Paul Marsden over at Social Commerce Today provides some great tips on where to start when planning your social commerce strategy. He references McKinsey's LEAD strategy:

Listen - Experiment - Assess - Develop

And this strategy approach makes a lot of sense. It relies heavily on first understanding your audience; where they are online, how they use social tools to discuss products (think reviews, product comparisons for example) and how they make purchases. It's a process similar to executing a social media strategy - know and understand your audience and then implement a plan that ensures you are reaching them in a relevant and timely manner.

It also means understanding the social commerce opportunities available and assessing which are the right fit for your organization and customer base. Whether it's increasing product reviews or referrals, capturing feedback or increasing purchasing opportunities, use the information you've gathered to set your objectives as a baseline.

Since for many organizations implementing social commerce programs is a new element to e-commerce efforts, it's important to start small. There are opportunities to launch social commerce opportunities on your own website or on other sites your customers visit regularly. Starting small allows you to experiment and find the approach that works best without having invested heavily in one area. Again, when looking at which social commerce programs to test, it's important to keep your target audience in mind. Look for the opportunities most relevant to their needs and interests and that will most likely help you meet your social commerce objectives.

Note: Social Commerce Today has a great article referencing different opportunities in social commerce that may help you assess which tools to use when implementing your own social commerce program.

Assessing your social commerce activities allows you to measure success and develop your programs accordingly. Measuring can be done in tandem with the programs you execute. This fluidity enables you to make changes in a timely manner to ensure continued alignment with audience needs and your business objectives.

Starting small with social commerce programs - and following a step-by-step plan - allows you to experiment without placing a huge burden on resources. Center your strategy around your audience's online behaviors and interests, then select the tools that will help you best reach  your business objectives. If you're missing the in-house expertise to implement a social commerce program, seek out a solution provider who can help.

For a detailed explanation of the LEAD strategy for social commerce, visit the Social Commerce Today blog.