Social Media Marketing World 2020

Its been a month or three since I attended Social Media Marketing World in San Diego. Writing a blog about it has been on the to do list, but somehow until now, it never made it to the top.

It was the first time attending this conference. I had been thinking about going for a couple of years. All those experts in one spot, I mean fangirling much. However I didnt take any action until March 2019. I made the snap decision, bought the ticket and thought I would figure out the rest later, happy birthday to me.

Then the overwhelm started oh dear all those people and which session am I going to and then it became  ‘Oh what have I done?’ Luckily though the organisers think of everything. If you’re a newbie there is plenty of information, webinars and a Facebook group specifically for that years conference.

One piece of advice I wrote down was “start with an end in mind” At the end of the conference what did you want to have accomplished?

The things I wanted to accomplish were, learn something and to become more visible.

Pre conference fun

I had booked my flights from New Zealand to arrive a few days before the conference started. This was so beneficial in more ways than one. I had planned on going early as I like to do a little exploring around places I’ve not been before. However, the fun starts before the actual conference with meetups which are all organised via an app. From breakfasts, hikes, visits to restaurants and more which was great. It certainly got me out of my comfort zone and I got to meet with some great people, some I’m still in contact with now. 

Then the conference started and the choices of who to listen to and learn from was the next biggest thing to navigate.

In any given session time there was 3 to 8 speakers to choose from topics from Tik tok, Instagram, Public speaking, LinkedIn Ads and more from the likes of Mari Smith, Andrea Vahl, Mike Stelzner, Pat Flynn, Sue B Zimmerman and so many more. If like me, you bought the all access pass then if you missed hearing someone never fear you could always catch the replay.

Theme

There seemed to be a reoccurring theme and that was to use video as a key tool for 2020, perhaps they had a crystal ball??

Video gets people to pay attention – Ben Amos

Learn to create video stories that are entertaining and educational – let people see you. Great video leads to longer sessions & better engagement embraces the algorithms – Mike Stelzner

Instagram Stories are the future – Sue B Zimmerman

Video is also great content for LinkedIn – Michaela Alexis

There was of course so much more information but how long have you got? Do join my Facebook group as I’ve shared some conference highlights in there and some other insights might appear in future blogs.

Becoming more visible

The becoming more visible thing, I know that video is a useful tool for my business and because I find it difficult I set it as a goal for 2020 so while at SMMW20 I  took a couple of opportunities to talk to people on video. One of those opportunities was with May King Tsang, you can watch the video below. I can tell you it was rather nerve wracking, but she was so encouraging and really has helped me on my journey to become more visible and comfortable in front of the camera, so much so I started producing You tube videos.

The Outcome

Did I think it was worth my while taking time and spending lots of money to go to San Diego? OF COURSE so much learning from just spending time talking to people. then there was all the information from the sessions and then there are the connections made that continue long after the conference is over.

If you would like to find out more have a read here for next years event.