Role Playing in Social Media Marketing
As part of the continuing series co-written with Steve Farnsworth, Lou Hoffman, and Paul Roberts, this week the question is, “What Role Should a Communications Agency Play in a Client’s Social Media Program?”
Let’s review what communications agencies are generally good at:
We are good at identifying and cultivating mutually beneficial relationships with influencers. This used to be confined to “the media” but now includes bloggers, Facebook Group admins, Twitterati, amateur YouTube broadcasters, etc.
We are good at spotting and judo-chopping communications issues (e.g., “we noticed someone on twitter has a beef with <client>; they have 15,000 followers, let’s respond asap with a note like _____”).
We are good at ideation; in fact we are freakin’ ninjas when it comes to wringing every last bit of juice out of a story concept.
We are good at Big Picture Thinking, in part because we work on several lines of business at a time, which provides a perspective commonly missing on in-house comms teams.
We are good at writing. We are good at follow-up. We are good at reporting results.
We understand the central tenets of Respect and Relevance better than any single marketing funtion in the mix.
It’s not too hard to roll these attributes up into a role that makes sense to corporate marketers. The communications agency’s role should be PARTNER: if you trust the agency, you bring them into the inner circle so that they can appropriately handle assignments ranging from Social Media Marketing Strategy, to Policy Development & Training, to Outreach & Response, etc.
The role probably ends at becoming the official voice of the corporation; it ends (kinda sorta) at Customer Service; it ends (kinda sorta) at Business Strategy; it ends (kinda sorta) at Sales; it ends (kinda sorta) at the Website. The communications agency can clearly help and impact those functions, but ultimately such influence rightly ends as the tendrils of the internal marketing group reach their own limits within the organization.
Posted on: September 22, 2010 at 9:47 am By Todd Defren
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Considering some of the costs which agencies charge their clients for maintaining their social media outlets I don’t understand why the client doesn’t just act standalone. I’m convinced that the cost of man hours would be far better than the expensive fees. Teenagers can use these networks, so why can’t the clients understand them? Each company should spend the time learning about social media strategy. It is simple.
Well Said. The companies that are doing well are investing in marketing companies that can do it all under one roof. It’s the same reason that Targets now have stores with grocery in it: You can get everything you need in all in one place and it makes sense. The role played in social media marketing is quintessential to the face of the brand. Why not invest in something that is sure to prove it’s value instantly?
What if there are no marketing bones at all within the client company? Or what if those marketing resources that are there lack the time or the familiarity with the tools to do the job? This is a common situation with many of our clients and so we are developing service offerings that go beyond telling them what they could or should be doing to help them actually get it done.
You make a good point regarding how the numerous strategic and tactical business functions that PR pros are good at leads into a somewhat muddled definition of how far our work bleeds into areas outside of the definition of PR (sales, business development, etc.). What’s interesting regarding what a communications agency’s role will be in clients’ social media program development will be to see how this evolves over time relative to how the job role has evolved for traditional PR functions. I tend to be of the belief that ultimately, PR professionals – whether working on traditional, social and blended functions of a client program, are best when they are providing objective counsel and analysis for how companies can build their business.