There has been much discussion within the fast growing social media engagement / online PR space about how to be effective and actually deliver great results. So we put together a hit list of selection criteria for engaging a Social Media or Online PR agency.
1. Do they walk the talk?
Does your social media agency actively engage is social media themselves? For example you could look and see if they are active participants in social networks (FaceBook, LinkedIn, MySpace), Social News (Digg, Reddit, NewsVine), Social Bookmarking (Del.icio.us, furl) and Social Micro Communities (Twitter, Pownce etc).
2. Can they demonstrate measurable success from past Social Media Marketing campaigns?
Just like web marketing, social media marketing and online pr is 100% measurable and trackable. As a result any quality social media agency should be able to clearly demonstrate measurable success for their past clients as well as show you campaigns that are in action today.
3. Are they engaging in User Generated Content as an agency?
Does your social media agency produce and participate in User Generated Content? For example they should probably by default have a business blog, but do their staff have blogs? Do they have a Podcast? Do they create video content for a Web TV show or on youtube/vimeo/viddler? Your agency and its staff should ideally be active participants in creating user generated content.
4. Your agency should be aware of the changes in social media?
As quickly as social media has become a viable business opportunity for marketing and communications – it is changing. Emerging Social Media influences and Social Media Channels are happening everyday. Social Media isnt just digg, youtube and facebook. Sites like uStream, Pownce and Tumblr as well as niche channels like GreyDoorBooks.com are emerging everyday – and these sites matter!
5. Which social media channels will be engaged?
There are more than 240 major social media sites and growing fast. Your agency should have a statistically sound mechanism for identifying which Social Media sites will have the most effective impact for your customers and sales demographics. With out a clear methodology for evaluating, reporting and engaging the different Social Media channels you may be blowing marketing and PR dollars into the wind.
6. How will Social Media Campaigns be reported?
How will your agency track and report Social Media successes and failures? If Social Media marketing is about engaging in consumer conversations to gain influence, then which conversations where engaged in, and how much influence was or wasn’t gained? This needs to be collected, analysed and reported.
It’s also important to understand that Social Media metrics also are entirely distinct from traditional web metrics. Your offsite consumer engagement is not measured by your unique homepage views or other traditional web statistics package. What metrics will your agency use to measure success?
There is as much to learn from Social Media as a market research and brand insights channel as much as there is for quick wins on the marketing and PR front. How does your agency ensure their reporting reflects that? The model of “trust us we’re the experts” doesn’t cut it in an age of transparency, measurability and accountability in social media marketing and online PR.
7. What is your Social Media Agency’s point of difference?
Many digital marketing and traditional PR agencies are quickly rebranding their existing services as Social Media Optimisation or Social Media Marketing etc etc, but are these agencies just putting new words on old techniques?
It is fairly clear that old methodologies for consumer engagement dont really work online. Transparency and Authenticity are key. So, why is your agency different to all the other marketing noise on social media?
8. Social Media Marketing isn’t an external event, it’s an ongoing part of your company communications
Make sure that the agency you engage isn’t selling a one off campaign package. Social Media engagement from an agency is as an ongoing process that leverages your internal people and processes and makes a path of change internally. Your company requires social media ambassadors ongoingly. A one time touring circus in social media is just as funny and equally forgettable.
9. Whats the ROI?
If your agency cant clearly demonstrate how Social Media Marketing will directly return value, and have a positive (or at least measurable) effect on the bottom line – you should find someone who will 
It has been argued in recent harvard business school research(PDF) that the quantity and quality of Online word of mouth (conversations in Social Media) has a direct effect on the future value of a brand or business. Interesting further reading.
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