There is a post on Advertising age that talks about hiring a social media expert. You can read more about here.
Social Media is not new. The idea that you need an agency to manage facebook or twitter or any other web site or web 2.0 functionality is absurd.
If your own staff has time to share their thoughts and feelings on twitter than they can manage that so called "channel" on their own.
This new bandwagon is such a crock of bologne its not even funny. We were not hiring an agency to manage our Aol Chatrooms back in 1999.
We were not hiring an agency to manage our customer service department even though they talk to customers on the phone all day long!
The idea that you need an agency to communicate on the web is freaking absurd!
Get off your lazy asses and put up a blog and a forum on your own damn website and stop diluting your brand.
Why in the world do you need twitter and facebook to talk to your users.
If you want to buy ads on facebook because it has reach well great. Then treat it like a website and buy ads.
I love to see companies that do not even have a staffed customer service department worrying about Facebook and twitter so they can communicate with their users.
And this post B.L is useless. Nobody has proof of being a veteran social media agency? What is the proof? they built and launched a facebook app? Big freaking deal? They have 200,000 twitter followers? Big deal. There is no such thing as a veteran social media agency. Everyone is watching this unfold.
The internet is just getting better and easier for everyone to use and executives are just lost because there is so much to think about.
Focus on your own website and your own traffic and when you have mastered that than you can hire a so called "Social Media Agency"
** Another great post by Benkowitz **