Online Marketing News: Short Attention Spans, Google Feed Rules, Starbucks Emojis

The Shortening Human Attention Span (And What it Means for Marketers) [Infographic]

Down from 12 seconds in 2000, the average human attention span is now 8.25 seconds. That leaves marketers with very little time to make a meaningful impression. But, don’t sweat it too much. This infographic has some solid tips on how to capture and hold the attention of your audience, like using clear and brief messaging and telling your audience a story. Social Media Today

Google adds Merchant Center Feed Rules to make formatting shopping feeds easier

For a long time, Google shopping feeds have been a bump in the road for digital advertisers. So much so that there’s a whole industry dedicated to helping advertisers manage their shopping feeds. On Tuesday, Google announced a new feature in the Merchant Center — Merchant Center Feed Rules, that will help advertisers fix errors themselves in a simple way. Search Engine Land

Starbucks launched its own keyboard app so you can text emojis of unicorns drinking coffee

Starbucks is now allowing users to send unicorn and coffee emojis to their contacts. That’s it folks, the world is complete. The app was released under a partnership with Snaps Media, and is Starbucks’ first consumer app that is focused on entertaining their audience. What could this mean for other brands? I’m willing to bet we’ll see more custom emoji keyboards in the near future. TechCrunch

Facebook’s mobile ad revenue grew by 76% to $4.26 billion in Q1 2016

Facebook reportedly grew revenue in Q1 of 2016, which is a contrast to reports issued by Twitter and Apple with revenue reportedly being less than expected. Not only is mobile ad revenue up, but Facebook’s daily audience grew by 16%, with money made from each audience member increasing by 33%. This post is full of useful information from that report, and some highly entertaining gifs to boot. Marketing Land

Twitter Q1 2016 Revenue Falls Short of Analysts’ Projections

Twitter reported that while revenue was up 36% YOY for Q1, the $595 million fell short of analysts predictions. According to SocialTimes, “Twitter reported a GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) net loss of $80 million, or 12 cents per share, less than one-half the company’s net loss in the first quarter of 2015.” SocialTimes

Marketers Choose Responsive Email Templates Over Fluid Hybrid Design

New research shows that marketing professionals worldwide are overwhelmingly choosing to use responsive email templates (56.9%) over fluid hybrid design (7.9%). Interestingly, 19.9% are using both types of templates, and 15.2% aren’t using either. Designing for mobile first may sound like a trendy marketing idea, but smart marketers know that if your emails don’t look great on mobile, they aren’t nearly as effective. eMarketer

What were your top online marketing news stories this week?

I’ll be back next week with more online marketing news! In the meantime, send your thoughts and ideas to me @Tiffani_Allen or @toprank!

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How a GREAT Marketer Befriends an Influencer

Have you ever watched a reality competition? You know, one of those Survivor-style shows that puts strangers in a stressful situation to battle for a last-person-standing prize?

Don’t be ashamed if you have. I’m a pop culture snob, but still found myself transfixed by ten seasons of America’s Next Top Model. On that show, amidst the freak-outs and tantrums, I noticed one recurring line of dialogue:

“I’m not here to make friends.”

You’ll hear it on almost every reality competition. There’s always one person who alienates everyone else with that specific phrase. Usually it’s followed by, “I’m here to win.”

The funny thing is, in all the hours I wisely invested watching would-be models snipe at each other, no one who said that ever won. Not once. In fact, they tended to get kicked off earlier than anyone else.

It’s easy for marketers to feel like we’re not here to make friends. Even in influencer marketing, it’s all about that ROI. Influencer, you get me what I need, we’ll compensate you, and that’s the end of it. We’re here to win.

But just like the models and aspiring pop idols of the world, you’ll find that putting effort into building friendships pays off in the end. If you want influencers who are excited about working with you, creating work they’re excited to promote, it pays to cultivate a friendship. Not just from a, “it’s nicer to work with people when you’re nice” angle, either-it’s better for the business side, too.

Here are three ways you can cultivate friendships with your influencers.

#1 – Consider People outside of their Interaction with Your Business

This is a piece of advice I’ve given to marketers thinking about their customers, but it applies to influencers as well. Yes, you’re vetting the influencer for the size of their audience and if their audience aligns with your message. But while you’re doing that, consider what they do when they’re not answering your email.

What are they like? Do they have a good sense of humor? What are their hobbies? Do they talk about their family, their pets, their collection of vintage chainsaws? What kind of music are they into? What movies do they love? It’s worth doing a little digging to find out. And I don’t mean just social media stalking, either. These questions can start a conversation you might not have had otherwise. We all love talking about ourselves-give them a chance to share interests you might have in common.

#2 – Take – Don’t Fake – A Personal Interest

Last December, I got a greeting card in the mail. It had my name and addresses hand-written on the envelope, but no return address. Intrigued, I opened it to read: “Best holiday wishes to you and yours from your friends at [Insurance Company].” I looked at the envelope again, and this time could tell their hand-written address was just a handwriting font. Just like that, any illusion of personal interest they were trying to create was gone.

With your influencers, it’s worth taking time to express a genuine personal interest. Let your correspondence show that you have taken time to learn something about them. Send a meme that made you laugh, that you know they would love. Send them a vintage chainsaw to add to their collection. That thoughtfulness goes a long way.

Just make sure you do your homework under point #1, so you’re not faking the funk. You wouldn’t want to send chocolates to a diabetic, or a vintage chainsaw to someone who collects old Happy Meal toys. That’s just a waste of a good chainsaw.

#3 – Strive for Genuine, Enthusiastic Co-Creation

At TopRank, we try to involve influencers in the creation process as actively as possible. We make sure influencers know exactly what project we’re working on, why we would love their input, and which other influencers are already on board. We keep the enthusiasm up throughout the process with progress reports. We show them the finished project before we publish it so they can make final edits. And we always make sure to message them right before the project posts, to make it easy for them to promote it.

Compare that approach to simply saying, “Hey, can we get a quote about Happy Meal toys for a blog,” followed by…well, no follow-up at all. There’s no comparison.

How a GREAT Marketer Befriends an Influencer

Let’s face it: We are here to make friends. In marketing, as in life, friends make good things even better. So to help you cultivate lasting friendships with the influencers in your life, we created this cute-but-serious storybook with some key points to keep in mind. Read it to your kids before bed tonight…or to your significant other while you’re binge-watching America’s Next Top Model.

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7 Ways to Step Up Your Email Marketing Game in 2016

Email marketing is a great, cost-effective way to engage prospective customers and nurture relationships with current customers. And email is actually welcomed by consumers. In fact, recent research has found that a whopping 91% of Americans say they want to receive promo emails.

But let’s face it. With email being one of the most common forms of communication these days, your customers inboxes are most likely a little full. And it’s time for you to step up your game if you want to continue connecting with subscribers and encouraging them to do business with you.

While we’re almost halfway through 2016, there’s still time to make the most of the latest email marketing tricks and trends. Below are seven considerations for creating an emails that will resonate with your audience and help you up your game.

#1 – Remember: It’s All About Mobile

This one may seem like a bit of a no-brainer, but nonetheless it needs to be mentioned. Mobile has become an increasingly important consideration for website designers and digital marketers. People rely on their mobile devices for a lot of things–and email is certainly one of them. In fact, studies show that 55% of email is now opened on a mobile device.

Typically, the content should be focused and not too text heavy. But the most important thing to remember is that people want fast loading times. So, if you’re using large video or image files, make sure they’ll open quickly and easily.

#2 – Personalize Your Message

A one-size-fits-all approach to email marketing is simply not reasonable these days. Your email recipients are interested in messages that are focused on their personal tastes and preferences–addressing them by their first name in the opening is not good enough. Use data insights to create different messaging for individual target groups.

For example, Pinterest does an excellent job at personalization. Every week, I can count on receiving an email with suggested pins or boards to follow that are based on my interests and behaviors on the platform.

Can you tell I’m attempting a diet?

#3 – Understand the “Why”

Spend some time actually thinking about why your subscribers actually open an email. An enticing discount or a new product launch may not be the only reason they click. Think about who your customer is, what they’re usually looking for, what’s important to them and what season it is. In addition, think about what device they are looking on. Is it a tablet? Smartphone? Basically, dig into the psychology of your customers. This will directly correlate with your ability to personalize your messaging.

#4 – Explore Automation

Automated email campaigns allow you to use a triggering event such as an asset download, contact form fill out or a webinar signup to kick-off a tailored series of emails. Your monthly newsletters or specialty campaigns are definitely important components of your overall email marketing strategy. But email automation can be a very powerful tool that can help you nurture relationships and drive customers to a desired outcome.

For example, if you’re hosting an in-person event or webinar, email automation can be used as a way to communicate with attendees before, during and after the event. Content delivered before or during the event would include information on accommodations or the event schedule. Content delivered after the event ends would include special access to event assets and presentations, or perhaps direct them or information on another upcoming event they’re interested in.

Determine your triggering events and then create an automation workflow that details what you’ll send to them throughout the automation campaign. Here’s an example:

#5 – Add Dynamic & Interactive Content

Dynamic and interactive content is something that is pretty new to the email marketing world. Dynamic options could include changing the content of an email based on location or weather, and interactive content could be features like animations or carousel elements. Software tools that can help you do this type of content are HubSpot and MovableInk.

#6 – Use a Lightbox to Grow Your Email List

Lightboxes–or pop-ups–can be an effective way to quickly grow your email list. While some may think they’re a bit annoying, lightbox pop-ups bring a connection option to your audience–rather than relying on them to search it out.

If you go this route, make something that’s unique rather than using a generic template. Also, use active language that will compel people to do what you’re asking. Here’s an example from HouseLogic, a home improvement tips and tricks website operated by the National Association of Realtors. They know why their audience is there and uses visuals to entice a sign up.

#7 – Implement Tracking

Having the proper tracking in place so you can gather data and pull insights from your email campaign is crucial. (And really tracking should be an important part of your entire digital marketing campaign.) If you’re using Google Analytics, add campaign parameters to the source URL to get a better idea of how many people are coming to your website from email. Check out Google’s Email Tracking – Measurement Protocol for step-by-step instructions.

What are some of your email marketing best practices? Tell us in the comments section below.

Header image via Shutterstock

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38 B2B Content Marketing Case Studies for 2016

There was a popular article on TechCrunch recently claiming marketers in the inbound and content marketing space have no idea what they are doing and don’t know marketing. For some, that might be true.

When you’re not viewing the world through the lens of a cynic, it’s amazing what you see. Marketers at companies all over the world are planning, implementing and optimizing customer and content centric marketing programs that are achieving results.

For example, each year at the Content 2 Conversion conference, the Killer Content Awards recognize B2B marketers implementing effective content marketing campaigns. And each year, we highlight many of those examples here.

While there are those vested in “being right” and debating the merits of the 4 P’s, there are companies creating useful information customers are looking for every day. Information that educates and helps buyers lead themselves to the conclusion to buy (60-90% of the way at least).

For examples that you can actually learn from, here are 38 B2B content marketing campaigns from major brands including American Express, Dell, Waste Management, Cox Media, Optum, Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, SAP, IBM, NASDAQ, Glassdoor, Demandbase, Oracle, LinkedIn, Thermo-Fisher Scientific, Salesforce, Zendesk, Comcast and more, each including: an approach, a link to the creative / content assets and provided results.

American Express Global Corporate Payments

Project: American Express partnered with the Global Business Travel Association to create a research report on the satisfaction of business travelers. Through the development of a content hub featuring original research, blog posts, listicles, infographics and event presentations, the goal was to educate companies and suppliers about expense management and technology.

Results:

• Reach of 100 million publications
• 1,500+ page visits
• 100% higher engagement rate on LinkedIn than Financial Services benchmark

Magnetic (PDF)

Project: A survey of 100 retailers and 200 North American consumers provided data to create an ebook: Closing the Gap Between People’s Expectations and Retail Realities that uncovered how retailers engage with consumers across channels and how shoppers respond.

Results:

• 67% of all content downloads from the Magnetic website
• Media coverage in 5 major industry publications

Qualtrics (PDF)

Project: To position itself as a thought leader of VoC solutions, a white paper was developed helping to define and validate VoC with research, offering how-tos and tips for lowering costs.

Results:

• 2,500+ leads generated
• $1,000,000+ in net new pipeline generated in the first 30 days
• Largest attribution source for leads in 1H2015
• Cost per conversion of less than $1.30/each

Dell (PDF)

Project: Dell developed a nurture program supported by more than 18,000 global module content elements featuring over 1,200 assets. The assets supported 22 solution topics across 10 global programs. All of this was designed to stand out against competitors, align content to customer journey stage and focus on decreasing end-user time investment.

Results:

• 35% higher average order value for nurtured vs. non-nurtured contacts
• 300% more contact engagement with nurture emails

Waste Management (PDF)

Project: To reach small businesses, monthly nurturing emails were created along with landing pages and microsite where interactions with content determined placement in an accelerated nurture with top 10 lists, how-to guides and other resources.

Results:

• 2% to 4% content adoption in first 3 months
• Onsite visits and trial offers scheduled by customer service reps

Clean Harbors (PDF)

Project: A content-based drip campaign including thought leadership content, industry trends, challenges and lessons learned was developed to cross-sell services to an existing customer base. Content types included: Articles, Fact Sheets, Podcasts, White papers, Infographics, Interactive checklists, case studies and real-world events.

Results:

• The cross-sell campaign connected the brand with a niche, target group of prospects
• Improved positioning of the brand as a knowledge leader in the Chemical and Petrochemical markets

 

Cox Media

Project: To increase engagement amongst prospective clients, a holiday advertising “countdown calendar” was created to help local businesses plan their marketing. Content types included: checklists, workbooks, videos, infographics, and graphic ebooks. Content was amplified with social ads and blog posts.

Results:

• Increased traffic to its web properties a
• 60% increase in client inquiries
• Top 10 assets for 2015
• Interactions and shares up 10% or more over prior month campaigns

 

YouEarnedIt (PDF)

Project: Exploring how companies can better engage employees a multi-touch campaign was launched including several guides, lists, and a SXSW panel. Amplification occurred through a blog, landing pages, social channels, emails, and guest blog post CTAs. Follow up content was automatically delivered based on reader behaviors and segmentation.

Results:

• 270 new sales-qualified leads (SQLs)
• 11% contact to SQL conversion rate
• 2,458 new contacts
• 18% view to contact conversion rate
• 13,939 views

 

Blackbaud

Project: To show their target audience the potential benefits of the offering, a campaign including email, Uberflip, webinars, case studies, infographics, tip-sheets, videos and interactive content powered by SnapApp: calculators, quiz and a survey that worked with existing content.

Results:

• Warmer leads filling the pipeline
• 800 qualified leads for sales (141% of quota attainment)
• Sales can now use content collected through interactive channels as tools for the sales process

 

Optum

Project: An interactive content experience was created to help healthcare execs and sales people easily find the information they needed to understand changes in the health system. Assets included a web-based tool guiding virtual discussion, and a navigational infographic.

Results:

• 1,800 contacts have visited the site,
• 3% of site visitors have contacted Optum to engage further

The Mosaic Company

Project: To create awareness of a new offering, The Great Yield Mystery, a 10-episode fictional serialized audio drama (podcast) was created exploring causes of issues that the company’s offering solves. Prizes were given away to listeners.

Results:

• 1,586 podcast episode downloads
• 1,764 sessions on GreatYieldMystery.com Average of 2.13 pages per session Average two-minute session duration Total reach of 197,377 people

 

Booker (blog, videos)

Project: A series of 6 humorous videos were created featuring dogs using the company’s software ‘s show SMBs how to grow their business.

Results:

• 500 inbound leads
• 100+ closed deals

 

Cisco

Project: A mock movie trailer called, Fast Innovation and the Slow Waiter, featured CIOs and tech leaders from major companies discussing how they are leveraging technology to grow revenue with a “dim-witted waiter” aka Tim Washer. The humorous trailer linked to the full interviews with the executives.

Results:

• Video earned 1,331 views (5X the average)

 

Alcatel-Lucent

Project: A series of sitcom-styled videos discussing customer problems followed by a series of ebooks mapping out solutions used plain language to engage buyers’ attention.

Results:

• 600,000 views of the video series
• 25 leads converted

 

Networked Insights/Walker Sands

Project: To monitor brand sponsors of the World Cup and those that newsjacked the event, reports were created to highlight winners and losers, hidden audiences, and how media habits changed during the event.

Results: 

• 16 major media placements 71 million impressions
• 3,500+ social shares
• Attracted $1m+ in inbound leads from potential World Cup advertisers

 

SAP/gyro/Forbes Insights

Project: An information hub was created for CMOs to support their role in an entertaining and compelling way. Content types include research and interviews with 300 senior marketing executives, white papers, articles, infographics, SlideShare decks, webinars and videos. Continued engagement via social media, blog posts and emails extended the dialogue with CMOs.

Results:

• 2,000 site visits
• 1,400 unique users
• 435 leads

Bottomline Technologies (PDF)

Project: To create demand for a new solution a best practices guide was developed along with email promotions to the customer and prosper database.

Results:

• 1,476 emails opened
• 708 total clicks
• 48% click-to-open rate

 

IBM Security

Project:  A website was developed to provide the target audience with original news and analysis that could provide an authentic understanding of the target audience challenges.

Results:

• News coverage in The New York Times, BBC and others
• Performance has exceeded expectations with continued growth in readership

 

iLEVEL Solutions, a division of Ipreo Private Capital Markets

Project: To create awareness, a robust brief that was previously published was condensed into an interactive infographic. A complex topic was made easy to consume on any device.

Results:

• 1,000 views
• 33% sustained increase in web traffic
• 10% increase in returning traffic
• 60% increase in time spent on site per visit
• 70% increase in the number of page views per visit
• 5 new opportunities worth $800,000
• Directly influenced 63 opportunities worth $6.2 million

 

NASDAQ

Project: To develop awareness of it’s technology leadership an interactive infographic was developed using Ceros showing a timeline of innovations and milestones.

Results:

• 2,300 page views  1,630 unique visitors
• 3 minutes average time on the infographic

 

Event Farm

Project: An online platform was created using industry influencers to answer key questions via video interviews.

Results:

• 1,084 total registrations
• 9,143 contacts added to marketing automation database
• 626 leads with Future of Event Marketing as first point of conversion
• 257 marketing-qualified leads generated

 

Glassdoor (PDF)

Project: Using a top CEO list, inspirational advice and management best practices were curated into an ebook.

Results:

• 4,493 views on SlideShare
• 87,032 page views on Business Insider
• 70% click-to-download rate from internal email promotion

 

IHS (PDF)

Project: To support crowdsourcing content from customers a Awards program was developed to leverage customer generated content: case studies, videos, tweets and LinkedIn posts.

Results:

• 80% of candidates who were nominated turned into public case studies
• 100% of drafted case studies turned into public case studies
• 95% of all winners renewed their contracts the following year
• 100% of winners engaged in other brand marketing activities

 

Demandbase (PDF)

Project: An eBook was developed to educated prospects on Account Based Marketing. The eBook was repurposed to create an infographic, video, blog post and interactive quiz.

Results:

• 950 downloads
• 960% directly attributed ROI
• $8 million in pipeline revenue

 

Conductor (PDF)

Project: To support the sales team engage retail industry companies, decision makers were identified to receive relevant and timely content delivered through rep outreach, marketing emails, direct mail, a webinar and a survey. The program also included infographics, eBooks, reports and blog posts.

Results:

• 27 new opportunities created
• $600,000 in pipeline revenue

 

Influitive (PDF)

Project: To reach target accounts, an ABM Wild West themed campaign was developed alongside Dreamforce. A Most Wanted list of their 150 top prospects was created and case bounty given when someone brought the executive to the company’s booth.

Results:

• Influenced 22 opportunities worth $367,000
• Sourced 12 opportunities valued at $270,000
• Closed four deals
• Engaged approximately 50 accounts
• Generated 623 mentions across social networks before and during the event

 

SnackNation

Project: The “Awesome Office Show” podcast was created for CEOs and HR professionals featuring industry influencers.

Results:

• 20,000 downloads
• Top 50 Business Podcast on iTunes
• Featured in iTunes New & Noteworthy

 

Autotask (PDF)

Project: To highlight solutions and thought leadership a survey was conducted and findings were developed into a story that aligned with the brand’s messaging.

Results:

• 134,415 landing page views
• 8,923 marketing engaged leads
• 2,763 marketing qualified leads

 

Widen

Project: To educated their audience and promote team members as thought leaders, an infographic was developed.

Results:

• 2,333 page views
• 5,000 social shares

 

AppDynamics

Project: A campaign highlighting the consequences of not using the right monitoring solution was developed featuring a cartoon character, “Franken-Monitor”. Assets included: a comic strip, infographic and research report.

Results:

• 100,000 total views
• 2,000-plus research report downloads
• 5,000 social shares

 

Oracle Marketing Cloud (PDF)

Project: An annual LookBook highlights the 20 best branding and marketing campaigns of the year across email, mobile, social, web and display.

Results:

• 3,500 downloads
• 1,581 new contacts
• 1,226 new marketing-qualified leads

 

LinkedIn

Project: Partnering with industry thought leader, Brian Solis and cartoonist, Hugh MacLeod, an eBook, SlideShare presentation, infographic and blog posts combined to highlight the need for remarkable content.

Results:

• 9,200 E-book downloads
• 2,000 SlideShare views
• 1,000 cumulative blog post shares

 

PGi (PDF)

Project: Partnering with industry experts to discuss social selling and best practices, an ebook was developed, “Join the Social Sales Revolution”. The eBook was amplified through a social campaign and a series of webinars.

Results:

• 5,000 landing page views
• 350 new leads
• 9% conversion rate

 

Thermo Fisher Scientific (PDF)

Project: To help a new sales effort, a brochure and sales battle card highlighting customers’ struggles, questions and concerns were created for the sales team. The sales support material also provided counters to objections, benefits and value points.

Results:

• 217 leads
• $800,000 opportunities added to the funnel
• 5 systems sold

 

Zendesk

Project: A 3-phased approach was launched to accelerate sales enablement. Phase 1 included research, aligning content and reviewing sales data. Phase 2 focused on repurposing content and developing a framework. Phase 3 involved administering sales enablement training tools and guides.

Results:

• 730% increase in deal closings with 5k companies
• 130% increase QoQ in outbound booking amount

 

Makino

Project: The company used Facebook to drive traffic to the main website and spark conversations about customer interests. Content assets included: Product demos, customer testimonial videos, customer success stories and awards webinars, infographics and blog content.

Results:

• 515% increase in “likes” 526% increase in stories created
• 78% increase in referrals to Makino’s web properties

 

Salesforce

Project: After losing access to the main blog, Medium was used to host content and reach new audiences. After the main blog access was regained, Medium used continues to engage the new audience.

Results:

• 20,000 followers on Medium added
• 900% increase in visits to the Medium channel since launch

 

Comcast (PDF)

Project: To highlight the value of their solutions to NASCAR drivers, a video was launched on YouTube and content was promoted to the brand community and social channels. Additional thought leader content including white papers and articles complemented the video content.

Results:

• 10,000 views (70% higher than the average)
• 18,000 organic impressions

Winning is not always about ROI. At least not today. For a group of award winners, the performance of a number of them can seem underwhelming. However, the reality is, not all content marketing needs or should be about lead generation and transactions. Not everyone is ready to buy every day and to expect that out of every piece of content is shortsighted.

A few trends:  There are far more multi-format content campaigns being run as well as an increase in technology and data to customize experiences. One of the main missing links overall is the lack of amplification outside of advertising. So many of these programs would see much greater relevant audiences if amplification was: 1. Designed during the content planning 2. Included more than the brand’s own networks.

All the same, these are examples with explanations for their purpose and virtually all of them have links to assets so you can see the content either in its native form or as a pdf. That information alone, can be useful to inspire ideas for your B2B content planning into the second half of 2016.

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Social Media Marketing World 2016: Insights, Top Blog Content & Words of Wisdom

Last week, we had the privilege of participating in the annual Social Media Marketing World conference in San Diego. We joined over 3,000 other marketers and marketing influencers who were looking to explore the latest trends and best practices for social media marketing.

From the moment (literally) that I stepped on the plane, I had a conversation about the upcoming conference with the woman next to me. It was her first time at a conference like Social Media Marketing World and she planned on spending the flight trying to figure out which sessions made the most sense for her to attend.

Fortunately, I had done my homework and gave her suggestions on which sessions I thought could be of use to her. Because she was able to get her planning out of the way and we had a great discussion about our roles and the organizations that we worked with (I also had someone to spend hours in the airport chatting with on the way home).

For me, a large part of a successful event is having the opportunity to meet great people like Darcy and learn more about what they’re doing on a day-to-day basis at the companies they work for. That coupled with thought provoking insights from speakers that have been very successful at implementing the ideas that they’re covering makes for a great conference.

Below you’ll find some interesting statistics about the reach of the topics discussed both online and in-person at the event, access to all of TopRank Marketing’s blog coverage and some snackable tips that you can learn and share, even if you weren’t at the event.

Just How Big Was Social Media Marketing World’s Footprint?

Using metrics gathered from Keyhole, we were able to get a sense of just how far the #SMMW16 hashtag could reach. All data that was collected was for April 17 – April 25.

Zignal Labs also created an event wrap up post that showed that the content created on TopRankBlog.com drove more than double the amount of shares to the conference hashtag than the next referring website which was Instagram.

In looking at the top domains from Keyhole, it appears that TopRankBlog.com ranked only below Twitter, Instagram, Buffer and Periscope for the event. Facebook YouTube, Vine and many others did not have quite the reach and domain authority as our timely content.

Not surprisingly, mobile (iPhones specifically) was without question the top device used to share information using the #SMMW16 hashtag. Not everyone in attendance was sitting there with a laptop furiously taking notes like I was, but there was not one person I saw that didn’t have a smartphone in hand for the majority of the conference.

Conference Coverage From TopRank Marketing

Many of the conferences that we attend also present the opportunity to create some great content to share with our online community. This is a great way to provide insights to people who are attending but can’t possibly go to every session, as well as those that weren’t able to make it this time around but still want insights into what is being learned. In total, we created 8 blog posts that either featured influencers at the event, or provided coverage of the sessions.

Top 50 Social Media Marketing Influencers at Social Media Marketing World

Based strictly on data collected from Traackr, TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden was able to shine a light on some of the top industry experts, influencers, brands and practitioners that would be speaking at Social Media Marketing World.

To find out who made the list and how you can connect with them, read: 50 Social Media Marketing Influencers to Follow

Where Does Snapchat Belong in Your Digital Marketing Strategy?

After attending this session, I walked away excited and encouraged about the possibilities that exist for marketers looking to find a way to better connect with their audience. This panel included two of the top Snapchat influencers that clearly know what they’re doing, as well as two brands that have made Snapchat a cornerstone of their marketing engagement strategy.

To find out how if there is an opportunity to use Snapchat for your brand, read: 7 Tips for Incorporating Snapchat into Your Marketing Strategy

The Role of Storytelling in Building Brand Awareness

It’s no surprise that today’s customers have so many options available to them. Companies that find a way to create a strong connection through their content efforts almost always win the business. To help you understand how to do that more effectively, this panel of speakers shared some amazing insight into how to incorporate more storytelling into your marketing as well as some exercises to put it into practice.

To begin creating your own happily ever after please read: Learn How to Compel Your Audience to Act with These 3 Storytelling Tips

What Does it Take to Build a Successful Client & Agency Relationship?

Many brands have not only one, but many agencies that they partner with to help support their digital marketing initiatives. These relationships can provide many benefits, if you’re working with the RIGHT companies to help meet your goals. This panel of experts included TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden, Mitch Joel and Jessika Phillips.

To find out what it takes to create a successful partnership with an agency, read: 5 Secrets for Developing a Successful Client & Agency Relationship

Is Your Brand Equipped to Create a Successful Social Care Program?

A social care program is not one that can be tip-toed around. If you begin setting an expectation that customers can communicate with you on social platforms to solve their problems, you’d better be there to answer their questions. A social care program is something that requires planning and technology to truly deliver value to your customers.

To see if a social program might be a fit for your company, read: 8 Building Blocks to Create a World-Class Social Care Program

Get More out of Content on LinkedIn

It’s always a treat to have representatives from a platform present at a conference and give insight into how to get the most out of their tool. Well, that is exactly what happened at Social Media Marketing World and Jason Miller and Alex Rynne of LinkedIn did not disappoint. They focused on four major opportunities with LinkedIn and provided sample objectives, key metrics and action items for being successful.

To find out how you can create and promote great content on LinkedIn, read: 4 Components of a Killer Content Marketing Tactical Plan on LinkedIn

Create a Better Experience on Instagram

People learn visually which is why so much opportunity exists within platforms like Instagram. But to really stand out to your audience (and attract new audience members), it is just as much about the stories that you’re telling with the content as the visuals themselves. This panel included awesome Instagram’ers from Adobe and the San Diego Zoo, both of which shared their unique perspective on what has made their Instagram strategy so effective.

To learn how to hook your audience with killer visual content, read: What Brands Like Adobe & The San Diego Zoo Can Teach us About Instagram Marketing

Expert Advice on how to Identify, Qualify & Recruit Effective Influencers

In his second session of the conference, TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden pulled out the big guns and shared some amazing insight into the world of influencer marketing. By now, most companies recognize that they should incorporate influencers into content programs to serve many benefits including advocacy, variety of content, as well as increased engagement and reach. The who, the how and the what are all very important elements to consider before embarking on an influencer marketing initiative. If you’re looking for some best practices, tools and fails/wins of influencer marketing from someone with invaluable experience, be sure to check out this post.

To see if your approach to influencer marketing is hitting the mark, read: Learn How to Create a More Effective Influencer Marketing Strategy

Top Words of Wisdom from #SMMW16 Speakers

“If you want your content to be great, ask influencers to participate!” @leeodden #SMMW16 – Tweet This

“Platforms change slowly. Strategies change quickly.” @markwschaefer #SMMW16 – Tweet This

“The simple nature of questioning and shifting perspective allows innovation to happen.” @briansolis #SMMW16 – Tweet This

“Always start with strategic intent. Think about how you can repurpose your Facebook live videos.” @MariSmith #SMMW16 – Tweet This

“Tone of voice is your gutsiest, bravest asset. It is vastly undervalued.” @annhandley #SMMW16 – Tweet This

“Find a niche where you can be the leading expert in the world.” @joepulizzi #SMMW16 – Tweet This

“Advance your brand without talking about your brand.” @timwasher #SMMW16 – Tweet This

Thank You For a Great Event!

Thank you to the team at Social Media Examiner for putting together yet another great conference filled with innovative and actionable tips for maintaining and improving social media marketing strategies.

I’ve shared some of my top takeaways, I’m curious to know what you found to be the most useful piece of information you learned at #SMMW16.

Disclosure: Traackr and LinkedIn are TopRank Marketing Clients

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Online Marketing News: Social Made Easy, Disruptive Ads and Facebook Switches

Social Media Marketing & Promotion Made Easy [Infographic]

Maybe it’s just me, but I find myself searching frequently for very specific imaging sizing requirements for various social media. Having all of that information bookmarked for an unfortunately timed case of the Mondays has been a figurative life saver. This inforgraphic has all the information you’ll need to rock the social universe. On Blast Blog

Majority of users frustrated by disruptive ads, aware of ad blocking [Survey]

A new survey from Accenture shows the majority of users are frustrated by ads that disrupt their activities, 84% saying that ad interruptions were too frequent. This information came coupled with a growing consumer awareness of ad blocking capabilities. In fact, 73% of consumers surveyed said they would pay more money for long form content if there were fewer ads. Marketing Land

Facebook Switches Page Management and Posting Options – What You Need to Know

Facebook has changed the way page managers can post as a page, and how they can interact with that page’s News Feed. Although no functionality has been changed, the process is noticeably different than it has previously been. For example, managers can no longer log in to Facebook as their brand’s page. To view the brand’s News Feed, managers need to click on a link in the page function panel. Social Media Today

Brands Can Now Create Interactive Video Campaigns on Facebook and Instagram

Instagram and Facebook are now allowing brands to create interactive advertising campaigns in their platforms by way of online rollover ads. Users can roll over the ads with their mouse to access more information about the advertiser. One brand tested this recently, “the new format resulted in a 35 percent engagement rate with 4,400 likes, more than 250 comments and 400 shares.” AdWeek

Digital Ad Spending Surges to Record High as Mobile and Social Grow More Than 50%

According to a report released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau: “Domestic digital advertising revenue surged to a record-breaking $59.6 billion for the 2015 calendar year, a 20% uptick over last year’s also record-breaking numbers.” This growth was attributed in part to mobile, which grew by 66% over 2014 to $20.7 Billion. Ad Age

Google’s New Search Card Will Help Track Your Online Orders

Google is now letting users track online orders straight from the search bar. Simply type in ‘track package’ or some close variation into the Google search bar and a card will pop up, prompting you to enter your tracking information. This is great news for online retailers who depend on reliable delivery information as part of their customer service strategy. Search Engine Journal

Google’s annual livestream of AdWords and Analytics news to be held May 24

Google has announced that they’ll be livestreaming their annual Performance Summit on May 24th at 9am PT. During this conference, Google will announce new features for AdWords and Google Analytics, along with new research conducted by the company. The news post also includes a link to register for the livestream. Search Engine Land

What were your top marketing news stories this week?

I’ll be back next week with even more online marketing news! Have something to share? Tweet me at @Tiffani_Allen or @toprank using the hashtag #trnews!

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What Brands Like Adobe & The San Diego Zoo Can Teach us About Instagram Marketing

Only two months after launching in 2010, Instagram had already amassed one million users. Less than a year later, they had already climbed to ten million users. Talk about a welcome solution to what is often seen as a saturated marketplace.

Today, Instagram boasts over three hundred million users. Recent research has also found that over 50% of individuals on Instagram follow brands on the platform.

All of the information above should lead marketers to one simple conclusion: Instagram has definite potential for engaging both B2B and B2C audiences.

Earlier this week, I had the privilege of attending a session at Social Media Marketing World that included Matt Rozen, the Director of Social Media at Adobe and Jenn Beening, the Social Media Planner for San Diego Zoo Global. Both of these companies have done amazing things with their branded Instagram accounts and shared some very useful tips for other companies trying to improve their strategy for marketing their brand through Instagram.

5 Instagram Marketing Tips

#1 – Be More Interested in What Your Audience Creates

Especially when venturing out on a new platform where you don’t have a lot of experience, it can be easy to fall into the trap of only creating content about yourself. While Instagram can be a great place to show a behind-the-scenes look at your company, it should also focus on what your audience cares about and shares on Instagram.

Adobe for example, has dedicated a lot of their time and strategy to showcasing the amazing images that other members of the community has taken and then shared them with their followers. This serves a couple objectives. First, when a large company like Adobe publishes something, others take notice and this creates a great opportunity for the user whose photos were shared to increase their network. Second, they are able to curate some really awesome imagery that they would not otherwise have access to, which creates more value for their followers.

Below is an example of how Adobe has successfully executed this initiative:

Look carefully because this surreal illustration is actually a photograph! We can’t get enough of this bustling Tokyo street captured by @liamwon9. #regram #Tokyo #photography #surreal #neon

A photo posted by Adobe (@adobe) on Apr 11, 2016 at 2:03pm PDT

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#2 – Tell Stories in a Visual Way

A picture, or a video is often worth 1,000 words. We’ve all heard studies about how people learn and connect visually. Great visual content on platforms like Instagram present a great opportunity to tell stories that will engage people with your content.

The San Diego Zoo has (and takes advantage of) so many opportunities to tell the stories of the beings that they care for on a daily basis. Everything from stories about the most recent babies to join the world to interesting facts about sloths to draw in new visitors. Each image and video is touching in its own right and paints a picture of what sort of experience visitors will have when they go to the zoo.

Laughter is the best medicine. Molly had a difficult birth, so our keepers intervened and raised the young bonobo in our nursery before she was reintroduced to the troop. Bonobos are considered the most #endangered of the great apes, so every birth is extremely precious. #tbt #throwback #baby #bonobo #instacute #smile

A video posted by San Diego Zoo (@sandiegozoo) on Jan 14, 2016 at 4:05pm PST

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#3 – How to Plan Content for Instagram

Both representatives from Adobe and the San Diego Zoo gave great advice about how companies can go about tackling their content planning for Instagram.

The team from the San Diego Zoo takes a look at the upcoming week to see if there are any updates planned for release (events, baby animals being born, etc.) and they make sure to include those as image or video post on Instagram to correspond with the release. They also spend time curating user generated content and evergreen content that can be shared throughout the month. All of their posts are organized in Google Drive to create easy access for anyone that is involved in the process.

If they are working on a larger campaign, they’ll plan out the content much further in advance. An example is that of their upcoming 100th anniversary in May. Their goal is to cover 100 years at the San Diego Zoo and they’ve already begin reaching out to their community and begun asking them to share their experiences at the Zoo using the hashtag #SDZ100. They have a whole timeline they are creating for the 100 year anniversary and will be incorporating content from multiple sources to create the best user experience possible for their guests and followers.

#4 – Curating Content on Instagram

A large part of Adobe’s strategy is to publish curated or User Generated Content (as we covered in tip #1). A creative company like Adobe recognizes the opportunity that exists within their community of creative designers. They have an opportunity to tap into that creativity not only to feature their audience and get them more involved, but to provide some really killer content for the rest of their audience as well.

Much of the time that the Adobe team spends planning for Instagram content is used to curate the best of the best when it comes to visual content.

Beneath the thorns, it would seem that the spiny chajote is full of surprises. #regram via @mjasik #fruit #spinychajote #photography #foodart

A photo posted by Adobe (@adobe) on Apr 8, 2016 at 9:04am PDT

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It’s only natural, or is it? @ysabellemay blends natural fauna and flora to create unnatural but fantastical worlds in her compositions. #photography #nature #surreal

A photo posted by Adobe (@adobe) on Apr 7, 2016 at 12:47pm PDT

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

We all weather a few storms now and then, but it’s part of how we grow ? #regram via @nonihana_ #photography #ranunculus #viburnum #pansy #spring #inspiration

A photo posted by Adobe (@adobe) on Mar 14, 2016 at 12:41pm PDT

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#5 – How to Effectively Manage Publishing & Engagement

When it comes to your approach for creating content on Instagram, the goal should always be quality over quantity. If you were faced with the option of publishing three mediocre posts a week or one impactful, creative post per week, which do you think would best serve the needs of your audience?

The content you publish on Instagram should be genuine, high quality and align with the needs of your audience.

When it comes to managing engagement on Instagram, branded hashtags are a great way to track how your audience is responding and resharing content. Additionally, with the quick access to Instagram on your smartphone, you can check, share and like information on the go that represents the brand in a positive light.

Instagram Marketing, Are You Prepared?

If you aren’t already, be sure to follow both Adobe and the San Diego Zoo on Instagram for more inspiration for your own posts. You can also follow TopRank Marketing for posts from our team.

Instagram (like other social media platforms) is one that requires attention and creativity to not only capture new followers, but keep their attention on an ongoing basis. What have you found has worked (or not worked) with your approach to Instagram marketing?

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8 Building Blocks to Create a World-Class Social Care Program

We’ve all heard the stories of brands failing and flailing on social media as they try to respond to customer service inquiries.

And here’s why. Most companies are barely set up to meet expectations, let alone exceed them. So when they fall short, they are falling short of the bare minimum, creating friction and negative experiences between the brand and its customers for everyone to see.

Add that to the fact that some companies are doing it so well and therefore aiding an increase in customer expectations. In fact, customers now expect a response in an hour or less after reaching out to a company.  

For the first time at Social Media Marketing World, there were sessions dedicated to building a social infrastructure to enable your company to exceed customer expectations.

In his session, Dan Gingiss, the head of Digital Marketing at Humana, provided 8 building blocks to help marketers create a world-class social care program.

For the following 8 steps, Dan provided a definition for what it is and what you need to think about when venturing out on this sort of initiative

#1 Social Care Philosophy

What is it?

The philosophy you develop should be crystal clear about what you’re doing and who you’re doing it for. Everything that comes next should leverage the philosophy as a guiding principle and help inform the strategy.

Take the time to first understand your products and/or services. Without a native understanding, any interactions as a customer service group within the organization will fall short.  

What do you need to think about?

• Availability, what is the capacity to take on social care within your organization?
• Response time, what is your current response time and what is the goal?
• What languages need to be accounted for?
• Social media platforms currently monitored or that need to be monitored.

#2 Technology

What is it?

Put simply, the backbone that allows you to effectively scale social care efforts.

What do you need to think about?

• What platform do you need, an all-in-one or a dedicated service platform?
• Investment you are prepared to make.
• Platform integrations necessary to be successful.
• Technical and strategic support required.
• Innovation roadmap from the platform, what are the product updates on the horizon?

Three technology categories to consider:

Free/Mass Subscriptions

• Sprout Social
• Buffer
• Hootsuite
• TweetDeck

All-in-one Enterprise

• Sprinklr
• Spredfast
• Percolate
• Adobe
• Salesforce

Dedicated Service Platform

• Sparkcentral
• Conversocial
• Lithium
• Brand Embassy

#3 Team Selection & Operationalizing

What is it?

Social Care programs won’t work if they’re created by the marketing team and then handed over to traditional customer service teams. Each team has a different skillset and training and there is a potential for seemingly small mistakes that can have a significant impact if social care is not handled by the right team.

Creating a social care program will often come with the need to hire people and set up the infrastructure to effectively scale.

What do you need to think about?

• Skillsets / job descriptions, what type of person do you need and what role does the hire fill in your overall plan?
• Customer service vs Social Media background. If you can’t find or afford to hire someone with both skill sets, understand which one you are getting and have training ready to fill in the gaps.
• Hiring / Interviewing, determine who is involved in the process upfront to avoid delays after interviewing starts.
• Organizational structure, where does this fit, who will the person(s) report to?
• Feedback loop, how and how often will feedback regarding performance of the team be shared internally?

#4 Training

What is it?

Educating the team on the business, philosophy, technology, best practices and channels for creating a successful social care program.

What do you need to think about?

• Different parts of the business, teams on the front lines of social care, have to know about all facets of the business or at least have a way to quickly find answers.
• Most frequent types of inquiries, and most common solutions.
• Understanding of each social media channel.
• Uniqueness of public customer service, and how to avoid missteps.

#5 Process

What is it?

The steps which enable you to deliver superior customer service and business results, using your philosophy, technology, and people. An effective process should have enough information to keep you safe, but not so much that it slows you down.

What do you need to think about?

• When to take discussions offline, and how to show the community the issue was resolved.
• Escalation procedures for a variety of different issues, when to involve PR vs HR for example.
• Empowering your team to resolve problems and/or provide ‘surprise and delight’ moments.

#6 Reporting

What is it?

Define which KPIs need to be reported to determine team performance, and report up internally on successes and areas of opportunity.

What do you need to think about?

• First response time, how long is it taking to initially respond?
• Resolution time, how long is it taking to provide a satisfying solution?
• Social agent / office performance.
• Daily/hourly performance, see trends about volume and its effect.
• Channel performance
• Post engagement
• Satisfaction scores
• Top issues / feedback loop

#7 Integration with Core Business

What is it?

Internal Integration to ensure the rest of the business is hearing the voice of the customer.

Ultimately, you want to make sure your company is using social care as a feedback loop for product development so that your team isn’t continually having to address the same problems.

What do you need to think about?

• Which areas of the company will benefit from – and use – social feedback?
• Tracking business response and circling back with the customer even if it’s weeks or months later.

#8 Integration with CRM

What is it?

External integration, and starting to use the voice of the customer to influence that customer’s future experiences with the brand.

For example, Hyatt is able to take the information they know about a customer (a request for a hypoallergenic pillow for example and apply that to all future stays) to create better experiences.

What do you need to think about?

• Technology, how will you make this happen? What pieces are missing?
• Data capture, where are the current data inputs and how is that information stored and accessed?
• Data activation, when is the data triggered and to what department?

Does a Social Care Program Make Sense for Your Organization?

Brands that are responsive and in-tune with customer needs are building brand affinity and trust with customers. Those that are not, will surely be forgotten or discounted if a competitor is responsive. After learning more about the 8 building blocks above, do you think that your organization has a need and the potential to develop a social care program?

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Learn How to Compel Your Audience to Act with These 3 Storytelling Tips

When you hear the phrase “once upon a time…” your mind likely flashes to some of your favorite childhood stories. But what exactly is it that you remember about these stories, is it:

• The conflict between Cinderella and her stepmother, that didn’t stop her from finding a happy ending?
• The irony that Jack won a ticket on the Titanic at the last possible moment, only to slip away into the icy waters of the Atlantic?
• The various social norms that were crossed, broken or all but forgotten in Alice in Wonderland?

As marketers we crave the opportunity to have top-of-mind awareness with prospects and customers when they hear certain phrases or are thinking about ideas that compel them to take action. Building that awareness doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and the right injection of storytelling into your digital marketing strategy.

Yesterday at Social Media Marketing World, I was able to gain insight into just how brands can do this from a panel of expert storytellers in a session moderated by Park Howell  that included Tim Washer, Kathy Klotz-Guest and Ron Ploof.

Below we’ll explore three ways and three exercises to help brands tell better, more impactful stories to create a lasting connection with their audience and compel them to take action.

#1 – Create Irony

Irony can be an incredibly effective tool in your storytelling arsenal as it forces the reader to analyze the situation in more detail.  As a brand, getting the audience to think through your message, to spend more time with it – is a good thing.

To start adding more irony to your content strategy, try the following exercise:

1. Take some time each day to look at images
2. Write down what you think is happening in the image
3. Then, write down the opposite.

Then take both of those scenarios to the extreme. Wire your mind to be absurd. If you can do this, you can find stories that connect with the audience on a deeper level, compelling them to act.

#2 – Find the Conflict

Human brains are wired to seek out the conflict and take joy in the resolution.

To create a more compelling story, start with documenting the problem your brand solves and everything that can happen before you enter the picture. This is the conflict and will become the cornerstone of your story.

After you have the story written, then edit with the Rule of Replacement by:

1. Counting the instances of  ‘and’ within the copy
   • Do the ‘and’s outnumber ‘but’ and ‘therefore’?
2. If so, replace ‘and’ with ‘but’ and ‘therefore’ to create more conflict

#3 Learn to Heighten the Story

Now that you have a story to work with, it’s time to push narrative further.  

Here’s an exercise to get you started:

1. Pretend for a minute that the problem your company solves goes unchecked.
2. What would happen? Document everything you can think of, no matter how crazy.
3. Now, document how the outcome would have been different had your product or service entered the story earlier.

Mayhem from Allstate is one of the best examples of a brand heightening the story. The story they tell is everyone’s worst nightmare and in painting such a vivid picture, they are able to connect with the audience. On the flip side, had they started with the product they would be telling a very similar story as the competition.

Are You Leveraging Your Story to the Fullest?

Knowing where to begin incorporating storytelling into your content marketing strategy can seem like a daunting task. Fortunately, with the help of today’s speakers, you can turn it into a more manageable opportunity.

Remember that you may only be able to tackle one story at a time, and you won’t want to lose all the great ideas you or your team developed. One way to avoid that is to create a story bank that you can pull from constantly.

What are the brands that you think create and tell amazing stories?

Another way to tell great brand stories is by incorporating influencers. If you’re at Social Media Marketing World and are looking for a great session to attend, I encourage you to stop by room 28ABCD at 1:30pm to see TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden discuss Influencer Marketing Playbook: How to Identify, Qualify and Recruit Effective Influencers

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Top 50 Social Media Marketing Influencers Speaking at #SMMW16

One of the largest and most influential social media conferences, Social Media Marketing World, starts this week in San Diego.

Bringing together a mix of industry experts, influencers, brands, practitioners and social media enthusiasts, #SMMW16 represents a confluence of interests about all things social media that is virtually unmatched.

At the center of the conference is the program featuring big name speakers like Gary Vaynerchuck, Guy Kawasaki and Mari Smith. There are over 100 speakers in all that will be giving presentations and imparting their knowledge.

With such a concentration of authority, expertise and industry influence, I wanted to see who the most influential speakers are, relative to “social media”. The influence of a speaker affects who follows who and can guide which presentations to attend.

To create the list, we identified the speakers thanks to SME and imported them into the Traackr influencer marketing platform (client).  The result is the following list sorted by:

• Relevance (to “social media”)
• Resonance (network impact/engagement)
• Reach (network size)

Before too many people get excited and think this is a list of people with the biggest networks, or the people who are generally most influential, I will clarify: this is a list of speakers at SMMW16 that are most influential online about “social media” and “social media marketing” based on their content, how their networks engage with them and reach.  The combination of those factors determine the ranking.

I think the list is a great mix and representation of the voices on social media topics. I can’t wait to see their presentations!

Kim Garst @kimgarst

Best Selling Author, Twitter Expert, Keynote Speaker, Brand Influencer – Boom! Social

Presenting: Everything You Need To Know To Get Started on Periscope

and Live Video: Why the Future of Marketing Is Going Live

Donna Moritz @sociallysorted

Social Media Strategist, Trainer, & Visual Specialist, Speaker – Socially Sorted

Presenting: 5 Ways to Use Visual Content to Drive Traffic, Shares, and Sales

Ian Anderson Gray @iagdotme

Co-founder, Digital Marketer, Social Tools Strategist & Web Developer – Select Performers Internet Solutions

Presenting: 10 Tools & Techniques to Boost your Twitter Productivity & Success

Neal Schaffer @NealSchaffer

Social Media Keynote Speaker, CEO – Maximize Your Social

Presenting: How to Unleash Twitter’s Marketing Power: 5 Insider Tips

Ian Cleary @iancleary

CEO – RazorSocial

Presenting: 9 Essential Tools for Every Social Media Marketer’s Toolbox

Peggy Fitzpatrick @PegFitzpatrick

Director of social media marketing and content strategy – Guy Kawasaki

Presenting: How to Make Your Images Stand Out on Instagram

Martin Shervington @martinsherv

Writer and founder of PlusYourBusiness.com

Presenting: How to Use Google+ Collections to Serve Highly Targeted Content

and How to Manage Your Online Review Presence to Grow Your Business

Jeff Sieh @jeffsieh

Pinterest Manager – Social Media Examiner

Presenting: Re-purposing With Results: 5 Ways To Share Your Content On Pinterest

Brian Fanzo @isocialfanz

Chief Social Media Officer – MyChannel Inc

Presenting: How to Know if Your Business Should Get Into Live Video

Gary Vaynerchuk @garyvee

CEO – VaynerMedia

Presenting: Testing, Hustling and Outrageous Transparency in the Digital Age

Melonie Dodaro @MelonieDodaro

CEO, Social Media Strategist, LinkedIn Expert, Social Selling Speaker & Trainer – Top Dog Social Media

Presenting: How to Use LinkedIn Publisher to Build Trust and Establish Your Authority

Vincenzo M. Landino @vincenzolandino

Creative Director – Fifty 2 Creative

Presenting: How Brands Are Telling Stories on Periscope

Rebekah Radice @rebekahradice

Chief Marketing Officer – Post Planner

Presenting: How to Create an Unforgettable Brand Through Visual Marketing

Mark Schaefer @markwschaefer

Executive Director – Schaefer Marketing Solutions

Presenting: Breakthrough Growth Ideas: How Marketers Can Truly Fly

Jay Baer @jaybaer

Author of Hug Your Haters, President – Convince & Convert

Presenting: How Big Brands Are Using Social Influencers to Gain Massive Reach

Michael Stelzner @mike_stelzner

CEO and Founder – Social Media Examiner

Presenting: Social Media Marketing in 2016: What the Newest Research Reveals

and Is There A Future For Content Marketing?

Juntae DeLane @juntaedelane

Digital Brand Manager – University of Southern California

Presenting: Twitter Marketing: How Big Brands Get Ever Bigger Results

Carlos Gil @CarlosGil83

Head of Global Social Media – BMC Software

Presenting: Snapchat Marketing: How Businesses are Connecting With Millennials

Madalyn Sklar @madalynsklar

Twitter Marketing Coach/Consultant, Blogger, Podcaster – MadalynSklar.com

Presenting: How to Use Twitter Cards to Massively Grow Your Audience

Guy Kawasaki @GuyKawasaki

Chief Evangelist – Canva

Presenting: How to Perfect Your Personal Marketing

John Lee Dumas @johnleedumas

Host of the EOFire Podcast, Entrepreneurship Podcasting & Podcast Training – EOFire.com

Presenting: How to Grow Your Authority, Audience and Email List With Podcasting

Martin Jones @martinjonesaz

Sr. Marketing Manager, Social Media & Content Marketing – Cox Communications

Presenting: How Big Brands Are Using Social Influencers to Gain Massive Reach

Bernie Borges @bernieborges

Executive Producer: Social Business Engine, Find and Convert

Presenting: How to Organize Cross Functional Marketing Across the Business

Darren Rowse @problogger

Speaker, Author, Blogger, Podcaster & Founder – ProBlogger, Problogger Events & @DigitalPS

Presenting: How to Turn Casual Readers Into a Loyal Community

Jenn Herman @jenns_trends

Social Media Consultant & Trainer – Jenn’s Trends

Presenting: How to Run a Contest Effectively on Instagram to Grow Your Audience

Christian Karasiewicz @ckroks

Social Business Manager – IBM

Presenting: How to Use Facebook Notes and Facebook Instant Articles

Mari Smith @marismith

Facebook “Boost Your Business” 2015 National Tour Presenter & Facebook Small Business Training – MariSmith.com

Presenting: How Companies Are Succeeding With Facebook: 7 Power Tips

Steve Dotto @dottotech

Host/Executive Producer – Dotto Tech

Presenting: How to Use YouTube to Grow Your Email List

Andrea Vahl @andreavahl

Social Media Coach, Strategist, and Speaker – AndreaVahl.com

Presenting: Getting Started With Facebook Ads

Joel Comm @joelcomm

Internet Marketer, International Keynote Conference Speaker – Joel Comm, Inc.

Presenting: Live Video: Why the Future of Marketing Is Going Live

Dan Gingiss @dgingiss

Head of Digital Marketing – Humana

Presenting: How to Create a World-Class Social Care Program: 8 Building Blocks

and How Businesses are Building World Class Customer Services

Lee Odden @leeodden

CEO – TopRank Marketing

Presenting: Panel: How to Get the Most Out of Your Social Media Agency

and Influencer Playbook: How to Identify, Qualify & Recruit Effective Influencers

Jessica Mack @js_mack

Blogger – Brown Paper Bunny

Presenting: How Businesses are Building World Class Customer Service

Tyler Anderson @tylerjanderson

CEO / Founder – Casual Fridays, Inc.

Presenting: Panel: How to Get the Most Out of Your Social Media Agency

Brian Carter @briancarter

CEO / Digital Marketing Consultant – The Carter Group (TCG)

Presenting: Twitter Marketing: How Big Brands Get Ever Bigger Results

Dorie Clark @dorieclark

Marketing Strategist & Speaker, Duke Fuqua Professor, Author of Stand Out & Reinventing You

Presenting: How to Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader

Mitch Joel @mitchjoel

President – Mirum Agency

Presenting: Panel: How to Get the Most Out of Your Social Media Agency

Bryan Kramer @bryankramer

International Keynote Speaker, Emcee and Event Host, President & CEO – PureMatter

Presenting: Employee Advocacy: How to Engage Your Workforce on Social Media

and How to Get People to Consume Your Content In a Noisy World

Christopher Penn @cspenn

Vice President of Marketing Technology – SHIFT Communications

Presenting: How to Create an Analytics Dashboard for Real World Marketing Problems

Joe Pulizzi @joepulizzi

Founder – Content Marketing Institute

Presenting: Content Marketing for Small Businesses: 6 Steps

Stephanie Sammons @stephsammons

CEO – Stephanie Sammons Inc.

Presenting: 9 Advanced LinkedIn Profile Tactics to Boost Your Visibility and Grow Your Influence

Azure Collier @azurecollier

Social Media Marketing and Community Manager – Constant Contact

Presenting: How Brands are Optimizing Their Pinterest Marketing

Dave Peck @davepeck

Global Head of Digital & Social Media Marketing – PayPal

Presenting: How Leading Brands Get Gigantic Results with Facebook

Sue Beth Zimmerman @suebzimmerman

Online Business & Instagram Expert, Creator of Insta-Results – Sue B Zimmerman Enterprise

Presenting: How to Use Instagram’s Direct Message Feature

and How Brands Use Instagram to Tell Visual Compelling Stories

Paul Colligan @colligan

Director Of Content Marketing – Instant Customer

Presenting: <span data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"How to Turn Your Podcast into a Content Marketing Machine"}" data-sheets-userformat="{"2":9151,"3":[null,0],"4":[null,2,14275305],"5":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":[null,2,0]},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4