In Agencies, Social Media

Beware the lone (social media) gunman

Inspired yet again by something Joe Jaffe said (ain’t podcasts fun?), here’s my thought for the day on social media and agencies:

Watch out for ad, PR, and marketing agencies who grab one senior guy with some practical social media experience, declare him their expert, and never bother to build the bench depth behind him.

In theory it’s nice and easy. Grab a “rock star” who has a kick ass blog and a few tens of thousands of Twitter followers, give him a fancy title, and trot him out as a proof point in front of clients to show “hey look! we get it!” The flaw in that concept is twofold, one tactical and one more strategic.

On the tactical side, that one senior guy can’t know everything about social media, and even if maybe he knows a metric ton-load, someone has still got to do the work. If there’s no depth of social media-savvy talent on the bench behind him, then what? Who’s going to drive the engagements, dig deep into Facebook, and show some love to the crazy-yet-awesome fans of your brand? It’s not him, so make sure you understand how strong the bench is first.

On the strategic side, the “lone gunman” approach should be flashing big red warning signs to any client committed to social media. First, it indicates that the agency isn’t all the serious about social and will likely apply it only skin deep to your campaigns and strategy, bolted on at the end like some third-rate aftermarket fender.

Second, it signals that your agency is willing to play “check off the capabilities” box with you, without truly developing the practice and skills needed to make your campaigns shine in social media. If they’re willing to trot out this old tactic, what else are they skimping on?

So be suitably wary when you see that “Chief Social Officer” tagging along on the next campaign pitch. You may just be looking at the entire social media team.

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  3. Olivier Blanchard on Social Media ROI
  • http://twitter.com/MarcSnyder Marc Snyder

    May I comment with a “yes and no”?

    No, hiring a “rock star” (I wish!) isn't enough but it can be a good first step.

    I'm in the Montreal market and I was just hired as the Social Media Director for a PR agency (Octane Strategies). I was the first of three similar hires in our market (Michelle Sullivan at HKDP and Guillaume Brunet at Cossette).

    Are either of us *the* solution? No. But I've got a good group of people you are social media curious and a couple you really get it. I know it's similar with Guillaume (we've discussed it) and I'm willing to bet that it's similar with Michelle.

    All three of us will influence our colleagues and help our respective agencies evolve over the medium and long term. And that's something that you can't do with only junior hires.

    Regards.