This week, brand marketers descended on Austin for SXSW Interactive in a bigger mass than ever before. Most are grappling with how to incorporate social media into their marketing plans. They face a decision on how much to insource and how much to outsource.
Last week, Chrysler revealed some of the risks of outsourcing, when someone at their social media agency accidentally tweeted the f-bomb from the Chrysler brand Twitter account instead of their personal Twitter account. This tweet also referenced Chrysler’s Motor City campaign.
Accidents do happen, and can happen of course even when social media is insourced. Yet what this accidental tweet reveals is the machinations behind the curtain of social media. Brand teams, communication teams, and agency teams are all juggling for control over the social media voice of a brand. Figuring out the right role for everyone is complicated.
I found useful perspective from Conversation Agent Valeria Maltoni on whether, when, and how brands should outsource social media: “Should You Outsource Social Media“.
There is room for a team approach, but brands should think carefully about what to insource and what to outsource, particularly in content development.
Social media alone won’t make a brand more authentic. Also, you can’t outsource authenticity.
Ann Stone says
March 14, 2011 at 5:48 amTom, this is SO true! Social media is like any marketing communication – too important to be “left to someone else.”
Ian McKee says
March 14, 2011 at 7:45 amWhoa .. hold up a min. The extension of this is that brands should never outsource anything to specialists.
They would do their own creative – rather than outsource to an ad agency who could not care about their brand
They would do their own branding and CI – rather than outsource to a branding agency who could not care about their brand
There is no reason that a specialist agency cant help brands develop strategies enage in social media, provide tools and platforms to help them and even support then with community management and social media analytics while their get headcount approved and people hired and trained.
Sorry – Tom. Beg to differ with you on this one
Disclosure: I am CEO of a Social Media Agency (www.vocanic.com)
tomfishburne says
March 14, 2011 at 7:58 amHey Ian,
Great points!
I’m not saying that they should never outsource to social media specialists. I’m saying they should think carefully what aspects to outsource and what aspects to insource. There are tradeoffs to outsourcing, particularly for companies that want to outsource everything, an arm’s length client mindset I often hear. Adding a social media program is not as simple as adding an FSI or direct marketing program. Social media is more fundamental and needs a greater level of client involvement, particularly if communicating authenticity as a goal of the program.
Great feedback, thanks!
-Tom
Jen says
March 14, 2011 at 12:12 pmThere’s nothing wrong with outsourcing your social media, in fact, it can be a huge benefit for the small business owner who doesn’t have the time or expertise to maintain their social media accounts regularly. It is possible for an agency to embrace the brand and communicate with authenticity. In this case, someone was probably using tweetdeck (which is notorious for switching back to the default account while you are typing for another). It was a mistake and mistakes happen.
-Jen (also a founder of a social media agency! jenmediaware.com)
Ted Simon says
March 14, 2011 at 7:25 pmTom,
Once again you have stirred the pot with a single, pithy frame. Both sides of the coin hold validity. Like most things in marketing, it’s less a matter of absolutes and more a matter of what’s right for the situation.
Having said that, I do have an opinion.
IMO, the voice of a company and brand, as well as its participation in conversations relevant to it and its community, is an important strategic asset. Those types of assets tend to be best managed from within the company, where speed, insight, nuances, etc. best reside. It’s also more genuine (again, IMO), and that’s a huge part of credibility in the social sphere.
That’s not to say outside resources can’t help, and some times help a lot (I started my career at Leo Burnett, and I know what we contributed as an agency to our clients and brands). But at the end of the day, in the long run, the strategic asset best resides within the brand itself.
James Scott says
April 19, 2011 at 8:27 amNever, never, never ever outsource Social Media. Social Media Consultants will kill your brand.