In a stunning early finding of interviews with nearly a dozen social media agencies and software providers, I’m seeing a new trend: Social media agency of record (SMaoR) are now moving into advertising buying. I’ve just spent a week interviewing a number of social agencies here in Manhattan as well as taken briefings from around the globe (see below for source info)
Why this dramatic change from social media purists who once declared war on advertising?
The new advertising features from both Facebook and Twitter (Such as sponsored tweets and trends) encourage earned content to become advertising units and give an opportunity for social marketers to get into the advertising game. This also means the opportunity for ads to perform at a higher level because they’ve been ‘approved’ by the crowd is a unique opportunity afforded to the social media agencies vs the ‘carpet bomb’ approach of yesteryear. This results in three distinct impacts to the industry:
- Advertising is Limited to Social Networks: The advertising units that these agencies are purchasing are often limited to Facebook or Twitter –not broader banner and skyscraper ads across media and Google serp. In fact, in most cases they’re analyzing which earned content performs the best, then using the features like Twitter’s sponsored tweets to amplify this earned content to reach new audiences and drive attention or call to action.
- Social Media Agencies Don’t Have Solid Case Studies, Yet. Most of these pure play social media firms lack an advertising background and are staffed for engagement. They also tend to have a longer term approach for community building –not six week ad block flights. As a result, it doesn’t guarantee that they’ll be able to outperform traditional digital advertisers although most say they’re working on case studies to show higher engagement, and conversion.
- Expect a Battle Between Digital Agencies and Social Media Agencies. Now, there’s going to be a fight over advertising budget as social media agencies battle for small shares of advertising dollars. We’re also seeing digital agencies develop social competencies and battling the social pure plays. In the end, I believe we’ll get rid of the term ‘social’ or ‘digital’ as a prefix for any agency as they’ll all have the same competencies, esp after a mass M&A that biz dev execs are already starting to sniff.
Sources: As an Industry Analyst, I’m fortunate to speak to many in the industry for research purposes, In the past few weeks I’ve spoken to Adobe, Attention, Banyan Branch, Big Fuel, Buddy Media, Converseon, Deep Focus, Edelman, Google+, IBM (Social Products), LiveWorld, SocialFlow, VaynerMedia, We Are Social, and many others. Our analyst focused on agencies is Rebecca Lieb (Blog, Twitter), although we’re both talking to many-in-the-industry for our upcoming joint report on Paid Owned and Earned integration.
Update: Fast Company’s Francine Hardaway has answered this post discussing how Agencies are Going the Way of the Dodo.
Thanks for the interesting info, Jeremiah. I don’t find this shocking, to be honest. With Facebook’s new products, it is clear that breaking through EdgeRank is going to get harder unless brands put money behind their earned media. Â (Is it still earned media if brands have to pay to use Facebook Reach Generator to get through to more of their fans?) Â On Twitter, the same thing is true–post first, buy later. This seems inevitable for “social agencies,” although I think the days of “social agencies” are numbered. Every agency needs to get social media, or they’re going to end up on the wrong end of client expectations.Â
i’m not sure this is an emerging trend or one on a downward slope, jeremiah – i’ve been pushing my team to move away from media buying – at least on a large scale. while lighter weight buys will continue to be an essential part of any community manager’s purview, i’d rather have a traditional media agency front the dollars for community growth or, to augie’s point, to reach our community.
We agree Augie, the ‘social’ vs “digital’ agency will just be the same. Â I think they’ll be called just “Agency”
Ed, thanks. Â However the CMO wants an integrated and holistic plan. Â How will you adjust for for this?
Ed, thanks. Â However the CMO wants an integrated and holistic plan. Â How will you adjust for for this?
Agencies will be agencies. Consultancies do the “dirty work” behind the scenes, constructing process and infrastructure so clients aren’t throwing those media dollars away. Vendors provide the tools for optimization and scale. A brand needs to orchestrate all three – a common mistake is to ask one of those parties to do the work of another.
Agencies will be agencies. Consultancies do the “dirty work” behind the scenes, constructing process and infrastructure so clients aren’t throwing those media dollars away. Vendors provide the tools for optimization and scale. A brand needs to orchestrate all three – a common mistake is to ask one of those parties to do the work of another.
Jeremiah, my “pure play” social media agency (30) people has been ramping up on the ad side like nobody’s business. One of our clients let us do a test against their very large ad agency on Facebook, and we blew it up.
We have another large client who is looking to us for EVERYTHING… and now we have to seriously ask ourselves if we want to create what we’ve been jokingly referring to as an “old media” department… as we watch so many ad agencies and pr firms around us touting their “new media” divisions. I’ll wrap up by saying this is going to be a very fun year for us.
This is a sign of the disconnected brand and operating Social in a silo. These brands are turning to the ‘SMaoR’ because the ads are on a social site. Instead of holistically looking at the impact of advertising on a social site has on the greater media spend. What does a SMaoR really know about buying media? Nothing.
The connected brand has a plan how owned, earned and paid media will work together to amplify and extend the greater media investment over time.Â
Jeremiah,Â
Great seeing you in NYC this week. You are on FIRE and you’re spot on here. I’ve been seeing this for quite some time. As I mentioned when we spoke, we looked at the social ad space closely for about a year, evaluated 20 companies, and chose to acquire Brighter Option, because we think they have the best technology and the best team. The numbers are there. Nielsen recently revealed that social ads have 55% higher recall than non-social ads. And with the investment in social ads increasing – emarketer says $10b will be spent on social ads in 2013, up from $5.5B in 2011, we’re confident many agencies, whatever we end up calling them, will be able to increase revenue. We’re very much looking forward to your report!
Best,
MML
Buddy Media
Like Ed Lee, my experience in social at agencies has been with PR, Digital and Mass shops. Those that don’t understand that social is the intersection of earned, owned & paid are doomed to be pushed to the margins. The trick is getting the integrated mandate from the client to either run or lead this integrated approach. It’s happening more and more, so it’s no shock that media buying is being added to social media boutiques as it’s no shock that the large ad agencies are adding teams who know how to execute ideas in real time.
Clients are going to give the job to the shop that can deliver against the objectives. It doesn’t matter whose name is in the door or what flavor of communications you provide.
 Peter, Do you think their will be a blending of these? Dachis Group for example appears to do the behind the scenes consulting and then some work which falls under “agency” like Red Bull social brand activations. And even “vendor” such as software solutions. Totally agree that a brand needs to orchestrate. Wondering if there may be blurring of some activities under one roof or not.
 Peter, Do you think their will be a blending of these? Dachis Group for example appears to do the behind the scenes consulting and then some work which falls under “agency” like Red Bull social brand activations. And even “vendor” such as software solutions. Totally agree that a brand needs to orchestrate. Wondering if there may be blurring of some activities under one roof or not.
Maybe there’s a different, alternate way to examine this trend: the perspective of the user. Â Social isn’t new anymore and users are used to seeing content from brands right in line with content from their chosen friends. Â As social ads continue to rise in adoption and effectiveness, to me it makes sense for the paid/earned (or to Augie’s point if you’re using reach generator is it really earned) strategy to come from the same house or the same team. Streamlines the conversation and sell in a brand manager needs to have with their leadership and provides a better focus on the experience of the most important factor in the equation: the customer.
Given that the mechanics of Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and YouTube advertising are substantially similar to Google Adwords in most important respects, media buying is going to be a short-term play for social agencies.Â
Today’s SEO/SEM firm is yesterday’s ad agency. Just like when ad agencies slept on the first digital wave, SEO/SEM is capable of seizing a whole new market by owning social advertising. Yet to date, they are too fat and happy doing their legacy work to press their advantage (In most cases. There are SEO/SEM players doing serious, excellent work in social advertising).Â
But eventually, when social advertising becomes less experimental and more driven by science and behavioral results, the collective decades of targeting and real-time optimization experience possessed by SEO/SEM will allow them to grab the majority of that spend – either organically or by the larger SEO/SEM guys buying social agencies that have a head start.Â
There’s no question that social agencies have a scale problem, as there’s only so much you can charge any company for engagement, promotions, and community management. But while it will be a great ride in 2012 and 2013, they aren’t going to do be able to get big on the backs of the social ad budget forever. That’s why you’re seeing the smart ones (like Vaynermedia) trying to bulk up at lightning speed. Only a few will be bought by SEO/SEM first tier and/or advertising holding companies. The rest will be relegated to $5-$10 million/year lifestyle businesses.Â
Does the CMO want a holistic plan? I’m seeing more and more evidence of CMOs wanting best-of-breed in each category, and letting the multiple players figure out how to work together.Â
Very interesting discussion.   To Jeremiah’s question about how does
the CMO get an integrated and holistic plan?   This question applies to
the whole marketing mix not just within social. Generally there are
three approaches.Â
1) CMO’s team drives the integration across their
entire marketing mix and agencies. We believe this is the best approach
as the CM gets the best of breed in each area, owns the integration and
results. Also considerably more efficient and agile as there are no
layers between the CMO’s team and the integrated result. All of usÂ
specialty agencies prefer this. To work it requires a pro-active and
even aggressive CMO approach to managing their agencies. We’ve had some
clients such as AMEX that are very effective with this approach and
others who are not.Â
2) CMO hires and integration agency. We had one
client with 10+ agencies and an 11th whose job was the integration.Â
Still gets best of breed, but I felt the 11th agency didn’t have the
real power to force the integration and the agencies to play nice with
each other. Â
3) CMO uses one or giant integrated agencies that offer
an integrated portfolio. The big agencies and conglomerates like this.Â
Benefit is easier integration and less work for the CMO’s team – if
and it’s a big if the integrated agency or conglomerate or agency can
deliver seamless integration This is rarely the case.  Assuming they
can deliver it, the trade off is the client is no longer getting the
best of breed in each area. No one large integrated entity is going to
be best at everything. Also the actual strategy and deployment and
integration is one or more steps removed from the CMO’s team, which
means the CMO’s team is one or more additional steps removed from their
customers and market
On the overall subject, we considered expanding our range into the
realm of traditional digital agency (yes, these days they’ve become part
of “traditional media” and PR agency work.  We chose to stay as
a dedicated social agency focused on our unique hybrid
technology-services solution. That’s doing very well for us now and for
the moment I don’t think we’d be able to advance our technology or o ur
services products if we diluted our focus with media plans, custom
apps, general PR etc. I’m sure there are some social agencies that can
do some of these things in a specialized combination and it will work
for them. But for most the loss of focus will deteriorate their unique
value add and they won’t be much different from the digital agencies. Then again we believe most so called social agencies, even if they
are great at what they do, are really interactive content agencies
implementing in social channels. They’re not really doing deep social
work.  Â
I also find it curious that this debate over who will handle media
planning/buying is between digital and social when media buying has
economies of scale that favor large media agencies.  The social agency
definitely needs to influence the media plan, just like a TV ad agency
influences the TV media buy. But that media strategy and buy is usually
driven by the media agency.  The CMO there as the CMO looking at
social gets the best result when he assembles the best of breed agencies
for what he needs done at one integration table, and the CMO is at the
head of the table.
I think this always depends on the CMO’s experience. There are also numerous challenges with letting the multiple players figure out how to work together.
Sounds good in theory, but if there isn’t strong leadership at the CMO level to effectively facilitate team work (and ultimately choose who does what) among multiple organizations with overlapping offerings – good luck.
I think this always depends on the CMO’s experience. There are also numerous challenges with letting the multiple players figure out how to work together.
Sounds good in theory, but if there isn’t strong leadership at the CMO level to effectively facilitate team work (and ultimately choose who does what) among multiple organizations with overlapping offerings – good luck.
Once the media buying begins and adjustments made to where and how the ads show up on a users page or site what will happen to small businesses. Many small business utilize sites such as Facebook and Twitter to stay in touch. With Edge Rank and algorithms changing frequently and the use of advertising increasing the question will be is how effective will the tools become to small business, especially if ads over time begin to dominate algorithms.
Yup, we’re already seeing SMB services emerge Charlene to serve the mom and pops
Thanks Peter, good insights. Â BTW I added LiveWorld to the list of companies I spoke to, my apologies since we just chatted this week in person.
Great numbers Michael, we may cite these.
Good question about CMOs: 1) Pure plays vs 2) Holistic. Â Why wouldn’t they want both?
Good question about CMOs: 1) Pure plays vs 2) Holistic. Â Why wouldn’t they want both?
Totally agree Dave. As agencies or consultants, some of us may be one hire away from best-of-breed or access to best-of-breed for services we have not normally delivered.Â
To your point, the demonstration of leadership (to “run or lead” integrated efforts) plays heavily into who the client chooses to deliver against their objectives.
Totally agree Dave. As agencies or consultants, some of us may be one hire away from best-of-breed or access to best-of-breed for services we have not normally delivered.Â
To your point, the demonstration of leadership (to “run or lead” integrated efforts) plays heavily into who the client chooses to deliver against their objectives.
 Politics, territorialism, drama 😉
Great read Jeremiah. There’s a big problem with the “pure play” model of digital marketing/advertising. It means you need 5-6 different “pure play” agencies to run your digital marketing program. That’s ludicrous. The best agencies are now realizing that you need experts from all walks of digital sitting at the SAME table under the SAME roof to develop and execute a truly effective digital marketing program for a client. In the next 2-3 years every so-called digital agency will be shifting their model away from “social media agency” or “SEM agency” to “Digital Agency”.
Jay, I don’t know any SEO agencies who aren’t deep into social and they were certainly the first to push social advertising since they were accustomed to paid media. It’s the PR firms that will most likely get left in the cold because most have eshewed paid media forever and don’t have a culture to support media buys or metrics.
Jay, I don’t know any SEO agencies who aren’t deep into social and they were certainly the first to push social advertising since they were accustomed to paid media. It’s the PR firms that will most likely get left in the cold because most have eshewed paid media forever and don’t have a culture to support media buys or metrics.
Companies will certainly try. We’ve got a lot of the elements as does Edelman. Regardless of what we do, each client has a preferred style on the spectrum from full service (sAOR) to self-directed (best-in-breed point solutions). Peter Friedman explains it well in the three CMO approaches comment and I agree with his assessment. As long as our industry has competition, we’ll always see different models in play.
Jeremiah, there are a number of reasons for this phenomena, here are some of them:
 – A lot of work is still campaign based
 – A lot of objectives are around measures of reach: the amount of people that like a page for instance is a proxy measure of reach
 – Engagement people hours are relatively expensive in a campaign measured on reach
 – The business model of Facebook has had changing terms of service that force many brands down the advertising route
 – Advertising is a good way to get a message to ‘jump’ social graphs
 – Some of the social platforms allow for very targeted advertising: opening an engagement with the right person
Make no mistake, we created this problem. As agencies we rushed to create social media/business offerings. As an industry we allowed consultants with no experience, but several books to call themselves experts and earn the ear of clients. As social media boutiques we offered buzz word after buzz word but nary a person who’d actually been in the trenches. As clients we turned to all of these companies and said fix it; we washed our hands of the problem by outsourcing it. But who did we outsource it to? The reason there’s a lack of case studies has everything to do with the fact we still live in a world with risk averse clients, an impatient C-suite, shareholders demanding instant return and of course companies (social media agencies, holding companies, etc.) offering quick solutions. We allow Facebook to keep changing the system and offering almost zero data transparency. We bellied up to the table and kept spending without any concept of what we were buying. Oh, we most definitely created this problem. And, what do we do in this post and he comments? We offer, at best, half-measured responses that skirt around the issue. We have allowed social media to become SEO industry; a collection pseudo experts all promising a solution without the talent to do deliver. Frankly, it’s depressing. I hope for better. But, until we actually are willing to be honest and take a stand against the bullshit being passed off as social media experts, companies and strategy; you aren’t allowed to complain. No, you can’t complain when you lose a piece of business to the smoke and mirrors boutique that has a book, fancy slides and manufactured metrics. We need better accountability. We need the analysts to do their job, step up and call bullshit, bullshit. But, I get it. Right now, there is zero incentive to be brutally honest. The analysts would lose their connections. The agencies who took a stand would lose short term revenue. The clients would have to admit ignorance. And, well, all of us, with “personal brands” would of course lose all the social media juice that comes from the situation we created. We deserve better. This industry deserves better. Look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, if you’re ready to stop perpetuating this situation. I bet you, the answer is no. That’s ok, just like SEO rose above a sewer like environment, so will social. When it does, history will remember your part and reward you accordingly.
From a client perspective, I can say this: 1) Clients need to do their research and have a deep understanding of what’s happening in tech, advertising and social media. Not understanding the capabilities of the various players or your company’s true needs could lead to disaster. 2) Agencies, consultancies, vendors and service providers should not underestimate potential clients, they should do their own research about them (ie. If you’re going to send a white paper with Timeline Recommendations, it might be good to check Facebook pages), play nice with other partners the client might have, and be honest + specific + realistic about the value that can be provided.
I happen to agree with everything you said 100%. However, I have to ask how can Samsung continue to work with Leo Burnett? Everything you just stated is the opposite of what Leo brings to the table based on my experience working there, other clients I’ve talked to and what I see. I’m not saying, you’re in control of that decision, but clearly the decision makers need to take a second look. The answer isn’t tv, tv, tv, tv, with a dose of FB ads. The work you’re doing with 72 And Sunny is brilliant and I’m hoping to see more of that type of thinking.
Recall is not always the goal of course, especially for SMBs. Not your target of course Michael, but it is definitely a large target for Facebook.Â
I think they are covering their bases well.Â
We are seeing this trend [SMB services], when we looked at data, we found lot of boutique agencies that are servicing mom and pop stores. Typically a boutique agency with 4-6 people has 150-250 accounts.
There definitely is a battle between Digital Agencies and Social Media Agencies and frankly Digital agencies are better equipped for that battle.Â
Companies that call themselves purely social media agencies are PR companies that focus on Web, they’re not used to creating overarching emotionally engaging ideas that are needed to ensure that add buy is effective.Â
There definitely is a battle between Digital Agencies and Social Media Agencies and frankly Digital agencies are better equipped for that battle.Â
Companies that call themselves purely social media agencies are PR companies that focus on Web, they’re not used to creating overarching emotionally engaging ideas that are needed to ensure that add buy is effective.Â
I’d say a competent social media agency is a digital agency – and fundamentally, is responsible for helping to create or facilitate the experience (which includes emotionally engaging ideas) the ad buy points to.
But I can appreciate what you are saying in terms of PR companies that focus on web. I suppose the flip side is emotionally engaging ad campaigns that don’t take the engagement aspects as far as they should/could go.
here’s the thing. an impactful campaign needs several things. first and foremost it needs a resonant message/value/substance. then it needs a destination where that substance is aggregated and deep, then it needs to draw attention to those things, while enabling someone to engage, stay engaged and engage others. in other words, social marketing is a variant of marketing, and all the tools need to be coherently orchestrated to create value and make a difference in the market.
here’s the thing. an impactful campaign needs several things. first and foremost it needs a resonant message/value/substance. then it needs a destination where that substance is aggregated and deep, then it needs to draw attention to those things, while enabling someone to engage, stay engaged and engage others. in other words, social marketing is a variant of marketing, and all the tools need to be coherently orchestrated to create value and make a difference in the market.
Its interesting as, many social media purists believe that campaigns are dead –instead long term engagement is what counts. Â #cluetrain
There are cases where a company’s target audience may not necessarily desire long term engagement per se. And in those cases, paid amplification of earned media (especially earned media, not owned media) can be extremely effective in reaching those people.Â
This is especially the case when a company needs a high impact result with a very specific audience within a narrow time window. Say, reaching institutional investors around a major corporate event – M&A, earnings, crises, etc.
B2B companies should be looking at this trend closely since not all corporate stakeholders want the kind of engagement-heavy relationship we in the industry typically ascribe to consumers and brands.Â
Interesting post and comment thread, Jeremiah. Thanks for sparking the conversation.
I guess I don’t understand the surprise here. Â Much more $$ goes into ad spend than consulting or agency services. Â An agency that gets into this business can increase margins significantly.
Erik, I think you’re right that the original social agencies were in fact dressed up PR firms, but the current breed of social agencies are creating story and emotional engagement, and that doesn’t necessarily mean through heartwarming images and soundtracks. Â Having a breeding in creative is not a prerequisite to successful engagement. Â Just think of Pixar and all the early knocks against them not understanding “story arc,” and being a bunch of computer nerds, yet they produced a series of smart, funny and engaging stories.
I think the real value in either the social or digital agency is one that truly understands the social consumer, the social ecosystem, and is agile enough to partner and/or execute on the digital development, creative, and activation/media fronts. Â In short, where I see the void in all of the millions of digital and social campaigns, is absolutely missing the mark in terms of voice and audience, and really connecting with the end user. Â This could mean so many things from creative, to content, to simply creating utility that puts a smile on ones face. Â
With the growth of social media and social consumers, the margin of error is exponentially smaller, and brands and agencies are still turning out schlock like: “Your ten favorite memories of brand X.” only to get eviscerated by the response unless it’s Apple or LEGO, and everyone kow-tows to the social bait with heartwarming stories.
Hi Erik – if you could give me your pov on what the best-in-class background of a ‘digital agency’ looks like, that would be appreciated. One of the agencies doing the most digital dollars in the world has a direct marketing heritage, another advertising, another building websites – etc etc…
Keen to understand which one has the best background and is best placed to create ‘overarching emotionally engaging ideas’ – surely this doesn’t come from the world of deep data and analytics, or even consulting like Altimeter or IBM, no?From me, as with agencies from all industries it’s about stripping away labels and asking – “does this firm have the smarts to overcome the challenge, people with the capabilities I need and the case studies to back up what they say.” It’s the net – meritocracy and transparency should win every time.Let’s discuss over a coffee in Singapore soon? 🙂
Have to agree with that 100%, Jeremiah.  Eventually, we will see the reemergence of simply AOR.  Look at what’s already happen on major networks like ABC, NBC, etc.  We’re already seeing sitcoms, reality shows and completion shows (#thevoice, for instance) integrating with Twitter and other networks while on the air. Now we’re starting to television advertising follow suit in terms of integration as well. Tools like Trendrr are giving agencies more tools to bridge the gap between the traditional media/advertising they are used to and online tactics.
What will be interesting to keep watch on is just how long it will take the ad agency industry to move back to the true one-stop-shops of a years back.
In Central America (where this industry has moved at a different pace and with various challenges we still need to face) in smaller markets we see an opportunity for brewing skillful artisans that can handcraft a more effective type of organic advertising using below the line digital outlets, hand crafted paid ads in social outlets and strategic use of networked groups and influencers for mixing and merging what Digital Agencies and Social Media Agencies are able to provide.Â
What is you opinion: Could there be a chance that as the industry matures and expands to new territories agencies with these special capabilities could rise to the challenge for becoming a new breed of agency? Â
No surprise here. Because social agencies already have the expertise with and contacts (sales associates) at the social networks, it makes sense for them to drive the ad buy if they already handle the engagement campaigns, especially when ads and engagement posts may be one in the same. Social agencies are still agencies: They want to grow against competition and will go where the budgets take them.
I’m all for the purist social media philosophy but also live in the reality that social networks are capitalistic in nature. Facebook doesn’t WANT brands to do something cool and get 1 million Likes without advertising or they wouldn’t have a business model. If you want your message to get beyond your subscriber base of Likes (aka get new customers, leads, SOV, etc.), you have to advertise. All else equal, a brand that advertises will spread its message more quickly to more customers than the brand that doesn™t. It™s not coincidence that the top Facebook brands (Starbucks, Coke, Disney, major-label musicians) are the same brands that were at the top of commercial media pre-social. They have the budgets to stay that big regardless of the marketing medium of the day. SEM/SEO is an interesting channel to bring up comparatively. Search engines at least give you a chance to get great content front and center organically without having to earn or pay for a Like or follow in advance.
I think it’s also worth pointing out that the ideal scenario of having real media folks within a social agency handle media spend is twofold:
One is that the media folks within the social agency should be driving very unique engagement models, and in some cases inventing new media channels or products in conjunction with the platforms they are negotiating with. It shouldn’t be simple a game of pivot tables, but one of true innovation. Â And this brings us to the second.
Two, the media folks in many cases are then working much more closely with account, strategy and creative to conceive of those spends. Â Whether ‘social’ or ‘digital’ agency, the goal is to create a more cohesive and nimble atmosphere that can adjust to the hundreds of platforms and innovations produced each day. Â Perhaps the buying power and scale is not there, but this should be made up for in creativity and cohesiveness.
Keep in mind, one of the driving reasons for the separation and specialization of creative and media agencies under the large holding companies was in case a client got tired of the creative, they could still keep their media budget, while switching up and freshening their creative agency.
Of course the social/small digital shops want their 12-15% cut of the big media budgets, but it’s not just about grabbing revenue share, it’s about producing a product in the end that addresses the unique challenges of an incredibly fragmented and rapidly changing digital ecosphere.
campaigns aren’t dead – they are just transformed. Rather than a hit and run, a campaign should be a chapter of an ongoing story. A campaign should be the result of stepping back and considering your customer experience journey (how people engage with you, become customers, and so on over time and according to their changing needs) and your message, and where/how people can engage with it. the Hit and Run is dead – probably – but if we think of campaign as a coordinated action to have an impact on the market, its not in the least bit dead.
I agree that the terms “social” and “digital” will decease but I believe the term two will be merging under will be “communications”.
Part of me is a purist that believes in the organic development of a community but I can see where a strategic approach to advertising can play a role in turbo-charging community growth. I emphasize the “strategic approach” because there have been enough examples of  ads backfiring.
Risk cannot be completely eliminated but advertising how a brand is giving back rather than what they have to sell will likely have a better, less risky payoff.Â
I also think you make an interesting point where purists could still be outperformed by traditional ad agencies. Some stakeholders just down have the patience for long term community building. Perhaps a hybrid approach of organic growth complemented by advertising will do the trick.
Some agencies are trying to figure out where they can add value on the new Facebook due to limitations around apps and landing pages. Part of me thinks that this is just Facebook gearing up for their IPO and driving/forcing brands down the advertising chute.Â
Agencies are also coming to terms with the limited contribution they can make with Twitter other than community management. They can’t sell custom apps or landing pages for Twitter which explains why some downplay the platform.
There are going to be interesting times ahead as the industry evolves.
An agency does the job of a certain company. That’s always the main picture, and as a matter of fact I agree withÂ
Peter Kim
This is a amazing post.Like those point.I think those right.
This is a amazing post.Like those point.I think those right.
If  tied into your agency™s website and branding, is constricted and has little room to breathe and grow.
I guess it was only a matter of time till advertisements found their way into day to day tweets and Facebook shares. Let’s just hope it does not reduce the quality of content or become a concern such as comment spam on blogs.
I guess it was only a matter of time till advertisements found their way into day to day tweets and Facebook shares. Let’s just hope it does not reduce the quality of content or become a concern such as comment spam on blogs.
Hi John,
We definitely should do that coffee. KL next week? Â 🙂
I think the key point in what Jeremy was saying is that Digital and Social will end up merging. Which I also believe.
In fact I’m going to throw another wrench into all of this. I think an often overlooked “department” is Customer Service and Customer Experience Strategy. These guys have always understood that the customer is central to all business activities, and that all of the brand touch points need to be aligned to give the most value (monetary, utility, emotional) to the customer in order to succeed.
Only if competence is then measured as technical capabilities.
I really appreciate that social media agencies (just like PR agencies) are a key component of the communications ecosystem. But to take it that level higher those companies will need to bolster their creative technology capabilities to really stand out.Â
Great post. This is an eye opener for so many social media folks who view social media as mere PR and not as an advertising platform. For more please read this post by me on this link for how effective social media advertising can be from an efficacy standpoint of view as well as trust stand point of view http://t.co/Olc1qct4
Great post. This is an eye opener for so many social media folks who view social media as mere PR and not as an advertising platform. For more please read this post by me on this link for how effective social media advertising can be from an efficacy standpoint of view as well as trust stand point of view http://t.co/Olc1qct4
Totally agree. And I’d even say if you are not in a state of bolstering your creative technology capabilities – then you are comfortable with cutting key ingredients to a recipe that’s growing in demand.
Totally agree. And I’d even say if you are not in a state of bolstering your creative technology capabilities – then you are comfortable with cutting key ingredients to a recipe that’s growing in demand.
I agree with the trending Jason. Another perspective to consider from the social media agency side relates to the data and recommendations. Here’s two scenarios to the point:
1. The (competent) social media agency delivers insights from data other agencies aren’t focused on. Other agencies are then informed by these insights, with an opportunity to creatively respond in the form of content creation and/or ad adjustments.
Budget is allocated accordingly (not to the social media agency), and the heroes at the end of the day are the ones who actually executed against the insights delivered.
2. Again, due to the data/insights and natural necessity of “keeping up” – a competent social media agency is often in the position to make good and unique recommendations.
Now ask yourself this: where will companies place greater weight? A recommendation from the agency who is managing millions of dollars on their behalf – or the agency that always brings up neato stuff but gets only a sliver of the marketing budget pie.
I can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard our own recommendations recycled by the big agencies we’ve shared clients with — in several cases, even more than a year later. And yes, the client is generally more on board with moving forward when it’s coming from the big dog.
To be clear, this is not complaining. Rather, it is the state of things from my own experience – and another example of why we see the “industry” going where it is.
Yes indeed. The ad side of the industry wins because they will get the budgets.Â
I won’t comment on our agencies but I can assure you that we work with different agencies, vendors, and consultancies for different efforts.Â
I won’t comment on our agencies but I can assure you that we work with different agencies, vendors, and consultancies for different efforts.Â
The social validation of Facebook advertising ( “X person likes X company” statement that appears under the ads ) is a very powerful tool for advertisers. But it is important to remember that advertising is interruptive for the most part. Persuasion, not necessarily “advertising” will find a way in this world of push notifications and the networked marketplace.
Hi Jeremiah — We’re 8 years into the “term” social media and i believe it still means many things to many people.  I think what’s core going forward is the agency of the future (or today) has to be adept in socially-centric, data driven approaches. This means being part technology company, part management consultancy (since effective social requires integration/collaboration/agility across the enterprise in ways that haven’t been done before), and of course more traditional agency services. Paid, owned, earned is collapsing. Best agencies will be “real time,” story tellers who can find insights in the noise and act on them more quickly than others for competitive advantage.  Is that social media?  Time will tell. I’ve advocated for removing the “social” but then that leaves “media agency” — and it’s certainly not that..  But until agencies see the full picture and have capabilities in them — as opposed to seeing social through the prism of a particular discipline — social agencies will continue to grow. The internal change management capabilities will becoming increasingly important as well which falls out of traditional agency capabilities.
Fascinating stuff. What™s particularly interesting is that the
digital agencies™ reign was so short. I can understand the traditional
agencies getting eclipsed, but the digital ones had a very short stay on
the throne. As the buying becomes a commodity (like everything else, as
Francine pointed out), the only thing that seems secure is the strategy
role. Seems like a great time to be McKinsey or BCG“ clients should
spend money on the hard, leverageable part (the thinking), and outsource
the creative and the media buying to low-cost providers. (Why not send
the media buying jobs overseas?)
Whoever collects and synthesizes those elusive case studies into real
capital-K Knowledge will be able to sell a whole lot to clients
desperate for help.
I think the thing that makes the new advertising channels effective for marketers is that they are MUCH cheaper than traditional advertising (such as the billboards) but also they are easy to target niche markets, which can yield better results for each dollar spent. There is also the ability to track and test the ads, which traditional advertising has never really been able to give us to such a degree. I think it’s good news that this type of advertising is making headway, though I agree no one wants to see a giant ad in their newsfeed, on the other hand we as a society need to realize that advertising is what subsidizes things like our $2 bus rides and our usage of free software….like Facebook and Twitter.