opportunity to write a guest post for Amber Naslund that highlights some of the issues/challenges and conversations I have had with others working internally for brands. Here is a snap shot of my post, but please do continue to the conversations in the comments section of Ambers blog:

Measuring Social ROI – The question we need to start asking ourselves is “how do we go about quantifying metrics to show how they drive true business value and/or revenue?”

Research: don’t just talk about it, use it – There was a time in my life when I hated research; especially since I spent three years in grad school, yes three. But research is a valuable asset if you do more than just talk about it.

Top-Down Organizational Support – If an organization is not ready to embrace social media 100% internally from their leaders, they will not succeed in driving effective customer relationships externally; it’s a fact.

Seeking Participation Across the Organization – A blog is good, but a blog without a solid editorial calendar, a human voice and a subject matter expert is not good. Too many times, marketing and PR departments launch blogs and expect for people to actually read them.

Global Social Media Programs – What may work in the US, Canada and maybe the UK will not necessarily work in India. For global brands, this nut has yet to been cracked but there are some good learning and best practices that can help brands manage this.