How are you using social media to help grow your business? The fast paced world of social media is always changing and it can make creating a successful social strategy somewhat difficult at times. Whether it's being able to create the type of content that provides value to your audience or understanding the best ways to manage paid advertisements, it's never been more important to be in the know when it comes to the current best practices of today's most popular social networks.

Wondering where to start? Like any good strategy, the first thing you need to do is set goals. Think about it like a road trip: if you don't know where you're going from the very beginning, then you probably won't choose the best route to get there. The same goes for success on social efforts. You're going to need to figure out what you want to get out of your time spent here in order to come up with the best way achieve those results.

Homes.com recently published the "Social Media Checklist 2015: 7 Steps to Generate More Business" to help whip your social strategy into shape for the upcoming year. As the first edition of this 7-step series, here are some important goals to set and tips on how to achieve them.

1. Increase brand awareness and follower base

This should be one of your top priorities when creating a social strategy. It's important to reach the maximum number of people in your community as possible. A big part of doing this is your ability to provide value outside of the real estate transaction. Not everyone is looking to buy or sell a home all the time, so you'll need to give them reasons to keep up with your business in the meantime.