While browsing and researching I found this insightful and idea-packed social media checklist from communications firm JWT.

It features 18 leading social media and marketing pros talking about social media trends, future projections and their experiences. It also references success stories from Nokia, Wachovia Ikea, Huggies, Tostitos, Ford, Smirnoff, JetBlue and Comcast. I love this because it talks from the perspective of marketing, branding, PR and communications  in the social space.

And as you head into the second quarter, I would use this 12-point checklist as tune up and basis for future planning:

1. Stop, look and listen – evaluate the full spectrum of your overall social media presence. Use a retrospective planning process – do the planning almost in isolation of what you’re currently doing in social media.

2. Got social vibrancy? – does your brand have social vibrancy? Consumers care enough to talk about it? If not, maybe you don’t belong in social media. However, even if you’re a low-involvement brand, challenge yourself to discover if there are conversations in social media and opportunities to create those conversations.

3. Consider linking up with existing successes – if you build it, they won’t necessarily come. See if there’s a conversation underway that your brand would like to join rather than creating something new.

4. Quality over quantity – an army of friends, fans and followers is meaningless if you’re not reaching the right audience and/or motivating them to action (eg sales, lead).

5. Figure out who’s speaking and what their voice – how do you adapt your brand’s voice to social media? Ask whom are you speaking? Are you the CEO or CMO? Or are you the head of corporate communications, R&D or customer service? Each speaks differently and with unique values.

6. What’s the value exchange? – what do consumers get in return for viewing, interacting with, contributing to or amplifying your content or campaign?

7. Assume the worst – assume your brand will be significantly embarrassed at some point. Don’t forget PR 101 in social media. Have the crisis management plan in place across every platform.

8. Empower more advocates – empower your advocates, whether internal or external, arming them with the appropriate training tools, information and/or products to effectively participate in the social media dialogue about your brand.

9. Don’t constantly defend your brand – let people talk. It’s a hassle to respond to every negative comment. There isn’t infrastructure for it and an empowered community should rise to your defense.

10. (Truly) address the issue – rather than simply responding to tweets, etc. address issues that are driving the complaints.

11. Fuel longevity- – you’re only as good as your last action. Set yourself up for longevity in the social media sphere. This is not a fad. Don’t think in terms of one-off campaigns or tactics. How can you fuel online an ongoing social media presence?

12. You don’t have to be social to be social – the water cooler always existed and social media amplifies it. No matter where or when your message is delivered, there is potential for social effect. How can you create a message that will drive people to socialize around?

And my favorite part of this JWT presentation is the insights offered by experts and the case studies presented there.

Thanks, JWT. And how can you use this checklist to tune up your social media marketing, PR and communications?