Though the beauty of social media is its two-way conversation value between brands and consumers, there is plenty of room for one-way, push communication that comes directly from the brand. But there's a lot to consider before sending a Tweet or posting to Facebook.

This week we're taking a look at best practices for social media listening, engagement, publishing, advertising, and measurement. Publishing is the critical step that actually gets your message in front of your audience, so here are 10 best practices for publishing content on social media:

1. Treat each social network as its own entity.
Try sharing different content on your social properties. Even if you want to share the same link, image, or content, make sure you are using each social network the way it was meant to be used, and to the most of its abilities. Your content doesn't all need to be under 140 characters with a shortened link a la Twitter. Include calls to action; each social network has its own ways in which users can interact with your posts.

2. Always provide an option to share
One of the most beneficial aspects of social media publishing is the ability for content to spread virally. Viral reach can mean a lot of things; it doesn't have to lead to five million (or billion!) YouTube views. If 20 people with 1,000 followers each Retweet a link you post, you've increased your reach by 20,000. Posting to social networks automatically gives sharing functionality, but your web content might not. So make sure you always give people a way to share to their own networks easily.

3. Set up publishing and approval permissions and processes
From the start, determine who has the ability to publish to social networks, who can create content but not publish, who needs to review, and more. Some social networks like Facebook set up permissions natively for admins, while many require the use of a third-party tool. Regardless of how you do it, map out your approval hierarchy to make sure your organization has proper auditing and fail-safes that ensure the only people who can publish to your networks are those who should have access.

4. Build for mobile
We all know how important mobile is, and how it is increasingly the way in which people access content, for both social and traditional web properties. According to comScore, over 39% of mobile subscribers in the U.S. accessed social networks or blogs from their phones. With that knowledge comes the responsibility of building with mobile top-of-mind. Even if you are building a website, make sure the design translates easily to mobile. And any additional capabilities, such as social sharing, should be able to work across mobile, too. The less work people need to do on their phones to access your content, the more willing they'll be to stick with you.

5. Don't forget about nights and weekends
You might work Monday through Friday from 9-5, but your community is global, spanning time zones around the world and checking social networks outside of your normal work hours. Think about all of the times throughout the week when you check Twitter or watch a YouTube video. Including nights and weekends enables you to make your content stand out when many other brands aren't posting. Find a way to schedule content regularly throughout the night and weekend, even if it's a re-post of earlier content, to take advantage of times when people may have longer attention spans.

6. Use your social networks to promote existing content
Distribution is one of the biggest benefits of building a large social network following. You've got a ton of great content that you want to share, so use your social networks to do so. Experiment with different headlines and post types to find what is most effective to maximize traffic. Just be careful not to overdo it. If you are always posting your own content, people may grow tired of your act .

Think about following the 10-4- 1 rule, which is a suggested ratio for social linking: for every 10 third-party articles, link to four of your own blog posts and one landing page that requires a form complete to access content.

7. Use your data to determine what works
Everyone will tell you something different when it comes to the best times to publish, the best content, the best post types, and the best calls to action. But only you have the data to make the decision as to what's best for your brand. Do some A/B testing with your publishing strategies, and then assess what has worked best for you after you have collected a large enough sample size. Never stop experimenting, but also develop your own best practices.

8. Set a content calendar that syncs up with other marketing objectives
Your organization may have a few different marketing calendars. There may be an overarching marketing calendar that covers broad marketing campaigns. A content calendar may map out blog posts and large-scale content objectives. And then you may have a content calendar for social publishing. Make sure these calendars do not exist in vacuums.

Your social publishing calendar should reflect other marketing objectives. They don't have to match up exactly; there is always room to do interesting things on social, so just do them. But you don't want to stray too far from the rest of the organization, or you will have a hard time accomplishing your business goals.

9. Implement tracking codes on links
Social attribution is a great way to prove the return on investment for social publishing. It can be helpful to post links that have a tracking code built into them. This tracking code will then feed back into an overall database which helps you track what social networks are driving the most traffic. Use this data to guide your posting strategies for big content and marketing campaigns moving forward.

10. Don't be afraid to experiment with different platforms and content
Social media possibilities seem to change daily. Social networks are constantly tinkering with their platforms, and new networks seem to pop up each month. While you should avoid throwing a ton of resources at shiny new objects, don't be afraid to take a chance and find a way to make new platforms work for your business. By doing something creative, you may find yourself garnering media attention for the way you were able to turn a new social network or social network feature into a boost for your business.

Check back every day this week for more social media best practices!