Marketing is evolving at a rapid speed. The recent Westchester Digital Summit, hosted by Silverback Social and held in White Plains, NY, was a great event dedicated to educating businesses on the importance of digital marketing and social media presence. This third annual event featured speakers from GE, IBM, Travelocity, Pinterest, Facebook, Google Thinking, HEINEKEN USA, Conair, NBC Universal and more. Each panel discussion, breakout session and keynote speaker gave insight into innovative social media tips and digital marketing strategies.
Left to Right: David Berkowitz (MRY), Deepanjan De (Facebook), Eva Papoutsakis Smith (Pinterest), Frank Golding (Google Thinking), Joya Dass (Entrepreneur & Business Anchor)
Throughout the day, it became clear the theme was “content.” Sheri Koetting, chief strategist and co-founder of MSLK Design, put it best, “media without message is meaningless.” The content needs to meet the needs of the company’s many different customers. Defining the audience is an essential step to determine which content is appropriate for a social media strategy.
Chris Dessi, CEO of Silverback Social and Creator of the Westchester Digital Summit, had an interesting take on the idea of content. He believes in order to be successful, one must use intent, context and content together. Content isn’t enough to keep the public engaged; there must be an idea behind the post. Taking it a step further was Nick Simard of InspiriaMedia. He discussed the need to establish S.M.A.R.T. goals that match the strategic marketing plan. Posts that attract customers through engagement will be able to convert them into people who share your information and promote your brand. According to experts, user generated content is higher in value than self-posted content.
Multi Channel Marketing Playbook Panel Discussion
Buzz Creators’ own client, HEINEKEN USA, had their Media Director, Frank Amorese, speak on a panel discussion. Amorese discussed current social media marketing tools, challenges, goals and strategies. HEINEKEN USA uses a variety of software packages, as well as cross-team communication, to effectively deliver and analyze their digital messages. To aid in cross-team communication, they implemented a “creative ladder” to normalize language between the different teams and discuss content creation. This strategy ensures the content is appropriate for their audience and it is being promoted at the right time.
Each speaker had their own perspective and strategy for how to create and implement content. But, one constant throughout the Summit was that content remains king.