There has been a lot of discussion with clients about the value of integrating Social Media into promotion plans. Some clients believe that since all the tools are widely available (“free”), that the efforts around Social Media should be provided for “free”. This is where the disconnect often starts. While clients are correct in stating that creating a Facebook Fan Page, or Blog, or Twitter presence is relatively easy, they often forget that those efforts often need to be maintained / monitored on a 24/7/365 basis. Clients need to guide the agency on what they want their Social Media presence to be (or not to be) prior to jumping into this medium. Clients who utilize their Social Media presence for promotional activities or customer service inquiries need real-time resources (and possibly in-country resources) behind those efforts. For instance, while observing Dunkin Donuts most recent Facebook sweepstakes, I was curious if Dunkin responded to the myriad of questions Fans asked on products, store hours, locations, etc. If the Fans did not get a response back (or did not get the proper response), would they no longer be customers? A campaign is no longer “turn-key” when the participant can respond in a real time manner and tell their friends, who in turn tell their friends, and so on, and so on, and so on….