This week in New York, some of the biggest movers and shakers in the world of social media came together at the Times Center Stage to chat about the future of visual storytelling, content building, video curation, publishing automation, influencer marketing, social bots and a whole lot more.
Our creative team tuned into Social Media Week with a live stream Insider’s Pass to participate in the conversation remotely.
Below, you’ll find snackable tips, quotes and conversation starters that we pulled from the week’s best conversations. Each conversation comes with a Twitter hashtag so you can dive into each discussion.
What’s Emerging? Insights and Big Predictions for the Future of Our Industry
Speakers: Toby Daniels, Founder & Executive Director of Social Media Week, and Ian Schafer, Founder & Chairman of Deep Focus
Hashtag: #SMWEmerging
The Cliff Notes
Each new social media platform is a vacuum. Content comes rushing in, but it doesn’t mean that content is any good. This makes us question the Snapchats of the world, especially as we saw Snap Inc go public this week. Will it be a sustainable platform or will we watch it slowly slip after everything quiets down?
Technology hasn’t changed human behavior; humans are shaping the way we use technology by embracing it. – @ischafer #SMWNYC #SMWEmerging
— Lily Rau (@lily_rau) February 28, 2017
Distributed Media All-Stars: Experts Share Their Viral Content Secrets
Speakers: Nicholas Carlson, Editor and Chief, Insider, Sarah Frank, Editor at NowThis News, Henry Goldman, Head of News Video, Buzzfeed, Choire Sicha, Executive Director, Partner Development, Vox
Hashtag: #SMWdistributedmedia
The Cliff Notes
It’s not the medium, it’s the point of view. A unique point of view is key. Anyone can put text on a screen, how do you make it captivating and have an opinion? If the content isn’t something worth talking about, don’t use it.
Henry Goldman coined the phrase #fomoshare: the fear of not participating while everyone else is engaging.
Marketers north star = the #FOMOshare. https://t.co/g4mwWOpzGs
— Amy Schoenberger (@AmySho) February 28, 2017
Dear Social, What Have You Done for Me Lately? How Viacom Gets Maximum Fan Impact from Innovations in Social, Bots, and Beyond
Speakers: Raymond Braun, Founder, RWB Media, Lydia Daly, SVP, Social Media and Branded Content Strategy, Viacom Velocity, Jon Mallow, SVP of Digital, VH1 & Logo Online – Production, Viacom, Karmelina Parouka, VP of Digital Production, MTV International/Viacom International Media Networks
Hashtag: #SMWviacom
The Cliff Notes
Three tips to grab from this conversation on influencer marketing are paying attention to detail, granting exclusive access, and providing an overall enjoyable experience for your brand’s influencers.
Check out this tip by Karmelina Parouka, VP of Digital Production at MTV International/Viacom International Media Networks:
“We didn’t ask influencers to post X amount of times, and in return we got more than we could imagine.”
influencers, bots and fans…had a great morning chatting about the 2016 #MTVEMA campaign at #SMW #SMWViacom
— karmelina (@karmelinap) February 28, 2017
Leveraging Social Platforms Along the Entire Customer Journey
Speaker: Evan Neufeld, VP of Intelligence, L2, Inc.
Hashtag: #SMWsocialplatforms
The Cliff Notes
In this conversation on leveraging social platforms, the biggest game changer was Facebook bot messaging and how brands are using bots to drive sales.
Evan Neufeld shared fascinating examples about how Sephora uses bots to make in store appointments and how Bud Light proactively asks you if you have enough beer while you’re watching the game so you can schedule another order online.
How to Build an Online Community That Doesn’t Suck
Speaker: John Hazzard, VP of Enterprise Services at Contently
Hashtag: #SMWxContently
The Cliff Notes
John Hazzard from Contently shared his “three principles of devotion,” be unique, participate and provide a service.
As he outlined these three principles, he shared three thought-provoking (and tweetable!) ideas about engaging your followers.
“You want to lead your following. You can lead a customer to make a purchase, but fans are followers – they are waiting on your bated breath. They are there on your behalf waiting to make a purchase.”
“Content is building an audience and keeping them engaged.”
“Stand out if you want people to stand in line behind you. Be consistent. Nothing drives audiences like participation. They also want to contribute.”
“You can lead a customer to make a purchase, but true fans can’t wait to make a purchase and act on your behalf.” #SMWNYC #SMWxContently pic.twitter.com/RkSZ2EoGuS
— Contently (@contently) March 1, 2017
The Evolution of Social Video
Speakers: Nikhil Sethi, Co-Founder and CEO of Adaptly, Jeff Taylor, Regional Product Marketing Manager, Instagram and Ken Blom Director, Branded Content Distribution, Buzzfeed
Hashtag: #SMWadaptly
The Cliff Notes
Today everyone has the capabilities to become a publisher. The keys to cutting through the clutter are to be social and have empathy. You have to think constantly about the community around you.
Masters of Storytelling: How NatGeo Engages 350 Million Fans on Social
Speakers: Kate Coughlin, Senior Social Media Manager, National Geographic, Hillary Ossip, Social Media Manager, National Geographic, Amy Toensing, Contributing Photographer, National Geographic Magazine, Rachel Webber, EVP, Digital Product, National Geographic Partners
Hashtag: #SMWNatGeo
The Cliff Notes
“The goal of Nat Geo is to harness the power of visual storytelling to change the world. It’s our photographers and their stories that own our instagram handle. They have the keys.” – Kate Coughlin
#RealROI with Influencer Marketing
Speaker: Meg Scheding, Director of Product Marketing, Fullscreen
Hashtag: #SMWRealROI
The Cliff Notes
Identify your most valued consumer. There are a lot of audiences that might consume your product, but there is only one streamline person that will always come back. Identify that person and let that drive your content forward.
User-generated content featuring brands drove 6.9 times higher engagement than brand-generated content – @megscheding #SMWnyc #SMWRealROI pic.twitter.com/YzE22spU0j
— Wiss & Company, LLP (@wissllp) March 1, 2017
How the Internet is Transforming our Cities
Speaker: Dave Etherington, Chief Strategy Officer, Intersection
Hashtag: #SMWnativecities
The Cliff Notes
“In cities, there is so much hidden emotional content.” – Dave Etherington
By tapping into the new wifi digital displays that have been implemented around New York City, Intersection, a company built around connectivity and advertising, has gathered fascinating information about New Yorkers. Through a partnership with Shazam, the company captured what music people were listening to as they passed by the kiosks. By tracking music trends, Intersection also tracked emotional trends. For example, the data captured the extreme wave of sadness the city felt after David Bowie died. His music appeared on virtually every kiosk in the city the week of his death.
Interesting presentation on how digital out of home advertising can connect & engage people in real time. #smwnativecities #SMWNYC @_dave_e_
— Enrique Brao (@enriquebrao) March 2, 2017
Hitting a Marketing Home Run by Tapping into America’s Nostalgia
Speakers: Chris Bradley, Vice President, Group Creative Director, VaynerMedia, Monica Rustgi, Senior Brand Director, Budweiser US, I-Hsien Sherwood, Creative Editor, Campaign US
Hashtag: #SMWworldserieswin
The Cliff Notes
In this conversation, Monica Rustgi walked us through how Budweiser tapped into America’s heart.
Budweiser ran a commercial following the World Series featuring the late Chicago Cubs announcer, Harry Caray, in the tear jerking commercial, “Harry Caray’s Last Call.” The spot mixes highlights from Cubs’ World Series victory with snippets of Caray’s announcements at past games. Budweiser used only subtle advertising throughout the commercial, putting the story in the spotlight and the product on the backburner. In the end, the commercial amassed 3.2 million views on YouTube.
What’s Next In Social Marketing: Fresh Perspectives from the Forbes 30 Under 30
Speakers: Steven Bertoni, Senior Editor, Forbes Magazine Laura Foti, Head of Paid Media & Analytics, GE Digital, Candice Galek, Founder, Bikini Luxe, Daniel Houghton, CEO, Lonely Planet
Hashtag: #SMW30under30
The Cliff Notes
“You have to sell what you do, not the product. Tap into that lifestyle aspect.” – Laura Foti
“Keep eyes on Snapchat. They are calling themselves a camera company. What does that mean for the future? They just went public. What are they going to do with that money?” – Daniel Houghton
“People are using social to decide where to travel to. They look to Instagram for the images of where they want to travel next.” – Candice Galek
“Lifestyle photography is selling more than a white background image.” – Candice Galek
“#Platformfatigue: will all of these platforms merge together at some point?” – Daniel Houghton
Future Publishing Models: VR and 360 Video with The New York Times
Speakers: Jay Altschuler, VP, Media & Partnerships, Samsung Electronics America, Sam Dolnick, Associate Editor, The New York Times, Sydney Levin, Executive Producer, New York Times’ T Brand Studio, Andy Wright, SVP Advertising — Publisher, The New York Times Magazine
Hashtag: #SMWfuturepublishing
The Cliff Notes
The point of VR and 360 video is to give people access to places they may not be able to visit at a given time, like the Olympics or an exclusive concert. 5 million VR headsets are already out there with 10 million hours of watchable data available thanks to Samsung. Implementing VR into your marketing strategy is a hefty expense. Make sure you have a solid game plan and marketing budget in place before you dive in.
Cover photo courtesy of Social Media Week.
