Thanks Cecelia! These are really great tips for everyone, newbie or not.

For brands, I would especially like to re-emphasize your tip about responding to questions and comments from followers. This is a critical step in the process that often gets overlooked. Social media is a 2-way communication, otherwise it would be called "advertising". When followers take the time to engage back with the brand, we need to be sure to acknowledge and respond accordingly. This goes a long way in building brand loyalty. Social monitoring tools like the ones you mentioned can help brands scale.

Really great article!
-Veronica