Yesterday, I attended three sessions at the 2015 Social Media Week in Bangalore and came away with more questions than answers on how this evolving domain is viewed by agencies, brands and consumers. #SMW15
Here are a sample of questions that audiences raised while three leaders from digital agencies explained integrating social media with communication, the digital vs traditional agency model conundrum and social influence.
- How do you tackle negative feedback on social media?
- How can we identify and enlist social media influencers?
- What can we do to know our own influence?
- Is social media a part of digital?
- Is it cheaper to use social media?
- Do brands really need to be on social media?
Many who attended (I gathered from the show of hands) had public relations, advertising, brand and client side experiences to boot and yet were struggling to comprehend what it takes to get familiar this medium. The agencies which presented had key words like ‘i’, ‘digital’ and ‘social’ affixed to their names, probably lending credibility and differentiation from offline counterparts.
A lot of questions asked sought basic, quick-fix solutions to everyday challenges practitioners managing brands or accounts face. Not surprisingly, the responses they received made attempts to offer consulting on the go with references to tools and resources which were available for free or a fee. The agencies seemed to love what they heard and many were keen to take the conversations ‘offline’. I could even sense a strong undercurrent of disdain for those from the ‘traditional’ part of an agency.
These are what I took away from the sessions:
- The understanding of what social media is and can deliver is quite ambiguous.
- None of the presentations I listened to had any research led insights. Most were personal viewpoints or perspectives shaped by client work they handled or heard of.
- I would have loved to understand more about how agencies and brands can tap into behavioral and neuro science studies to get ahead of customer and user expectations.
- Employees were barely mentioned as consumers or influencers. One presenter alluded to the set as ‘another’ group to be aware of!
- One presenter attempted proposing a new model for an agency – a brave move indeed. After spending a couple of years on the agency side I could see why a change in structure was so necessary. The role of the account management or client servicing still looked very fuzzy and it seems like digital agencies were taking the lead to change that perception.
- A couple of speakers discussed why a brand needed to focus on the product and not be ‘present’ on social media for the sake of the audience or the medium. They admitted that content, technology, authenticity and engagement drove connection and brand preference. They also recommended staying away from social media if the culture within wasn’t ready for negative feedback or if criticism meant ‘going after’ and taking down comments of those who made the most noise!
Social Media Week seems to doing the right thing of surfacing relevant topics that matter and bridging the gap for those who want to make this medium work. An eye-opener indeed.
