Ok so here is the Recap of our Social Media Night which took place last night 01/23/17 at CTRL Collective In Playa Vista.
We started off with introductions by the panelists. Giselle Romero kicked it off by explaining a bit about her background as an influencer and the work she is currently doing at Forever 21 as the Sr. Social Media Coordinator. We moved on to Matt Brooks, also an influencer and a Social Brand Coordinator at 72 and Sunny, a huge ad agency here in LA. Matt has an Instagram following of over 71k and it's a dope feed, (@mattebrooks) not gonna lie. Erika Brooks Adickman took followed and described a bit of her past experience working at SpinMedia, Fandango and Participant Media. She went on to talk a bit about her current freelance projects and she also dropped an interesting story about a viral site she created around the time parents started joining Facebook.
Brands Aren't Paying Much Attention To FB
After our intros were over, we jumped right into it and began discussing how these panelists are using Facebook to grow awareness and build audiences. After a bit of discussion, it was clear that Facebook is not the main focus for these companies. A ton of attention is being put on influencer marketing, Instagram and Snapchat. We've held many of these discussions and every time I ask about Facebook I get the same answers, particularly from larger companies. Companies are focusing more on Snapchat and Instagram than anything else. I personally believe that because Facebook is a bit of a challenge, most companies are ignoring the opportunities there and jumping on platforms that are easier to monetize, which makes sense. But... it's not always best to do what everyone else is doing. In our Growth Hacking sessions, we reveal incredible opportunities that most companies or individuals are not taking advantage of, especially on lesser used platforms. It is a bit bothersome to see the lack of creativity most of these larger brands or companies have when it comes to utilizing FB. There is so much opportunity there. Anyhow...
Instagram and Snapchat are Taking Over But...
The conversation naturally started to gravitate more towards Instagram and Snapchat and the advantages and disadvantages of both platforms. Live, behind the scenes content, seems to be powerful for Forever 21 and it helps drive fan engagement and gain new followers. They see a ton of success with live streaming on production days and giving their fanbase an inside look into photo shoots etc. They also have success running contests through Snapchat and repurposing Snap content to Instagram. Although Snap plays a huge part in everyone's strategy more focus is put into Instagram than anything else.
Fan Feeback and Tailored Content
It was apparent that all three of these panelists are paying a ton of attention to fan feedback and adjusting their content to meet the needs of their growing fanbase. They're also trying to address the needs and desires of the younger generation that wants to see real authentic content and not commercial BS ;) The young generation hates a sellout and I think they always will. It was true when I was a teen and it seems true today. The challenge for larger companies is being cool and authentic. The best way to seem cool and authentic is to leverage influencers who are not huge sell outs already. Identifying micro influencers with a loyal fanbase and having them promote your company, in the most genuine way possible, is where you'll make the most impact.
Conclusion
We finished off our discussion with each of the panelists discussing some challenges they will be overcoming in 2017 and what they see in the future of social for their brands or companies they represent. Some interesting ideas on the evolution of social were revealed.
Overall it was a great panel. Tons of great knowledge was shared with everyone who attended. We had a ton of audience questions and some very notable people int he social media community showed up to this event. Which was awesome.
If you're interested in learning more about KNW and our Social Media Night please feel free to contact us on Instagram @knwagency or https://www.facebook.com/knwagency
