Of course you are. Well, I can say that I was proud of myself for being less shy than my first big girl event. I met some great people who work for advertising agencies, strategic marketing firms and plenty of other types of companies I didn’t know existed. It’s amazing to hear about the tons of different jobs that communications degrees can be used for (gives me some job search hope!). And, to top off the networking hour, SMC provided a great beer selection along (including Sam Adams, my favorite!) with some fantastic tacos and crab rangoon from Tin Drum. The food alone made the $20 ticket worth it. I was excited to hear about the upcoming events, too. Apparently SMC does awesome seminars like this four times a year.
|
|
|
|
The company noticed a spike in negative sentiment while the commercial was airing. Coke contrasted this activity with normal data that determined the ratings weren’t extremely abnormal. Because of this, Coke was able to avoid an overreactive response. The biggest take-away I had from this presentation was how important it is to record social data and use it to your advantage.
|
My favorite presentation of the night was Keisha Hines from Zoo Atlanta. I loved hearing how a non-profit organization utilizes social media in a creative way. Atlanta Zoo knows its varying audiences across different platforms and customizes content accordingly. Instagram is a photo platform, so naturally animal photos are going to be the most engaging content there. The funniest moment of the night was when Keisha gave us her secret to engaging followers by saying “Pandas rule all social media. Every platform loves pandas. If I see engagement is down, pandas here we come!” Who doesn’t love pandas? They make for great content, and according to Keisha content is king (and pretty darn cute if you ask me). Though the social media department for the zoo is relatively small, they have managed to create a global following of animal lovers and panda fanatics alike. The most interesting thing I heard was how Zoo Atlanta is currently running a social campaign that takes place offline by hiding large reptile eggs throughout the city to promote a new reptile exhibit. Egg finders receive zoo passes and a chance for a behind the scenes experience. A great idea for engaging the audience!
|
|
|
The next speaker was Vincent Washington from UPS. He started off by showing a video from UPS’s #WishesDelivered campaign that showed hundreds of books being taken to villages in Africa. Video content like that is one of the many ways UPS uses social media to humanize the brand in order to better engage followers. UPS is a traditional brand but has begun using social media to meet business objectives. Vincent emphasized how important it is to understand the fundamentals behind the tools used on social media. He said “I’m not looking for a Twitter or Facebook genius. I’m looking for someone who understands audiences.” This key point can sometimes be overlooked, and I’m so happy that it was emphasized last night. Vincent also touched on how UPS uses both reactive and proactive listening tactics on social media. Plenty of people use social media as a way to file customer complaints, and UPS takes the time to listen to all of them.
|
And to top it all off, the final speaker was Jenn Watson from The Weather Channel. Her presentation was fantastic as well. As a crisis communication lover at heart, I can totally appreciate how The Weather Channel uses social media to keep people updated with life saving information. Since the weather is constantly changing, the brand relies heavily on real-time content and doesn’t utilized planned content as often. A highlight of the presentation included a showing of Jim Cantore’s recent #ThunderSnow video that brought The Weather Channel’s a lot of engagement. Jenn also discussed how severe weather can affect social engagement by saying “When there is active weather, everything increases.” The Weather Channel is more than a brand, its a news outlet that is able to reach a greater audience through social media.
|
|