Recently I attended and spoke at WOMMA Summit 2010 (Word of Mouth Marketing Association). Tops down and without the doubt one of the BEST social media events I’ve been to (and I have been to lots of them). Next year if you are deciding which events to prioritize, I highly recommend this one to be on the top of your list (note: this was the first time I’ve attended the event and I have no affiliation with WOMMA).

Below are some snackable words of wisdom from the speakers at WOMMA I wanted to share with you… Feel free to tweet any of them.

Stats/Data:

  • Only 6% of all tweets are retweeted and 92% of those that r retweeted occur in the 1st hour – @eloqua
  • User reviews are 10x more influential than general soc med buzz – @nmincite
  • 6.2% of online adults are responsible for 80% of the influence impressions on social media. @joshbernoff
  • 35% of U.S. adults have smartphones. 50% will use them in 2011.
  • Within social networks, consumer create 256 bill impressions on one another by talking about products/services each year (Forrester)
  • 80% of WOM happens offline (Kelly Fay Group)
  • consumers spnd over 5 hours using social media each day

Kitchen Sisters on Storytelling:

  • Storytelling: funny is good but heart is even better
  • Summon the elders, they are the best storytellers
  • Rule of 3 of storytelling: secret, unexpected, below the radar
  • Use visuals and drawings to tell stories, they are powerful
  • Use silence in your storytelling, it brings people to you
  • People love something secret
  • The audience wants to go on a mission and get involved
  • Stories beget stories!
  • Memories, music, sounds, places – key parts of storytelling
  • “The universe is made of stories, not of atoms”

Jeremiah Owyang:

  • Brands teach their customers that the only way to get their attention is to scream at the brand and their friends online
  • SM strategists, don’t become a helpdesk, you’ll just be continuously cleaning up after business units
  • Successful SM strategist r successful b/c they are willing to take calculated risks and can work w/multiple stakeholders
  • Proving real social media ROI is difficult; what we r measuring right now is engagement data, not ROI
  • Social media is not well understood, so it’s not very well funded in the enterprise
  • SM Technology Landscape is crazy: 145 monitoring technologies, 125 community technologies, 30 engagement tools
  • Internal and external demands are rapidly compounding
  • In a few years social will be a part of the fabric… in marketing, PR, everywhere

Geno Church of Brains on Fire on Creating Movements, not Campaigns:

  • Don’t create a party, go where the party is at!
  • Digital doodads will never ever replace the power of a handshake!
  • A movement is not a spasm of passion, we need a collective shout (something louder and more sustainable)
  • It shouldn’t be just a community, it should be a BFF (best friends forever) community
  • Become fans of your fans!
  • Have a courage to give up ownership!
  • Influence can be made, but passion can’t!!!
  • Don’t just talk to your customers, walk with them, hang out with them

Facebook’s Paul Ollinger:

  • Other sites are about the “what”, Facebook is about the “who”
  • People spend 5hrs25min on Facebook compared to 2 hrs on Yahoo
  • Web is about people. Marketing is about people.
  • If Likers is the only thing u r after, you are using Facebook wrong.
  • Talking louder is not the way to amplify your message

User Generated Content (TMZ and Zoopa):

  • 7 of 10 Super Bowl Game Ads Contained UGC
  • Crowdsourcing is nothing new. The Parthenon was crowdsourced (architecture competition!)
  • Cash is the best award for the crowdsourced program
  • We r moving from a downloading to an uploading culture. People want 2 get involved, be in control.
  • Users know your brand, sometimes better than “experts”
  • Be focused on what you need to achieve when you crowdsource (1 or 2 things tops)
  • Agencies didn’t get it, so we crowdsourced our creative to our audience – TMZ
  • TMZ mantra: “get the story right. Make the delivery fun.”

General:

  • Authenticity and transparency are scary, but they pay off!!!
  • Social media stunts are good for earned media but community engagement is better for changing perception @DaveKerpen
  • As number of trials went up, the WOM went up as well – Coke case study
  • “Social media Is like teen sex. Everyone wants to do it, but no one knows how”
  • 80/20 rule of engagement: 80 – people; 20 – brand
  • Less words in your Facebook posts means more interactions with the post
  • POEM: paid, owned, earned media
  • exposure didn’t mean your message resonated
  • “You are completely defenseless if you do not have a social presence.” @jbernoff
  • “Customer service is marketing” – @jbernoff

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