Outsource your social media if you dare
Saturday, 25th April , 2009
During a recent new business pitch the perspective client informed me that in addition to strategy and design, the other two agencies in contention were proposing on the daily management of the clients social media campaigns. The agencies were offering to act on behalf of the client, posting content and responding to inquiries as if they were indeed the company. They told the client, you don’t have to do anything.
Maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t outsourcing your social media campaign totally defeat the purpose? If social media is about having your voice heard, what is the value in having someone else speak for you?
Don’t get me wrong, I believe companies should involve an outside agency when entering into social media. At Radium, we work with our clients, shaping their social media strategy and helping them avoid pitfalls. We also make social media easier to manage by establishing tools that allow for the collection and analyzing of data. But we would never consider pretending to be the client. If you don’t have time to manage your own profiles, maybe you shouldn’t be taking part in social media.
Social media allows companies and customers people to forge real connections with one another. The organization becomes more than a faceless structure, it becomes human, something that is worth caring about. And getting people to care about your company is what it’s all about.
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. Do you think their are valid reasons for outsourcing the daily management of an organizations social media?
About the Author
Rich is the president and founder of Radium, an internet marketing agency specializing in SEO, SEM and social media marketing. He is an AdWords qualified professional and splits his time between Austin, Boston and sunny Buffalo NY. You should follow Rich on twitter here.
James Stratford
April 25th, 2009
James Stratford said:
Let me comment and play the Devil’s Advocate for a moment in a moment. The first thing I’d have to say is that that “acting on behalf of the client, posting content, and responding to inquiries as if they were indeed the company.” Isn’t necessarily bad, it’s the plan and execution of it that will make or break the strategy.
The very next sentence is the potential problem. “They told the client, you don’t have to do anything.” This is a problem the perception of the representative of that company fully understood what the agency(s) had proposed. Logically in order for that to happen the companies responsibility would have to be done in order to protect their interests including, but not limited to brand, products and/or services, as well as making sure the legal clauses were in place and are well stated including clarification of each term to be sure that both sides understood what was going to happen and who would be responsible in each possible scenario… More importantly the company would have to provide the policies and procedure manual for the agency representative to grasp their guidelines. Additionally they’d have to get educated about the product and have the expertise, skills, and the company would have to give them decision making skills based upon the aforementioned Policy and Procedures Manual and the demonstrated product knowledge. The only way it would be wise to do it otherwise would be a well outlined understanding of the responsibilities of both parties and it would no longer be the Agency doing it all and the client being a nonparticipant. Then it would have to be a scenerio where the Agency would contact the companies point person assigned to them specifically to take care of things that are in question.
What would be the benefit of the two scenerios? In either one expectations are outlined, contracts are specific, and it’s an actionable plan. The second plan would be the most viable and cost effective as well as the least complicated. It’d be clear and concise as well as having someone who’s responsible for upholding all of the policies and procedures of the company. It’d outline when to call the company representative, it’d naturally generate leads through the social media process, as well as it’d still give the company the autonomy to convert the leads as well as to perform customer service for disgruntled customer service assuming it was negotiated into the contract.
Outsourcing your social media campaign will totally defeat the purpose if it’s as stated by the company representative, but I’d propose that with the strategies just outlined it’d be a win win proposition.
Now that part of my style of thought process, negotiation, and execution is out.
I’m going to stop divulging things aside from saying that Radium is an experience company, and their tools are great. It’s my humble opinion that every company, agency, or person marketing via Social Media should be utilizing them.
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April 26th, 2009
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Adam Pieniazek
April 26th, 2009
Adam Pieniazek said:
Really it all depends. If you’re going to tweet for your brand but you do it poorly, then what’s the point? If a ghost tweeter can step in and tweet effectively and make the tweets feel authentic then I don’t see the real harm. Sure, ideally the person/company behind the brand would tweet and do it well but if not a ghost tweeter isn’t a terrible idea.
I recently found out Mayor Menino and Mayoral candidate Sam Yoon are on twitter. From my early analysis, it seems someone inside Menino’s office (not Menino) is tweeting while it seems that Yoon himself is sending out his tweets. Yoon’s tweets are more personal and offer up some details of his personal life mixed in with political statements and ideals. Whereas Menino’s tweets come off as a more of a PR release mixed in with personal details. Menino’s tweets fit the standard for a pro tweeter and I would think are more effective, but Yoon’s tweets come off as someone still figuring twitter out and are more authentic.
Which one is better? I think that’s the real question at the heart of this debate, is it more important to be effective or authentic? Personally, I’d say it’s important to do both but if you could only choose one being effective would keep the person involved in social media. A mix of the two is ideal.
@CharityHisle
April 26th, 2009
@CharityHisle said:
I understand both sides of this issue, outsourcing vs. infrastructure/resources. This is a common question right now, as many companies are seeking the solution to their lack of social networking participation.
The lack of an internal infrastructure dedicated to social networking can be a real problem. The easiest solution is to outsource. But like many business decisions, the easiest solution may not be the RIGHT solution.
I think that companies should take a look at their short-term and long-term strategies. If the company doesn’t have the resources to invest in social networking immediately, then perhaps the best solution would be a short-term outsourcing while a training program is initiated and implemented for the long-term solution.
That said, I think there should be no misrepresentation by the outsourced provider. I feel that it is important, in order to maintain the company’s credibility, that transparency be mandatory. Have the provider state openly that they are merely representing the company within the network… and working on their behalf. Otherwise, the consequences of being “found out” could be disastrous.
David Leonhardt
April 26th, 2009
David Leonhardt said:
We are in the process of pitching some fairly big clients on moving into social media as a side-by-side to SEO. In each case, we are offering to be their social media. In each case we would commit a dedicated resource to handle their social media and the bulk of their SEO. This means that the person will be able to focus on that client’s business and become as knowledgeable in many ways as the client itself. However, “you don’t have to do anything” is just plain stupid. Over time, there will be a number of questions that a dedicated resource can respond to, sure. But any tough questions, still have to go back to the client. Strategic decisions of what to say, what not to say, how to position the company, etc. would still need to be decided in-house with our advice hopefully being key to such decisions. The company still needs to decide in real time, what key messages it needs to deliver. You can outsource most of it with a dedicated resource, but not all. Not if you want the campaign to be successful, that is.
shubh
April 27th, 2009
shubh said:
Managing the social media campaigns is great job of responsibility. In the same way, clients are also need to be extra careful about the quality, process and secrecy. One can’t leave entire responsibility of success solely upon even the best agency.
Rich Angstadt
April 27th, 2009
Rich Angstadt said:
Thanks for all the awesome comments. I believe we’re all in agreement that outsourcing your day to day social media campaigns is possible. The mechanics of it are fairly easy to put in place and if you have an intimate knowledge of the company’s business and policies you could respond to a percentage of inquiries and requests. Although a certain percentage would still need to be handled by the client for various reasons as James and David point out.
So the question is not can you outsource your social media campaign but should you. Charity raises the concern about transparency. Stating that companies need to disclose the fact that they outsource their social media for fear that being found out down the road would be disastrous. I agree, if someone is speaking for you I think you have an obligation to let people know. But if a company listed on their twitter profile that all the tweets come from an outside agency would you care what they say? Would you bother following them?
Greg Wood
May 2nd, 2009
Greg Wood said:
this is the million dollar question isn’t it.
the flip side of this question is what is the risk of placing individuals within a company as the rock star face to social media. last i checked people switch jobs all the time. in fact, cmo’s switch jobs every 2 years on average. companies need to find a balance between authenticity of voice versus limiting risks.
my take is that a title (and that title can switch people) needs to be the lead. whether that title is staffed by agency or company does not matter as long as all the things mentioned in the many of the thoughtful replies above happen.
gw
Greg Wood
May 2nd, 2009
Greg Wood said:
David – agree with everything you say expect the word campaign. campaign says to me that there is a start and stop date. to me social is not about start and stops but a never ending stream of interesting content that people will find valuable, that will prove the brand, that will get people to share and that helps acheive business objectives. another million dollar question? how in gods name do you produce that content on an ongoing basis and with the frequency that is required to stay top of mind?
Rich Angstadt
May 2nd, 2009
Rich Angstadt said:
@Greg Wood: I agree with you and acknowledge the fact that people change jobs all the time so I think the responsibility should be shared by multiple individuals within the organization. Especially with larger organizations.
Regarding outsourcing, let me ask you this question. If you found out that a company you were engaging with had outsourced their daily social media activities and didn’t tell you, would you feel lied to? Would anybody care to follow @jetblue or @wholefoods if the tweets were coming from an outside agency?
Once you outsource this part of social media it stops being social media and becomes just another PR tool.
Greg Wood
May 4th, 2009
Greg Wood said:
@richangstadt not to be squishy but it depends. 1. how the person positions themselves. if they are positioned as the social media manager and they are actively fulfilling this role, does it matter if they are a full time employee, a full time freelance resource or a full time communications professional representing the company. if they can fulfill on the role and add value then who cares? 2. how they develop the workflow within the company. if they act as the primary manager to coordinate answers to questions and ensure answers are provided upon a policies and procedures guideline then they are adding tremendous value. social media is falling down with businesses because they talk one way or they take so long to get back to the person.
regardless of how it is staffed, the persons description needs to be honest. I am a communications professional that is serving the role of the social media manager for company X
Contact centers are outsourced (and not just to India) as a common best practice. The good ones get to know the company and products better than the people within the company. this would be a similar thing.
Brad Axelrad
May 8th, 2009
Brad Axelrad said:
About to create procedure manuals with our VAs to put together a strategy to expand all social media sites. Any comments on that? Are there manuals in place somewhere so as to not re-invent the wheel?
I am still up in the air if they will be managing the actual content or just adding friends, building out our lists and squeezing for us.
Rich Angstadt
May 8th, 2009
Rich Angstadt said:
@Greg Wood: “social media is falling down with businesses because they talk one way or they take so long to get back to the person.” – I agree, no matter who runs the social media campaign, it needs to be handled in a timely and efficient matter. But since when are companies to busy to talk to their customers? Isn’t this already a fundamental flaw in the way that company operates? If the company is too busy to listen and respond to their customers than that company probably won’t be around for very long so outsourcing the management of their social media campaign doesn’t really help them.
I have to disagree with your connection to outsourced call centers. I think this is comparing apples and oranges. Call centers have always been a horrible experience for consumers and frankly, no one really expects much from them. Consumers aren’t looking to engage with a call center rep. You don’t call a rep looking to have a conversation with them. You want your problem fixed as soon as possible and you want to get off the phone. Social media is about forging a connection.
Rich Angstadt
May 8th, 2009
Rich Angstadt said:
@Brad Axelrad: Hi Brad, thanks for the comment. There’s definitely a wealth of social media best practice guidelines and web articles available, however, I’m not sure you’ll find a template for your procedure manual. Ideally an exhaustive social media procedure manual would encompass the content from multiple company documents. Including your online policy policies (how employees should interact online), legal guidelines (intellectual property restrictions, disclosure & confidentiality) and your brand guidelines (the look, feel and voice of your organization). All of these guidelines would help define your interactions online. In addition to the answers contained in these documents, you’ll need to decide what your goals for your social media campaign are.
Defining your strategy and desired outcomes of your social media efforts will help you determine which networks and websites you want to have a presence on, what sort of content you’ll need to create, required time investment and necessary resources among other factors. Until you define your strategy, the other questions are harder to answer because different networks and websites will require different interactions and content.
Kat Hood
July 23rd, 2010
Kat Hood said:
Ok so I organize Social Media for clients as well as SEO, put there is a fine line between acting like you are the clients and setting up a great social media platform that the client can take over. It definitely does not seem legit to post daily for a client. I generally will hand over the platform to the client and teach one person in the business how to do updates. This keeps them in the loop and involved.