6 Key Takeaways from Social Media Marketing World 2015

Photo Credit: Social Media Examiner

Thursday through Friday (March 26-27) of last week, I attended Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing World conference in San Diego. I want to share the six key takeaways I found most important and actionable for improving your business.

Start using native video. Now.

Up until recently, sharing video always meant using YouTube and embedding that on a Facebook post or sharing on Twitter. Now, Facebook and Twitter have native video recording and uploading features. Why? They are competing with the video giant, and attempting to keep eyes and traffic on their properties in lieu of sending traffic to YouTube. What does this mean?

The two social platforms will reward you when you use them over YouTube. Facebook is giving preferential treatment in the newsfeed to natively uploaded video. Not only that, but the video will autoplay in the newsfeed, giving your post a lot more attention by its viewers. On Twitter, viewers can watch the video right in the feed, which makes for a better experience for the user.

Podcasting has huge potential.

Podcasting has been around for a long time, but has very recently started garnering an incredible surge of listeners, thanks in large part to the epic podcast “Serial.” Podcasting is for the most part an untapped frontier, and even smaller unknown thought leaders have the opportunity to take on and surpass large media companies in listenership.

Customer service is social. Social is customer service.

Social is not just a marketing platform, it is also a destination for users seeking out customer service. Your business must be ready to handle this. Do not avoid feedback on social media, as your “haters” may actually present a great opportunity to turn around a bad experience.

Content is the fire. Social is the gasoline.

Now is the time to start focusing on a content strategy. Why? One of the most powerful uses for social media is the sharing of original content. Users are seeking out answers, and your content could be just what they need. Provide content that is targeted to your highly defined audience, and then share that content through social channels.

Mobile is unavoidable.

Stop avoiding mobile marketing. Smartphones are not only a part of our daily lives, they are with us constantly. When we wake up, when we go to bed, out at restaurants, in meetings, you name it. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, not only will you miss out on traffic and sales, but Google could soon penalize you as well. It’s time to create a mobile-focused marketing strategy.

Build trust and recommendations, not traffic.

“Traffic is just tourists. Build trust, not traffic.” We need to stop chasing the carrot of “traffic,” and focus more on building trust with our customers. How? Share what you truly care about, give a little! What will the result be? Loyal customers who may even recommend you to their friends: the most powerful form of marketing.