Social Media Week Chicago 2015 presented a plethora of learning possibilities.
[Visit our archives for previous Social Media Week coverage.]
Thanks to Paige Krzysko for sharing her takeaways in this guest post.
Pictured ~ Real Talk: Multicultural Social Influencers panel (Luvvie Ajayi @Luvvie on left and Patrice Grell Yursik @afrobella on right)
Key Takeaways from Social Media Week Chicago
Last week, at the last minute, an opportunity to attend a day at Social Media Week Chicago thanks to WiredPRWorks presented itself. I jumped at the chance to learn from leaders in the industry right in the heart of my own city. Going through my notebook and tweets after Thursday’s sessions, here are some tips that stuck with me.
- Audiences on social media decide what content they’d like to see more of and what they’d rather not see at all. This can be seen as the democratization of content.
- To effectively break through all of the existing content, tap into your audience’s “wheelhouse of fear.” Speak to a common fear of not having enough or being enough by highlighting how products lift people to achieve aspirations.
- Make old content new again by digging into archives for old pieces that apply to current events. Share them with new commentary to provide context.
- Choose your medium with intention. Don’t just throw everything on every social media platform. Instead, choose one or two platforms to excel at.
- When finding sources via social media, verifying facts is of utmost importance. Being the first to break a story is nice, but accuracy is everything.
- Infographics offer an engaging way to share statistics, tell a story or show a process. Use your childlike imagination to look at your copy and visualize what can be represented by a picture.
- Understand that as a blogger, you deserve to get paid for your talents. Avoid being taken advantage of by creating a rate sheet and say your price with an exclamation point when approached to work on a project.
- Brands should stay true to their voice instead of trying to incorporate current trends and slang where it doesn’t fit. Using certain trendy phrases can be cultural appropriation and feels fake anyways.
All of the panelists of the day left me with great insights and ideas. Thanks again to WiredPRWorks for sharing a guest pass to the conference with me. I’m already looking forward to Social Media Week Chicago 2016!
Paige Krzysko is a skilled communications and content marketing professional with four years of experience working across various channels. She is passionate about storytelling and connecting with audiences. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in News-Editorial Journalism from the University of Illinois.
Photo Credits: Paige Krzysko
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