25 Signs You’ve Got a Strong SM Consultant or Agency
Geoff Livingston’s and my original post “Top 25 Ways to Tell if Your Social Media Expert Is a Carpetbagger” was really meant as a silly riff in reaction to the sudden rush of folks offering social media services in the wake of the economic crisis. The post was never meant to be anything more than half rant/half humor, but the 180+ comments on both of our blogs indicate that we touched a much bigger nerve. Since it’s a prescient topic, we’d like to offer a more serious, positive post to help marketers make a good choice in consultants
A couple of precursors. We’re just starting the list. Feel free to add, balk, or digress.
Secondly, not having a few of these isn’t a death sentence. Social media communications is still a really new industry, and there are no silver bullet experts or methodologies. To help separate the wheat from the chaff, we are sharing these general suggestions, but if many qualifiers are missing in your potential partner’s offering, as a marketer, PR or communications professional you should probably be concerned.
Lastly, we’ve cited examples. This is not an echo chamber or buddy list (sorry to our buddies not on the list, we only wanted to list one per qualifier). In some cases, we’ve never met said examples, but we know their work.
Finally, there are many qualified SM consultants/agencies. In the case of larger agencies, we can’t vouch for them, but can safely recommend individuals. It would be impossible to list all of the many qualified social media partners. Instead, we refer you to Charlene Li’s Altimeter Wiki as a starting place. We also invite you to give hat tips in the comments section.
OK, here we go again:
- Believes in the generous web and practices cross-linking in their blog (example:Kami Huyse)
- Highlights others’ work in their blog (example: Chris Brogan)
- Integrates social media as part of larger marketing strategy (example: Razorfish)
- Doesn’t pretend to be an expert in all things digital; instead simply focuses on what he/she/they do best (Example: Common Craft)
- Gives away best practices in an effort to educate, grow social media in general (example: Todd Defren/SHIFT Communications)
- Understands that Radian6 and other monitoring tools are vastly superior tracking tools in comparison to Technorati (which really isn’t an indicator of much these days) (example: Fleishman’s Matt Dickman)
- Will tell you that there is no magic bullet for determining social media ROI and that you need to go further to accurately monitor, measure and determine the effectiveness of social media. (example: K.D. Paine)
- Understands that social media is an important part of the larger word of mouth marketing principles (example: Ogilvy’s John Bell)
- Others cite this person/agency’s work (example: see the many here)
- Realizes that search engine optimization represents an absolutely crucial part of social media (example: TopRank’s Lee Odden)
- Understands that social media expands beyond search engine optimization tactics that lead to Diggs, Stumbles (StumbleUpon) and link baiting (example: Key Relevance’s Li Evans)
- Integrates brick and mortar events with social media activity (example: Voce’s Josh Hallet)
- Has and continues to work on notable social media projects (example: Andy Sernovitz)
- Understands that conversations are the starting place and not the end game. And though ROI is critical, knows that without conversation you’re not going anywhere (example: Paul Chaney)
- Understands that social networking and conversation is more than collecting followers and subscribers (example: Mack Collier)
- Listens to you when you are discussing your challenges (example: Connie Reece)
- Helps and guides clients so that they can understand the benefits of social media and implement it properly (themselves) (example: Amber Naslund)
- Knows that social networking works best when they are conversing, sharing, and being human (i.e. doesn’t self-promote) (example: Jason Falls)
- Educates clients on understanding that they no longer own or control their brand and educates them on how to create customer evangelists (example: Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba)
- Won’t act as your social media ‘voice’ or ghostwrite for you (example: Laura Bergells)
- Understands the difference between social media tools and communications strategy (example: Ogilvy’s Rohit Bhargarva)
- They won’t recommend blogging as a first step into social media (example: David Armano) and when you are ready to begin they consult you on how to be successful (example: Drew McLellan)
- Doesn’t allow clients to be affected by Shiny New Object syndrome (example: Beth Kanter)
- Understands that social media is more than just creating and delivering content or regurgitating existing promotional copy (example: Joseph Jaffe)
- Understands that social media isn’t the sole terrain of marketing or PR and helps clients educate internally to other departments (example: Media Badger)
Even More Goodness! Related Posts:
Tags: Social Media, social media communications, social media examples, social media leaders
44 Responses to “25 Signs You’ve Got a Strong SM Consultant or Agency”
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Excellent work you two. Thank you for sharing I’ll add one more:
26) Believes in collaboration to get the best possible results. (examples: Beth Harte and Geoff Livingston)
Now this is awesome. I actually have a list that simply lays out and demonstrates the effectiveness of what I am doing (and what I can provide to clients). Haha…not to mention it’s pretty funny (at least to my marketing nerdiness anyway). Thanks Beth and Geoff
Stuart Foster’s last blog post..Mixx: A Plea for Help
Great list! I would add somewhere that the consultant/agency recommends/insists on training you on the same tools they are implementing. The goal of a good SM consultant/agency should be to get their clients to a point of being self-sufficient, or at least less reliant on out-sourcing SM projects. If the consultant/agency doesn’t want to train you as part of their services, that’s a big red flag, IMO.
Great list and can’t wait to see the discussion that unfolds!
Great examples of how to look for a qualified socmed expert consultant. Thanks Beth and Geoff!
Something I have found that is key, with the socmed consultants we use, is that they understand and practice the premise that listening is the first step to education.
In order to educate you on what socmed tools can be successful for you, the socmed experts get that they need to first listen. Listen to your perspective on your SWOT and listen to the online conversation that is occurring with your company, your customers and your employees. And the best of the best, know that listening leads them to understanding. Through understanding, they can develop a tailored socmed plan that promotes your strengths; carries through on the opportunities that make sense for your online objectives; identifies your liabilities; and includes an online communication plan to resolve issues.
If they are pitching before they listen, they don’t really get social media.
Zena Weist’s last blog post..zenaweist: Not sure if the cup is half empty and I’m in purgatory at Chuck E Cheese or half full w/ crowd watching.
Agree with Mack & Zena: education, education, and more education. My goal is to educate, encourage and cajole. (Lately, there’s been a heap of cajoling because of some social media backlash in the MSM). But I trudge on with the goal that the client absolutely must do social media within the context of their own marketing strategy thus, educate, educate and more educate!
What a great list, Beth! Have to agree with commenters here–education is my byword for 2009. Totally agree with Mack that our goal as SM consultants should be to help clients become self-sufficient. Social communications should be done in-house. We consultants will have plenty of business getting clients up to speed in this area.
Connie Reece’s last blog post..Podcast: Connie and Sheila talk social media
Beth – as is becoming common with you – quite well done. In addition to the many mentions of education (never enough) I would add – the importance of continuing to set expectations along the way and looking at marketing as the whole and this as part of an overall strategy.
[...] 25 Signs you’ve got a strong SM Consultant or Agency – Beth Harte Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!Pink for the New Yeara little catch upHappy New Year from Cinematical! Tags: 2009, blog examples, Blogging, blogging better [...]
Thanks for inclusion on this list of social media rockstars Beth. Very honored.
Beth, Hi
Interesting list, but as a business owner looking for Social Media Marketing, I would also like to know What is your track record, understand Who your clients are, What they thought of you, What they liked and didn’t like, What has worked and what has not worked, both are of great value. It would be good to know how long you were employed by a company, were you fired and why, Who have you fired as clients.
My point here is, and I am not suggesting this is intentional, but Social Media 101 tells us, as business owners we need to be transparent, we need to participate in the conversation and allow what we do right and do wrong to hang out there on rating sites, blogs, and forums for the whole world to evaluate, yet very few Social Media consultants or agencies are willing or have done the same, at least I don’t think so.
So, after running around in my underwear for the last three years while practicing Social Media for all to see, I would like to see the same from the Social Media firm or consultant I am contemplating to hire.
Know that I love the Social Media space, and have met a lot of friends here. Too, we have mostly replaced traditional marketing with Social Media Marketing because I believe it works. However our small business paid out a lot of money to folks who didn’t know what they were doing, but claimed to. I see this forthcoming as a huge issue in our industry, and think a lot of money will be spent on the carpetbagger side of the fence, giving this Social Media space a black eye
@EricBrown, want to address your comment first because it’s an important issue.
I will say this despite what others may think. If you are looking for a “social media marketer” that is a mistake. Personally, I don’t like the term and you’ll most likely never hear me use it. As a business your best bet is to find a marketer that has a track record with marketing, PR, communications AND/OR social media (or some combination). Social media alone is NOT marketing. Social media is a communication method and the tools change. Being good as social media does not make someone good at marketing, PR, etc. And social media has to fit within your marketing plan… Perhaps while vetting consultants ask them just that question “how do you advise we implement SM into our marketing plan?” The answer might tell you all you need to know about their capabilities.
I also do not believe that traditional marketing or PR is going anywhere anytime soon. The human population is not flocking to the Internet en masse and staying there 24/7. That’s why it’s important to keep some traditional marketing in the mix. As well, there are 4 Ps in Marketing, and so far most people only look at one (promotion) when speaking about “social media marketing.” [Perhaps it's semantics, but those are my thoughts.] I still watch commercials and read print ads. Why? Because I don’t know what I don’t know. And that being said, I wouldn’t know what to search for.
Just my two cents, but some companies may just need to hire a social media consultant for just that portion of their marketing efforts. To help them get started in SM until they can do it on their own. If they need marketing help too, hire a marketing consultant. If you can only afford one, hire a consultant that has experience in both areas.
I could ramble on, but won’t. Maybe I’ll just write a blog post.
Beth – this is great and I’m so glad that I already benefit from many experts on your list. Now, I can learn even more from the others. Plus, I plan to share this post with my friend Kim, who is new to social media. Thanks! Susan
Susan’s last blog post..Keep building
Happy New Year Beth! This is a very nice list that you and Geoff have put together. Awesome to see so many familiar faces mentioned on the list as well. All great examples. And merci beaucoup for the Radian6 inclusion on #6. We are totally honored!
Cheers. David
[...] Harte has put together a great list of things to look for in a social media marketing consultant. It was spawned by her earlier post on the Top 25 Ways to Tell if Your Social Media Expert is a [...]
[...] Harte has put together a great list of things to look for in a social media marketing consultant. It was spawned by her earlier post on the Top 25 Ways to Tell if Your Social Media Expert is a [...]
[...] Harte has put together a great list of things to look for in a social media marketing consultant. It was spawned by her earlier post on the Top 25 Ways to Tell if Your Social Media Expert is a [...]
Thanks Beth – will explore the conversations of those in the 25 who are not already on my must-read list.
Additional sign:
- Believes that the most rewarding result of participation is the relationship/community
Nick Mendoza’s last blog post..The Social 7 – 2008 Year in Review
So many great nuggets here and links to new faces I can’t wait to check out. Thanks so much for compiling this list. It is incredibly helpful for those of us still wrapping our heads around social media’s practical applications for our industry.
Lauren Vargas has a great addition to the list: Patience.
Very true!
You can read her post here: http://12commanonymous.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/01/patience-is-a-virtue.html?cid=144425602#comments
I think my favorite is #21
Understands the difference between social media tools and communications strategy (example: Ogilvy’s Rohit Bhargarva)
Too many people think that more tools and tech= better strategy. Wrong. Come up with a strategy first and then figure out what tools will communicate that strategy best. I think this goes back to your point of find an agency with a Marketing record who understands social media.
LJ Jones’s last blog post..Things that people do on Twitter that bug me
[...] Harte has put together a great list of things to look for in a social media marketing consultant. It was spawned by her earlier post on the Top 25 Ways to Tell if Your Social Media Expert is a [...]
Beth, this is outstanding – both in terms of resources and specifics to be thinking about. I love that you bring up how important it is to integrate social media with traditional marketing approaches. Thanks for putting your ‘harte’ into this!
C.B. Whittemore’s last blog post..Touch Matters in Retail
I agree wholeheartedly with Beth’s comments above regarding the essential mix of on and offline communications and reach. Social Media is just another channel in the mix; yes it’s topical and important, but so is every other online channel. A social media strategy in isolation, and not integrated with other on and offlien activty becomes yet another scatter-gun – the likes of which we have been avoiding and replacing with cohesive and integrated strategies online.
Fantastic list Beth, so many observational nuggets. I like the fact you didn’t focus on the micro (i.e. specific technology platforms and knowledge of social media tactics) but instead covered ‘macro’ behaviors and attitudes.
[...] Media has become an immense buzzword. Several blogs are writing about what to look for in a Social Media Consultant, as well as It seems that a lot of people are ranting about the now millions of people who profess [...]
How about an agency that understands that business is at it’s core, about attracting and retaining profitable customers. The first step is understanding what the different types of profitable customers look and feel like, how they act, how they buy and how much your willing to invest to get them on board. Then you can find where they congregate, how they converse, what their problems and needs are. All this can be used to inform your engagement strategy for each micro market.
An angency that starts from business first principles and keeps refering back to them at each step would impress me.
Ian Lyons’s last blog post..ianlyons: Ballsy move by Myer to boost its marketing budget http://is.gd/i1HD but do consumers really need to buy more stuff?
I’m placing this blog post in my favorites. These 25 tips are extremely helpful. One thing that helped our company become a strong agency is ongoing contact with our clients and employees daily. We decided to implement the use of web conferencing to keep in touch with our clients and to train our staff. Our trainers no longer have to leave the office to train at another branch location. If you’re a business owner looking for ways save money and energy I recommend http://www.24conference.com . Excellent blog post!
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[...] read several posts recently on distinguishing the smart social media marketing professionals from the wannabes. It’s great to have guides likes these in a space that is relatively new in the [...]
Great post Beth. I like the information that you added into the piece. The examples not only point out flaws in the industry but also serves as a learning tool as Social Media is brought into the everyday repertoire of PR folks.
Jeff’s last blog post..Boys will be boys ~ A tale larger than Texas
Great tips!!! Thanks for putting it out there. The PR profession is constantly evolving, and publicists need to start getting in these online conversations NOW because that’s where everyone is turning to for their information. At the same time, it’s important to maintain transparency and interact with others without asking for anything in return.
Termeh Mazhari’s last blog post..AMP3’s Grammy Recap on BettyConfidential.com
Happy New Year My all Friends! This is a very nice and fantastic list that you have put there. Awesome to see so many familiar faces mentioned on the list as well thank you again.
26. Continues to work with you to refine your strategy and goals to achieve measurable results.
See this all too often: SM ‘experts’ come in, give a presentation or two, some suggestions, and then leave the company/brand/client to fend for themselves. Social Media is collaborative in the extreme. Every case is different. Not everything works for everyone, especially when it comes to SM and being there to refine what does work is critical to both the client and the SM “expert’s” success.
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Man- this was helpful, but… OK so your article is for marketers… marketers use SM consultants? Putting all these pieces together is frustrating, I’m glad for all the links and look forward to learning more. I think I need a flowchart or something now.
.-= Kathy´s last blog ..if only this were true… =-.
[...] Beth Harte: 25 Signs You’ve Got a Strong SM Consultant or Agency [...]
[...] Again, here are my basic steps that I would look for before moving on to this great list from Beth Harte on The 25 Signs You’ve Got a Strong SM Consultant or Agency. [...]
Great list. It’s resources like this that the social media marketing industry needs to heed. I just wrote a similar post about what to look for when hiring a social media firm. It’s a great time to be in social media, but it’s also frustrating to see how much shoddy work is being done out there.
.-= Hudson Valley Social Media´s last blog ..The State Of Modern Social Media Marketing In The Hudson Valley =-.
[...] Again, here are my basic steps that I would look for before moving on to this great list from Beth Harte on The 25 Signs You’ve Got a Strong SM Consultant or Agency. [...]