So there’s a lot of “why you don’t need a social media agency/strategy/something” going on in the blogosphere . As always these things amuses me, mainly because I see them as fingerpointing in a world of content. Where what is called bullshit upon isn’t necessarily people in general but “types in general” aka. kind of like when “social media experts” calls bullshit on other “social media experts”.
So if you don’t need a social media agency or a social media strategy I really must beg to differ. Well, it would crazy of me not to, since the agency/strategy/community/viral effect thing has been my bread and butter for the last 6 years.
Let me be frank: in my opinion, you need a social media agency and a strategy (and I want you to choose Toothless Tiger as said agency… cough… personal sales pitch… cough).
But besides that – I believe that a social media agency really can help you by structuring your activities on social media, tie them to a strategy, help you figure out what content is best for you, and then implement it side by side with you.
The real important part in the social media agency/strategy thing is the “back again” (in the title). I focus 20 {5efe2dfab989fd5e1401261f36f469c26e78ec7db6dd6d3e4b43ca097ae6fc54} of my time with a client on the strategy and 20 {5efe2dfab989fd5e1401261f36f469c26e78ec7db6dd6d3e4b43ca097ae6fc54} on the research and the analysis then the remaining 60 {5efe2dfab989fd5e1401261f36f469c26e78ec7db6dd6d3e4b43ca097ae6fc54} is to implement the strategy, and not only that, but to make sure that they are dressed up for a longer period of time.
I like to say that what a social media agency do is, they are help you to build a map. Or a driving plan for a given project (in the business world you would call this the strategy and action plan for something) and then they help you implement it.
We, as social <insert something here> agencies, are an outsider minority in the world of business – and we bring value, because to most companies these thoughts on the digital side of their business is priceless when they are being implemented, because it gives so much back to them. I’m not talking about generalizing or buzzwords, I’m talking hardcore implementation in co-creation and cooperation with the clients.
As always I will leave the buzzword talking to the “social media experts” the ones who care about whether or not facebook has done a new group dynamic thing or if twitter has a new design – I honestly don’t – but I use the tools and the functionalities in my maps and implementation for my clients.