This is the first summary for the first day at #SMMW13. Talks by Michael Stelzner, Larry Benet and Mari Smith.
Michael Stelzner: social media marketing 2013
To kick off, the founder of #SMMW13 and Social Media Examiner, Michael Stelzner, took the stage at 08:30. These are the main ideas I jotted down:
- Social media is young: LinkedIn, 10 years old. Facebook, 9 years old. Twitter, 7 years old. Pinterest, 3 years old. Google+, 1 years old.
- Social media isn’t dead, it’s boring.
- Huffington Post is a clear example of how new forms of communication have superseded the old ones.
- Maturity in an industry leads to disruption in the industry. We’ll soon see emails being left aside in favour of Facebook messages.
- Other outstanding trends are related to social funding: crowdfunding platforms such as the well-known Kickstart and the example of Seth Godin and his latest book “The Icarus Deception.”
- Podcasts will undergo the most significant growth on the market. There are three reasons for this: car integration, the little time available we have and Apple’s podcasting app.
The following conclusions were reached during a Social Media Examiner study:
- Social media platforms that are relevant for business: Facebook 49% – Twitter 39% – Blogs 9%
- Why social media is important for business: 71% answered “increased exposure”.
Most important trends that marketing professionals want to learn:
- 2013: blogging (according to Technorati, 62% want to learn about independent blogging and 86% about influencers)
- 2012: Google+
- 2011: Facebook
- 2010: Social bookmarking.
- Marketing professionals plan to dedicate 69% more of their efforts to social media.
- 54% of the small communities prefer small communities: small is the new large.
- Forums are coming back to life. Forums help shape our own social networks.
Key points:
- People matter.
- Social media isn’t dead.
- Social media is still very young, there is still much room for growth.
- YouTube will be a key tool in 2013 to direct traffic and marketing.
- Podcasting will grow this year, becoming the great opportunity.
Larry Benet: how to create lasting connections
At 09:00, Larry Benet took the stage after Mike. He’s known as the super connector, a very active guy with such charisma and personality that he’s made his mark on people like Bill Clinton, Warren Buffett or Richard Branson. A dynamic talk from which I extracted the following ideas and conclusions:
- The more you give, the more you gain. The more value you add, the better things work for you.
- Our most powerful skill is our ability to connect.
- The secret to connect with kids is to use SpongeBob SquarePants.
- The best strategy to connect is: contribute, feel and give.
- The new PPC isn’t “pay per click” but “pay per compliment”. This opens the door to a culture of generosity.
- How can you connect with someone when you find out that something is important to that person?
- We only have 10-15 seconds to make an impact on the first impression.
- To connect: concern yourself, give, read and listen more.
Questions to connect with someone and make an impact:
- What do you do to have fun?
- What is your favourite cause or NGO?
- What is the achievement you’re most proud of?
- What haven’t you done yet but would love to do?
- What has been your biggest failure?
- How can I help you?
- What is the most important project you’re working on and how can my network or I help you to turn it into a reality?
A mistake you must avoid when you connect: don’t ask difficult or big things from people and don’t ask with increasing frequency.
His talk was dynamic, inspiring and very emotional. He’s like a steamroller PR and his ability to connect with people in a very short space of time is amazing.
Mari Smith: 10 ways to improve your reach in Facebook
We attended Mari Smith’s talk at 10:30. She’s known as the Facebook Queen. I was very surprised by the admiration and commotion this speaker gives rise to. She appears to be loved quite a lot by everyone in attendance, the organisers and speakers.
These were the highlights of Mari’s 10 steps:
1. Insights: experiment with traffic windows and use a spreadsheet to measure the best times to publish on Facebook.
- The fans may hide your content because you’re publishing too much or you’re publishing topics that aren’t relevant.
- The new Facebook start page and feed will make it possible to follow feeds and become interested in lists.
2. Test your audience profile by changing parameters constantly.
3. Vary your content often.
4. Improve your “Calls to Action”: increase your chances of driving your fans outside Facebook.
- Click here.
- Get your tickets.
- Join Us.
- Make your reservations here.
5. Strengthen your response time:
- Passionate community management.
- The key lies in good customer service that is persuasive at the same time.
- Response ratios remain under 30 minutes.
- Tag your fans to bond with them when you speak with them.
- The best way to respond is to be responding the impossible. That’s where opportunity lies.
6. Pay for greater reach
- You can pay to get better reach, but only when the situation requires it.
7. Organise events/promotions:
- Customer service hours, pre-sale or post-sale.
- Carry out events every Friday, rewarding your most loyal fans each week.
8. Launch your fans: empower them by talking about them, not about yourself.
9. Start contests.
10. Create interesting contacts/friends lists that can help out:
- Work with both personal and professional profiles.
- Monitor regularly: eliminate irrelevant contacts/lists that don’t add value.
- Talk about relevant topics.
- The key is to educate friends or fans with regard to the subscribe button.
The truth is I expected much more from Mari Smith. At the end of her speech I was left with the feeling that I would have taken out as much by simply reading a post on “10 ways to improve your reach in Facebook”. There was no insight, no shrewdness, no risk involved like when you deliver something valuable and can actually fail; none of that. None of the vulnerability you feel when you deliver something that can change everything. That’s what was missing.
In the next summary…
However, during the second part of the summary for the first day at #SMMW13, I’ll talk about the incredible wit and mastery of Guy Kawasaki and others.
Here, you’ll fine a real-time twitter stream to follow everything I published about #SWMM13. Simply follow the hashtag #IGSMMW13.