Plenty of marketers are trying to capture the leprechaun that is social media marketing. But just being on Twitter or Facebook isn’t enough. Businesses need to have a strategy that makes sense for their brand — and they have to follow through on it. The brands that are thriving in the social ecosystem (CNN, Starbucks, Dell) do just that, and are turning brand awareness into brand loyalty.

David Finch offers up some handy rules of thumb in his latest post for Social Media Explorer. Check it out.