Part Order, Part Chaos: How Social Media Fits into the Modern Ad Agency (And Your Marketing Plan)

Whether a college-level intern or a seasoned Mad Man, many industry professionals understand the traditional advertising agency is broken down by accounts and creatives. The account team thoughtfully cultivates client relationships and manages internal workflow to ensure each product produced reflects the brand’s identity and the agency’s ingenuity. The creative team masterfully designs compelling campaigns within the client’s constraints. At Planit, we’ve affectionately titled this symbiotic relationship Order (Accounts) and Chaos (Creatives). Project scope and budgeting, that’s order. Stunning product photography, that’s chaos. Winning website widgets, chaos. A creative yet sound strategy, order. Even as advertising continues to evolve – whether from primarily print to digital domination or as leisurely client lunches shift to Zoom check-ins, the division of order and chaos will continue to weather decades of advertising cycles.

So where does social media fit in?

Caption copy – must be chaos. But strategizing with the brand – isn’t that order? How about responding to customer inquiries, friendly comments, complaints, reposts, tags, shares, etc. etc. etc.

As an established advertising vehicle, social media is equal parts order and chaos.

So why would a brand consider an agency partner over your incoming intern to handle its social media? A creative social media agency has the capacity to analyze trends, communicate recommendations to brands, and execute the plan. On the order side, social media professionals have to collaborate with brands and present ideas in a way that satisfies the client’s needs. On the chaos side, social pros are executing campaigns, sometimes in the moment filtering, stitching, producing organic advertising that will actually appear to users despite evolving algorithms.

Here’s why your brand needs a social media partner that simultaneously preserves order and perseveres through chaos:

ORDER

• Monitor trends – there is always something new to try on social media. But will your brand be able to capitalize on TikTok trends or is your conversation better kept on LinkedIn? It takes an entire team to keep tabs on your competitors, research emerging social networks, and identify where your brand can win. Just because there’s a hot new platform doesn’t mean your brand needs to be on it.
• Source opportunities – does your brand see a lot of user-generated content or could an influencer partnership give it a boost? If your fans are already sharing your content for free, you may not need to invest in an influencer. If you need help with digital word-of-mouth, we can identify and introduce you to an influencer that matches your brand’s aesthetic and reaches a critical audience. As an agency, we have established relationships with influencers and a catalog of potential matches waiting to promote your product.
• PR crossover – we expand earned media coverage with social sharing. Bonus points for tagging journalists and publications! Social media often crosses over into PR and our department is staffed to build beneficial relationships with the press and share the news.
• Prove what’s working, fix what’s not – social media management does not succeed with a set it and forget it mentality. A strong social media strategy depends on the data to back it up, and our robust reporting helps us identify what works for your brand (and what needs to change).

CHAOS

• Capture the moment – whether we’re doing the legwork or directing a content creator, capturing content in the moment is critical to your brand’s relevancy. Count on us to be on-site for events, interview employees, and share news as it happens.
• Start a conversation – if you’re not social, it’s just media. Ask questions, address your audience, engagement works both ways! Consumers care about brand identity and identify with brands that care about them.
• Connect with consumers – our community managers stay on top of customer communication to make sure needs are addressed, complaints are curbed, and your audience knows how much you care.
• Be brave – there’s a reason they call us creative, change agents. What may not fly as a mainstream commercial could be your next viral Reel. Trust us to bring ideas to the table, and together we will bring them to life.

Walking the line between Order and Chaos is part of the excitement about working with a social media agency. Our team is ready to disrupt the order and contain the chaos – whatever it takes to amplify your brand voice and reach the right listeners.