Social Media Week 2016 Day 1 Recap

Social Media Week is finally here! We sent two of our top Social Media Analysts to New York City in search of the latest trends, statistics, and news in social media.

See below for some of the key concepts and messages the Ferocious Media team gathered from Day One:

1. FOBO (fear of being offline) is real.
Research shows that 8 percent of people have their phone with them for all but 2 hours of the day. In fact, a recent study explains that married women would rather give up their engagement ring than their mobile phone! Knowing this, brands must place themselves in the right place, on the right platforms (starting with mobile) in order to reach their target audience – you can bet they’re online and on their mobile devices, so you need to be there too.

With technology being such an integral part of our day to day, brands must also know how to use it to their advantage and understand how to captivate their audience through it. Facebook’s Head of Marketing for North America, Michelle Klein, suggests that it all starts with the power of storytelling. Humans don’t turn to technology to just become another click (and brands certainly shouldn’t be striving to turn them into that), but rather, they turn to technology to be a part of an experience. Whether you use videos, images or some other type of virtual reality will all depend on your brand and your digital media strategy, but a key element of that strategy must be to give the power back to the people, and it starts with understanding how technology plays a key role in connecting your brand to your audience, and your audience to other similar users.

2. You can reach new audiences, if you speak their language.
Pope Francis is a role model for marketers who want to reach to an audience outside of projected demographics. For example, how do you connect the Church to the millennial generation? Let’s start with memes and GIFs. You’ve heard of those, right? Most millennials will find these social media tools engaging – it’s in a sense the way most people in this generation communicate with one another.

To connect with an audience means to speak their language, and Pope Francis and the Church have done just that. The message here – you can reach an audience outside of your targeted demographic. It’s just a matter of finding the right terms of communication, staying dedicated, and listening to what they have to say in return.

3. By creating valuable and informative content you can build trust.
Fifty percent of consumers are more likely to buy a product from a company that they can contact via social media. Fifty-six percent of consumers who actively use social media to interact with businesses feel a stronger connection to those businesses. Thirty-one percent of consumers say that their decision to buy a product was influenced by something that they read in a blog.

Your business has a right to be on social media, but it also has a social responsibility to provide content that your audience trusts. As people become more comfortable with using search engines to help make their decisions, they want to hear from the brands that they use.  Make sure that your messages addresses what your business is trying to accomplish.

4. Don’t get yourself wrapped up in the numbers.
Everyone wants to know what data and insights they need to look at, but the truth is that the data that is working in the moment is already over.  Use the data and insights to inform your intuition and inform your thinking, not to drive the content itself.  The best content is from informed minds and informed intuition.

It’s easy to get caught up in measuring your impressions and likes, but don’t forget about your engagement. The key is to know your audience and to know what works for your specific audience (what they find interesting and valuable). Everyone is different.

Keep an eye on our blog for more updates from Social Media Week in New York. To learn more about our Social Media Marketing Campaigns as well as other packages that we offer, contact us today!