Two weeks before my visit to Social Media Day: San Diego, I became a summer intern for Nimble. I began to learn the ins and outs of social media networking and believed this event would prove beneficial in furthering my knowledge on the subject.
Social Media Day: San Diego, or SMdaySD, is an event in which renowned public speakers and influencers share their insight on the vast and complicated world of social networking for yourself and your company.
User-Generated Content
The first speaker of the day and CEO/founder of Casual Fridays was Tyler Anderson. Mr. Anderson has extensive knowledge in the field of social media marketing and is actually the Executive Producer of SMdaySD. His presentation was an eye-opening experience describing how companies should be extensively using User Generated Content (UGC) to promote their brand.
Currently, UGC use is growing at an extreme rate, being capitalized upon by over 86% of companies. Mr. Anderson’s overarching question was, “Why haven’t you tapped into this yet?” He showed that not only does UGC have over 28% more engagement rate than brand posted content, it also 4x higher click-through rates.
The best example showing how fun and engaging UGC can be was from a San Diego car wash called Soapy Joe’s. Soapy Joe’s does a yearly challenge in which customers are encouraged to submit karaoke videos during their drive-through car wash using the hashtag #SoapyJoes. The finalists are then chosen and voted for online, the winner of which receives $1000.
These videos have added up to thousands of views of people smiling, singing, and dancing away at Soapy Joe’s locations. This form of content shows authentic, straight-from-the-source fun that customers see and are more inclined to participate in.
How Utilizing Video Marketing Can Amplify Reach
Sean Cannell, a video marketing expert and author of Youtube Secrets, spoke about his experience growing and developing a company using Youtube. Youtube, as most people know, is a video sharing website and is the 2nd most visited website around the world, second to Google itself.
Almost 5 billion videos are watched on Youtube every day and the website pulls in about 1.9 billion active users a month. Sean, through multiple channels, has over 1 million of these active users subscribing to his content, the majority on his channel Think Media.
Youtube is no longer just a site for cat videos and music; it’s a platform with unlimited potential to grow yourself as an influencer and content creator. Through Sean’s years on Youtube, he has created over 1000 videos showing exactly how you and your company can use Youtube to grow and expand.
Sean spoke to his own experience and explained that the key to success in Youtube really comes down to five factors:
Start your channel
You can always have ideas and inspiration for content but none of it matters unless you sit down, and record. You shouldn’t wait until the perfect time because frankly, that perfect moment is almost never going to be better than today itself. You need to begin and embrace the process/learning that comes from starting a Youtube channel.
Focus on your positioning
You need to know what your channel is about and what value it has to offer. If you find yourself unable to answer those two questions, then you won’t be able to capture an audience. Your content needs specificity and to be tailored to a target audience. Once you find your target audience, then you branch out and spread according to your target audience.
Always be learning
With the vast network that Youtube is, the audience and their desires are always changing so it is important to continue learning and improving as you go along.
Post content consistently
It’s easy to slow down and stop producing videos because a lot of time goes into writing, filming, and editing but this will only ever hurt you. However, it’s not just about posting consistently. It’s about seeing what parts did well, and what parts didn’t of your last video and improving upon it in your future content.
Persevere
As I mentioned before, Youtube is an enormous website with over 300 hours of footage being posted per minute, making it easy to be forgotten. Without perseverance, you won’t achieve the persistent views from your audience that you worked so hard to obtain.
As Sean described after his presentation, Youtube is a marathon — not a sprint. You have to set a pace, be consistent, and continuously work at it before you can achieve your end goal. Youtube is a unique platform that requires time and commitment to grow.
Closing Thoughts
Social Media Day: San Diego was a very beneficial experience for me, inspiring me to grow my own personal brand and image. After speaking to Tyler, Sean, and other speakers of the event they all gave me similar advice: Whether it’s going to events such as SMdaySD, or reaching out and participating in other people’s brand building process, you’ll be better off than if you didn’t.
Networking isn’t just about having the most followers on Twitter or connections on LinkedIn; it’s about building meaningful relationships with those you meet. Every single speaker agreed that you can’t just take the business card and walk away. You need to set a time and place to meet with that person again so that you can build a true, lasting connection with them. That person may just be your next ticket to growing in the world of social networking.
