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Great post, Todd. FWIW, that's also a great question to ask in interviews to help you screen out social media wannabe's before you make the commitment to hire them.

Todd, I think it's possible for an agency to be inconsistent even when it HAS made the commitment. Particularly in larger organizations, making the commitment is the easy part. Conducting the education throughout dozens of offices to make sure everyone's on the same page and has some practical experience to go along with the theoretical training can take time...time during which some account exec in an office far away from HQ can still make an embarrassing blunder because he hasn't yet been indoctrinated.

Nice post, Todd.

Whilst it is great to see many clients now asking for help with their social media strategy and execution, very often their existing roster of agencies lack depth of experience in this area.

Which is why a specialist agency is usually a better choice. Of course, I would say that, wouldn't I?

We never ask that question of our junior staff. We only hire people that know the answer instinctively. :)

Not to mention the agencies who are inconsistent at best (if not completely lacking skills) but will still loudly sell their social media capabilities.

I think what you're forgetting though, is that it's the JUNIOR staffers who are the in-house experts on social media. So, I would dare the client to ask the upper management a question and see who they go to FIRST for the answer... 9 out of 10 times in an Inconsistent Agency - it will be the young twenty-something pulled into the high-level meeting. Am I right?

Couldn't agree more, Todd.

Every new industry goes through these issues.

We see this at HubSpot among SEO consultants and "firms" faking their way through SEO. We see a huge # of social media fakers in disguise as "social media experts" out there too.

I think the industry will standardize on platforms and training programs will arise that will address many of these issues. Also, firms like yours with services based on "the new rules of marketing and pr" will certainly continue to command top dollar by producing the best results for clients.

I'd like to think that the smart "inconsistent" agencies are making the right decisions and providing their in-house expert(s) with the resources and, more importantly, the encouragement to share their basic knowledge of social media with other members of their team. Those who understand social media and use it to complement client programs are typically very passionate (and vocal!) about what SM brings to the table. In the right environment, their enthusiasm could easily influence others who have yet to adopt, or at least get them thinking about it.

Really enjoying this series, Todd.

Who among us would turn away a client who comes to us with a desire to go social? Rather than admit our weaknesses, our first tendency is to say, "Yeah, we can help you with social media." After all, we're comms professionals...how hard could it be, right?

A lot of us want to be players in this exciting arena. That's fine, as long as we remember it's a young, dynamic field and we've got a lot to learn.

I attended an intimate discussion with Bill Gates and a handful of "Mad Men" last year when this came up. It was moderated by Bob Garfield. Consensus? It will take 5 years and a new generation of Sr. leadership (exec level) in order for digital to be properly integrated into their business models. (This discussion spun off into Bob Garfield's famous Chaos Series in Ad Age). The question of tactical capability does not seem to be the problem in the eyes of the current leadership... it is the core of the communication's business model that won't make the consistency work.

They are still having problems paying for their "Manhattan rent" with "grassroots" programs often found in Social Media. They realize that this is a problem they don't seem to want to solve in their careers.

I am saddened by the ad/pr lack of resolve and constructive collaboration on these topics. We in the blog fishbowl more often attack reasonable efforts then try to adopt successes. Smaller firms like yours, and consultants like myself need a serious shakedown ourselves to the realistic fact that these guys are not into social media and digital because the money simply isn't there. Social Media Group’s 7 digit contract with ford still won't pay for a Madison ave marble floor, let alone the rent. Hell, it’s not even enough to cover 1 tv spot’s production budget in Canada!

Maybe this economic crisis the US finds itself in will start to show the big clients that awareness is not their problem, and that the "Big spend" will not buy them character/credibility they so desperately need.

Now is the time for the small adaptable firms. Decentralize the beast. Wall Street, Main Steet and Madison Ave.

I'm just say'n

Todd - Great post. I think that both agencies and clients alike are struggling with the education around social media and marketing 2.0. Shel's comment is right on track in pointing out that the commitment is the easy part, and execution is where people run into problems. I think that there is a lot of inconsistency ou there, and will be until education and standards are developed.

I like that you mentioned "the new rules" of marketing, a great read for those who might find the social media space a bit daunting.

An in-house social media positon is so much more effective than hiring an agency. If the real purpose of being involved in the space is developing relationships with members of your target audience (and it is), then having a representative outside your organization lacks the authenticity of someone in-house. Simply put: an in-house lives the brand they're promoting, an agency only wears it.

With where the social media is now and where the real experts are, I would stick with boutique PR firms to handle that aspect of marketing.

PR work is not cheap and agencies are yet to embrace value pricing. Wouldn't you want to pay for the results, rather than time they spent on achieving them? And who cares if it was jr. AE who did the magic that lead to the result you expected or sr. partner? I don't.

So yes, I still think that only a boutique firm can handle social media PR properly.

Just my 2cents.

Apolinaras "Apollo" Sinkevicius
Principal
Revolve, Inc.
Flexpertise(TM) - Business Law - Capital

Your points are well taken even without people going through an agency. If someone within a corporate/company environment is the "expert" for that company, then they should be aware of both the new rules of marketing you refer to as well as unspoken "rules" that occur within any new or forming society environment.

Interesting post!
I absolutely agree that many of the best practices in social media still need to be captured. Did not go with the 'junior' staffers bit until I saw your update.

Social media champions absolutely need to train and master all their hands - else they are not the champions.

I whole-heartedly agree that it is typically the junior staff that would 'pass' that test...and in all seriousness, it is more likely that the senior staff is haphazardly asking them that same 'test question' looking for an honest answer.
It is in the agency's best interest to gather those savvy people to create that team of in-house experts, but also actively train the entire agency on best practices (by client projects and competitor projects) and establish agency points-of-view that should be shared as often as possible and through as many channels as possible to employees (email, intranet, printed handout, weekly/monthly trainings, web conferences, WHATEVER IT TAKES). Common problem in the agency life is that once you can get a group of people trained, half of them leave and you have a new batch of questions/answers.

My motto lately: rinse and repeat.

I'm really enjoying the support for junior staffers... Thanks Todd for updating the post. As a junior staffer, if that wasn't apparent by my first comment, I feel that hard work pays off as it gives you credibility both in the social media realm as well as with clients and other co-workers... but the most important thing is to take that knowledge and that homework we do and train those around us! It benefits both parties as it makes you the expert and it makes your agency ahead of the game.

My question is, in a large agency, what is step one to making your agency a "Consistent" one? Is that where we find some clash? (Being that it's not in our hands as junior staffers to expand something company-wide - enter upper-level management)

Also, Katie was right... that the PR world (esp agency life) is volatile with staff coming in and out. A good agency trains their staff AND finds ways to retain those that are social media "gurus" so to speak, or experts.

I think the main point here is that no one is consistent yet. No one agency has come out and said that they are the social media agency right now. That EVERY SINGLE ONE of their employees know what social media is, how to use it and how to get results. There are some that are out there and doing great things, but we don't have a perfect agency. What industry DOES?

With regards to the junior staff position, yes---I am one of them. And, YES I'm usually the social media voice for these types of campaigns or questions. That said, it's not always the best to categorize the young employees who grew up with Facebook in college and MySpace in high school as experts. We need to integrate all of the expertise to form one great agency.

I see some being worked on. Will be interesting to watch :)

Todd, another brilliant blog post by you and you have certainly hit the nail on its head.

I have found it hugely frustrating watching agencies comment in the communications trade titles talking wrongly about using social media and claiming to be experts.

This is a constantly changing sector and nobody can claim to be an expert, as a new tool or channel is announced almost every day.

However, there are a handful of agencies out there who truly get social media and are working in this space - obviously Shift Communications is one of them!

As the usual go-to person at my firm for all things social media, I couldn't agree more with this post. A few others have had real experience as well, but everyone needs some familiarity.

I try to send out examples and case studies with my thoughts to the office so that they can take away some understanding of how it all works.

That said, our company has major IR experience and expertise, but that's only for a few people. We have devisions crafted for our unique skill sets like civic engagement and graphics. At the moment, social media is another practice area we're working on. But, eventually, it will become a standard for all practice areas. Just be patient.