Retailers must clearly determine goals before embarking on social media campaigns, says Michael Jansma , CEO of GEMaffair.com, which has a Facebook page and Twitter presence.

Jansma will discuss social media goals and strategy in a session entitled Social media: How picking the goal sets the course.

As an e-commerce seller, is your goal to drive more visitors to your site? Improve your presence in the search engines? Or, is your goal more focused, like increasing brand recognition or reputation management for your brand? Jansma asks. If your goal is to turn your followers into buyers, you’ll want to make sure you are engaging your followers and creating dialogues with your potential customers. Whatever your goal, there are specific tactics to use.

Why the editors asked Michael Jansma to speak:
Michael Jansma, a veteran IRCE speaker, heads up jewelry retailer GEMAffair.com. Just as Michael was an early adopter of e-commerce, having started selling jewelry online in 1996, he is also an enthusiastic proponent of social media. With more than $20 million in e-commerce revenue, GEMaffair.com is one of the leading gemstone and jewelry retailers on the web.

Full details about the conference and registration information are available at IRCE2010.com.