On a recent trip to San Diego, California for the 8th annual Social Media Marketing World conference, I learned several tips for improving how to use social media for your business.

It’s About Community

Brian Fanzo, a digital strategist, says “the future of business is community.”  It’s really about storytelling to begin a following of people who are interested in what you say. Then you build a community of like-minded people by…

  • Be a passionate person
  • Inspire others through a shared purpose
  • Motivate people to create and collaborate
  • Leverage individual’s passion.

Things to consider measuring

Stop looking at your engagement stats and start looking at true connections. Who’s repeatedly viewing your content? Who’s sharing about your brand message? What offline interactions have you had? How many multiple connections/touches from the same person have you had?

Creating Connection

Pat Flynn, Podcaster shared ways to get people to connect with you. He shared how to he built connection into his book, Will It Fly, to get readers to engage on a deeply level.  It’s the same in social media. Every interaction on social media should be enhancing or encouraging the person to take the next step of deeper access to you.

Encouraging Collaboration

Marcus Sheridan, a pool making business owner, was a keynote speaker. He shared the power of story telling and engaging with your audience to bring them into the storytelling process by asking questions. His method is this:

  • Ask a question to get audience engaged in a dialog with you.
  • Tell a story to help the audience imagine themselves in the story.
  • The results – this is the payoff you get by listening.
  • The Challenge – this is the action you want them to take next.

Building Your Brand

Jasmine Star, photographer, strategist, and owner of Social Curator agency shared how to build a brand that thrives on Instagram. She told everyone that a brand is an experience. So, in what ways can you create experiences for your audience?  Read the entire session recap here.

Using the Right Words

Mike Kim, of CopyProof, talked about how to write persuasive copy in a voice that’s unmistakably yours. He shared his ideas on the 3 identities of a brand (Verbal, Visual, Value). “Marketing isn’t about closing the sale, but about opening a relationship.” If you’re still developing your brand consider these three questions:

  • What pisses you off? This stirs passion within you.
  • What breaks your heart? This is how compassion grows.
  • What is the BIG problem you solve? This is your business.

When you incorporate all three into your brand messaging you become unmistakably unique. You share this brand through the visuals and words you use.  You can read the recap I wrote for Mike’s session here.

Using Video to Reach Your Goals

Goldie Chan, the “Oprah of LinkedIn” and top LinkedIn Voice for Social Media, shared how to build an unstoppable brand with LinkedIn video. “Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video” (Insivia).  “LinkedIn video gets 3x engagement compared to text posts” (Foundation, Inc). Get clear about the four objectives for using video on any social platform. 

  • Brand awareness
  • Amplify a product launch
  • Thought leadership
  • Targeted series

Once you identify your top objective, create content focused on that topic to drive engagement and interaction with your audience.  The recap of Goldie’s session can be found here.

Go create better, deeper, collaborative relationships with your audience on social media. There is no better time to get started.