Social media marketing can deliver positive ROI for an organization’s brand, according to a new white paper by Wildfire, a social media marketing software provider.

Sounds logical, right? Social media is meant to generate greater brand awareness, whether for an individual or an organization.

The report — “Why Social Marketing Will Deliver a Positive ROI for Your Brand” — also points out, however, that there are three phases of the social media cycle that organizations can capitalize on to increase awareness of their brands: grow, engage, and monetize.

First, you want to increase, or grow, your number of social media followers and fans. OK.

Then you want to engage your followers with steady communication to remind them you exist and get them to continue to interact with you — an important step that many organizations often forget. This can be done using trivia, coupons, quizzes, contests, and sweepstakes, the report notes.

Next, and probably the most influential and non-self-explanatory of the three phases, is “monetize,” or what Wildfire defines as increasing sales and advocacy for your brand. Now is the time to get your fans and followers to recommend you to their friends and say wonderful things about your organization — i.e., word-of-mouth campaigns that Wildfire calls “earned media” or unpaid publicity.

One technique for monetization the report suggests is to create special offers specific only to your fans and followers, who may then share those deals with their social networks.

(Above: How positive social feedback helps build your online brand.)

Ultimately, the goal of social media marketing should be to increase unpaid publicity for your brand, which in turn sparks further growth, engagement, and monetization.

In the case of associations, this three-prong approach to social media marketing could translate into an increase in membership, greater member participation in association events and programs, and possibly more sponsorships.

What are some ways you are engaging and monetizing your social media followers?