As UGC has become a critical piece to brand strategy, it’s only natural that Bazaarvoice has begun working much closer with those who help guide some of the brands we work with: agencies. This month, we’re pleased feature Shiv Singh, one of the more recognized voices in the social media arena, who currently serves as Vice President, Social Media & Global Strategic Initiatives at Avenue A|Razorfish (AA|RF). Shiv and the rest of the team at AA|RF have done a great job in digging into some of the trends in social influence marketing, and helping clients understand how to piece it all together in a way that’s meaningful and measurable. They also have a great new site that’s all about brand transparency – you can watch them at work! We hope you enjoy the interview.

1. What percentage of your client engagements has a social media/commerce component? What do you see as the recurring themes, goals, and challenges of these engagements?

Practically every client of ours across all industries is asking us about social media in its various forms. This wasn’t the case a year ago.

We trigger some of this dialogue as we make our clients more comfortable with employing social influencers and social media to meet their marketing and business objectives, or what we call Social Influence Marketing. (Click to see how SIM ties to peer influences and customer acquisition.) But other times, a client simply realizes that the web has fundamentally changed. The realization often plays out like this: first, a sense of panic takes hold inside the enterprise, which then translates into lots of experiments, disappointment, and bemusement. Finally the enterprise realizes that a more holistic and strategic approach is needed — an approach where the focus is not on the platforms but on consumer behavior and how social influence can be harnessed for greater benefit. At that point, clients might come back to us to help them connect the dots across all customer touch points and at different stages in the marketing funnel.

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