Big Agency: Social Cred Scorecard

7 comments

1. Rick,

   Thanks for validating something I knew in my heart. (How’s your new gig there?)

   Jonathan,

   As usual, you hit the nail on the head when you say too much emphasis is put on these kinds of scorecards. The quality, creativity and authenticity of the messages we develop for our clients are the keys to their successful engagements. Now, how do you measure that?

   In the interim, I do believe that in order to help clients navigate the social graph, it might just be important to be engaged in it yourself.

   Thanks. Hope to see you soon,

   Peter

2. BTW, Peter, when i first tried to post my earlier comment, Blogger rejected it with an err msge saying it was too long. I thought that was strange, but in any case, I went ahead and posted my comment on the Ketchum Blog [ http://bit.ly/b4oDbt ] with links to direct readers back here to your blog.

   Thanks again for the thought provoking post!

3. Hey Peter,

   I get the meme, and like you, I feel the weight of the emphasis so many around us place on quantity — whether that’s the number of site visits, fans, friends, followers, tweets, or even impressions or column inches, among other data points. Quantitative measures are no doubt a part of the equation – and an important part, at that. (I’m not sure how my 879 FB friends factor in, but FWIW, you can feel free to add them to my scorecard.) The beauty of the digital era is that we have access to just about any data point we could possibly want. It’s a quant jock’s paradise!

   But don’t you agree that a critical part of our job, as arguably evolved digital citizens and counselors, is to help our clients and colleagues look beyond the numbers and focus more on the QUALITY of the thinking (actual thought leadership), the richness of the engagement, and the value that it generates for our organizations and causes?

   As you point out, it’s way too easy to pump numbers. Moreover, even a lazy thinker can pose as a player and engage in superficial self-promotion by merely linking to and/or reposting what others are saying.

   Unfortunately, the result is that too much of the social web has devolved into an echo chamber clogged with too many self-styled “gurus” quoting, reposting and linking to each other rather than offering new ideas that propel the conversation forward in a meaningful way.

   Here’s an ironic twist: even within the context of your post and our collective comments, we’ve essentially got a bunch of us talking to each other about ourselves and how much we’re talking (or not). It’s the mirror looking back at the mirror. If that’s engagement, I think we have to admit that it’s also a bit of navel gazing.

   Again, numbers are a part of the story. But, to my mind, the meatier matters – which are, albeit, more difficult to measure — include strategy, insight, ideas, innovation, message, creativity, and depth of relationships.

   So I say it’s time for a time out on the numbers obsession. If we can’t keep the focus on quality over quantity, I don’t know how we’ll ever help our clients and colleagues to do the same.

   Who’s with me? Can I get a head count? ☺

4. Hey Peter,

   I can assure you that my decision to hire David had nothing to do with his base of followers at that time, and everything to do with why those people, you among them, chose to follow him.

   Cheers,

   Rick

5. David (and Clay) –

   I amended the post to minimize the implication that your # of twitter followers was the primary determinant for your gainful employment at edelman. I’m one of those followers, and believe you me, it’s clear you bring MUCH more to that agency than that.

   Best,

   PH

6. Hey Peter,

   Interesting post, but I’ll disagree with the point about David Armano & Edelman.

   In addition to his industry experience, David has a very successful blog (Logic & Emotion is ranked #21 on AdAge Power 150), writes for Harvard Business Review, is an renowned public speaker, etc.

   Anyone can game # of twitter followers. You can’t game AdAge’s Power 150 and David’s other experience.

   Edelman knows this and hired him for these things…..not his 31K twitter followers.

   -Clay

7. Interesting post indeed. I like to think that my 14 years of professional plays a nice sidecar to my 31+k followers, but hey whatever works. 🙂

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