Social Media Explosion

Just a few years ago we were emphasizing to our clients the importance and necessity of having a website. My, how times have already changed. Having a website is now the norm – it’s expected of a company, regardless of size, industry or purpose. 

Now we’ve moved into the next frontier: social media.

 

It’s crucial for businesses to participate in social media, as daunting and unfamiliar as it may seem. Social media has become essential to marketing strategies – it can be the linchpin of an entire campaign.

 

Michael Gass, writer of the marketing blog Fuel Lines, has discovered the four ways that social media had become incremental to the marketing world. Here are his suggestions, as stated in “Four Ways Social Media is Changing Advertising Agencies’ New Business.”  They apply equally to every company’s new business generation.

“1. A paradigm shift for how new business is acquired.

  2. SEO is now a critical part of new business strategy.

  3. An agency blog is a necessary component for marketing your strategies.  

  4. The growth of social media mandates agencies participation.”

 

So at Ellis-Harper, we’ve taken Michael’s advice.  We’ve moved our agency strategy into social media in these ways:

 

To demonstrate our knowledge of engaging folks with social media, we’ve jumped in feet first. We have active Twitter and Facebook accounts, along with a titillating blog on our company website. We’ve scoured the Facebook Marketing Bible, included Inside Facebook in our RSS Feeds and attended countless social media seminars and webinars. We’re prepared for anything that comes our way, and are looking forward to it, to be honest.  It’s a moving target, morphing daily and that’s what keeps us on our toes!

 

That said, of course, in every marketing strategy we are writing for our clients and new business, we’re moving Social Media to a higher position in the tactics.

 

Now you’re probably wondering the inevitable question: “How will I be charged for social media?” As noted by Gass in another Fuel Lines article, “A Guide for Ad Agencies: The Cost and Servicing of New Media,” social media is charged differently than traditional media. 

 

Digital and social media production are labor intensive and demand the resources of highly skilled and specialized staff. According to Joe Burton, COO of Universal McCann agency, social media production charges are “directionally double that of traditional full service agency fees.”  

 

You may not be comfortable with the idea of social media, but your advertising agency should be. In his article, Gass goes on to list a number of things to look for in your agency that suggest they can and will be successful in the new frontier.

 

According to Gass, here are a couple of the things to look for:

The agency should be using social media in their own business.

The agency discusses new and social media comfortably.

 

For Gass’s full article, entitled “Four Ways Social Media is Changing Advertising Agencies New Business,” visit http://fuelingnewbusiness.com/2008/12/30/the-number-1-fuel-lines-article-for-2008/.

 

For Gass’s full article, entitled “A Guide for Ad Agencies: The Cost and Servicing of New Media,” visit  http://fuelingnewbusiness.com/2009/03/18/a-guide-for-ad-agencies-the-cost-and-servicing-of-new-media/.

 

For Burton’s full article, entitled “Understanding the Economics of Digital Compared to Traditional Advertising and Media Services,” visit http://www.aaaa.org/eweb/upload/catalog/pdfs/MG18.pdf.