Jay Leonard
Social Media Week scheduled for Sept.
Social Media Week scheduled for Sept.Unfortunately, DC won’t host a fun and information filled week of social media panels, events, discussions, and presentations next month — mostly because DC Tech Week starts in early November. But, I thought I’d whet your appetite by giving you my recap of events from February’s Social Media Week.
Last month, Social Media Week 12 kicked off in 12 cities in 9 countries across the globe. This is the third year for the event, which drew 36,000 folks across these cities. That’s quite a feat considering the massive coordination required to organize over 1000 events on 5 continents.
In addition to the real attendees, more than 200,000 folks from 180 countries watched more than 8000 hours of streaming video produced from the event. The event generated 275,000 Tweets with a social reach of over 300 million people. With this much social chatter, the next event, scheduled in September 24-28, 2012, should be even larger.
Events included high-profile celebrities such as Nick Jonas and Fat Joe; sessions by industry leaders, such as Google, Constant Contact, Facebook, and The White House; unique sessions such as Social Media in the Arts and Social Good; and great parties.
I attended a number of events as part of Social Media Week, DC, but I wanted to give you a flavor for what people were talking about from other Social Media Week events in other locations. So, I used Storify to collect Tweets using the Social Media Week hashtag #SMW12.
What’s the Current State of Social Media?
Not surprisingly, presenters agreed social media impacts business success. The impact of social media on brand perceptions, attitudes, and buying behavior likely result from the objectivity perceived in online word of mouth and the innate ability of social networks to amplify corporate messages.
74% folks who use social media report more business #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
14% trust ads; 78% trust consumer recommendations. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
1% of key influencers reach 9% of content creators, reaching 90% passive users who read and share the message. @ekraus #convergence #SMWDC Preeti Wali @lionozion
“There is no more compelling message than hearing from a friend that you should buy a certain brand.” #smwreuters #smw12
@PRNewswire
Importance of social media tools – 51% Facebook, 29% blogs, 27% Linkedin, 26% Twitter #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Facebook Marketing Strategies are super hot right now to build a business. You can connect with millions of people instantly.
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
According to @AlecJRoss, a major benefit of social media is that it helps strengthen connections that were once weak #SMW12 #smwreuters
MWW Group @MWWGroup
Every single company will become a ‘social business’ and will drive the future of network economy – @jeffdachis #SMWNYC #SMW12 @Social2B
Alex Romanovich @alexromanovich
You can now engage individuals online the way they live offline. – #smwreuters #smw12
PR Newswire @PRNewswire
What Did We Learn from Social Media Week?
I think most folks attended sessions at Social Media Week events to learn how to do social media. Sessions I attended were a mix of newbies trying to learn the ropes and veterans trying to hone their skills.
Here’s some advice for both newbies and veterans shared by speakers at various Social Media Week presentations.
Use social media because our audience use social media — it’s an educational tool. At #SMW12.
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
#NASA we’d lost the entire 13-24 generation and new media gives us a tool to engage this lost generation. #SMW12.
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Yahoo VP-46% of consumers say brands that speak about themselves all the time are less attractive. So what’s “too often?” #smw12
Richard Pearce
Don’t pitch, don’t self-promote, don’t offer incentives for sharing, think “what would grandma think if she read this” before posting….
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Be part of what’s relevant to your consumers. Understand technology, but also understand human nature. ― @georgegsmithjr #smw12
Ann Tran
find how to make social media work? Most small businesses have no Social Media strategy #smw12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Amy at #smwdc #smwhc panel: How do we transfer online engagement into meaningful offline action? Know audience, engage, inspire action
Eli Lilly & Company @LillyPad
Leverage relationships to business engagement — give contacts easy way to share your message. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
The golden rules of social media for brands: listen, be helpful, and be authentic! bit.ly/x3TvQB #SMW12
ReTargeter.com @ReTargeter
social media marketing isn’t meant to be polished. Be authentic. Share YOU. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Evangelize to all their friends when you listen and try to make things better — HelloWallet @ #SMW12.
ReTargeter.com @ReTargeter
reward people who are your brand ambassadors. Reward with attention online. reward with tangibles offline. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Smart marketers must evolve to get noticed & be remembered. Integrate social with your other online efforts: bit.ly/z1lClL #SMW12 ReTargeter.com @ReTargeter
None of your marketing efforts exist in a vacuum. Social should be part of a cross-channel strategy bit.ly/wzjdAh #SMW12
ReTargeter.com @ReTargeter
Think email and social media marketing should be separated? @ConstantContact has some reasons not to: bit.ly/yYFyMO #SMW12 #SMWCC
Social Media Week
Control, Failure, and Customer Service in Social Media
If you’re willing to embrace change, then you can evolve and grow. Need willing to share control so can grow more and learn more. #SMW12.
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Control is an issue in social media – especially negative. Get over it. They’re already talking bad. #SMW12.
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
When negative happens, admit problem, solve problem, don’t hide or defend poor service. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Another #SMW12 Gem from #Miami: Fan comments positive or negative should not be ignored. It should be known that ‘You are working on it.”
Tomeka Napper
social media fail 5 – don’t lie. Chrysler lied and said Twitter hacked when insult customers.
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
social media fail 4 – be transparent. ie. use paid bloggers presented as independent. All sins eventually found. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Social Media fail 3 – don’t delete. Too many other ways to uncover. ie chaptstick. Deleted negative comments. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Go 24 hours when social media uproar without response – ie. Komen fail #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Motrin fail insulted mom’s called them crazy. Huge negative backlash in trad media #SMW12.
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Fail 2 Don’t overshare ie Weiner’s junk. Also fail 1 – lied about it. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Avoid controversial situation such as Kenneth Cole trivializing Arab spring. Co-oped hashtag for Arab spring. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Specific Tactics and Case Studies in Social Media
Editorial calendars also help prevent content over-saturation. #smwdc #smwedcal
SmartBrief on SocMed @SBoSM
Partner with non-profit to expand your reach. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
contests to get people in the first place, but end of the day need content to get people coming back. Must integrate w/ purpose #SMW12.
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Be where your customers are — ask. Use partners to help build your network. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Need realistic expectations from social media to be successful. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Social intranet increases collaboration ow.ly/9a0sc #smw12 #smwnyc
Anthony Caridi
time management tools, google alerts, hootsuite, tweetdeck, RSS, nutshellmail. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
#Ford is now working with a number of Global bloggers to cover events, shows, etc. – more rich media, etc. #SMWNYC #SMW12
Alex Romanovich @alexromanovich
88% of Latin America internet users are on #socialmedia via @borja @telemundo #smwmiami #smw12 #latism
Brenda Leguisamo
Social Media in the Arts
One of the themes I was surprised to see was the use of social media in the arts. Not that it’s surprising arts organizations are using social media to promote their performances, it’s the uniqueness of their take on social media.
For instance, the Mammoth Theater in DC is toying with the idea of setting aside areas for Live Tweeting during performances — Tweet Seats. Other arts organizations use these Tweets to build excitement that drives ticket sales. Some even use Live Tweets as an improv tool to guide the performance. Cool stuff.
Using social media in the theater gives you a person to person connection. It matches theater in engaging audience. #SMW12.
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Is Tweet Seat appropriate for live performances? Not disturb audience and actors. #SMW12
Dr. Angela Hausman @MarketingLetter
Art in the Age of Facebook – Is the resurgence of relational aesthetics a response to social media? ow.ly/92mCv #SMW12
Guggenheim Museum
GRAMMY tweets estimated at +65,000 per sec during live broadcast. Their numbers beat 2012 Superbowl. #SMWHEARST #SMW12
Lisa Herndon
Some Extras Offered by Presenters from Social Media Week.
Take everything you learned during #SMW12 to build an online following. Bonus tips from @karleeweinman: ow.ly/98NYU
OPEN Forum
Missed our #smw12 panel yesterday on challenging social media conventional wisdom? Watch it here: livestre.am/1i6p0
Eric Carvin
@OPENForum: 5 handy tips from @mashable on using LinkedIn’s mobile site. #SMW12 ow.ly/98NX4
Rawan Ismail
3 Key Take Aways From SAP’s Social Media Day #SMW12 | Marketing Xlerator
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This article was written for Business 2 Community by Jay Leonard.
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