The people of Social Media Marketing World 15 made this event unique for us. By day 2 in a conference you are starting to get your feet under you, so to speak, and you begin to find your “tribe.” At this conference, however, David and I noticed that the tribes were more eclectic than normal. The topic of social media marketing is so broad and far reaching that the attendees ranged from corporate business digital strategists through social media interns hired to tweet for a mom and pop small business. We really enjoyed that aspect of the conference,because for us we never knew whether we were sitting down next to a colleague, a person who represents our client demographic, or a social media rockstar(yes, there are some) sitting in on a presentation.
Key Takeaway: Everyone has their own secret sauce. Find yours.
The keynote session at #smmmw15 was a panel of marketing experts. It was led by Mark Schaefer (@MarkSchaefer). Mark has a new book out — The Content Code — that is now on our list! On the panel were Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki), Mari Smith (@marismith) and Chris Penn (@CPenn).
All of them approach social media very differently, but they are beyond successful.
Guy Kawasaki’s approach could be summed up by this comment he made: “Traffic is traffic, baby!”
Guy posts 80-100 times a day across all his channels. He has two or three people to help him, in case you are wondering.
Chris Penn focuses on data and analytics. “My content is soulless. But have you ever read the comments on a YouTube video? If that is humanity, I’m kind of ok with being soulless.”
Mari Smith says “Content is king, but engagement is queen. And the queen rules the house.”
“Service is the new social.” Mari Smith
Guys spent a moment skewering agencies who overcharge their clients to do what the clients could do for themselves. The rest of the panel disagreed, having actually spent time helping clients get their digital marketing up and running and knowing what kind of time commitment a first-class content marketing program requires.
“You can go broke engaging with people.” Mark Schaeffer. His point was that in the end, your social engagements are meant to lead to a call to action.
You still need paid search, according to Chris Penn. Social is where you can find their intent, but to find active buyers you might need to supplement with paid options.
Key Takeaway: Your goal on social media is to provide a simple, holistic brand experience.
Jay Baer (@jaybaer) led a panel with representatives from Whole Foods, Tyson Foods and KLM airlines. The thrust of the panel discussion was “How do you scale social media across your organization and still maintain control and relationship?”
“Build relationships early in the process with key stakeholders in your company. You want them as your supporters in the organization.” @SusanBeebe (Tyson Foods)
“More complexity = more organization.” @bepkoboy (Whole Foods)
“You want to be present at someone else’s party.” (KLM) KLM has 150 people across the globe working in social media, speaking 14 language and on call 24 hours a day.
Key Takeaway: Isolate the awesome fan and learn to play a long game.
Jon Loomer (@JonLoomer) is a Facebook marketing specialis. Considering Facebook’s many changes in the way it handles advertising and organic reach for brands, his expertise is amazing. Jon described his concept of finding your true fans on Facebook and creating content designed specifically for them. This is not a short-term campaign process, but a long-term nurturing concept. He conducted an incredibly successful engagement campaign on Facebook recently…go download his ebook from the website to read about it.
Key Takeaway: Email gets results 40 times higher than social media!
Brian Clark (@brianclark) is the founder of Copyblogger and the Rainmaker platform. He spoke on tactics to make business blogs effective marketing tools. As others have said over and over in this conference, the content in your blog exists to move followers onto your email list.
You are a media provider, not a marketer. Think like a media company. For a good example of this, look at Gary Vaynerchuck.
Audience experience is key.
Access and Registration are better words to describe joining a mail list than opt-in. Content begins an experience, as opposed to promising an experience. Use your content to invite your readers into a community.
Key Takeaway: A great website gives me what I want.
Marcus Sheridan (@theSalesLion) is one of the most engaging speakers we’ve heard. You can not drift off to a daydream or to check your email during his presentation, that’s for sure! Marcus starts off always reminding the audience of one number: 70%. That’s the amount of the buyer’s journey your customer has completed before the “zero moment of truth,” the moment when they contact you. Make sure you answer every question a customer is likely to ask before that zero moment of truth. One interesting pointer from Marcus: talk about price on your website or blog! How much does your _________ cost? The answer is always the same. “It depends.” That “it depends” answer is why many businesses hesitate to even discuss price online. According to Marcus, even giving the answer It Depends on your blog and then explaining what drives the price up and down will give your readers the information they really need.
Key Takeaway: The future of social media is visual.
Kim Garst (@kimgarst) gave a presentation on using visual content to drive engagement in social media. One interesting stat: visuals are processed 60,000 times faster by your brain than text.
Key Takeaway: Haters aren’t the problem; ignoring them is.
Jay Baer wrapped up #SMMW15 with a keynote presentation based on the new book he is writing on “Haters” and how to handle them. The long and the short of it is this: people who have complaints represent an opportunity for you to build long-term brand advocates if you handle them promptly and appropriately. He differentiates between Off Stage Haters, who complain privately, and On Stage Haters, who complain on public channels. Answer them quickly and move them offline if possible. Check out HugYourHaters.com.