Social Media Summit Recap

On Friday, February 15, 2019, The Martin Group hosted our second annual Social Media Summit, with this year’s focus on the social media powerhouse: Instagram. We invited a number of clients and partners for an afternoon of discussion and learning, diving into the details with four breakout sessions that focused on key top areas: Platform Strategy Basics, Delivering Quality Content, Advanced Management Activity, and Analyzing the Investment.

It was a collaborative agency effort with talks from members of every department, showcasing that a successful social media strategy is more than posting a pretty picture. From content development and video basics, to advanced paid approaches and identifying the ROI, each session broke down integral pieces that are necessary for a comprehensive social campaign on Instagram.

While active conversation and questions were encouraged, key takeaways were highlighted at the end of each breakout session. Here are what we thought were the most important pieces of information to keep in mind while planning for Instagram from each topic:

Platform Strategy Basics

Developing Content Plans and Themes
With John Jiloty and Dima Maddah

• Determine your goals and audience
• Devise a plan that’s emblematic of your brand
• Organize your assets and messaging before launch
• Always edit (and edit again) before posting
• Be patient with your plan—and have fun with the process

Improving B2B Effectiveness
With Dan Giacomini and Mandy Bly

• Instagram will likely not be your primary social media platform if you’re a B2B company
• Narrow in your strategy to align content with your sales funnel, whether it’s highlighting your company culture as an awareness tactic or promoting your eBook as a conversion tactic
• Don’t forget the internal communications side of things as well – use your employees as your advocates on social media

Delivering Quality Content

Video for Instagram
With Michael Tsanis and Frank Conjerti

• Instagram stories are key to discoverability and works around Instagram algorithm
• Instagram feed videos must be tailored to your audience
• Be consistent, be on target, and stand out

How to Grab Attention with Copy & Visuals
With John Jiloty and Lianne Coogan

• Copy and visuals work hand in hand
• Product benefits and audience interests should inform post material
• Create cohesive visuals through consistent use of type, color, and photography
• Always pursue professional imagery, video
• Concise copy should complement the impact of the visual
• Attention-grabbing posts still need to satisfy objectives

Advanced Management Activity

Paid Options and Approaches
With Anna Hofer and Dima Maddah

• Know your audience and goals
• Give the ads manager at least two weeks to run before adjusting the campaign
• Follow Facebook’s ad policy rules and regulations
• Test! Test! Test!
• Don’t lose sight of your KPIs
• Don’t compare your campaign to someone else’s campaign

Engaging Influencers, Ambassadors & Advocates
With Pat Sandora-Nastyn and Cameron Bailey

• Conduct research to know who you want to target and the best platforms
• Be honest, transparent, and open-minded with your influencer partnerships
• Don’t micromanage influencers’ content
• Be prepared with your asks and incentives
• Build strategic long-term relationships
• Don’t base decisions solely on follower count
• Stay up-to-date on influencer marketing trends
• Don’t select an influencer without asking for their audience stats (or researching yourself)

Analyzing the Investment

Identifying the ROI
With Mandy Bly and Anna Hofer

• Tracking a campaign to identify ROI can be as complex or simple as you want
• Regardless of your tracking capabilities, you should build out your goals for Instagram
• Use ad tracking by placing pixels onto your landing page to determine attribution
• You can always find attribution manually by pulling a list of your leads, as well as following digital marketing best practices
• Use Google Analytics goals, send your user to destination page, and use UTMs

Assessing Competing Platform Offerings
With John Jiloty and Dima Maddah

• Assess which platforms are right for your business based on your audience
• Stay visually and creatively on brand across all platforms
• Use each network to its full potential
• Don’t underestimate the unique nuances of each network and its audience