Learnings From Social Media Week (SMW) 2022
Do you feel that? Conferences are starting to return in full force, and that means digital marketers have an opportunity to learn from some of the most knowledgable and influential folks in the space.
Following Adweek's acquisition of Social Media Week (SMW), the conference has returned to New York for three days of insights, learnings, and inspiration. And as a former Social Media Week speaker, I am so glad to be able to share some of the learnings I picked up on.
"41% of Gen Z social media users want to see content that is relatable to their situation" - Maggie Lower, CMO of HootSuite.
"Brands can't keep approaching marketing as ‘advertising’ - product is [the] experience. Make content not, ads."
The average attention span of consumers these days is 2.5 seconds. That's how much time brands and advertisers have these days, according to Maggie Lower, CMO of HootSuite.
For content creators and influencers, 67% of content on social is made by this group. And yet only 12% of creators today earn more than $50k a year, according to Pearpop CMO Alex Morrison.
Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian stated, "I don't think you'll be able to do marketing in 10 years at the best level without engaging a hell of a lot of [creator] individuals."
“You have to earn the attention you seek on social; you can't just pay for it. Users can smell an ad a mile away, and if your ad disrupts their scroll, it could drive them away from your brand.” -David Kavanaugh, VP of Marketing Operations & Planning at Hootsuite
"It's all about cultural impact - creating meaningful connections with consumers, at scale." (Adweek Day 2)
While the markets overall have been down, don't expect brands to give up on Non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Well, at least Pepsi won't be. According to Tod Kaplan, CMO of PepsiCo, their first NFT drop generated $10M on secondary markets.
"Leverage data, insights, and culture to create incredible social campaigns." - Beverly Jackson., Twitter Global VP of Brand and Consumer Marketing
"Safe spaces are interesting, but brave spaces are transformative".” - Maggie Lower, Hootsuite CMO
When it comes to brands dealing with a crisis effectively, the same day model and influencer Remi Bader, criticized Revolve for not being size-inclusive; they contacted her to consult with them to create a collection that will be launching later this fall.
Finally, I have officially become a fan of Glossier's CMO Alexandra for her take on measurement regarding influencer marketing. Specifically, "Know your goals and set them upfront: Sometimes influencer campaigns are all about reach and impressions. Other times it's about launching a specific product and focusing on conversions."
Did you attend or follow along with online? If so, what were your favorite takeaways from the Social Media Week conference? Let me know in the comments below.
