Does it take six or seven times for a message to sink in? Cristine Cea of Unilever hoped so as she topped off the Strategy track at the Social Media and Communities 2.0 conference. Luckily Cea had new content to add to the conversation in addition to confirming earlier messages.

She shared 10 Best Practices:

1. Assess your social journey
Call it evolution or anything else, your company will need to make a journey through novice stages through operationalizing social media. Decide where you want to go and how to get there.

2. Clearly define roles and responsibilities
The whole is greater then the sum of its parts, but make clear who is in charge of which task. Find team members with the capability and experience to take charge of their tasks.

3. Think "always on"
Don't dip in and out in "campaign mode," your community engagement should never turn off if you want to build loyalty.

4. Create an issues management protocol
As we've heard over the past two days, being prepared and thinking before you leap can set your team up for success. If you need it, get legal approval before an issue arises. Speed can save the day if something negative happens

5. Listen and define rules of engagement
Address misconceptions and let correct information speak for itself. You may not be able to please everyone, but you can provide clear and correct information and let the fans use it.

6. Deliver currency and relevancy
Balance pre-arranged conversation or content calendars with ongoing engagement. Adjust accordingly.

7. Set objectives and strategies
If a piece of your social media strategy doesn't fit your marketing strategy, where does it sit? Leverage your assets to deliver on business goals.

8. Identify key opinion formers and influencers
Use listening dashboards or other tools to find your influencers and build social relationships with them where appropriate.

9. Think holistically: integrate assets and channels into activation.

10. Experiment, Learn, Adapt, Repeat
Prepare for possibilities and plan to sustain throughout the experimental process.