This was my second year attending iMEDIA conference in Edmonton, Alberta and it did not disappoint. iMEDIA is a 2-day social media conference for entrepreneurs and professionals who would like to know more about digital marketing.

Here are my top 7 Takeaways:

 

1. Storytelling

Consistently telling good stories is more important than ever. Stories connect people with other people, businesses, brands and products. Telling a good story through social media needs more attention than just a post. Immersive story telling is the next level in getting your customers to be inside the story (See #7 in post)

 

2. Be Human or Get Left Behind

Don’t forget that your customers, team members and mentors are human too. Speak to them in a way which reflects that. People are tired of been sold to. Speak in a way that lets them know that you see them in human way.

 

3. Use Influencers to Promote your Product

 Influencer Marketing is a form of marketing in which focus is placed on influential people rather than the target market as a whole on social media.

Using social media influencers on marketing helps you to build relationships with the people who can build relationships for you.

Micro Influencers is a new category of Influencers that are on the rise.

A Micro Influencers is someone who has an audience anywhere between 2,000 and 50,000 followers on a particular social media channel.

Using a micro influencer is beneficial because they are typically more engaged with their audiences, more relatable and trustworthy.

These influencers can reach consumers via their blogs and social networks that your brand may not be able to.

 

4. The Rise of the Bots

Chatbots or Bots are becoming more popular. A chatbot is described as:

chat·bot: a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, especially over the Internet.

71% of customers are willing to use bots

69% of customers prefer chatbots over apps

Adding Live Chat to your website on the sales and checkout pages can provide big results. Your audience CRAVES connection, and using Bots is another way to be able to chat, listen and answer questions.

 

5. Facebook Live

 

Facebook Live continues to be a strong platform for business growth. Treat your Facebook Live like you are producing a video or any other content. What that means is, you should have a plan going in. Here’s an example:

• Initial Planning
• Promotion and Briefing
• Set up and Test Live
• It’s Showtime!
• Debrief After

By planning in advance before you go live, you are able to produce a better experience, and have a plan in place to interact with your potential customers and clients who are coming on to see you.

 

6. Instagram is Boooming

Instagram continues to be a powerhouse. The platform has 1 billion monthly active users, and 500 million daily active users.

Businesses are getting noticed. 80% of Instagram accounts follow at least one business account.

In 2018, the Instagram mobile advertising revenue was almost 7 Billion.

For retail businesses or direct sellers with products having your products on Instagram can be very advantageous to your business.

 

7. Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality

Chelsea Klukas from Facebook was the keynote speaker for the event. She spoke about the emerging trends that will become increasingly relevant in the future including voice, biometrics and artificial intelligence.

The value for businesses is that if you can give your customers the opportunity to try before they buy, they are more likely to make the purchase. One example would be if you are selling a cosmetic product, your potential customers would be able to see what the lipstick looks like on them before they buy it.

Story living is the next level of storytelling

 

8. Bonus Tip – Engage with Your Audience

Finally, engagement is one of the important metrics for your business. When you post on any of your social networks, engaging with your audience matters. Spend 10-15 minutes replying to comments as well as going to other people’s accounts and commenting on their page.

Remember the key word is SOCIAL-Media.

Leave me a comment and let me know what your favourite tip was!

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