Download Look For Social Marketing Best Practices

Selecting a partner for your social marketing needs can be a daunting task. As the industry moves at warp-speed and
mobile platforms all begin to look alike, it’s more important than ever to cut through the clutter and identify what truly
differentiates one vendor from another in their ability to deliver long-term digital marketing success.
The questions in this guide cover important social topics that a company should consider when selecting a social
provider, including:

Reliability

Multi-channel Capabilities

Capabilities within Listening, Engagement and Publishing

Tracking / Reporting tools

Scalable structure
In addition to the enclosed RFP questions, below is a checklist to help you select the vendor that’s right for your
business.
Look for a Digital Marketing Solution
Gone are the days of running social campaigns independently of other marketing campaigns. Social is known for
driving traffic from one marketing channel such as email, mobile, or sites, to another. Pursuing a digital marketing
solution provider will help you achieve one view of the customer across multiple messaging channels.
Look for a Social Marketing Expert
Your social vendor should be dedicated to the social channel and have a solid understanding of:
I.
Industry best practices and trends
II.
The most popular, current, social networks; like Twitter and Facebook
III.
Up to date changes and fluctuations with key capabilities on key social networks like Twitter and
Facebook
IV.
The five keys of social media management: Listening, Engagement, Publishing, Measurement and
Scale
V.
Have a good reputation with a solid list of clients
Look for a Product and Services Mix
Companies that offer a combination of products and services will truly adapt to your needs using their expertise in
both areas. The mix should include capabilities such as:
I.
Strategy and implementation services
II.
Tracking and reporting functionality
III.
Secure platform and Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
Look For Social Marketing Best Practices
Social marketing campaigns, though easy to create, have many moving parts and it’s critical to select a vendor that
has in-house social marketing expertise and knowledge of industry best practices.
Build a Better Social RFP |
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Recommended RFP Questions
Important Company Information
1.
Tell us about your company’s background. That includes your company’s history or ownership structure.
2.
Present your company’s financials.
3.
Provide biographies of your company’s executive team.
4.
Describe your global presence. How do your social products and services enable multi-channel marketing
for a global organisation with multiple brands, geographic areas, and/or lines of business?
5.
Describe your approach to thought leadership and global research. What types of research did you publish
in the past year? How is it distributed?
Collaboration on Strategy
1.
What current trends do you see in social marketing around the world?
2.
Does your company offer strategic services for clients? If so, describe them.
3.
What process or methodology do you employ to grow an organisation’s program over time?
4.
Describe current client success you have had with your social products.
a.
Provide an example of how you have achieved success for a global organisation and what results
they achieved.
b.
Provide an example of how you quantifiably improved a client’s social program.
Augmentation with Current Technology
1.
Provide an overview and details of your social offering.
2.
What type of social programs do marketers typically run using your social platform?
a.
Customer Service (SE)
b.
Outbound marketing (SE)
c.
Contests / Sweepstakes (SP)
d.
Sign-up (SP)
3.
What types of tools do you provide to produce and manage content in your application?
4.
Please provide whitepapers, case studies, or examples of your current clients, showing how you improved
their programs.
5.
How can you help us ensure that our social program is within industry best practices? Are there any specific
engagement best practices that you have found to be most important in maintaining relationships with social
customers?
6.
Provide an overview and details of your product roadmap.
Build a Better Social RFP |
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7.
8.
Does your technology platform rely on a third party to operate its social solutions? If so, with whom and for
what services?
a.
Twitter
b.
Facebook
c.
Klout
d.
Bit.ly
Does your technology platform partner with other third party social media management tools? If so, whom
and for what capabilities?
Tracking & Reporting
1.
What type of tracking and reporting capabilities do you offer? What type of data can you help us track? Can
you give us examples of these reports?
2.
Does your system create a single view of the customer and provide details of how they interact with
messages through multiple channels (email, mobile, social media, etc.)?
3.
Describe your capabilities to report on an individual’s engagement with a brand over time.
a.
Conversation History
Digital marketing Capabilities
1.
Can your company independently provide social, SMS, and email services? Can they be integrated?
2.
How can we maintain multiple conversations with one customer through different channels? What tools do
you offer to support this?
Services & Training
1.
Describe the process for implementing a new client and the training you provide to onboard global
organisations with multiple brands, geographic areas, and/or lines of business.
2.
How do you support the service needs with your solution?
5.
Explain how you provide global clients with access to training, documentation, and client support.
6.
Do you offer complementary client educational opportunities on market trends and best practices?
7.
Do you offer a mobile application?
Overall Pricing
1.
Describe your pricing structure for a client.
Build a Better Social RFP |
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