The rise of social media as an accepted marketing platform has brought with it a predictable rise in the companies that market “social media services.”  The land grab that is taking place has the potential to confuse an industry that is just in its infancy.

There are large digital agencies, advertising firms, branding firms, PR agencies and social media shops that claim to all offer similar services.  How is a marketing manager supposed to decipher the differences between these types of agencies and decide which is best suited for the job?

This isn’t an issue unique to the world of pharmaceutical marketing.  In all industries, companies are coming out of the woodwork with promises of improving social media engagement in (INSERT YOUR INDUSTRY OF CHOICE).  But the issue does threaten to gain a much stronger hold in pharma.  Why?  This is an industry that pumps money into traditional means of advertising and branding.  They are accustomed to dealing with the big conglomerates, so they are naturally inclined to stay with what’s comfortable.  Digital agencies and ad agencies are the natural choice to gain a piece of the emerging social media pie.  As a pharmaceutical marketing executive, you are faced with the same choice as any other industry—a bevy of options with no clear standout.  What type of agency should you go with?  Who is best suited to offer strategic counsel and tactical execution of a social media program?

My answer: it doesn’t matter.  Forget about, what type of agency you are considering and dig deeper into the types of services they offer.  B.L. Ochman wrote a piece today for Ad Age that suggests you ask two simple questions as a starting point: Do they have case studies to share?  And, do they walk the walk?  While that probably over simplifies the process a bit, I tend to agree.  Being and ad firm does not make you innately better at social media just like being a PR firm doesn’t lend added qualifications.

The land grab that is taking place around digital agencies, ad firms and PR shops is misguided.  In fact, the constant debate is probably causing us to miss major opportunities to work together.  There are many areas where these types of firms could partner to form a stronger engagement strategy but have largely overlooked that option.  The jockeying for position is a wasted effort.  Instead of spending time proving why a certain type of agency is better for social media engagements with pharmaceutical companies, we should spend a little more time demonstrating our social media chops.