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Social Media Agency

POSTED BY: Roger Warner / CATEGORIES: Online PR Agency, Social Media Agency, Social Media Marketing
POSTED ON: 20 Oct 2009
TAGS: Facebook, Online PR Agency, PR Social Media, Social Media Agency, Social Media Campaign, Social Media Case Study, Social Media Marketing

Rocket Science Not Included*

C&M is a ‘Social Media Agency.’ We’re also an ‘Online PR Agency’ and a ‘Social SEO’ firm …which is to say that we do great PR, acquisition, retention and SEO through the use of Social Media tools, platforms, channels, communities and so on.

Confused? Yes, it’s all a bit mangled isn’t it?

We figure this is to be expected in this brave new world of ‘Social Media’. So much noise, so many claims and – let’s be honest – so little substance. Our intention here is to share some learning with you. We’ve been around the block a few times with folks like IBM, Hackett and Expedia/Hotels.co.uk and we have Social scars and Social medals to prove it.

If you’re looking to hire a Social Media Agency, here’s some things to consider:

DO NOT PANIC – DESPITE WHAT AN AVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY MAY SAY

THERE IS NO NEW WITCHCRAFT (DON’T LISTEN TO AN AVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY!)

THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR. GOT IT? YOU CAN RELAX NOW

(…THERE ARE, HOWEVER, A BUNCH OF NEW TOOLS AND SKILLS TO GEN UP ON)

Remember this and you’ll go far.

Meantime, to help you in your quest, here’s a bunch of thoughts and some free best practice ‘Social Media Agency’ white papers and ‘Social Media Agency’ resources to make your life a little easier…

For the record, we feel that:

1: Social isn’t media (there’s no such thing as a ‘Social Media Agency’)

(You can read why here…. It’s a blog post that talks A LOT about the dangers of getting fixated on the Social Media channel and not the message. An old one but a gold one – and a view we very much still stand by.)

2: Forget the labels: Social Media Agency / Online PR Agency / Wotnot

(Read why this idea is very important here…. It’s a post that talks about the relative importance – and limitations – of the labels that we all apply to ourselves. If you want yourself some Facebook, then read on. You might need a Social Media Agency. You might equally need an Online PR Agency. But don’t get wigged out by the label – you probably just need some specialist help from people who have done good work in this domain before.)

3: Trad PR is dead meat (err, you may need a ‘Social Media Agency’)

(Read why this is the case here… It examines why, in the current economic climate, not many traditional PR agencies are taking the necessary steps to build skills, processes and services offerings to deliver great work in the Social / Online sphere – whereas your average specialist Social Media Agency / Onine PR Agency is …and so you’re probably better off working with them instead.)

4: Measurement rules. You need smart Social Media Agency thinking

(Read why here… It’s a post that describes why the search for a Holy Social Media Measurement Grail can be a dangerous diversion: it can become a veritable fire hose of data p0rn. What you need is an approach to measurement that’s driven by objectives – and this requires a different kind of Social Media Agency mindset.)

5: Social Media Agency ROI should be measured qualitatively

(Read why here… A post that looks at how you can establish Social Media Agency ROI in some essential – but very different – ways. Importantly, all this new-fangled Social Media-ness may just be helping you to buy your Corporate identity back. Forget outsourcing all those fancy Dan creative ideas and get on the content wagon yourself…)

6: Not Rocket Surgery. Run from the Social Media Agency that says it is

(Read how simple the principles are here… In it we describe that 99% of what we do revolves around good old fashioned content marketing. The difference is that we’re trying to help our clients to do (better) content with a small ‘c’, not a capital ‘C’… Oh, and it also talks about how we’re trying to wean them off of building new things. Because there’s more traffic acquisition headaches in them there microsites.)

Meantime, here’s some of our free best practice ‘Social Media Agency’ papers

We hope you enjoyed the rants. If you did, and if you’re in the mood for some DIY, then fill your boots. Here’s what a decent Social Media Agency does Mondays through Fridays…

C&M Guide to Social Media Agency Campaigns

C&M Shut Up Listen and Spin 5 Step Guide to Online PR and Social Media Agency Work

C&M Party Harder 5 Basic Theories of Online PR and Social Media Agency Work

…And here’s some free best practice ‘Social Media Agency’ resources

Still curious? Good – so you should be… We feel the following should be pretty helpful. It’s a collation of thoughts, guides, presentations and other curios from the darkest corners of the mind of a ‘Social Media Agency’.

Rethinking PR, Social Media and Content Creation

View more documents from Content and Motion.

C&M Social Media Measurement ROI

View more documents from Content and Motion.

C&M Social Media Agency Content Strategy Map

Twitter Tools For The Masses …From C&M

View more documents from Content and Motion.

You’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat. A Short Homily For Trad PR In 20 Slides (Maybe Less)

View more documents from Content and Motion.

…And here’s some pretty sweet ‘Social Media Agency’ case studies

Still with us? Great. That means you’re probably wanting to know how this stuff comes together in practice. So here you go…

Social Media How To / Case Study: Escape Studios #CGWhiz Campaign

View more documents from Content and Motion.

C&M IBM VFC Social Media Agency Campaign

C&M Case Study Online PR Agency

C&M Social Media Case Study Hotels.com

That’s all Folks

That’s it. Free-thing-fest and general rant over. Do tell us what you think…

And, if you’d like some help from a ‘Social Media Agency’ then please do get in touch….

*NB: this stuff isn’t rocket science.

Bookmark/Share

Caitlin

There’s been a recent post on Facebook’s blog suggesting that they too, want to enter the arena of social news. It’s here. What they suggest is using Facebook as a feed reader.

I also like the http://tinyurl.com/y8wqgap/ at the end, like you have it

Cem

Hmmm, all very interesting points! Question though: what classifies as an 'average' agency? How do oyu compare what is good and what is not? Is it ROI or something more? And what if a smaller business cant afford some of the prices the agencies charge?

Would love to know what you think?!

Roger Warner, C&M

Hi Cem. Thanks for the feedback.

I'd say average work is either i) not integrated to other marcoms disciplines, ii) not well researched, iii) has no clear objective / metrics or iv) is not sympathetic to the fact that Social isn't 'media' (i.e. general lack of connection/communication/conversation)... or a combination of the above.

For all businesses - big or small, the key to doing great work in this area isn't necessarily dependent on an agency ...the main requirement is a sensible commitment to resources - people, content, time, good thinking, etc...

What are your thoughts on the above?

Roger Warner

Spot on with that last point Scott. Less sprockets, more action/value : )

Scott Lawson

I thought that business people would understand something like Online PR Agency better than Social Media Agency. As they're likely used to dealing with PR agencies, and therefore you don't have to explain all the terminology to them.

I imagine when someone employs an advertising agency to create a TV ad, that the advertising agency doesn't bother the client with details such as video formats, types of cameras used, 16:9 / 14:9 title safe etc, which is one of the problems with online marketing, there is a lot of jargon used that just isn't relevant to the client. Telling them you have 500 Delicious bookmarks, there first reaction might be "what makes them so tasty?" It's more useful just knowing that more people are sharing and engaging in your brand. Its useful to the marketer to know the details, but this just confuses clients.

Chris Lee

Interesting discussion. I wrote a blog about something similar recently:

http://hatchpr.blogspot.com/2009/10/separating-...

I think social media agencies can't agree themselves as to how to call themselves - e.g. Robin's Conversation Agency, Roger's Online PR agency - I think most business people will be thinking in terms of 'social media agency' still, though, however much you try to convince them otherwise.

Scott Lawson

Definitely some interesting points, however I feel you have made your point a little bit confusing as it reads a little bit too optimised for "social media agency", which, you also mention is not what you are, or is it? (you rank 3rd and 4th for this term, good work!). Interesting to note that half the search results are for Brighton based agencies....

The principles of engaging in social media is nothing new, in fact its how things were done before broadcast media turned marketing & advertising into a screaming match. Some of the problems with "social media agencies" as such is you have techy people doing marketing. "Social media" is not techy. It's about relationships, it's about language and communication. That's the field of PR and communications experts. One big difference is now these people have access to a large number of metrics that they didn't have before, which makes things both interesting and confusing at the same time. I think its easier for PR/marketing professionals to learn about these metrics then it is for techy/mathematical minded people to learn about PR/marketing strategies.

I come from a techy/mathematical background, however I've also had some involvement with more creative industries and projects, giving me an insight into how to execute marketing strategies. However I'd never claim to be able to implement them because I only know the basics. I can help PR/marketing professionals use data that is available to them so that it helps them understand what was previously unknown and guesses about how successful their campaigns were. The number of twitter followers is a fairly meaningless metric unless you can put some context into it i.e. show how content you tweeted, blogged about and referrenced from twitter then lead to sales, or even just page views. Or how when you started using Twitter, your YouTube video views increased etc... data needs to be linked up together to have any purpose, and it all depends on your objectives. Also, having this data helps you understand what worked when you tried something new out.

John

nice one roger. my key takeaway is
1. don't let agenices confuse you with smoke & mirrors
2. seperate the medium (or channel) from message (or content).
this has always been the challenge for marketing professionals. in that sense nothing's changed. but now & again we get a wee bit distracted. hey its email! hey its the web! hey its CRM! hey its SMS! hey its social meedya!

keep up the myth-busting & keeping it real!

Roger Warner

Hey Iain - go for it.... Not viewed as a troll-fest : )

In relation to your point ref medium vs message, the original post was designed to help clients get comfortable with just using Social Media tools.

Many of those we speak to (in big brands) are petrified of touching them... for many different reasons (FUD usually the top one - and it's always because they're fixated on the medium, not the message). But, as with fear of heights, they're usually a lot more comfortable once they can do stuff and they can see a simple, no-nonsense role for themselves within it.

Like 'Hey, this is just like, um, talking! Great! Let's go make nice...'

I'm with you - there are nuances aplenty.... but most firms just need our help in slaying some of the ghosts first....

That definitely makes us a 'dumb it down' group of people.... But it's essential if we want to make first base.

Iain

Ha. @Doug and Grant, noted. I think my slight issue with the line you've gone for here Roger is that I myself in dealing with, and establishing my own, agency, is that those critisisms you have of "lesser" or "average" agencies I am yet to actually encounter. Sure, there will always be douchebags who try and exploit the ever present knowledge gap by going HEY GAIZ UR DOING IT WRONG U NEED TWITTAR, but they're hardly competition. Agencies don't pitch SM as rocket science, as you rightly say they shouldn't, but it is definitely nuanced, and a keen appreciation in a personal and commercial context of the individual quirks, and how to best take advantage of them should extend to well beyond platforms that roll immediately off the tongue. I think this may tie into the article you linked to in the opening sentence, and I'm afraid I don't agree with that either. The medium is the message, in the sense that for each and every platform or community you use, the message must be different. Messages [epically] win and fail all the time on the basis of careful judgment of your audience, often in a very defined niche. And authenticity isn't irrelevant. It definitely matters, because the influential people who may want to further your message care about their reputation and standing in that community. Broad strokes don't work with SM, although people use it as a blunt extension of the press release. That may fill an immediate goal, but may miss out on the best bit. The "conversation" part. I think that's where We Are Social were going with that, but who knows, maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree.

Please don't think I'm trolling here Roger, because you're doing great stuff. Just my 2 cents.

i

Roger Warner

Hey Robin... Hadn't noticed that. Mmmm. Anyways, the point is - genuinely - to spell out some of the stuff we've learned over the last year, and give away some helpful things for free.

Ref 'Social Media Agency' you guys describe yourselves as a 'Conversation Agency', which I think is helpful... but why is this? You could have been a bog standard Social thing... no?

Robin Grant, We Are Social

@Iain - the point, I think, is keyword density...

Doug - Velocity, B2B Marketing

Wow. Lots and lots of great insight, presented really dynamically.
If you do this well for your clients, you're a shit-hot agency whatever you call yourself.
(By the way, you wouldn't be optimizing around 'social media agency' would you?).
Bravo!

Sean

Roger, I like the fact that you always try to demystify. Keep it up.

Roger Warner

No - not at all...

But I'm guessing if you're doing great work then you're also doing great things for your clients' SEO, PR, customer service, etc. So our advice to clients is generally not to limit the scope of what they're looking for and/or what they want to measure by the 'Media-ness' of all this stuff. (ie, it's a bigger thought than YouTube views, Twitter followings, etc, as I'm sure you'd agree).... and to look at the broader picture.

Not that this post provides a new label, mind.... More of a health warning against *just* thinking about Social Media / Online PR and the next big old label that comes along... (ie, we ought to be thinking about some very trad things like how Social Media can help with retention, awareness, relationships, traffic acquisition, satisfaction, etc, etc - but that doesn't sound very glam for you or I).

Thoughts?

Iain

I have no problem at all with "Social Media Agency" as a general term for what we do. Do you think you could clarify further, or am I being dense?

Roger Warner

Hi Iain... It's just a general note to say that Social Media isn't rocket science, that some sanity is needed ...and that the handle 'Social Media Agency' is a little bit wonky. Pitch in and share some thoughts if you like - case studies, good experiences / bad experiences / that kind of thing...

Iain

Sorry Roger, I'm pretty sure I have no idea what point you are trying to make here.

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Rocket Science Not Included*

C&M is a ‘Social Media Agency.’ We’re also an ‘Online PR Agency’ and a ‘Social SEO’ firm …which is to say that we do great PR, acquisition, retention and SEO through the use of Social Media tools, platforms, channels, communities and so on.

For the record, we feel that:

1: Social isn’t media (there’s no such thing as a ‘Social Media Agency’)

2: Forget the labels: Social Media Agency / Online PR Agency / Wotnot

3: Trad PR is dead meat (err, you may need a ‘Social Media Agency’)

4: Measurement rules. You need smart Social Media Agency thinking

5: Social Media Agency ROI should be measured qualitatively

6: Not Rocket Surgery. Run from the Social Media Agency that says it is

Meantime, here’s some of our free best practice ‘Social Media Agency’ papers

…And here’s some free best practice ‘Social Media Agency’ resources

…And here’s some pretty sweet ‘Social Media Agency’ case studies

That’s all Folks

And, if you’d like some help from a ‘Social Media Agency’ then please do get in touch….

What’s a Social Media Agency?

Get the Scoop on Social Media PR…

What the Hell is Social SEO?

ONLINE PR & SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY KNOW-HOW

Roger Warner, Managing Director

Rowan Stanfield, Head of Strategy & Creative

Michael Wilkins, Head of Social SEO & Analytics

THE SOCIAL MEDIA PR BLOG /// MORE

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