Below is a curated, market-research style list of 20 leading social-media consulting firms and agencies. Each entry contains: company name, founders, founded year, headquarters, product / service categories, a ~100-word analytical description focused on strengths and typical use cases, and 5–8 crisp key features you can act on. Selection criteria: scale of social capability (strategy + creative + community + paid + tech), industry footprint, enterprise references, and evidence of innovation (platform products, AI/analytics, or notable creative work). Sources are cited after each profile.
VaynerMedia
Founders: Gary Vaynerchuk and AJ Vaynerchuk.
Founded: 2009.
Headquarters: New York, NY, USA.
Product categories: Social strategy & creative, social-first content production, influencer marketing, media buying, commerce/social-commerce consultancy.
Description
VaynerMedia is a high-velocity social-first agency built by a founder who’s a personal brand and content engine. The firm combines aggressive content production and platform-native creative with commerce and influencer activation for consumer brands and Fortune clients. They excel where brands need rapid culture-sensitive content, creator partnerships at scale, and direct-to-consumer social commerce tactics. Expect hands-on trend spotting, short production cycles, and measurable attention metrics rather than only traditional metrics. VaynerMedia is frequently engaged by teams that want to move fast on platform opportunities (TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts) and monetize followings.
Key features
- Rapid social-native creative factory (high volume, platform-native).
- Deep creator/influencer network and talent management.
- Integrated media buying + organic strategy.
- Strong emphasis on commerce and ROI measurement.
- Playbooks for fast trend exploitation (TikTok, short-form).
- Executive thought-leadership and community amplification.
Hoot suite
Founders: Ryan Holmes, Dario Meli, David Tedman.
Founded: 2008.
Headquarters: Vancouver, Canada.
Product categories: Social management platform, publishing, listening, analytics, enterprise governance & training.
Description
Hootsuite is best known as a social media management platform with an attached professional services arm that delivers strategy, governance, and training for global teams. Their consulting practice centers on platform consolidation, enterprise governance frameworks, workflow automation (approvals, publishing), and cross-channel analytics. For organizations moving from point solutions to a governed social program, Hootsuite combines product capabilities with implementation playbooks and change management – useful for regulated industries or large enterprises that need centralized controls while enabling many local teams.
Key features
- Enterprise social management + governance.
- Centralized publishing + approvals workflows.
- Social listening and crisis playbooks.
- Training & certification for in-house teams.
- Integrations with CRM and helpdesk systems.
Sprout Social
Founders: Justyn Howard, Aaron Rankin, Gil Lara, Peter Soung.
Founded: 2010.
Headquarters: Chicago, IL, USA.
Product categories: Social management platform, analytics & reporting, social CRM, employee advocacy, publishing.
Description
Sprout Social combines a polished SaaS platform with strategic services for brands that want tighter alignment between social operations and customer experience. Their consulting typically focuses on social CX design, measurement frameworks, and operationalizing social as a customer-service channel. Sprout is a fit for midsize and enterprise teams that want a blend of platform automation and strategic measurement (engagement ROI, responder SLAs, sentiment insights). Their services emphasize turning social into a dependable channel for support, retention, and advocacy.
Key features
- Social-centric CX and SLA design.
- Unified reporting dashboards and executive scorecards.
- Automation for routing and message triage.
- Employee advocacy and advocacy measurement.
- Implementation + ongoing optimization services.
Sprinklr
Founder: Ragy Thomas.
Founded: 2009.
Headquarters: New York, NY, USA (global operations).
Product categories: Enterprise CXM (social listening, engagement, advertising, care), AI analytics, social data platform.
Description
Sprinklr positions itself as an enterprise-grade Customer Experience Management (CXM) platform with deep social capabilities. Their consulting practice addresses cross-functional use cases – marketing, care, research, and legal/compliance – where teams must respond at scale across dozens of channels. Sprinklr is suited to large global brands needing unified data, AI-backed insights, and governance across regions. Their work often involves operational redesign: consolidating vendor stacks, standardizing response playbooks, and integrating social signals into enterprise analytics and CRM.
Key features
- Unified enterprise CX platform across channels.
- AI for routing, sentiment and trend detection.
- Scalable governance & compliance tools.
- Cross-team workflows (marketing → care → legal).
- Strong enterprise integrations (CRM, ERP).
Emplifi (previously Socialbakers)
Predecessor/founder reference: Socialbakers founded by Jan Rezab (2008); Emplifi brand formed 2020–2021 after acquisitions.
Founded: Socialbakers 2008 → Emplifi (rebrand) 2021.
Headquarters: Columbus, OH (global footprint).
Product categories: Social analytics, CX, influencer analytics, commerce and content optimization platform.
Description
Emplifi is a product-first company that combines social analytics and customer-experience tools to help brands quantify social performance. Born from Socialbakers, Emplifi emphasizes benchmarking, content intelligence, and influencer analytics – valuable for marketers who want data-driven creative decisions. Their consulting work often centers on measurement models (share of voice, earned reach), influencer ROI frameworks, and social commerce optimization. Emplifi is a good match for organizations that already prioritize analytics and want to fold social metrics into marketing performance and commerce dashboards.
Key features
- Content benchmarking and optimization insights.
- Influencer discovery + ROI measurement.
- Cross-platform analytics and reporting.
- Commerce and customer journey tie-ins.
- Data-driven creative scoring.
We Are Social
Founders: Robin Grant and Nathan McDonald.
Founded: 2008.
Headquarters: London, UK (global network).
Product categories: Social strategy, creative campaigns, trend research, platform activation, paid & owned social.
Description
We Are Social is a specialist social agency with a strong emphasis on culture-led creative and social trend research. They’re known for global campaigns that lean into cultural insights and platform behaviors. Their approach blends social listening, content formats tailored per platform, and community building. The agency suits brands seeking culturally relevant, creative social work executed globally – from brief to production – with a focus on storytelling that travels across markets while respecting local nuances.
Key features
- Global social creative with local execution.
- Trend intelligence and culture scans.
- Platform-native content formats.
- Integrated paid + organic campaigns.
- Strong creative production capabilities.
Social Chain
Founders: Steven Bartlett and Dominic McGregor.
Founded: 2014.
Headquarters: Manchester / Berlin (group structure; global operations).
Product categories: Social content production, social commerce, influencer and community campaigns, DTC social strategy.
Description
Social Chain is a fast-paced social marketing group known for bold social stunts, viral content, and social commerce experimentation. The company grew by proving it could drive attention and direct sales via social channels and creator partnerships. Their strengths lie in short-form creative, viral activation, and DTC social commerce funnels – useful for brands seeking rapid awareness spikes and commerce conversions. They’re most effective when a brand wants high-attention creative and tight creator orchestration.
Key features
- Viral and stunt creative expertise.
- Social commerce funnel design.
- Creator network and campaign orchestration.
- Rapid content iterations and testing.
- DTC performance campaigns.
SociallyIn
Founder: Keith Kakadia.
Founded: 2011.
Headquarters: Atlanta, GA, USA.
Product categories: Social strategy, content creation, community management, paid social, influencer campaigns.
Description
SociallyIn is a creative social agency that emphasizes highly visual content and data-informed social strategies for brands that need “thumb-stopping” creative. Their engagements typically include platform-specific content production, community management, and paid amplification. They cater to midsize and enterprise brands that want an external creative partner to produce consistent social content and manage daily community interactions. SociallyIn is often chosen by brands that value creative storytelling and visual cohesion across platforms.
Key features
- Strong visual/content production capabilities.
- Dedicated community management services.
- Platform optimization (Instagram, TikTok, Reels).
- Paid media support & testing.
- Creative + analytics feedback loop.
Ignite Social Media
Founder: Jim Tobin.
Founded: 2007.
Headquarters: Morrisville, NC, USA (U.S. presence).
Product categories: Social strategy, influencer marketing, community & content programs, analytics.
Description
Ignite Social Media bills itself as one of the original social agencies in the U.S., with decades of practical social experience. The firm focuses on end-to-end social programs: strategy, community engagement, influencer activation, and measurement. Ignite is strong on program governance, influencer authenticity checks, and long-term community growth rather than one-off viral hits. It’s a good fit for brands that want experienced social ops, program maturity, and measurable long-term engagement gains.
Key features
- Long-running social programs & governance.
- Influencer strategy with authenticity controls.
- Community growth playbooks.
- Measurement & reporting focused on business KPIs.
- Case-history orientation for enterprise clients.
R/GA
Founders: Bob Greenberg and Richard Greenberg.
Founded: 1977 (evolved into digital/interactive agency).
Headquarters: New York, NY, USA (global network).
Product categories: Digital transformation, social strategy & creative, product/experience design, tech-driven campaigns.
Description
R/GA is a creative innovation firm that blends design, product engineering, and strategic marketing. Their social capability is embedded in broader digital transformation work: designing platforms, experiences, and campaign ecosystems that include social as part of experience design. R/GA suits clients that need social to be part of product/experience innovation (e.g., integrated campaigns that rely on technology, data, and creative to scale). They excel where social is a channel in a larger digital product or an experience that requires engineering + creative.
Key features
- Integration of product, design and social strategy.
- Data-informed creative systems.
- Strong engineering + creative teams.
- Experience design that treats social as a product touchpoint.
- Enterprise transformation capability.
360i
Founders: Dave Williams and Bryan Kujawski (origins).
Founded: 1998 (digital/SEM origins), evolved into full-service digital & social.
Headquarters: New York, NY, USA.
Product categories: Social strategy, paid social, creative, search, programmatic.
Description
360i is a digital agency with a long history in search and a strong capability in integrated digital campaigns, including social. They’re known for data-driven creative and paid social optimization, often pairing search and social signals for unified performance. 360i is suitable for brands seeking integrated performance and creative work with measurable outcomes, especially where paid social and search synergy is critical. Their approach is campaign-first, leaning on insights and experimentation to maximize ROI.
Key features
- Paid social + search integration.
- Data-driven creative and experimentation.
- Programmatic and performance focus.
- Cross-channel campaign orchestration.
- Strong enterprise client portfolio.
Ogilvy
Founder: David Ogilvy (agency roots and later global evolution).
Founded: 1948 (Ogilvy brand); modern full-service global operation.
Headquarters: New York, NY (global network / WPP).
Product categories: Social strategy, brand & content, PR, creative campaigns, experience design.
Description
Ogilvy is a legacy global agency whose social practice sits inside a broad set of capabilities (creative, PR, consulting). They offer strategic social planning tied to brand positioning and integrated campaign execution with high production values. Ogilvy is a go-to when brands require social to be aligned with global brand architecture, big creative ideas, and multi-discipline activation across paid, owned and earned channels. Their scale and network make them suitable for global rollouts that require cultural nuance and centralized brand control.
Key features
- Brand-centric social strategy.
- Global execution across markets.
- Integrated PR + creative + paid capabilities.
- High production value creative work.
- Strong CPG and enterprise portfolios.
Edelman
Founder: Daniel J. Edelman.
Founded: 1952.
Headquarters: New York, NY, USA (global).
Product categories: PR & reputation, social strategy, crisis social, influencer relations, research & insights.
Description
Edelman is the world’s largest PR firm and a heavy hitter when social intersects with reputation and corporate communications. Their consulting strengths are crisis social response, reputation programs that include social listening, and influencer ecosystems for credibility and trust messaging. For organizations where social is entwined with corporate reputation, policy, or stakeholder engagement (investors, regulators), Edelman brings stakeholder mapping, research (Edelman Trust Barometer), and integrated social PR playbooks. They are especially helpful in high-complexity, high-stake communications.
Key features
- Reputation + crisis social response.
- Stakeholder mapping and trust research.
- Integrated PR + influencer programs.
- Regulatory and issues communication playbooks.
- Global network for coordinated responses.
Weber Shandwick
Formed via merger (Weber Group, Shandwick, BSMG).
Founded (as merged entity): 2001 (legacy firms older).
Headquarters: New York, NY, USA.
Product categories: PR, social strategy, influencer marketing, content, reputation, social research.
Description
Weber Shandwick combines PR heritage with modern social practice – strong in influencer strategy, employee advocacy, and campaigns that mix earned and paid social. They focus on “earned-first” social approaches and have invested in social research and social crisis simulation tools. Their practitioners are experienced at embedding social in broader stakeholder strategies and measuring influence across audiences. For companies that need integrated earned + paid social programs and a PR lens on social issues, Weber Shandwick is a logical partner.
Key features
- Earned media + social integration.
- Influencer and advocacy programs.
- Social research and crisis simulation capability.
- Global PR + social teams.
- Measurement focused on reputation impact.
Accenture Song (formerly Accenture Interactive)
Evolution: Built by acquisitions, led creative/tech integration initiatives.
Headquarters: Dublin (Accenture plc parent); global creative HQs (New York, London).
Product categories: End-to-end creative, social-led experiences, commerce, CX transformation, data + AI.
Description
Accenture Song blends management consulting, technology and creative services – positioning social as part of large-scale digital transformation and customer relevance programs. Where social must be embedded into product, commerce and enterprise data systems, Accenture Song advises on operating models, data strategy, and scaled creative production. Their strength is integrating social insights into enterprise decisions (product roadmaps, digital commerce) and executing at scale. They’re best for clients who view social as a strategic input to broader digital and business transformation.
Key features
- Integration of consulting, tech and creative.
- Social as input to enterprise CX and commerce.
- Scaled content production + platform engineering.
- Data & AI for customer relevance.
- Operating model and transformation consulting.
Khoros
Origins: Merger of Spredfast and Lithium (rebranded).
Founded (as combined): 2019 rebrand; legacy companies earlier.
Headquarters: Austin, TX, USA.
Product categories: Community platforms, social care, social publishing, analytics, digital CX.
Description
Khoros focuses on community and customer engagement at scale, combining community platforms with social care and publishing tools. Their consulting typically centers on redesigning social care workflows, building customer communities, and consolidating digital engagement platforms. Khoros is often selected by companies that want to reduce support costs by moving interactions to communities and improving digital care SLAs. They’re strong on community strategy, content moderation, and building peer support systems that scale alongside official support channels.
Key features
- Community strategy and platform builds.
- Social care workflow and automation.
- Self-service community models to reduce support cost.
- Moderator training & trust/safety playbooks.
- Integration with CRM and support systems.
MullenLowe (MullenLowe Group)
Founder (U.S. origin): Jim Mullen (Mullen); modern global reorganization.
Founded: Original U.S. Mullen in 1970; MullenLowe Group formed via mergers and network evolution (global).
Headquarters: London (group).
Product categories: Creative & social campaigns, brand strategy, performance social, integrated marketing.
Description
MullenLowe is a creatively driven agency network with strong integrated capabilities – blending social strategy with disruptive creative work and performance marketing. Their social teams often collaborate with paid media and PR to deliver campaigns that are both creative and measurable. They’re a fit for brands that want creative distinction backed by media and performance rigour. Expect strong creative ideas that are engineered for social distribution and measurable outcomes.
Key features
- Creative campaigns engineered for social virality.
- Integration of creative + performance teams.
- Global network for multiregional rollouts.
- Measurement tied to campaign KPIs.
- Brand positioning combined with platform tactics.
Blue State Digital
Founders: Joe Rospars, Jascha Franklin-Hodge, et al.
Founded: 2004.
Headquarters: Boston, MA, USA (now part of WPP / digital ecosystem).
Product categories: Digital strategy, social advocacy & mobilization, fundraising, platform technology for engagement.
Description
Blue State Digital is known for political and advocacy work and took its expertise into brand and nonprofit engagement. They specialize in social mobilization, community activation, and digital fundraising – leveraging social channels for behavior change and mass participation. If your brief is advocacy, public affairs, or mobilizing audiences around a cause, BSD’s experience combining platform tech with social organizing methods is valuable. Their consulting approach blends message testing, audience segmentation, and tech for large-scale mobilization.
Key features
- Advocacy and mobilization expertise.
- Audience segmentation and messenger testing.
- Fundraising and conversion optimization via social.
- Technology for large-scale engagement.
- Behavioral design applied to social campaigns.
MSL (MSLGROUP)
Origins: Evolved within Publicis Groupe (merger of agencies into MSL).
Founded: 2009 (as MSLGROUP consolidated); legacy firms earlier.
Headquarters: Paris, France (global).
Product categories: PR and strategic communications, social strategy, content, influencer and reputation management.
Description
MSL is a public relations and strategic communications network inside Publicis Groupe with social offerings that align PR and social strategy. They are strong at shaping narratives across audiences, integrating social listening into reputation programs, and executing large-scale earned + social campaigns. For firms that want social to support corporate storytelling, product launches, or stakeholder engagement, MSL brings PR discipline to social activation and measurement. Their enterprise footprint helps coordinate global message rollouts with social localization.
Key features
- PR + social campaign integration.
- Global coordination for launches and reputation programs.
- Social listening for corporate intelligence.
- Influencer and media relations combined.
- Measurement around share of voice and sentiment.
The Social Element
Founder: Tamara Littleton.
Founded: 2002 (originally Emoderation).
Headquarters: London, UK (global operations).
Product categories: Community management, social strategy, brand protection, insights & moderation, influencer services.
Description
The Social Element specializes in human-led community engagement and brand safety. With early roots in moderation, their services have evolved into full community management, social intelligence, and brand protection. They are often engaged by regulated or brand-sensitive clients that require coordinated moderation, crisis detection, and culturally aware community strategy. The agency’s strength is in blending human moderation with tooling and playbooks so brands can scale community programs without losing control or trust.
Key features
- Expert community management and moderation.
- Brand protection & trust/safety playbooks.
- 24/7 global moderation capabilities.
- Social insights integrated into community strategy.
- Training and playbook development.
Brafton (content-led social support)
Founders: Tom Agnew and William Bracken.
Founded: 2008.
Headquarters: Boston, MA, USA.
Product categories: Content marketing, SEO, social content production, content strategy, analytics.
Description
Brafton is a content marketing firm that supports social programs with scaled content production and editorial strategy. Where brands need systematic content funnels (long-form to social snippets), Brafton provides a content engine aligned to SEO and distribution. Their social consulting usually centers on content calendars, repurposing long-form assets into social formats, and measuring content impact on organic reach and traffic. Brafton is useful for organizations that want content-first social strategies grounded in SEO and lead generation.
Key features
- Scaled content production for social repurposing.
- SEO + social alignment.
- Content calendars and distribution planning.
- Analytics to link content to demand generation.
- Editorial and production workflows.
How to pick the right partner (quick playbook)
- If social == reputation, prioritize PR-led firms (Edelman, Weber Shandwick, MSL).
- If social == performance/commerce, prioritize creator/commerce specialists (VaynerMedia, Social Chain) or performance digital shops (360i, R/GA).
- If social == operations & scale, choose platform + CX vendors (Sprinklr, Sprout Social, Hootsuite, Khoros).
- If social == creative & cultural relevance, choose social-native creative shops (We Are Social, SociallyIn, Ignite).
- If you need social to feed product/experience decisions, lean into transformation firms (Accenture Song, R/GA).
Methodology & notes (brief)
- I selected firms based on public profiles, market reputation, and product/agency capabilities. Where a company is product-first (Sprout, Sprinklr, Khoros, Emplifi), I noted platform + consulting strengths. Where an agency is creative or PR centric, I emphasized creative and reputation strengths. Sources include company pages, Wikipedia/company profiles, and recent press/agency pages (citations inline). If you want, I can convert this list into a downloadable one-page vendor short-list (Excel) with a recommended vendor for each of five typical briefs (reputation, performance, operations, creativity, transformation).
Conclusion
The social media consulting landscape has evolved into a highly specialized ecosystem where creative storytelling, data intelligence, influencer ecosystems, and enterprise-grade technology converge. The Top 20 Social Media Consulting Firms highlighted in this report represent the most influential players shaping how brands communicate, engage communities, and convert attention into measurable business outcomes.
From social-native creative agencies like VaynerMedia and We Are Social, to enterprise platforms such as Sprinklr, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social, and global PR powerhouses including Edelman and Weber Shandwick, each firm brings distinct competencies tailored to different organizational needs. Whether brands seek cultural relevance, crisis-ready reputation management, scaled social care, or performance-driven commerce models, the right partner can transform social media from a tactical channel into a strategic growth engine.
In an era where digital conversations shape brand credibility and consumer decisions within seconds, choosing the right social media consulting partner is no longer optional – it is a competitive imperative. Brands that align with a firm whose expertise matches their mission, maturity, and market challenges will be positioned to build stronger communities, create impactful content, and unlock sustainable ROI in an ever-evolving social ecosystem.
