You've designed your Facebook page, updated your LinkedIn profile, and are tweeting your every move. Now that you've entered the world of social media, you may be wondering ... what next?

The use of social media is growing and businesses know they need to be a part of it. But is it working? Is it benefiting your business? Social media may be new, but in many ways, it can and should be measured and managed like any other business activity. This way, it becomes a powerful tool you can add to your business tool belt, rather than taking on a life of its own.

Regardless of which social media tool you are using, there are five key steps that can be taken to ensure you are using it effectively:

Know Your Purpose: Or, as Steven Covey says, "begin with the end in mind". By defining your purpose upfront, you can prevent your social media activity from being pulled in all directions and make it easier to determine what activities to pursue, and what metrics to measure. There are many goals social media can support, including: generating sales, generating leads, generating brand awareness, proving your brand, creating buzz, or providing thought leadership. What do you want social media to do for you? Decide on your goals, focus on them, and measure them.

Define Activities That Support Your Goals: If your goal is sales, consider offering coupons to fans or using social media to drive potential customers to your online shopping site. If you are aiming to increase brand awareness, encourage fans and followers to share or re-tweet content by making it valuable or entertaining. Whatever activity you choose, be sure it supports your goals to maximize its value, and build in some measurement capability so you can track your success.

Define Your Metrics, and Measure Them: If you are going to manage your social media activity, you have to be able to measure it. There are many metrics that can be used to measure social media, including more traditional measures such as number of sales or leads, and social media-specific ones such as number of fans or re-tweets. Figure out what metrics will allow you to understand your progress towards your goals, and measure those. We'll look further at social media metrics and measurement in a future post.

Refine Your Activities Based On Results: Your measurement efforts are only effective if they guide your future activites. Based on the data you get from your metrics, determine which activities are working and which are not, and change or improve your activity based on that knowledge.

By combining new social media tools with tried-and-true business principles and measurement techniques, you can understand and maximize your social media success.