So you’ve decided to take the big leap into the world of Social Media. You have your Twitter background designed, your name chosen and it’s all systems go. The only thing left to decide is who is going to be Tweeting. Does your digital agency run the account for you, or do you appoint someone internally?

While the answer to this big question is certainly not clear cut, there are a few pros and cons for each that you can consider before making your choice. As an agency we offer, but do not push, to run Twitter accounts for our clients. In the end, it is up to you to decide if you want to have the control or hand it over to your agency.

Pros of your agency running your Twitter account:

• Dedicated and accountable management – A Social Media campaign manager is much like a PPC campaign manager, dedicated to running an efficient campaign and held accountable via monthly reporting.
• Expertise – Most likely a Social Media campaign manager will know, through experience, more about Social Media than you do. They will know what works, what doesn’t work and will in all probability be able to grow your Twitter account the quickest. In the end you are buying their experience and knowledge of the industry.
• Peace of mind – You may like the idea of handing over the reins to a professional instead of sweating over the account yourself. For some this is peace of mind.
• Increased performance – This is not necessarily true for all instances, but it is a possibility as you will be handing the account over to a trained professional who knows all the tricks and tools of the trade. Learning time is reduced, as all the campaign manger needs to learn about is your brand.

While it may seem like a good idea at this point to throw in the towel and give the power over to your agency, these cons might change your mind:

• Unfamiliarity – No one can know your brand as well as you do. This means that whoever runs your Twitter account needs to get to know your brand very well.
• Loss of control – Whatever your reason for handing over the account to your agency, there will always be a certain degree of control loss. This is inevitable as you can’t watch the campaign manager intently all the time. If you do you might as well be running the account yourself.
• Loss of brand personality – More often than not, if a brand wants their agency to run their Twitter account, they will not want a personality associated with the Tweets. This means that the Tweets will be faceless, and could lack the kind of personality that Social Media thrives off.

Nothing in Social Media is ever black and white, but there are definitely instances when it is better to run your own account and when it is better to hand it over to your agency. If you are a small company of less than 50 employees, it’s probably best to run your Twitter account yourself. You are small enough to give the company a real voice and personality.

If you are a large firm with many employees, divisions and offices around the world, it is much harder to run your own account. Firstly, who do you choose? Do you let a lowly intern assume the position, or does someone higher take the reins? Either way you’re losing, as the intern probably knows very little about Social Media and the company, and the executive does not have the time to tend to the account. This is when peace of mind starts to look quite inviting.

There is, of course, another option – you run the Twitter account with the help of your agency. Your agency can supply you with readings and documents on Twitter protocol, help you develop goals for the account and generally guide you until you ‘get it’. Because, let's face it, Social Media is not rocket science. All it requires is boldness, and the willingness to try new things.

If you are still undecided on what to do, here are a few examples of Twitter accounts run by company employees:

Zappos:

I know this example is overused, but there is a reason for that. They are just so good at Social Media. The CEO writes the Tweets and they are incredibly personal.

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Ford:

As personal as you can get - Ford’s head of Social Media, Scott Monty, has actually assimilated his personal account with Ford’s Twitter account. Very open and transparent, Scott has over 36 000 followers.

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The Travel Channel:

The account is run by Pete Dorogoff, who works in Digital Marketing for the television channel. Pete obviously knows a thing or two about Social media, as he has managed to grow the account to 15 000 followers over the short period of a year.

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Also check out:

• How to Gain Adoring Twitter Followers
• A Corporate Crash Course in Twitter