Trust, authenticity, engagement and transparency — four key tenets of a successful social-media strategy — are not the kind of things that can be farmed out.
That’s why we were not at all surprised by the results of a recent Forrester study that show brands reluctant to entrust either traditional or interactive agencies with their social-media activities.
There are strong opinions on this topic, ranging from those who believe firmly in DIY social media, to those who use agencies or consultants to get up to speed before taking over themselves, to companies who find social media bringing them closer to their agencies. Some of the biggest companies are even moving their agencies in-house.
In Sean Corcoran’s opinion, “marketers should own their social-media strategy, since it is about creating direct conversations with consumers, with agencies playing a supporting role helping develop strategy, identify influentials, build out communities and infrastructure and help with analytics (to name a few).”
What do you think? Do you handle all your social media in-house? Has your organization found the right balance with outside help? Do you feel like social media has the potential to change the relationship between companies and ad/creative agencies?
Image Credit, thesuperph, via istock
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We handle all the social media in-house. For us, social media blurs the line between our company and our employees. We are walking on the side of "branding" certain individuals as they communicate through social media for our company.
While I think most agencies are capable of handling social media for clients, I think that brands need to take the reins on this one to ensure transparency and authenticity.
Authenticity is key to social media success, and ad agencies are challenged by that. Any "slick" social media campaign on behalf of any major brand is going to feel inauthentic. Instead, we have invested in in-house staff development and are allowing key people to function as the social media experts. We want to keep our approach strategic and integrated, but not to the point of feeling engineered–it must have a natural, human element to succeed.
Thanks, Michael, Jaime and Eric! Sounds like you're in agreement on the D.I.Y. front.
Anyone out there have a positive experience to share about working hand-in-hand with an agency on social media stuff?
FohBoh provides FohBuzz online media monitoring tools and reports for the restaurant industry segment that may be used directly by restaurant management in real time. It is the responsibility to keep the conversation authentic by the Restaurateur, yet it is possible for an ad agency to work closely with their client to engage with the client's loyal brand followers. I not suggesting to totally outsource social media engagement, but instead for the restaurant/s and their ad agency to work as a team to achieve the social media goals of the restaurant/s.
My recent post Jenna Gross added the blog post 'Social + Email = Double Marketing Effectiveness'
Is it that large agencies don't know how?
Or, is Social still a "speciaty/boutique agency function?
If large agencies bite the bullet and make a bunch of acquisitions, will that solve the Client confidence problem?
Or, will clients begin to see a more balanced perspective in allocating Marketing Budgets to
include Social marketing integration with mainstream?
Stay "tuned" folks.
These are all great questions, thanks Socratesdux. I'll be attendiing the IAB Social Media Marketplace in NYC next week, and will let you know if I learn anything that forwards the conversation. Agencies and brands — large and small — will be in the room.
First, never take advice from any agency that does not practice what it preaches. If they don't blog and tweet themselves, they can NEVER really convey what is going on with those tools.
If you totally outsource your SM activity to an agency, you are missing a HUGE strategic opportunity. You or someone on your senior leadership team has to be doing this personally or you can only hope to achieve competitive parity with any approach you employ. The real value of being involved is strategic – learning what people are doing and WHY they are doing it. You can't get that through an agency filter. With knowledge and understanding, you can create a new competitive landscape for your industry and force your competitors to play catch up to you.
My recent post Student Branding Blog: Show Me Your Personal Brand
[...] Does social media change your agency relationships? (smartblogs.com) [...]
My agency counsels our clients on the Social Media world, makes them aware of the potential and the pitfalls, develops strategies for how to approach their various audiences, including which tools are best suited to which objectives, and even teaches them hands-on participation skills. It is our belief, however, that it's best for our clients (and, thus, for us) to then turn the reins over to the clients once it is believed on both sides that they are ready and able to use those reins wisely. It's the only way to be genuine.
Social Media is about developing a more personal, one-to-one relationship with others, whether it's with old friends on your personal Facebook page, brand enthusiasts on a company Facebook page, reviews on Yelp, micro-blog exchanges on Twitter, or very special interests on Ning. I firmly believe that having any agency — even mine — speak for a company in these media on an ongoing basis, as though we were the company, would eventually come across as fake, and undermine everything the client company is trying to achieve by being there in the first place.
[...] their article Does Social Media Change Your Agency Relationships? I think the author missed the [...]