Social Media Marketing World 2018

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Future-Proof Your Social Strategy

Overland Park, Kan. – March 8, 2018 – Last week, I had the opportunity to travel to San Diego for Social Media Marketing World 2018. The focus of the conference was social media and how to adapt in today’s social environment. There were 210+ speakers/130+ sessions jam-packed with actionable content; trends, tools and tips/tricks were discussed by industry veterans. Although I was not able to attend every session, I was able to glean great information out of the ones I did attend.

I went to the conference with the goal of learning how agencies and brands can adapt in light of Facebook’s recent changes, in order to best utilize the social behemoth and to learn what new trends we should capitalize on to maximize our efforts with social. The following is a high-level overview of ten takeaways from my time in San Diego.

  1. A live concert with a member of Pink Floyd and additional musicians at 8am IS an excellent way to start off the day at a conference. There was such a buzz throughout the Convention Center and this really helped kick things off and set the tone for Social Media Marketing World.
  2. In the 2018 Social Media Examiner Marketing Industry Report, to be released later this year, it showed that according to marketers, the most important platform is Facebook (67%). This was followed by LinkedIn (12%), Instagram (10%), and Twitter (5%). YouTube, Pinterest and Snapchat were all below 5%. As to be expected, a lot of content around the conference then focused around Facebook.
  3. As Facebook moves from a focus on relevant content to more meaningful interactions, brands need to adapt in the way they are communicating with their audiences. Engagement is not the key, as we have learned from Zuckerberg, but rather meaningful interactions. Engaging in conversation starters and activities that will spur lively interaction and commentary should be the goal, not just posting something that will get a certain number of likes/reactions. A focus on smaller, more engaged communities versus larger, less engaged ones and quality content versus quantity, will be paramount for social success in 2018 and beyond.
  4. It is our job as marketers to adapt to whatever changes are put into place with Facebook and any other social channel, in order to best reach our audiences in the places where they are active. If they think we are just encroaching on their territory, we will not be able to meaningfully engage with them. Authenticity and relevance will be hallmarks of successfully leveraging social media to connect and add value to our communities.
  5. Live video is something that was discussed a lot as a way to encourage meaningful interactions. It was mentioned in numerous sessions that FB Live Videos garner 6x the amount of interactions than regular videos posted on the site. There are a variety of ways to engage with live video, and one key to success with the format is being consistent with what you are doing. Also, leveraging participatory content (asking what they want and then providing that value) is a great way to ensure success with audience engagement.
  6. Chatbots are definitely the wave of the future (only 15% of people are using them right now). With open rates of 80-90% and CTR of 10-30%, compared to email stats of 20% and 1-2%, respectively, it is predicted to be the most powerful marketing channel in the future. It is time to start small with Messenger chat bots that can be setup to aid in FAQs and can also be set to be used in every stage of the funnel. Now is the time to start exploring how to use this for your brand. There’s even a website chat plugin that can be integrated to leverage FB Messenger on your website. There are 1.3 billion people on a monthly basis who are using Messenger, so it is critical to find a viable way to communicate and connect with them in an authentic way to build a meaningful connection and relationship.
  7. Rebekah Radice explained how one image size will work for ALL social media networks. 1600 X 800 with a cell padding of 160 is the magic size. This will help streamline image creation that will be used across social sites. Of course, the messaging may change depending on the audience for each network, but the image asset that could be leveraged can be pulled together once and then replicated or reused to greatly increase efficiencies.
  8. We must add value in all that we do and truly earn the right to promote our brand on social. By first setting the stage with our community that we have their best interests in mind and our connection is relevant and valuable for them, we will earn the right to promote our brand in more overt ways. Advertising will only work if people will see the information and be open to or welcome the message. And, social is becoming a pay-to-play environment, so increasing investment in social ads is important.
  9. From the networking plaza, I was able to connect with a few folks and we had great conversation about social in general, the conference, and what’s to come next. One very interesting nugget that I took away was the success that some are having with Google Posts. This is something that Google is slowly rolling out, so it’s not available to every category currently. Essentially, this is a way to share up-to-date information in Google search results directly. It’s a great way to share relevant information with people who may be searching for your brand. There is a verification process to begin using this, and we’ll keep an eye out to see when it becomes available for us to begin to utilize.
  10. San Diego is a great place for a conference. The Convention Center offered a great deal of space and room for the 4,000+ attendees of the conference. Beautiful beaches, amazing restaurants, sunshine and blue sky helped to supplement all of the learning inside of the conference ballrooms.

panosocialmediamarketingworld

All-in-all, my time spent in San Diego was filled with great food, great company, and a lot of information and content that made my brain start working at hyper-speed. I was able to meet and exceed my goals for attending and I have a long list of action items and next steps to get through, as do most attendees. Being around such passionate people and in such a high-energy environment has filled me with excitement to take on what’s to come in the social media realm and future-proof our strategies and activities.

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Written by Joe Mulvihill, Director of Brand Activation

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