Top Takeaways From Social Media Week Lima 2025

Social Media Week Lima 2025 brought the heat—and we don’t just mean the June sunshine in Lima, Ohio! This year, we explored the powerful theme of Meraki: the idea of infusing our heart, soul, and creativity into everything we do. Over two energizing days at the UNOH Event Center, the #SMWL25 community gathered once again to spark ideas, deepen relationships, and reimagine what marketing with meaning truly looks like.

With inspiring keynotes, engaging panel discussions, and hands-on table talks, attendees walked away not just with notebooks full of insights, but with a renewed sense of purpose. From practical strategies to soulful storytelling, the conversations this year centered around showing up fully—online and offline—and leading with authenticity in a noisy digital world.

In true Lima fashion, the event combined Midwest hospitality with big-brand brilliance. Whether it was your first time attending or your 12th, SMWL25 reminded us that when we pour our passion into our people and our platforms, real impact follows. Here's a look at some of our favorite moments, key insights, and reasons why SMWL25 left us creatively charged and connected like never before.

Here are our top takeaways from Social Media Week Lima 2025! 

Day 1

How to use the Meraki Mindset to Boost your Marketing and Business

• The magic happens outside of the big things
• AI can help you save time, if it’s used the right way.
• Human moments happen, you still want to make sure there is someone still there on the other side
• Real connections never go out of style
• You need to focus on what the CARE is in your business 
• Lead with care. Serve before you sell. Connecions over conversions.
• Out-CARE > Outspending - caring is your sustainable flywheel advantage 
• Delight. Deliver. Do it again. 

The Abundance Code: 7 Principles To Living A Life of Expansion, Ease, and Natural Growth

• Why do we experience resistance when we want to try something new?
• Your brain is primarily driven by danger & survival, not accuracy and fulfillment. “There are a lot of things happening in our brain that stop us from doing our Meraki (Doing everything with your soul)”
• What if you could retrain your brain to see opportunity, abundance, and ease naturally?
• “Close your eyes and imagine the best version of yourself. How does it look?” 
• 7 Laws of Abundance:
• - Name It, Claim It, Ask for It. 
• - GIVE to Grow
• - Feel it Forward
• - Compare and Celebrate
• - Embody, then Begin
• - Build With Others
• - Direct your Overflow

How To Become The Center of Gravity – Strategically Attract The RIGHT Audience

• What makes you different? Not just better. 
• There’s no key to success; it's a combination lock. 
• Ideally, you want to be different AND better. 
• Who are your mentors? Who’s your audience? Who are your peers? What do they value?
• How do I stand out and become the center of gravity? How do you magnetize your mentor, your peers, your audience? Create something value-centered and unique that attracts them, and YOU start it. 
• Create something your mentor would like to join in on, peers will recommend, and audience/clients will absolutely LOVE.
• Proven collaborative mediums that 100% work: 
  • Collab blog
  • Book with co-author
  • Niche product
  • Podcast
  • Community
  • Event.
• BE DIFFERENT

Lessons from the Farm that Bring People to the Table

• “In our farm, we let the produce do the talking.”
• Have the best people. Hired the best!
• Build a culture of “care” internally. Show your team you care. 
• Treat your team like family. 
• “If you really want to do something in life, do not listen to anybody else, just do it.”
• Don’t accept the first “no”. Find out why they say “no” and go again. 

• Your customers won’t buy until they believe. Today is brought t you by the word TRUST. 
• 88% of consumer say that trust is a deciding factor wether they do business with a company. 
• “I don’t need to know you or like you… but, I need to trust you.”
• Video testimonials work because it is a transfer of trust. 
• We feel what we see. When a real person shares their transformation, mirror neurons fire and the viewer believes it could work for them too. The trust is transferred faster. 
• DO NOT:
  • Ask your customers to just drop a video testimonial
  • Ask your customers to use a video testimonial app.
  • Don't do this…pretty please.
• DO
  • Ask: Say “you have been chosen” and include how fast the video process is. Emphasize that there are no notes or prep on their end, and they will be supported so they cannot get it wrong. Lastly, give them a link and open your calendar for only TWO weeks. 
  • Turn customers into storytellers. 
  • Ask the right questions: NEVER send questions ahead of time. You want to tap emotion and prepping for questions will lead to answers form their heads and not their hearts. 
  • The edit: It is not linear, it is layered. It is an emotional arc. It is about them, not you. And lastly, it is NOT polished – it’s persuassive. 
• Once you have your video, put it EVERYWEHRE:
  • Website/sales page
  • Social MEdia
  • Ads
  • Email
  • Proposals
  • Influencer Marketing
• Download the interview transcript and use their own word for your sales. 

From the Heart: Bringing Meraki to Life Through Marketing in Specialized Fields

• Makayla Boyd- Digital Content Specialist at University of Cincinnati
• Jaiden Jonston - Group Events at West Gate
• Jamie Samples - Marketing in the horse industry
• You can be friends with your clients
•  Don’t try to be someone else online. Stick to who you are  and what you know
• Some people aren’t sure they’re passionate about something until they’re educated - share what is authentic to you 

Leveraging AI to Skyrocket Your Social Media

• Take charge and adapt
• S.T.A.R.T. framework
• Stop the scroll with a powerful opening hook
• Talk about a problem your target audience is dealing with
• Align with your audience to build credibility and trust
• Resolve the problem with actionable “FREE” advice
• List type videos
• Facebook Working Strategy 
• Reels: 1-2x a day
• Memes or value images 1-2x a day
• Text threads 2-3x a day
• Youtube Working Strategy
• Youtube Shorts 1-2x day
• Long form videos 1-2x a week
• Instagram Working Strategy
• Instagram reels 1-2x a day
• Trial reels 2-3x per day
• Collab as often as you can
• Use “Easter Eggs” in content to increase engagement 
• ChatGPT Tasks- set up a daily automation on a schedule
• Syllabi starts with showing real data for your industry. Then easily create faceless videos. 

How to Win More Sales without Acting Like a Douchebag

• Why would a cookie cutter strategy work for sales? One size sales don’ fit all
• Black sheep have fitting conversations
• Create a high value result and  impact for someone.
• Playing a numbers game will hurt your business - do not focus on volume. 
• 95% of clients feel that the typical salesperson talks too much
• Be genuinely curious, empathetic, and passionate. 
• When it’s a fit it's a fact and there is no “selling” involved.
• “Some money” is NOT better than no money
• You can’t educate and sell at the same time in a conversation

Break The Bottle: The Future of Social Media & AI-Powered Content Creation

• Purple Heart Award Recipient
• What keeps us from our success? Mentally and physically
• Break The Pattern
• Decision - Identify what it is
• Clarify what it is
• Real Authentic Connection  Over Noise
• Being transparent lets people have their own breakthrough
• Align your content with your values
• Do not get complacent

Building your (G)empire

• People want to buy the problem you solve
• Create an experience
• Handwritten note to seller helped her build a relationship to acquire her store front
• Every order comes with a handwritten note tailored to the client
  
  

The Power of Meraki- Building a Life & Business that Attracts

• Organized chaos
• Passionate about health and wellness 
• If you are not doing something with intention it is wasted time
• be authentic in your posting, use real photos, be intentional, be passionate
• Create things people didn’t know they could do

Show Up Real: Using Youtube to Leave Your Mark

• Fix what needs fixed - don’t completely change everything
• Youtube is the second biggest search engine following Google
• Tell a story
• Consistency builds community

Voice Your Passion: Amplify Your Brand Through Podcasting

• Podcasting can grow your business
• Know your audience and your “why”
• Use podcasts and AI to reach an audience that speaks another language
• Position content to be clear to the audience
• Repurpose each podcast into a story, post, LI Article, etc

Day 2

Maintaining your humanity in an increasingly AI world

• AI toolkits
• AI can never replicate the human touch
• Use the automation tools to give you more time to focus on the human connection with your customer. 
• AI can’t feel a story
• Use your voice to tell your story - only you can tell your story
• Authenticity equation 
• Mind = strategy
• Heart =  emotion
• Soul = purpose
• 5 ways to stay human in an AI World
• Ask “Would I say this to a friend?”
• Add personal anecdotes
• Check the emotional tone
• Create a voice guide 
• Show your face - use video, founder updates, and user generated content
• Generate a style guide

Make Self-Mastery Your Superpower

• Why self mastery matters
• Overcome distractions
• Boost productivity
• Maintain clarity under pressure
• Lead with confidence, creativity, and intention
• Spoke out against things that negatively impacted his business even though it could have upset a portion of his customers
• WillPower vs IQ - The Marshmallow experiment. Will power outperforms IQ for long term success
• Librarians vs warriors - take action on what you learn 
• Structure saves you - have a routine

10x Productivity with These Ai Hacks!

• Energy and passion are magnetic
• Be Consistent with your message
• Short form video tools
  • Capsho
  • Syllaby
  • InVideo
  • PlayPlay
• Best AI tools to up your game- product photos
  • Magic Studio
  • Claid.ai
  • Adobe Firefly
  • Pebblely
  • Photoroom
  • Flair.ai
  • Stand out with infographics
  • Visme
  • Piktochart
  • Infogram
  • Venngage
  • Easel.me
  • Animaker

Accelerate LinkedIn Marketing with Video

• Get your video scrolling
• Newsfeed Features - add your video
• 1st frame = 1st impression
• Max 60 seconds
• Text on the video
• Create constraints - Limitations fuel “Break” thoughts
• 2 content types that get clients
• Short form video builds crowds
• Newsletter builds relationships
• 5 video frameworks
• Share career tips or work lessons
• Comment on industry news and trends - no one has said what you want to say exactly how you say is
• Professional News or Announcements
• Behind the scenes or event video
• Company updates and news - numbered list

5 things every business needs to know about running ads in 2025

• Meta data knows way more than we can comprehend
• Call out your audience directly for Meta to target - even in videos
• Utilize less proper branding - make it look real and natural
• Embrace the “ugly” - raw images
• People swipe past ads right away
• Use AI to do a review analysis - what do people enjoy? What do they not? What do your reviews tell you about your demographic?
• 8 ways to use AI
• Competitor review analysis
• As concept ideation
• Scripting videos
• Ad mockups
• Graphic design feedback
• Copywriting
• Simplifying data
• Iterating ads
  
  

Rise of the Machines: Surviving the AI era

• AI will not replace people - learn to embrace it
• Embrace change - software has changed and and AI is just another change
• Use AI to generate royalty free images
• Create a virtual assistant 
• AI can analyze social posts and tips to make them succeed.
• AI allows you to automate tasks to give you more times toward personal goals.

Rise of the LinkedIn Influencer

• Influencer-
• You don’t have to be a CEO to create content
• Employee story telling
• Thought leader ads should not look like ads
• Mix and match types of content - videos/images/ podcasts/etc

The Power of 15 Seconds: Make your brand famous with TikTok Marketing

• You have 1 to 2 seconds to grab peoples attention. 
• Product demonstrations
• React to popular videos with a video
• Start videos with motion in the first 3 seconds
• Your bio is your prime real estate
• Give free and paid resources in your link tree to get leads and sales
• The culture of TikTok Marketing
• Attention grabbing 
• One minute or less
• Authentic/relatable  

UNLOCK Your YouTube Strategy with AI

• What do successful creators have that most people don’t? They know their purpose, value, audience, and they never quit.
• Niche, click, watch, like, ideas
• AI is cutting the length of doing an audit from 2 hours to 20 minutes
• Use keywords and specific phrases to serve your videos to your audience 
• 70% of views are from suggested videos
• Make content good enough that your grandmother would love it

The power of NOPE!

• Do not measure success by the hours you work but by the goals you accomplish
• Do not agree to do things that do not align with your vision
• Every yes is a no to something else
• What moves the needle today?