4 key takeaways on social media marketing from the 2019 Digital Summit
Here’s some food for thought from the recent TechMedia Digital Summit conference in NYC.
1. People rule marketing.
Think there’s some noise out there? Carlos Gil of Gil Media asked us to consider what’s happening every single minute…
- 1 million people are logging on to Facebook
- 87,500 people are on Twitter
- 4.5 million videos are watched on YouTube
- 46,200 new posts are made on Instagram.1
…and then asked how we can break through all that noise. One answer – focus on people.
Wanted: humans
Having a human element in your marketing has always been important to create a connection with an audience.
“People are the face other people want to see,” said Gil.
People trust people. So, find ways to promote your brand using your own influencers from within the walls of your organization. Or think outside the box and outside your industry when pinpointing activities your audience is interested in, then develop a target influencer list accordingly.
Matchmaking: you and the influencer
Continuing with the influencer marketing thought, Ursula Ringham, who heads influencer strategy at SAP, equated an influencer strategy with matchmaking – which makes sense given you’re selecting people to represent your brand.
Ringham outlined ways to get started, from using technology like Traackr to help locate the right influencers, to getting internal buy-in and establishing metrics upfront. When executing an influencer strategy, a certain degree of “letting go“ is necessary. “Influencers are not zombies you can control,” Ringham said. “Their super power is to be authentic and credible,” so you need to empower them to tell your story, through their lens.
2. Be savvy (even savage) with your video and social execution.
If you want to create videos that educate, entertain and inspire, you may do well to follow these tips from Brandon Arolfo, Senior Director, Content Development for PBS.
- Views are important but they’re not everything. Building a devoted community of engaged fans is far better.
- Before you release a video, create a launch plan and carefully select the channels where you want to promote it. It’s better to choose a few channels rather than go too broad – that way you can better connect with those who are engaging.
- Avoid shooting an entire series of videos in one go. Don’t feel the need to bundle video production. In addition, encourage and listen to reviews, get feedback, and evolve the creative based on input.
Power hour
“When you post, it’s a ripple, people have to engage to make it a wave,” Gil said. The life of a post is about an hour, so it’s key to start commenting back and liking people’s posts in real time. Twitter is the best channel for allowing for conversation, but not necessarily for overall engagement.
Listen hard
A good way to be “digitally savage,” according to Gil, is to go on the offensive and listen – not just on your own channels, but those of your competition. Do they have an unhappy customer no one is paying attention to? Or is there an influencer for a brand that is not being thanked? Swoop in and say hello – never forget you need to build community one person at a time.
Gil shared how Wendy’s put some sass into their Twitter feed when observing their new competition, IHOB, IHOP’s attempt to promote the new burgers on their menu.
Tell a story
According to digital marketing consultant Quinn Tempest, Instagram Stories has had a meteoric rise in use by marketers, with more than one-third of stories now coming from brands. Stories should be an extension of your media strategy. No matter where it’s shared, the best content will be created at the intersection of:
- what your brand stands for
- what makes you unique
- what your audience cares about.
Stories allow you to share more deeply than you can on an Instagram feed, which is about more curated, evergreen posts like professionally-produced videos. Stories can be for showing the “in the moment, behind the scenes” side of your brand, so you can be a little looser and more authentic.
3. Content marketing without promotion is just content.
Nadya Khoja, frequent speaker and blogger on digital marketing, advised to spend just as much time promoting your content as you do creating it. Leveraging social media is an obvious means for doing this.
Khoja also recommended that marketers work on strategies to encourage other content writers to link their work back to your content. One way to do this is by including stats and data in what you post. Further, she recommended reaching out to people with similar content and asking them directly to link back to your content – they often will.
4. Content is still king.
Stacy Minero, Global Head of Twitter ArtHouse, discussed the importance of creating instant connections with people and keeping them engaged through enticing content with an interactive bent.
Minero mentioned a few Twitter campaign standouts, including Heinz’s “mayochup” Twitter poll phenomenon, which scored 1 billion impressions in just two days (and yes, I admit I took that poll last spring, along with 930,6912 other French fry lovers). How can we keep people invested emotionally in your content? Get people to feel something or do something.
Writer’s block? What’s that?
When it comes to content, whether it’s a short blog post, an Instagram post or a book, many have a problem getting started. Seth Godin, best-selling author, covered many salient topics including overcoming writer’s block. “There’s no such thing as writer’s block,” he said. “Just write the way you talk. It’s as simple as that.” And it’s good to remember the importance of marketing within any organization: “It’s marketing that makes change happen.”
So what do all these trends mean for marketers?
Due to the competition for share of mind, now more than ever we need to craft authentic, engaging and entertaining content, not just brand promotions. If content isn’t up to snuff, our audience will lose interest which will make it even harder for us to reach “digital natives.”
If you’d like to see TechMedia’s next round of Digital Summits in person, check out the agenda for upcoming events here.
1 Carlos Gil, Gil Media Co. – Source: Lori Lewis and Officially Chad via Visual Capitalist
2 “How Heinz Harnessed the Power of Twitter and Got 1 Billion Impressions in 48 Hours” – Twitter Marketing/case Studies
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