15 Key Insights in Social Media from the World's Best at SMMW2016

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Some of the world's best marketing geniuses gathered at the Social Media Marketing World 2016 summit in San Diego in April. Here are some key insights that are useful reminders for us all in the industry...

Content Marketing & Storytelling

1. Storytelling is the one true superpower we all possess. @ParkHowell

2. Stop treating Content Marketing like it’s Advertising. Stop talking about yourself.
Joe Pulizzi Founder, Content Marketing Institute @JoePulizzi

3. The strategic value of content marketing is the collection of thematically and aligned assets.
Robert Rose, Chief Strategy Officer, Content Marketing Institute @Robert_Rose

4. Help your customer feel smart, and a part of something, and they'll join your tribe.
Ann Handley, Head of Content, MarketingProfs @MarketingProfs 

5. Great content is no longer the finish line, it’s now the starting line.
Mark Schaefer Chieftain, Schaefer Marketing Solutions @markwschaefer

6. If you don’t relate to your audience, they’ll never consume your story.
Brian Fanzo Chief Social Media Officer, MyChannel,@iSocialFanz

While three out of four marketing professionals claim to be 'using' content marketing, way less than half of that number can vouch for the actual effectiveness of what it does for them. I suspect that one of the main reasons why content marketing does not work for quite a number of folks out there is because they really don't know where its headed and they don't have a strategy. And, add to that, they have no clue about their real target audience – and content audience is not always the same as a marketing/advertising target audience. First things first, though, one needs to know where content marketing stands today, and what we could or should expect to see in 2016.
2016: Where is Content Marketing Headed?

Here are ways to use content to better market your products and services, to better connect to your target audiences, and engage consumers. Here are six ways to get your content marketing strategy to work harder for you.
6 ways to get Content Marketing done right

Snapchat

7. By next year, Snapchat will be a top 3 social platform.
@Mike_StelznerFounder, Social Media Examiner

8. There’s no instant ROI in social media. Snapchat is like any other channel: grow, engage, convert. Carlos Gil Head of Social Media Marketing, BMC Software @CarlosGil83

9. Snapchat is becoming a daily documentation of our lives.
Gary Vaynerchuk CEO, VaynerMedia, Host, Author @GaryVee

Is your brand using Snapchat yet? As a brand manager, or agency lead, are you up with it (or down with it, as teens would say)? Do you what the whole Snapchat buzz is all about? And are you aware that some of the world's biggest brands like McDonald's, TacoBell, Evian, Mercedes (yes Mercedes), American Apparel, Intel all use Snapchat effectively?

It's the immediacy factor of snapchat that makes it so cool. The action  and reaction is in there here and now. Keep it fun. Brands can use it to tell interesting stories. Anything that's a scoop works. A secret, a quick news burst, a limited time offer. You can have games and contests on Snapchat. Use endorsements. Highlight launches. Use celebrity updates around your brand. The first real step is to create an audience for your brand.

Here are  4 ways to build a cool Snapchat audience for brands

Video, Live Video, Live streaming

10. Live video provides unique access, conversations, and insights.
Brian Fanzo Chief Social Media Officer, MyChannel, @iSocialFanz

11. Livestreaming is the REAL reality TV.
Joel Comm Speaker, author @joelcomm

12. We’re still in the early days of livestreaming. Brands that adopt quickly will succeed.
Mari Smith Facebook Marketing Expert, Speaker, Author @MariSmith 

13. Watching a short video on the go is more engaging then reading even if it's short and simple!
Amy Schmittauer, Strategist @SevvySexySocial

14. Livestreaming is building that know/like/trust factor like never before.
Kim Garst Strategist, Author, Speaker @KimGarst


15. Facebook wants to be mobile television in your pocket.
Mari Smith, Facebook Marketing Expert, Speaker, Author @MariSmith

You cannot deny the awesome power of Live Video – if it's done right. With Facebook Live now jumping on the bandwagon alongside Periscope, Meerkat, and YouTube, how are brands going to benefit from this new here-and-now social media marketing channel?
Is your brand ready for the Live Video trend?

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, is all excited about live video. And Messenger. And how Facebook plans to move far beyond its role as a social media network.

The key announcements from Facebook's F8 2016: what's coming. Live Video!

YouTube have announced 360 degree live streaming video in a battle for video supremacy, taking Facebook head on. It has been a battle for live video lately, and for a couple of days after Facebook's F8 conference, it looked like YouTube was lagging. No pun intended. But last month (April), Google's YouTube unleashed a new feature that lets creators and brands live stream their 360-degree clips.

YouTube unleashes 360 degree Live streaming – takes on Facebook

Last month, Instagram announced that the maximum length of videos on its platform will be 60 seconds – four times the previous 15 second limit. The increased limit – now a full minute, definitely creates a whole new opportunity for brands. The 15 second limit was crisp, short, and brands needed to be quick in transmitting their message. It called for precise creativity. It also allowed for the 'insta' factor in instagram. Now with 60 seconds, brands have a lot more room to express themselves – hopefully, still, creatively.

Instagram's new video limit is now 60 seconds. How can brands benefit?

Social Media Marketing today is not about your brand or product – it's about the customer or consumer. It is built around the customer, the audience you want to talk to, and getting proper insights about your customer, the consumer, their needs is what should be your first and fundamental step.

Customer Insights is your First Step in Digital Marketing

That's the basics. That's Digital Marketing 101.