Social Media Strategies Summit in New York City brought together digital unicorns from around the country. While each speaker shared valuable tidbits to takeaway, below are five lessons we are eager to implement and remember.
1. “Content is the new sales call.”
– Soniya Monga, LinkedIn @soniyamonga
Soniya reminded us of the importance of a data-driven content strategy to address the reality that the average buyer must be exposed to over five pieces of content before they purchase.
2. “Social media allows us the opportunity to create new content—and to have a sense of humor.”
3. “What stands in our hero’s path to achievement? How does that journey unfold?”
– Michael Leis, Digitas @mleis
Focusing on behavioral content strategy, Michael articulated the importance of utilizing a traditional narrative structure in social media storytelling. His advice? Include an introduction, conflict (with clues) and a resolution (with climax) to map your hero’s journey. (The audience, here, is the hero.) We’ve dubbed Michael the “Don Quixote” of the summit.
4. “Progress makers have six shared DNA markers: optimistic, driven, resilient, future focused, worldly outlook, and generosity of spirit.”
– Angela Moncada, Citi @angiemoncada
For Angela, while progress makers can excel in unique sub-segments of work and society, they all share a similar story narrative arc that begins with a hook and results in impact.
5. “The content process must involve: data insight, smarter targeting, aggressive optimization.”
– Ben Harper, Datify @benharper87
Ben, who turned things around for @TimeOutLondon in the UK, made clear that content production and smart storytelling aren’t enough. A successful content strategy has to include smarter targeting through data insight—and must be (aggro) optimized.
