Social Media Result Conference Part 2 – What We Learnt This Time
Following on from my visit back in May, this time I was joined by colleague Nick Rinylo to attend the second annual instalment of the ‘Social Media Results Conference’ down in London. Lots was learnt on our last trip to The Grand Connaught Rooms, so expectations were high in regards to what could be learnt and put into practice here at Creare from a hopefully lively and exciting event. The theme of this conference was ‘Mobilise and Monetise’; so we went down with the aim of learning how to fine tune our use of social media for ourselves and our clients to make it even more effective.
The range of speakers varied hugely, as did the topics that were focused on; something I felt detracted a little from the day as compared to the earlier event in May where the flow of content seemed to flow a little more logically.
However this is not to detract from the quality of the speakers and the valuable insights that could be gained from them. Just as last time, the speakers chosen were from some really high profile companies with large social campaigns (Asda), some specific social tool developers (Traackr) and other speakers from backgrounds you might not expect to give a talk – For example, one of the best speakers of the day was Amanda Coleman from Greater Manchester Police, detailing their use of social media as a tracking tool during the recent riots.
I’ve listed below who I felt were the key speakers of the day, and the main themes to takeaway;
- Jonathan Hudson – Jonathan works for Shop Direct Group, who own ecommerce powerhouses Littlewoods and Very.co.uk. Really interesting to hear that not too long ago their online sales accounted for only 5% of total revenue. That figure this year is now 85%! His speech was all about consumer engagement and how they do it there, highlighting the difference in engagement for different types of posts. Informative posts = little engagement, causal posts = more engagement! Also, spoke about the possibility of social data as a source of information to tailor your customers experience on your website; huge potential for conversion rate optimisation there!
- Pierre Loic Assayag – Pierre was at the event as the face of Traackr, one the event’s main sponsors. Traackr is a social tool all about identifying and utilising key influencers to help your brand grow. A real interesting fact that came from his speech was that 3% of people influence 90% of total actions. This really highlights the need to identify and engage with these influencers as they almost do the hard work for you! Perhaps social media is not all about reach……
- Dominic Burch – You’d be hard pressed to find a better speaker from the whole day, Dominic is Head of PR at Asda and kept the audience fully intrigued and entertained throughout his whole speech. Again, a lot of his talk was about engagement. He emphasized the importance of timing and producing content that is relevant for your audience. If your audience likes daytime TV then post about it! The simpler you make engagement the more you’ll enjoy!
- Ross Adams – Ross is responsible for creating potential advertising opportunities at Spotify, and had a few really interesting developments that are coming our way that could really be useful for social profiles! Spotify are going to introduce company profiles where you can add playlists that represent your brand, adding an interesting dimension to your social strategy. They are also going to be releasing an API which could open a world of possibilities! Get your thinking caps on….
- Harry Davies – Another notable speaker was Harry Davies from Google, who just wasn’t on for long enough for my taste (had my SEO hat on of course!). However, what to take away from his talk was Google’s continued push for Google Plus to become a household social platform. Its ability to easily provide your friend and family’s recommendations is a very powerful tool for potential conversions. Take note and include Google Plus in your social strategy sooner rather than later, or you could end up missing out on some great marketing opportunities.
There were many other great speakers, and to write about them all would take all day! But big thanks to all the speakers and those who attended the conference and made it an educational and entertaining day. The food again was fantastic, if a little random (broccoli and onion bhaji anyone?), and the staff at the venue were very helpful.
I’d probably want to go again at some point in the future, though I’d love to see more of a focus on social media from an agency point of view – maybe even include a speaker from an agency? It would be great to hear how some have built a brand socially and the trials and tribulations involved there, rather than just another big brand and how they have evolved their marketing strategy to incorporate it, almost unwillingly sometimes it seems.
All in all though a good day had by all and would recommend to anyone who wants to learn a little bit more about the world of social media.
