#SMDay is the super bowl for those of us who work in social media management
We had the opportunity to attend a few different Social Media Day Celebrations from Ohio to San Diego, and before we get back to our day-to-day routines, we wanted to take a moment to share some of the knowledge nuggets we heard from key digital thought-leaders in the online marketing front.
Even though each conference had its own theme and style, we heard many similar concepts across the board. One of the biggest themes we heard was – drum roll please – relationship marketing, which is our favorite! All of the buzz this year was about how social media marketing can enable you to meet people online and form new connections. It lets you get to know someone, personalize their experience, and then solidify the relationship by going to another level: from online to in-person. When this happens, your audience will be bringing those online interactions with them.
As Dennis Yu stated at #SMDayICT:
"You shouldn't be building your own personal brand. OTHER people should be building it for you." – @dennisyu
Afterall, social media marketing is more than creating posts. It’s about building relationships. Once people hear about you, through social media, they can begin to know, like, trust, and refer you. These are all things we heard, learned, and tweeted during #SMDAY18.
Two Additional Blogs to Read:
#SMWL18 Takeaways • SMDaySD Takeways
Stop waiting for perfection
Waiting till the right time isn’t going to cut it
Stop waiting for the perfect time to do something. If you are waiting for the right moment, you’ll always have an excuse as to why the timing isn’t right. You need to just work with what you have when you have it.
“It’s time to push the damn button” – Brian Fanzo.
That means if you want to start a video series, but only have an iPhone, it’s better just to start off with the iPhone. So, push the button and start today.
“You don’t need another tool, you need a better technique” – Jessika Phillips.
To build relationships online, you need to focus on the humanity of your team and your audience. If you’re featuring your team, show your audience them doing the work. Show people what it is that you do. Through your online content, you can give people access to behind-the-scenes activities, allowing them to get to know you better. It makes the content more meaningful.
If you aren't being social, why would someone follow you? What stories do they want to see and hear? If the people on your payroll aren’t following your company, you have a storytelling and relatability problem.
Time to get your hands dirty
Build a community based around your industry, your interests, and your network
“Time to get your hands dirty, the easy and cheesy way of doing Social is over.” – Tyler Anderson
To disrupt the market and make content meaningful on social, follow the 6 C’s from Chelsea Krost:
- Connect
- Communicate
- Crowdsource
- Collaborate
- Create Content
- Consistency
You need to build your social pages around a connection you have with your ideal audience. What can you share and create that will communicate a desire or a need that your audience has? It’s through this type of content that you can build pages and groups that have a dedicated following of people who know who you are, why you do it, and what it means to them.
“‘Good enough’ works. Get started with what you have.” – @briangjohnsontv
Some tools can make it easier to build relationships
As you try to build relationships online, the most important thing to do is connect with your audience in a meaningful way. There are a couple ways to do that. They all revolve around interacting with and engaging your audience in topics that are relevant and important to them. You have to know your audience to know what is meaningful to them
“Faces are super relatable, we all have one.” #smdayict @Schmittastic #vloglikeaboss
One significant way to do this is through video, especially live videos and YouTube. Most people would prefer to watch a video over reading something, and Live videos on Facebook are one way to engage and connect with your audience.
You can also post videos that are reversed engineered to leverage the search and discovery power of YouTube, which means you can reach far-reaching audiences. By remembering that YouTube is a search engine, you can connect with users who are looking for information specific to your business or brand.
The free lunch line ended - like yesterday
The free ride is over. You have to get your hands dirty to build up your organic reach as well as invest in what’s working with digital ads.
While Facebook Ads have grown in popularity and success, one new medium that was brought up is YouTube.
If you are using paid advertisements on social media, you should know that YouTube advertising is significantly less expensive than Facebook Advertising, whose cost-per-click has increased 90 percent year-over-year.
And, with YouTube’s advertisement options, targeting, and other features that they have, no other social platforms can hold a candle to them. For one very important reason, especially. It’s a search engine! Thus, it is a force to be reckoned with.
Cliff notes: Focus on human experiences, building relationships, and then sales will follow
The theme of the last few weeks–and what we hope people will focus on in the future– is that by focusing on building real relationships online, you can transfer them into real-world connections and vice versa. If you focus on build and leading a relationship first business, marketing will come natural, sales will come via word of mouth business, and your client churn will drop. See, online marketing should represent what it’s like in the day-to-day world of your business.
People can see through the smoke and mirrors now, there isn’t a Fakebook anymore. Use social media and live video to bring people closer to who you are as a brand and give them an inside look at what it’d be like working, buying, and consulting with your business. That way, people know that you care about them as people first, and so trust is born. They will refer you to their friends and family, extending your reach for you. They are more likely to buy from you again and again.
When you focus on the humans on the other side of the screen, you’re on the right path. From the time they hear from you to the time you deliver your product or services, they will be invested in your company. Ultimately, you will build an audience of passionate people who will root for you.
BONUS: our favorite Tweetables
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