Seat at the Table

I’m glad that this was said in a public forum like ZDNet though frustrated that the media telling the social media part of the PR industry (or any part, for that matter)

No social media decision should be led with tool selection. Companies need to first consider their corporate objectives, then determine where their customers, partners and competitors are, and also consider how such use of tools ties to the corporate culture

This was based on the results of companies taking a survey on their agency’s performance.  The quote was, in part, the result of companies not seeing their agencies as looking at the broader universe of media to make sure they were targeting the right places for he audience (and not just what is hot…like Twitter).

Agencies should be focused on working with a company to determine what their desired reputation is, determine the business actions that need to be taken to deserve that reputation, and then effectively communicate both the strategic reputation goals of the company  and the business actions that back up those goals.   Only in the last part should social media tools be considered (and used if research says its the right way to go.

But maybe the agencies are doing the right job.  The ZDNet writer has now posted a survey for agencies.  I took it and am looking forward to seeing the results.  You can find it at http://blogs.zdnet.com/feeds/?p=605.