I had the opportunity to attend the MediaBistro Social Media Optimization Conference (SMOC) in San Francisco earlier this week.
The show was full of sound bytes, excellent social media tips and some sharp strategies for linking digital strategy to social and PR efforts.
Conference discussions provided interesting perspectives on social media, by examining the science and metrics that have made SEO and PPC such important parts of marketing budgets, and applying them back to social media, where appropriate.
I’ve compiled a few of the best tips from the conference (particularly those that are relevant to PR), and have attributed them to the presenter that introduced the idea.
Brian Solis (@briansolis), Principal at Altimeter Group
Links are the most valuable form of currency in the social web.
This is true for SEO as well, but what Brian was talking about is the information behind that link: sending relevant information to your Twitter followers, interesting news to your Facebook friends and relevant articles and tip on LinkedIn.
Post guest blogs to places with more reach
This seems like a no-brainer, but the implications can be far beyond the obvious. While posting information to the link back to my site, the chances of finding me are greater because of the ‘weight’ of someone else.
You need people to share your content
“That audience with an audience of audiences is very important.”
It’s no longer enough to reach out just to editors and analysts. More and more it becomes important to reach out to influencers across every category – including social media.
Harry Gold (@ovrdrv) – Founder and CEO, Overdrive Interactive
B2B – How should businesses targeting other businesses use social media?
Express expertise – use the social media arena where you find your customers to tell them what sets you apart.
Own a category - being the first to use a key term can mean you own the conversation in every arena – including social.
Rohit Bhargava (@rohitbhargava), SVP, Ogilvy & Author of Personality Not Included
“What do you do when you run out of content? Re-package what you already have.”
Great tip. It’s not about constantly creating new content – it’s about finding ways to reach new audiences with the content you’ve already created. Taking your ideas (new or not) and reaching new markets and new audiences.
“Don’t be afraid to let go of a message or idea, and let others own it.”
It’s easy when you’re a corporation or even a wily start-up to become concerned that your story isn’t being told correctly. This is a waste of your time and effort. And remember, if other people start stealing your language, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. You’re still the first with that idea or thought.
Dennis Yu (@dennisyu), Managing Principal of Facebook Marketing, Web Trends
“Google didn't exist ten years ago, and then it did. And it was easy. And now it's starting to fall apart to some extent.”
Dennis was making a good point – nothing lasts forever. Knowing where the audience is going to be is key to success. Google will be around for a long time. However, that does not mean the company will continue to enjoy such a large portion of mindshare.
Brian Wong (@brian_wong), Founder, kiip
“There is a fundamental difference between short term and long term value. If your product is actually good and people want to engage with it, they will.”
So very true. If you don’t deliver a great product, no amount of publicity or social media outreach is going to make your product matter.
But when the time does come – knowing which organization can get you where you need to be and remains the key to your company getting all the mileage it can out of that product.
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