Did you know that currently 12% of all marketing spend is on social, which is expected to increase to nearly 20% over the next 5 years?
If you’re like most marketing managers, you’re probably leveraging Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for your brand goals. Adventurous types are on Instagram and Pinterest. But what about Vine, Xing, Periscope and Snapchat? Should you be using these newer platforms?
The social media space is a turbulent one we’re all trying to navigate. Leading the way is Neal Schaffer who will join us as a speaker at this year’s Content Marketing Conference. [Follow Neal on Twitter]
Neal is a global social media expert recognized as a Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer two years in a row. Creator of the popular blog Maximize Social Business, he has spoken at over 200 events in the past few years. He’s also the author of 3 popular books including a personal favorite, Maximize Your Social. His book received rave reviews from industry leaders such as Arnie Kuenn, CEO of Vertical Measures.
Neal lives and breathes social media and, luckily for the rest of us, is committed to helping people understand this powerful channel. Last year he co-founded Social Tools Summit and this year he’s building a new community for social media professionals and people looking to up their game on social called Social Media Center of Excellence.
Neal’s Top Tactics for Social Media Strategy
Neal is a proponent of strategic social media marketing. In his experience, the strategic element is critical but is frequently overlooked. “We waste money not thinking about what we are doing on social before we act.”
His most recent book focuses on a framework to help readers formulate a social media strategy that works, including how to set realistic objectives and KPIs and how to measure and optimize over time.
The challenge for many marketers is gathering, analyzing and acting on the relevant data. Neal demystifies this process with a focus on how social can contribute to the ROI of content marketing. He offers practical tips for using features like custom audiences and cookie technology for tracking as well as third party tools like BuzzSumo that allow users to know what content others are creating and how successful it is in terms of shares.
To those still on the fence about whether social is worth the investment or whether it will convert for their business, Neal said, “We are never going to know how our content converts until we try it . . . The only way to get better and measure better is to get out there and test it.”
Catch a Preview of Neal’s Session in Last Week’s Podcast
I recently hosted Neal on my podcast series. We dove deep into how to leverage social media to promote content online, how to accurately track ROI, and trends in the New Year.
I asked Neal what has changed in the social media space since the book. His answer? While the user interface has changed, the foundational concept has not.
“Social media was made for people, not for brands. The more humanized you become, the more engagement you will see with your brand,” said Neal. He added, “[The goal is to] create something authentic and transparent that represents your brand and engages your community.”
He noted that while the basic concept of social media has not changed in the past few years, visual social has changed dramatically. This is in part because we engage with visual content more quickly and more deeply than we do with text. Which is probably why Instagram has grown to the second largest network in terms of active monthly users.
Neal Speaks at CMC16
Attendees at this year’s Content Marketing Conference can learn Neal’s proven social media tactics to amplify content marketing at his session on Wednesday, May 18th, when he will also reveal his favorite social tools to make life easier for both SMBs and enterprise companies.
Come prepared with their toughest social media questions. “When I speak I ask for questions and I will not leave until I see no more hands raised. So, challenge accepted.”
To learn more social media tips from Neal join us at CMC this May in Las Vegas. If you can’t wait until May, sign up for his free webinar on January 21st.
