It’s the year of relationships. This seemed to be a major theme of our 2015 social media week conference in Lima, #SMWL15. If you weren’t lucky enough to attend, the positivity, constant interaction and engagement, and sharing of social media knowledge was evident on the social media platforms which were being discussed. Those who attended the conference could be seen tweeting, posting, and hashtagging, wanting to immediately share the words of wisdom they were receiving from the relationship marketers themselves.
Our founder, Jessika Phillips kicked off the conference by saying that “relationship marketing is a commitment, not a campaign.” If you are serious about reaching customers and keeping customers, you have to be truly committed to them. You have to continue to reach out, even after the “sale” has been made. Commitment and consistency are key in being able to reach your target demographic and share your authentic brand self. In order to reach your target demographic, you will have to be willing to think outside of the box, and step away from the traditional methods of marketing and selling. In today’s world, everyone is constantly bombarded with phone calls, emails, advertisements, and now social media posts...we are all competing for attention so the question is “How are you going to stand out and build relationships in order to reach the people you want to reach?” “People are busy. You have to find a way to cut through the noise.”
Tarek Camil, founder of Cerkl and a guest speaker at the conference, said it best when he said, “Do you have a communication strategy or an engagement strategy?” ..” If your communication strategy is looks like the same newsletter you sent out 15 years ago then you are not engaging your audience!” Tarek went on to explain his experiences with receiving newsletters and other items from his university which supposedly cared a lot about him. He realized he was receiving things that everyone else was receiving. He was receiving information and advertisements that weren’t made specifically for him. What this did was make him feel like he was simply a number. What this would do to a potential customer is push them away. You don’t care about them, so why should they care about you? You have to personally identify with your audience in order to reach them. You need to do the research and find out who you’re talking to. Who exactly are your potential customers? What do they do? What do they like? What do they need/want to know? You have to genuinely care.
You also have to show potential customers that you care about what you do. They need to know who you are, why you do it, and how much knowledge you have about your industry. In order to ignite relationships, it has to start with what people know about you. Don’t be a bullhorn, be a magnet. Make potential customers want to come to you because you have the knowledge, expertise, and passion for your industry. The way to be a magnet is to get your brand using a variety of social media platforms, or at least a social media platform that you believe would best suit your target demographic. Conference attendees got a lot of tips about using social media for their brand.
What seemed to be the most important piece in all presentations was content. No matter what social media platform they were talking about, content seems to be the piece that makes everything work. Without content, the internet would be nothing; social media would be nothing. Content is how you get people to pay attention. If you don’t have good content, you aren’t going to get too far. Jessika Phillips put it as “the content that converts is the content that helps.” With social media marketing, you have to really know what’s going on in the world and with your potential customers. Look around at what’s on social media. What’s trending? Whatever it is, combat it. Cut through the noise.
Interact with what’s going on. Engage with what’s going on. The point of social media is to SOCIALIZE. Again, pay attention to what’s going on and get involved. The more you engage with the content of others, the more they will want to engage with you. The more you engage, the more you get your brand out there. If you want to be a part of social media marketing, you always have to be on top of your game. Every second there’s a new tweet, a new FaceBook post, a new Pinterest board. You have to be in the NOW. There are so many customers you could be reaching, and relationship marketing is the way to reach them. Be a magnet.
Here are my favorite tweets from each session:
Chelsey Lloyd Pinterest:
Pinterest isn’t just for cupcakes and crafts! It’s a visual platform that’s applicable for all businesses, to tell their visual story! Remember, successful brands don’t sell, they tell! #smwl15
Jessika Phillips on Content that Converts:
“Memorable content is solution based..not product based” @JessikaPhillips #SMWL15
John Flannagan on YouTube
The year of video: "people are looking for content and we need to give it to them." @oflanada #SMWL15
Jeremiah on Paper.li
Just because it’s automated doesn’t mean you leave it that way. Take time and do it right. #SMWL15
Terence Keaser and Brian Williams on Instagram
“Why not show the human side of your brand through photos” #SMWL15
Jessika Phillips on Facebook
"You want good content first, and your fans will come later." @jessikaphillips #SMWL15
Jessika Phillips on Linkedin
Linkedin is allows you to get past the gatekeeper - @jessikaphillips #SMWL15
Ross Bishoff on Blogging
"In a perfect world your blog would be both timely and timeless." @Ross_Bishoff #SMWL15
Ross Bishoff on Twitter
Twitter can be the Wild, Wild, West- anything goes and you have to be prepared. #SMWL15 @Ross_Bishoff
Jessika Phillips on Culture:
“Teams use We not I, Our not My.” @JessikaPhillips #SMWL15
the419 on How to become a social media All-Star
“It’s not what you say, it’s what people say about you” @NOWMG #SMWL15
Terence Keaser on Podcasting
“Consistency and commitment is the difference between good and great” #SMWL15
Bonus- Some of our favorite tweets during the conference:
"And if you can't handle it, (social media) dish it off..." - @AlterEgoComics "And we dish it off to @NOWMG" - Leslie #SMWL15
#SMWL15- Terek Kamil just compared @NOWMG to the secret service- you don't always see them, they just always protect you.
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