How does an agency help clients run their social media campaign?

[Rod Low]

Hi all, I am fine tuning my social media marketing processes and would like some inputs in these areas:

- Does the agency provide the voice on behalf of the client or they just create the environment for the client to do it themselves?

- Typically, how does an agency run a social media marketing campaign for their clients? What are the steps to take note of? What is involved?

Thanks in advance!

Appreciate the help in here!

[Lisa Mullins]

If you want to get your website noticed in this Web 2.0 world, you need to be able to effectively use social networking as a marketing tool. The problem is, there are so many social networking avenues to take advantage of, you will not be able to use them all and still have enough time left to run your business. That is why outsourcing your social networking tasks is something you should consider.

With the number of sites in existence, it becomes a good business decision to have your social networking done for you. With sites like Twitter, MySpace, FaceBook, and Linkedin requiring a regular stream of updated information in order to be effective, it becomes too time consuming to try to do it all yourself. You have to consider either outsourcing the task, or hiring an additional employee to take care of this marketing task.

As a business owner you need to consider the expense of the different options available. Recent studies have shown that many people turn to the internet first before making decisions about where to conduct their business. If your website is not easily found, you will lose most of that business. So it is critical for your business that you have a site that people can find. For that reason, you need to use social networking. Google loves social networking sites, so they are a good, inexpensive way to get your site ranked.

If you hire an additional person to do the day to day marketing of your business on the social networking sites you will be taking in all of the expenses associated with having more employees. In addition to the extra wages you will be paying, you also have the expenses of taxes, benefits, and insurance that comes along with that employee. If they happen to need a day off, you either have to have another employee take on extra responsibilities, or no marketing will get done that day.

A more cost efficient option is to outsource the task and have your social networking done for you. There are many companies and freelancers that will do this for you. You should look at the credentials of whoever you are considering, and only do business with someone that specializes in using this marketing avenue. While many people claim to use social networking as a marketing tool, it takes knowledge and experience to really do it effectively. You really need to do some homework before you waste your money on the wrong person.

Social networking is a great way to get your web site to rank higher on Google, Yahoo, and other search engines. Outsourcing your social networking may be the most cost effective option for handling the daily tasks so you have the time you need to run your business. If you would like more information on having your social networking done for you, please visit our website at http://www.socialnetworkingdone4you.com.

[Michael Lofton]

Hey Rod,
... How are things going for you?... you've provided a great question!

I agree with Lisa's input pursuant to outsourcing and social media. However, in further
reading your question I would like to provide my personal [subjective, mind you]
point of views.

I appears that you are either, the agency providing the work or considering an agent
for such... In any case, hopefully my experiences regarding the agency side might
assist.

Regarding the voice... Great Question! -For most of my outside clients (along
with the personal products/services that I control) I mostly write in my 'Client's
1'st person'. Primarily because... transparency and direct communications from
the 'delivering person' requires a relationship and the personality for the reader.

However, all '3' persons can be applied.

btw... as a general recap:
1st person is writing from your point of view
e.g. I said this, I did that.
2nd person is talking directly to the reader
e.g. You said this, You did that.
3rd person is writing about someone
e.g. He said this, she did that.

Yet, the main trick is to have the 'knowledge' of their products/services included w/the
demeanor of their personality, in order to create believability w/achievable results.

Of course, we are strictly talking about building a marketing project around
social media, and 'not' an advertising campaign (eg., print media image adds, etc.)

What we're talking about here is developing a personal program for the (your) agency's
customer(s), which require that personal touch, in order to succeed... And, it takes
a good deal of understanding re: your customer's overall product line for the
proper delivery a good social media campaign... eg., the creation of... the blog,
social content/bookmarkings, article submittal(s), video distribution, website
conversion make-overs, seo (optimizing), incentive development, autoresponder
follow-up communications, squeeze page strategies, up & down selling, -and so on...

Have fun out there in this wacky world of social marketing!

best,
-michael