Social Media Marketing World 2018 Recap

I had the opportunity to travel to San Diego, California and be a part of the largest social media conference, Social Media Marketing World by Social Media Examiner this past February. The conference is designed for marketers of small and large businesses and brands to improve, monitor and measure the value of social media with over 120 workshops to choose from. You definitely knew you were at a social media conference. I have never seen so many cell phones out going “Live” on different social media platforms. Michael Stelzner, founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner, did an excellent job.

Learning new tools and strategies from experts all over the world was thrilling. By experts, I mean the industry’s top social media pros, creators, and thousands of attendees. I tried to soak in all the information I could. Attendees were willing to share what is working for them and what isn’t. The digital marketing world is constantly changing and it is imperative that webSURGE adapts with the changes to service our clients.

I have three key points from what I learned and wanted to share with you.

1. You should be A|B testing everything in your digital marketing strategy, from images to social text to the color of your website buttons. Chris Dayley from Disruptive Advertising told us the biggest mistake you can make is not providing a clear value proposition on your website. Think about this: what am I offering? Do people care? Which values will resonate with your customer?
2. Be human. It’s about the relationship and trust with your potential customer. Listen to the language they are using. Remember, value first. Solve their problem before you try to sell them something.
3. Your website should answer all questions your potential customer has. Not only answer the question but provide evidence to support your answer and a clear call to action. Having a clear call to action moves that potential customer down the buyer’s journey. If they don’t have a clear call to action on what to do next, they are more likely to just leave your page. Don’t lose a customer this way. Andy Crestodina provided a ton of insight in his workshop, “Building a Better Mousetrap will Increase your Conversions.”

Social Media Marketing World gave us so many ideas that will begin to transform our marketing and content. The quality of the presentations was amazing and we could meet and chat with the speakers. Meeting Michael Stelzner and Leslie Samuels felt like we were meeting celebrities. They were very approachable and engaging.

This is a conference you don’t want to pass up.