So you have the social plan, but who is the best person to execute it? How can your agency team capture the brand voice? To tweet or not to tweet? And does your brand need to pin?
Recently, we hosted some of the top names in digital to give us the answers to some of your toughest brand questions. It turns out when you are ready to pull the lever on digital there are a multitude of concerns that can arise, but the returns could be pretty awesome, too!
Our digital gurus gave us their take on a number of subjects including: the connected consumer, social influence, the role of influencers, measurement and much more. During the 90-minute event , they fielded questions from our onsite guests as well as the 100+ unique visitors who logged in via live stream and twitter followers as well.
On panel:
- Piers Fawkes, founder and editor-in-chief, PSFK.com
- Mat Yurow, social media editor, Huffington Post
- Andy Cohn, president and publisher, Fader
- Joe Shantz, senior vice president of digital analytics, Porter Novelli
Here are some takeaways that just might help you out in your next meeting:
- Social listening is essential: With online platforms like Twitter and Facebook, brands can zero-in on consumer interests, trends, and dislikes. As our own Joe Shantz mentioned, social listening is an inexpensive form of market research. When done consistently, social listening can reveal insights about product or service short-comings, new use cases, new market opportunities, and evangelists who want to promote your brand. Invest the time to listen to what it is your consumers are actually saying and apply it!
- Are you a curator? A brand voice? An authority? Listen to your target and then make the decision to be great. If your audience wants a curator, then be a curator. An authority? Then be the authority and stick to it. For branded content to be strong, whether that content is as short as a tweet or as long as a documentary, having strong point of view on a subject is the key to attracting and keeping an audience, and rallying them to engage.
- Timing is crucial when it comes to social: Is the brand’s approval process slowing your social success? Then fight! A video post or photo blog a week or two after the event just won’t cut it anymore. As shared by the panelists, your content needs to be up and distributed within 48 hours to still be relevant. Same goes with projecting into pop culture – timing is everything. In general, audiences want as close to a real-time experience as they can get. Always-on means just that—always-on.
- Know what keeps you relevant: Is cred earned via Twitter or is your audience more Facebook centric? Take the time to see where your target is online and who influences them. Remember consumers trust friends and family members first to keep them informed on current events, products and experiences.
We’ve pulled together video, tweets, images and other content from the event onto the Porter Novelli – New York Storify page. Check it out here.