The Boomtasticness of the 2015 Social Boom Conference – Part 2 of 2

Last week I wrote about this awesome social media conference Kim Garst and her team put on in Chicago the week before.  We had so many excellent speakers, top influencers in the social media world, that I had to break up the blog into 2 parts. If you missed last weeks, be sure to check it out – Part 1 Socialtastic Boom Social.

Virtual Relationships

As I mentioned last week, one of the best parts of this social media conference was completing the circle of several online relationships that began in Kim Garst’s Inner Circle. Further, it gave me the opportunity to meet Kim Garst in person, she was much shorter than I had expected, you know, your social media profiles determine height these days <<inside joke>>. Not only was I able to meet Kim, but her awesome team, relationships that I began online but also new relationships of those who were in my industry – website, social media, search engine optimization but also small business owners who were there to push their business to the next level. It was a great experience all the way around.

So, anyways, last week I shared 6 spot on influential leaders and now, to no further ado, here is the rest of them. I have provided their picture and then Twitter handle as well as their website at the end of each section so you can connect with them should you see fit, I did and I would if I were you!

Rapper Extraordinaire – Joshua Parkinson – Get Free Facebook Traffic

Boom Boom Boom, Social Social Social, I like it I like it I like it… this is how Josh started his session with a trendy rap about Kim and social media and we all had a part. It definitely livened up the group as the chocolate bar rush already came and was on its way down.

Takeaways – Be the “switch to”

Josh then went on to show some correlations between products but reminding that correlation does not necessarily equal causation. What’s the point, well, just because two things have similar affects, it doesn’t meant they cause each other. So, in marketing, take this into consideration and be sure to do your A/B testing because you’ll never want to hire a banana to do the job. Well, you’ll just have to ask him that one! 😉

Further, what resonated even more was to find out why people used your products or services. It is important to sell what your customers are really buying. Keep in mind that they are switching to you from something and can equally switch to someone else from you. If you know why they hire you then you may have a better opportunity to keep them and be the “switch to” versus the “switch from”. Wouldn’t you prefer the first one? I know I would. Follow Josh – @yessayer

Buy them a drink first – Viveka Von Rosen – Prospecting on LinkedIn

As we know with all social media, visibility creates opportunity and what better place to do so on the more business social media channel. Even though they are all business owners, you still need to keep in mind it’s about building relationships so don’t sell them straight out of the gate.. as Viveka would say, Buy them a drink first.

Takeaways – Optimize your profile and engage

LinkedIn has many opportunities but you aren’t going to get it if you aren’t complete and engaging.  Share the love and endorse those who are endorsing you.

Viveka reminded us to complete our profiles but some super-secret tips were to utilize the search function, even for free accounts you get 3. Use the Boolean Search tips of using AND, OR, and NOT Like to take out folks from your searches and if it works, be sure to save this list and start contacting these potential leads and establish a relationship.

There were a few other cool tips such as adding a customized screen tip for your websites to provide a call to action.  Did you know you can star contacts which save them and when going back to your connections, sorting by new, you can actually send them a message and connect with them that way. Really awesome tips and quite comical so take the time to listen to her speak if you have the opportunity. Follow Viveka – @linkedinexpert

Break Dancing Anyone? – Ian Cleary – Tools to Drive Social Traffic to your Website

Ian strutted his stuff during his own intermission and I’m talking serious break dancing with the steps and headstand and all. I was impressed! He shared many tips and tools on how to drive social media traffic to your website because after all, you want more eyes on your website so they can see your products and services.

Takeaways – Tools galore

Ian has always provided great tools to use in the social media and website arena, as I have followed him for easily a year. I would highly suggest seeking him out to see all the tools he has vetted but I’ll mention a few of them here.

Providing valuable quality evergreen content is key but it has to be wanted by your consumers or it’s just really good content nobody wants. Use various sites to help you determine what people are searching for like Topsy and BuzzSumo and then be sure to interact with those who share your content. What’s even better would be to get the attention of top influencers by writing about them, writing reviews, group posts, industry leaders and/or interviews of those your readers would be interested in hearing from or about. Everyone loves lists unless they aren’t in them! lol

Review your content titles using tools like Aminstitute to be sure it’s catchy enough as well as great images or infographics using a tool like Piktochart to create. Again, make your content shareable and share it often, once just won’t cut it. Follow Ian – @iancleary

Audience Customizer – Nate Kennedy – Optimizing Facebook Ads

Running ad campaigns can be tedious but worth their weight in gold. I had the pleasure of speaking with Nate after the event while waiting for my time to catch my plane and I have to say, something clicked. I get social media and run ads and while far from perfect, he really made something stand out, even more with social – the goal – get them to your website!

Takeaways – customize your audience then rinse and repeat

While Facebook ads aren’t new, he elaborated on some simple steps. Solve a problem in your ad but create 2 ads a longer and shorter copy ad using 1 picture at first. Once you determine the winner of the ad size, then test with another picture to determine a winner. Be sure your offer is something the consumers want – you are answering a pain and attempting to solve it. He provided various tools to help with some of these steps, but you’ll have to follow him, it will be worth your effort. Follow Nate – @natekennedymd

What the Heck is Periscope – Kim Garst & Panel – Turn Live Streaming into Revenue

Who would have thought that a live streaming app could be a money maker? Well, Kim Garst was here to share that story and along with Cathy Hackl, Sue B Zimmerman and Kerry Shearer, they shared the story, the facts and the basic how to.

Takeaways –  We need this

I must admit, the first time I heard of Periscope, jumped on one, I was thinking… who would want to watch me talk and what the heck would I talk about? I’ve done screen capture videos and I get that, but wasn’t seeing how someone would want to watch me talk. After watching this session, I’ve thought and brainstormed and I see that I can run mini sessions (5-15 min) of little how-tos on
various topics from social media, search engine optimization, email marketing, motivation and the like. It would be like a blog topic for me, but scaled down and folks have the option to ask questions and engage. This is a great opportunity to reach your Twitter followers and more, those whom you may not engage with much now and begin to build a relationship with, that you might not have otherwise.

Bottom line: BOOM

If you aren’t overwhelmed just from these two posts, I don’t know what will. Had you gone to the conference, I am sure you would be too. I would love to hear what really resonated with you if you went, or if you didn’t, what did from this post or the last.

However, if there is any way I can help you, something you would like to see in a blog or my new and upcoming DIY scopes, learn about SEO, website readability, or marketing in general, please contact me and we can go from there!

~Kristen