Finding a new face for your social media presence

Social media continues to grow. Digital technologies and business pipelines that were little more than dreams a few years ago now dominate the marketplace, setting the standard for business innovations higher than ever before. Every day, hundreds of millions of potential consumers interact with their social circles across multiple platforms and devices; sharing personal stories, building relationships and financially supporting companies they perceive as fitting their needs and personal values. When it comes to interacting with customers online, it’s safe to say that the rules have changed.

As the number of socially connected customers continues to grow, so too does the revenue accrued from online sales and networking. This has greatly increased demand for new forms of interactive, conversational marketing techniques that build advocacy and harness the inertia of viral messaging. To satisfy this demand, a new kind of business has been born. Meet the “social media agency.”

What is a social media agency? Most describe themselves as social gurus who specialize in brand management online and on the go. They develop and execute brand guidelines that increase the visibility of your business while forging new relationships and strengthening existing bonds with your customer base. Branding no longer exists as a product being funneled to consumers via the company. Instead, customers are funneling it to each other by means of social pages, reviews and recommendations.

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According to a new survey from Cone Inc., a New York-based marketing and PR agency, almost 80 percent of online customers reverse purchase decisions after seeing negative online reviews. This means customers are paying attention to what the online community has to say about a company and its products. These new 24-hour cycles of brand management can be a positive thing as far as face-time and exposure to potential new clients, but they also provide new challenges for brand ambassadors. Examples of these unintended challenges include the recent Taco Bell “shell-licking” fiasco, in which a Taco Bell franchise employee took a photo of a coworker licking a stack of taco shells. The photo went viral (was shared extensively on the Internet), and Taco Bell was faced with an overnight PR nightmare. Now that a company’s brand is shareable any hour of the day, from anywhere on the globe, digital brand management has become vital to the health of business.

Typically made up of a team of specialists, a social media agency draws from many compatible skill sets to create compelling, interactive marketing that customers connect with on a personal level. This means they should be able to cover the essentials creatively: copywriting (content), graphic design (visuals), Web development (nuts and bolts) and search engine optimization (can your customers find you?).Together, this combination of talent creates a focused marketing plan with measurable goals that suit your businesses needs. Whether you are interested in driving sales, establishing your company as a thought leader or increasing traffic to your sites, an agency has the resources at hand to implement a consistent message for your brand while measuring the effectiveness of those efforts toward meeting your goals.

When deciding which agency to work with, there are a few important questions to consider. First, what do you want to accomplish with social media? Who you eventually choose to hire has a lot to do with your specific goals. For example, if you are interested in developing a mobile media strategy, a company with a strong portfolio in website and mobile applications development is the best place to start looking. Ask for years and type of experience, and pay special attention to its certifications, if any. If you are primarily interested in creating conversations within your network, consider speaking with a company that has demonstrated an ability to set platform-specific goals that align with client objectives; but remember, there is much more to running successful social media campaigns than monitoring likes or followers alone. What you do with your followers has far more impact than how many you have. Different social media platforms work better for different companies. Sites such as Facebook or Twitter can be implemented in different, unique ways for both large and small companies. Social media agencies take great care in crafting social media strategies specifically for each company and its individual digital needs.

Most importantly, find someone you feel comfortable working with. The person or persons you hire should be able to learn your business, understand the needs of your customers, respond to conversations consistently and in accordance with your company values, and think strategically about the data from your interactions. Ask specific questions about the organization’s process – every step should be intentional, with carefully weighed consequences and contingency plans in case quick changes are needed. The best agencies will provide intentional marketing plans that focus beyond the short term.

The return on your investment in the social space will depend largely upon the creative and analytical skills of your chosen specialists. Many businesses struggle to define the value that social media efforts bring, and for good reason. Data from online interactions does not always correlate with sales data or other forms of concrete, measurable statistics. However, this isn’t to say that the ROI cannot be determined in an objective way. The type and degree of benefit awarded your business from engaging with customers online relies on the evaluation of your metrics. The return you see is directly related to the way your goals were originally drawn. Working with a specialist to create highly specific goals is the best way to improve your return.

Social media is here to stay. It already has changed the way we do business and will continue to change the way we engage with one another. The question is no longer “should my business have a presence on social media platforms?” That answer is – and has been for several years – a resounding yes. Now comes the time for you and your business to ask “how and with whom?” and “What do we want to gain from a digital, social presence?”    

Caroline Veldman, owner of Social Media Pilots in Fort Collins, can be reached at caroline@socialmediapilots.com.