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Chris Brogan, a respected authority on social media strategy, said he didn’t recommend outsourcing social to agencies during Social Media Marketing World this week. (Cue the shouts of disapproval from agencies.)

Chris Brogan at his “You Aren’t Going to Like This: Social Media Isn’t the Answer” session during SMMW13.

I kind of agree with him.

Before you recommend I start revamping my LinkedIn profile, let me explain. Kind of is the operative term.

I also kind of think he’s wrong.

The biggest challenge with agencies, Chris said, is in them having (or not having) the cultural code of the brand. I agree that it’s the most vital asset for a social media agency partnership.

Wait. Did I say agency partnership? Weren’t we talking about outsourcing to a third party?

If you’re setting up to “outsource,” you absolutely won’t get meaningful results. But if you look for a strong partnership, you’ll likely find more success than you could on your own.

Am I just arguing semantics here? Nope – there is a fundamental difference.

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Moosylvania has descended upon Social Media Examiner‘s Social Media Marketing World conference. Between the tweets, vines and Instagrammed photos, we’ve noticed a few emerging social media strategy trending topics among the speakers and side conversations.

You can follow @moosylvania for real-time updates and subscribe to blog for upcoming in-depth blog posts, but in the meantime, here’s a quick preview of what we’re talking about in San Diego.

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Certain topics are sure to spark passionate discourse, so we were excited to build a social media strategy around a classic one: Cats or Dogs? Pet owner or not, everyone has an opinion.

This week, we helped launch America’s Pet Debate, presented by Purina and designed to celebrate pet ownership and engage pet owners using social media.

The goal of the campaign is to get people voting and talking – about the campaign and to one another. So with our wide target spread across several social networks, how did we build our social media strategy? With three key things in mind:

1. Make it easy to talk about.

If we want people to talk, let’s give them the tools and guide them at every touchpoint. Browse through America’s Pet Debate site, and every time you engage, you’ll be prompted to share – when you vote, submit a comment on the Meet the Candidates page, take the quiz and even when you check to see which way your state is swaying on the Current Results page.

2. Give people tools for social advocacy.

Whether it’s a Twitter profile picture, Facebook cover photo or simply an image shared on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest – consumers use social media to define themselves. They want content with badge value, that gets them positive attention from their social network. So we created a gallery of downloads, designed specifically to create social badge value, that allow users to declare themselves as Team Cat, Team Dog or a general love for both.

3. Tailor content to each network.

We use different social networks for different reasons and in different ways. Pinterest is great for discovery, Facebook for connecting with friends, Twitter for keeping up with influencers, Instagram for visual stimulation.

So in developing content for a social media strategy, we should tailor it to the network – and to what consumers expect when they log in to each network.

Our editorial calendar for this campaign is quite a beast, but it allows us to make sure that everything we push out is perfect for its respective network, ladders up to our campaign strategy and objectives and that we surprise and delight consumers who follow us on multiple networks. We don’t want to simply push out the same thing through four different networks – we want to provide them unique, relevant content at every turn. Go ahead and Like us on Facebook, then Follow us on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram to see what we mean.

What do you think is key to an impactful social media strategy? Let us know in the comments below. And don’t forget to weigh in and vote for Team Dog or Team Cat daily until November 9, when we announce the winner of America’s Pet Debate.

We’re a creative bunch at Moosylvania. And we regularly harness our creativity to develop smart work for our clients. But we also know how tapping into our creative sides can be used as an avenue for exploring emotions, for teaching and most importantly, for healing.

Which is why we were more than happy to scrounge up our remaining Art for Joplin limited edition prints for a silent auction benefiting Art Feeds.
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