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Setting up and maintaining a forum, Twitter account and Facebook Page for any first-timer is a total bitch. All three of these things are hot commodities and “must-haves” if you want your company to look like it has stepped into the 21st century…and especially if your competitors are already doing it. For most, it’s really tough to figure out how to manage these three things without making them compete with each other, while making sure they all provide some kind of value. Here’s what I’ve learned about it at a corporate level.

Forums (it all should start here!)

Forums reside on your website, and are always run by the community. It’s a contact point for visitors between you (or your company) and the rest of your community. They make the content, they post the questions, answers, and participate in debates. All you have to do is moderate all of this stuff, be the “cornerstone,” be helpful, and keep it a democracy (gee, that’s it?)

However, it all starts off with well-chosen sub forums. It’s up to you do first define what the purpose of your forum is, and sculpt that purpose by creating relevantly titled sub forums that people will post in. Most forums have a “General Discussion” and “Off Topic,” but it’s the stuff in between that really counts. What do you want your community to be able to talk about? What don’t you want them to talk about? These are the two questions that will help you decide what sub forums to create.

Twitter (relationship marketing)

Twitter is pretty much run by you, and is a contact point between the visitors and you. There isn’t much of a “community” on Twitter per-se, since messages are sent directly to you (others can see them, though).

Twitter is a relationship maintenance tool that lets your audience know that you’re alive and out there, constantly adding great new features to your business, listening to their suggestions, and responding to their questions. It’s not a great place to “poll the audience,” but rather, let them know what’s new, and what’s going on with the company. Announce events and new features here, as well as helpful tips and tricks related to your industry or business.

Facebook Pages (the online cork board)

Facebook Pages are run by you, and they’re all about you. There is community interaction, but for the most part, the page is what YOU make of it (otherwise, create a Facebook Group instead). Here, you post a mix of the following things: company updates, new features, limited time offers/coupons, polls (“how many of you like…”, “what do you think about…”, “have you ever…”, etc.), and fun/offbeat/off-topic things that relate to your industry (cartoons, YouTube videos, jokes).

Note that I never mentioned “sales,” “affiliate links” or “pull tactics” for any of the three? These are community tools, not sales tools. Let them make the decision as to whether they should buy your stuff or not. Your website links are easy enough for them to find. This is all about being “one of the guys” and showing that you’re not a corporate asshole. Converse with the locals — they just might make you be cool like one of them!

The other main point is that your website forums, Twitter account and Facebook Page should have a distinct and individual purpose. Don’t mimic your Twitter and Facebook with each other, it defeats the purpose of anyone joining both. Make one serve one purpose, and the other serve another purpose…but make those purposes meaningful! Define your goals ahead of time.

Know which demographic uses which service. If teens are using Facebook, have one strategy for them. If parents are using Twitter, make your Twitter account parent-relevant.

It’s not as hard as it looks once you’ve gotten your objective, strategty and tactics written down on paper!