It’s not a secret, I put a lot of stock in what Social Media Examiner had to say about the world of digital marketing. Michael Stelzner pumps out binge-worthy content through his podcast and YouTube channel neatly bundled in their weekly email newsletters. Having a trusted source in the ever-changing world of social media is a must because trust is at an all time low with consumers.
Social Media Marketing World, owned by Social Media Examiner, is a great way to get access to the latest trends, speakers, and ask the hard questions like, “Is Instagram the right place for my clients and students?” and “Do my clients really need to dance in order to get their point across?”
When the conference agenda came out, I thought it would be all TikTok. It wasn’t — only 3 sessions were about the app and the keynote barely mentioned it. In fact, I was super surprised to see items on areas I had been meaning to investigate — like Metaverse, NFTs, Virtual (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR).
My career has spanned through internet startup world (Web 1.0) then the socialization of the internet (Web 2.0) so I’m not surprised after a global pandemic, business owners are bracing for another change — a shift from the social gig economy to the creator economy known as Web 3.0 with the melding of AR, VR, and NFTs.
Even as a seasoned marketing veteran, this is thrilling and exciting but also leaves me scratching my head — how will my clients and coaching clients adapt and of course, my own business.
The other disruption from TikTok, creators are grabbing the land for time and attention.
What’s this mean? It’s time to think like a creator instead of a business owner. To highlight what you know as an authority instead of dancing away making meaningless meme videos on your TikTok.
Here are some of my big takeaways from SMMW:
Think Creator
Web 3.0 is predicted to be all about the creator. Start thinking like a creator when it comes to your content and stop worrying about your follower counts. Put the focus and emphasis on binge-worthy content that serves your audience. How do you know what they want? Simply ask.
Collect email addresses, too. Use the link in bios on TikTok and Instagram to pull the audience off the platform so you own it. I’ve seen too many creators become obsessed with the goal of having a big follower count wasting their time creating more content for their audience without offering something of value, offline.
If you’re spending hours every week creating TikToks and Reels and not monetizing your content, you’re doing it wrong.
Does your content lend to an exclusive community where people will pay for your knowledge or exclusive content? This is where creators can make money. This could be as simple as gated content on an app like Patreon or Substack.
Embrace Video
It’s no longer an option. Your business will have to do video thanks to TikTok. The good news is that consumers don’t trust overly produced, long videos. Your smartphone in hand will do. There also isn’t a need for fancy apps either. TikTok and Instagram Reels offer great in-app video editors that will keep the videos short and to the point. In fact, the shorter, the better — under 15 seconds is great. When it comes to monetization, TikTok and YouTube are the best places to work on making a presence along with filling up your pocket books. Again, it’s not about virality, it’s about community views. Embracing video NOW will help when marketing makes a switch to early adoption of AR and VR.
Know the Needs of Your Audience
Having a finger on your customer’s pain and how you solve their issues will be the key to your marketing success. We’ve been hearing for years that serving your audience's needs, wants, and desires will make you well-known (Thank you, GaryVee). Pinpointing that, offering value, and services in that area will help with relationship building. This isn’t an overnight success. You need to have patience and be consistent. Too often, I’ll see business owners give up after a month. This takes some time and it’s a long game… unless you can throw lots of cash at it. The good thing is that content development is cheap and it just takes your time to create. Lastly, spend time where your audience is spending time. That could mean they are on LinkedIn and you’re on Instagram. When it comes to TikTok, if you sell high ticket items, the younger audience may not be able to afford it.
Consistency
I mentioned it above, patience and consistency are key. Consistency in your marketing plan, messaging, social media postings, videos, lives, email marketing — I could keep going. So many just give up. So many go in with a plan. Sit down, make a plan, block the time and do the thing. Baby stepping and not doing too much in the beginning will be your best friend.
Gaming - the Onramp to AR/VR
Do you have an Oculus collecting dust like me? Bust it out and start to play around with it. Keep a pulse on what’s happening and the experiences. Who are the creators and players in the Web 3.0 space? Yes, we are pre-early adoption but keep a pulse one the trends, movers, and shakers in this area.
Below is a video highlighting key points, over 30 pages of notes I compiled on the plane. Watch the recap below for more context to the key points that I’ve discussed below.