We're in Chicago attending the first-time-round SES Chicago show now run by Kevin Ryan and Kevin Heisler. Still curious about how the new format will be received, but so far, the vibe is good and people I chatted with are quite excited. When we ran into Kevin R., he seemed pleased with the turnout as well.
Steven Marder, our CEO at Eurekster, participated in the "Actionable Social Media" panel, along with folks from BuzzLogic, iCrossing, Search Engine Guide and Wildfire Strategic Marketing. The room was filled to capacity, indicating a pretty strong interest in this track they call "Fundamentals."
Based on the diversity of businesses these speakers represent, it was interesting to see where Anne Kennedy of Beyond Ink was guiding the discussions. The agenda promised we'd be looking at "community-driven sites that allow content sharing via tagging and can be a great way to tap into links and search-driven traffic." The question really was how marketers and publishers can leverage social media services and strategies in an appropriate manner.
Todd Parson of Buzzlogic was kicking things off by providing a few impressive numbers on blogging and the huge amount of UGC out there. Did you know 57 million Americans read blogs, 60% of which want to get an opinion? He also brought up the concept of editorial vs. acquired linking, which led to one of the key themes in this talk: authenticity.
Adam Lavelle of iCrossing talked about how we were "social animals" who use content to connect, which personal networks make social. His golden rule was "listen and be useful". (Amazingly enough, he did manage to go through 35 slides in under 5 minutes).
Jennifer Laycock of Search Engine Guide elaborated on the different benefits of image tagging, specifically using flickr as an example, such as a deeper level of community engagement, as well as traffic growth.
Tamara Kremer of Wildfire highlighted del.icio.us as an example for social bookmarking and the opportunity for creating a deep and rich resource library to be leveraged for marketing efforts.
To wrap up, Steven outlined the change in media from 1.0 to social media, and search 1.0 (such as Google, Yahoo and Ask), and the next iteration: Social Search. He described how social search leverages the characteristics of social media, such as de-centralization, participation, and such, and how this allows for the publisher to create a guided and branded, yet community-powered search experience. Best of all, Eurekster swickis can be built for free and actually make you some money, as Anne clarified after Steven's intro.
When asked about what mistakes were being made, the key concepts discussed in this panel were re-iterated: stay authentic, focus on the conversation, don't think of this as a quick fix, and, as Steven pointed out and Anne reinforced: R-E-S-P-E-C-T your customer.
