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An Empire State of Mind: Social Media Strategies Summit

01.17.19

Case studies of successful social campaigns are one of the best ways to learn from fellow marketers. Real-world examples of hot trends were a central focus at Social Media Strategies Summit in New York City. I left feeling brand new, with fresh social ideas for the Filament team.

Here are key takeaways from two of my favorite sessions:

Join the cool kids club with influencer marketing

Product endorsements by paid partners have become the norm in social spaces. A projected $1 billion will be spent on influencer campaigns in 2019. While one of the greatest fears when a brand looks to dip their toes into influencer marketing is, “Will this be worth it?”, the average return on investment is 650 percent.

Jim Tobin, founder of Carusele, and Ryan Saghir of Sabra Dipping Company outlined a campaign they recently conducted with Sabra Snackers to-go hummus. They emphasized the importance of hand-selecting influencers who authentically fit the campaign and products.

“Find influencers whose audience fits your brand,” said Tobin. “Don’t just pay attention to the number of followers they have – look at the content they produce when they’re not promoting a product, their point of view, tone and voice. Make sure the equities align between both parties.”

After combing for influencers that fit like a glove, Sabra took it one step further with their Snackers campaign. They promoted the best performing content to their target demographic (urbanites aged 18-44 in New York City and New Jersey) using advanced geotargeting on the influencer’s channels. The result? Engagement was 113 percent above campaign benchmarks.

Storytelling in the Netflix era

Consumers continue to have shorter attention spans in a binge culture. We don’t have two seconds to be interrupted, but we have time to watch an entire series on Netflix in one day. How do we grab and hold our audience’s attention in this time-warp paradox? Thomas Harding, founder and CEO of Mish Guru, recommends doing more storytelling with less.

“Doing more has led to a culture of average, one way, surface-level interactions,” said Thomas Harding, founder and CEO of Mish Guru. “Create generously for your audience – not necessarily more content, but more meaningful content.”

Social media marketers can seize the day by drawing our audience in through video storytelling. Video continues to outperform most other content on social media – and it’s no longer passive. Instagram Stories are a hot social ticket, with 400 million daily active users, more than SnapChat or Facebook.

Instagram Stories create audience engagement, which is the golden ticket of KPI’s. Fans can cast votes in polls, respond to questions, tap hashtags or swipe up for links. One out of every three Stories results in the viewer sending a direct message to a brand. And, a 15-25 percent conversion rate for “swipe up to learn more” CTAs? Sign me up!

Hungry for more social knowledge? Reach out to us – we’re happy to chat!