We just finished sponsoring the social media communications for FutureMidwest, and we are now looking forward to the next event.
Before we give away too many details, (though we gave a big hint in the title of this blog post) we should consider what really makes a digital conference stand out these days.
We attend a fair amount of events including some of the big ones like IFA and BlogWorld, to some of the smaller regional events like SOBcon and #unGeeked. All are excellent, but it can be tricky gauging where to drop your dollars. Make sure you ask organizers, speakers, and past attendees the following questions before making your conference decisions.
What’s the value? What is the goal and mission of the conference? If you can’t find an answer beyond, “teaching the latest trends in social media”, I’d look for another event.
What will you teach me? Conferences can be fun, but education should be your main objective for attending. What will you learn that you can’t find online or on someone’s blog?
What’s the take away? You can listen to all the great presentations you want, but that doesn’t mean you will know how or be able to integrate what is said into your current business strategy. The best events have their presenters provide takeaways so attendees have a better idea what to expect.
Will I make connections? Networking is great, but networking without a purpose is just standing around talking. Is there a speaker or attendee that can help you with your business? Can you offer an attendee something that will help theirs. Having business objectives while attending conferences isn’t a crime. It’s smart business.
All of this leads us to the above Twitter hashtag used in this post’s title: #unGeeked.
Last year we attended and covered #unGeeked Milwaukee. This was an event limited to about 200 people with a series of presenters who actually spoke with, not just to, the audience. This lead to a cultivation of ideas and brainstorming around a series of topics that included ROI, social media, marketing, content, publishing, branding, job search, and more. There was opportunity to connect with both speakers and attendees. The education and take away we received more than made up for the price of registration. And yes, the connections lead to both personal and business opportunities.
On May 12th re:group returns to #unGeeked. This time we will be in the heart of Chicago along with a fantastic lineup of speakers and thought leaders including Olivier Blanchard, Spike Jones, Barry Moltz, and more.
I’ll be leading a brainstorm session on a topic we are very passionate about here at re:group, content – Identifying Your Content Bubble. (Scroll down midway to read to full description). To get a better idea of what this means, check out the video at the top of this post. We’ll also be covering all the #unGeeked action on our Twitter channel and Facebook page.
There is still time to register, and your #unGeeked pass will include:
From MediaPost, some new insights into social media usage.
According to a new study by Social Media Examiner, prepared by Michael A. Stelzner, social media has gone mainstream. And for businesses it represents an unprecedented marketing opportunity that transcends traditional middlemen and connects companies directly with customers. Two years ago, businesses were uncertain about social media. Now it’s here to stay and companies are rapidly responding to new social media opportunities.
Major findings from this report contain insight into how marketers are currently using social media and their future plans:
90% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business. One third of all social media marketers want to know how to monitor and measure the return on investment (ROI) of social media and integrate their social media activities. 58% of marketers are using social media for 6 hours or more each week, and more than a third invest 11 or more hours weekly.
77% of marketers plan on increasing their use of YouTube and video marketing, making it the top area marketers will invest in for 2011.
70% of marketers want to learn more about Facebook and 69% want to learn more about blogging.
The number-one advantage of social media marketing is generating more business exposure, as indicated by 88% of marketers. Increased traffic (72%) and improved search rankings (62%) were also major advantages.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs were the top four social media tools used by marketers, in that order. Facebook has eclipsed Twitter to take the top spot since the 2010 study.
Only 28% of businesses are outsourcing some portion of their social media marketing.
The overwhelming majority (93%) of respondents indicated they were employing social media for marketing purposes, and a significant 90% of marketers said that social media was important.
The self-employed (67%) and small business owners with 2 or more employees (66%) were more likely to strongly agree.
More B2B companies have been using social media longer than a year (52.6% reported 1 year or more) than their B2C counterparts (46.2% indicated 1 year or longer). In 2010, only 31% of marketers were using social media for 1 or more years. Now that number has grown to 50%.
58% of marketers are using social media for 6 hours or more each week and 34% for 11 or more hours weekly. 15% of marketers spend more than 20 hours each week on social media.
Those with more years of social media experience spend more time each week conducting social media activities. For example, 63% of people with 3 or more years of experience spend more than 10 hours a week doing social media activities. Only 41% of those with 1 to 3 years experience spend that much time.
Time Commitment For Social Media Marketing
There’s a direct relationship between how long marketers have been using social media and their weekly time commitment. For people just beginning with social media, 59% spend 1 to 5 hours per week. However, for those who have been doing this for a few months or longer, most spend 6 hours or more per week on social media activities.
A significant 47% of marketers who have more than 3 years experience spend at least 16 hours per week focused on social media activities.
There’s a direct relationship between age and time spent on social media. The younger the marketer, the more time he or she spends on social media. People aged 20 to 29 years spend more time than other age groups using social media marketing (with 41% spending 11+ hours weekly), followed by 30- to 39-year-olds (37% spending 11+ hours per week). This is an increase over the 2010 study.
The number-one benefit of social media marketing is standing out in an increasingly noisy world. 88% of all marketers indicated that their social media efforts have generated more exposure for their businesses. Improving traffic and subscribers was the second major benefit, with 72% reporting positive results.
Nearly two-thirds of marketers indicated a rise in search engine rankings was a benefit of social media marketing.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs were the top four social media tools used by marketers, with Facebook leading the pack. In 2010, Twitter was in first place with 88% and Facebook was close behind with 87%. Since 2010, Twitter lost 4%, LinkedIn lost 7% and Facebook gained 5%. In the 2009 study, only 77% of businesses were using Facebook.
The self-employed (80%) and owners of small businesses (78%) were more likely to use LinkedIn. Larger businesses were more likely to use YouTube or other video and less likely to use blogs (68%+).
At least 73% of marketers plan on increasing their use of YouTube/video, blogs, Facebook and Twitter. A significant 86% said they have no plans to utilize MySpace or will reduce their efforts.
Depending on who you ask, the internet may have born over 40 years ago when two computers were simply connected together. Since that time, people have been using every available tool to build stronger connections with each other. It should be no surprise that the internet eventually became the social web.
Many look at 2010 as the year of social media adoption. This is a fair statement, however, the reality is there is still a large sector of businesses and organizations with little knowledge of this space. More so is the need to align internal cultural changes in order to accommodate best practices that the social web requires.
If 2010 was really the year of adoption, then 2011 needs to be the year of education and best practices.
Firms and marketing professionals need to cement their own internal communication plans, and be able to deliverable measurable results for their clients where appropriate. They also need to ensure that their clients not only know how to use the available tools, but more importantly, why they would need to use them. Best practices can only be achieved through education and guidance that a firm must also practice. Leading by example will be the winning formula.
Social media has proved itself to be a legitimate communicate channel, and a disruptive force when it comes to marketing. I say disruptive because our industry went through dramatic changes in 2010. Agencies had to rethink not only what they can offer their clients, but also how they themselves communicate through the digital landscape.
So, what is in store for 2011?
That could be anyone’s guess. Again, I think we are going to see the need for best practices in both companies, and the agencies that serve their communication needs. Measurable results should be a high priority. The endless debate measurable ROI could be put to rest. In fact, Jay Baer and Amber Naslund have a book coming out that addresses this very topic.
We will continue to see the need for new and unique case studies, especially in the B2B sector. Klout, which entered the ring last year, may need to prove itself as a reliable measure of true influence. The terms influence and personal brand may also have to step up and defend their existence. And now we have Quora, the newest social media sensation to enter the ring.
Communication has always hinged on sociological and cultural tempos. With immediate access comes immediate expectations for communication to be heard, received, and responded to. It should be no surprise that the companies and agencies that communicate the best, will win.
One of the best things about the social media space is that there is always something new to learn. During my recent travels I picked up quite a bit of knowledge at a conference called BlogWorld and New Media Expo. It is held annually in Las Vegas, and as far a big conferences go, it’s a real value.
This year was no exception. I took a book worth of notes while I was there, and thought I would share some highlights from Scott Stratten’s keynote.
We’ve shared a presentation of Scott’s here on our blog, and I’d recommend checking it out if you are not familiar with his presentation style. He pretty much set the stage for the entire conference.
You are always marketing
Marketing is not a task, if you have a potential engagement w/ a customer, consumer, anyone, then you are marketing.
Everyone in your company is a marketer
Stand up for what you believe in when you blog. Blog when you have something to say.
Your blog is your marketing department.
If you don’t get people or like people, don’t use social media.
Enable the sharing
The reasons why people share things have not changed. How they spread it has.
People don’t spread “meh”, they spread amazing and awesome. Be amazing and be awesome.
Your job when blogging is to get people excited when you do post and want to share it. Make people stop what they are doing and read your post.
It’s not your job to tell someone how to consume you content. Your job is to to get them to consume it, period.
What’s New in Social Media Scott?
Forget about “what’s new in Social Media”. Let’s focus on now.
Social Media doesn’t change the fact that 1) relationships take time and 2) we need to still focus on products and service.
If you do not have your blog mobile enabled, you are stopping the spread. You are losing readers. Don’t make people jump through hoops to read your content, because they wont.
Social Media success doesn’t exist. It amplifies what you have – good or bad. If your products or service suck, then social media makes your product suck more.
The Deal w/ SEO
Rule #1 – write great freakin content.
The more you engage, the better you will be with social media. But you have to put in the work. You can’t short cut relationships.
If you are a business, then your social media channels are an extension of your customer service.
If you are online, your customers will expect you to be immediately present.
ROI
We hold ROI to social media much harder. What is the ROI of talking and networking? Doesn’t matter if you believe in social media.
The time issue is the big one but the return of social media is not immediate.
If your market is people and your niche are humans, then they are there. If you don’t want to be there, then don’t use social media.
Closing Statements Scott ended his keynote with a request to ignore the haters.
The people who bait you. Let them hate you. Do what you love. Follow your passions. Don’t feed the haters.
He also stressed that one the best things in business is to have someone give you honest and substantial critical feedback.
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Solid stuff.
I’ll share more from BlogWorld as I clean up my notes.
Some Thoughts on Social Media and Social Media ROI
Lately I’ve been immersed in discussions about Social Media and figured it’s a good time to share my perspective. From a marketing perspective, the ultimate goal of Social Media, is to have a positive effect on business. Surprising as it is, this is sometimes debated. Some will argue that it’s all about the consumer and not about the corporation. Some will say that Social Media ROI cannot be measured.
I argue, that by approaching social media with the proper attitude – first it’s customer centric and about the corporation second, we can overcome consumer skepticism and be accepted into the community. This can provide the opportunity to connect to consumers on deep levels that other marketing channels have not been able to provide. The result: creation of brand advocates leading to a positive effect on the bottom line.
I look at Social Media as falling into 3 primary categories:
Participate in the existing conversation
· Listen
· Engage
Enter brands within existing communities
· Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, etc.
Create your own conversation
· Corporate blogs
· Corporate communities
Social Media Measurement ROI
Okay, so you make the leap and figure that using social media could be good for your company. How do you measure it? Some argue that you can’t or don’t need to. Well, we’re in the business of doing business and we do things to have a positive effect on business, so let’s look for ways to make sure that what we do makes a difference.
This table is based on a model by Forrester Research.
(http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2007/01/new_roi_of_blog.html)
Here we can begin to consider the value (ROI) of our Social Media efforts:
