#SMMW18: State of Social Media

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#SMMW18: State of Social Media
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I cannot speak highly enough about the Social Media Examiner’s ability to put together a conference. Social Media Marketing World 2018 was a wonderful event. This year was even better than last year. Once again, they started the keynote session with a musical. It is a fun way to start the day. The tone for the rest of the conference was set by Michael Stelzner’s State of Social Media presentation.

Stelzner began by highlighting the date – January 11th, 2018 – the “Facebook Apocolypse”. He reviewed Facebook’s decision to significantly alter the Facebook algorithm from finding content to increased social interactions. This would occur across all products. This was a return to Facebook’s roots.

Stelzner noted that since 2009, Facebook has been an inexpensive way to market. But this changed Facebook. As Stelzner reminded us what Mari Smith had said in 2009, think relationships first, business second because when marketers move in, members move out.

Key Takeaways

  • Need to create meaningful interactions by prioritizing:
    • Liking and commenting
    • Replying to each other
    • Group dialogue
  • Weighing longer comments vs short comments
  • Video will get less watch time but still be important if relevant
  • You will see less organic posts
  • Facebook’s changes affect pages and people
  • More paid advertising. Will need to invest more to survive

Opportunities

  • Since the majority of marketers are using Facebook, there is an opportunity to market on other platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitters, etc.
  • A smaller, more relevant engaged audience is more valuable. Small is the new big.
  • Build video experiences such as The Journey
  • Put the right content in front of the right audience.

Video

Video is a significant opportunity because most people will not do it. Social Media Examiner is going all in on video. They are producing videos on Facebook, YouTube, and other platforms.

There are three types of video:

  • On the go
  • Lean in video such as news
  • Lean back video such as shows

Live video leads to discussions. I have seen this occur with the few videos I have created. More discussions have been connected with my videos than my other posts.

Here are types of video that you can create:

  • Breaking news
  • Live at events
  • Share tips and tools
  • Talk strategy
  • Weekly news shows

I am intending to increase the video I will be creating by doing a weekly Facebook Live event. Come check it out on my Facebook page.

Keys to success include:

  • Be human!
  • Create authentic long form content
  • Go live and connect
  • Try stories
  • Work with influencers

Facebook Messenger and Chatbots

As Facebook tries to increase social interaction, Facebook Messenger will become more prominent. Along with this, you will see an increase in the use of bots. Bots provide programmed responses to natural language queries or multiple choice selections.

In 2018, the use of bots will increase significantly. This is an area I will be exploring this year. I have already expanded my use of Facebook Messenger. I have provided instructions so that you can also add Facebook Messenger to your operations.

As I noted earlier, Stelzner’s message helped to set the tone for the rest of the conference. He keeps a finger on the pulse of the industry. If you are interested, you can download his latest report. I regularly review their material because they give sound advice. If you are interested in exploring some of these areas, please reach out to me, I would love to help.

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