Last week the Zilker Media Digital Marketing Team had the opportunity to attend Social Media Week Austin.

The conference was filled with digital marketers and experts discussing the latest trends, strategies and developments in the digital marketing space.

Here we break down our top seven takeaways from Social Media Week Austin.

YouTube Optimization

“80 percent of all consumer traffic will be video by 2020.” – Stephanie Carls 

YouTube is the tool you need especially when it comes to leveraging SEO. A few things to keep in mind when building your YouTube platform is the first two sentences. The first two sentences are what users will see in Google search so this will be critical, shares Stephanie Carls. Also, best practice is to include your keywords in the first four to five words of your headline.

Facebook Bots

Are you using bots yet? You should be! Since only 48 percent of businesses are equipped to connect with customers through a message, bots are a great way to instantly engage with customers, audience members or Facebook Live attendees. It adds a personal touch to customer service and allows your audience to directly communicate with you while you supply them with information on your product, downloads or video content. We fully expect brands to leverage this asset as engagement rises to priority in digital marketing.

Reddit Ads

We all know Facebook ads, but what about Reddit ads? This was a curveball for most of us at the conference. It’s a wide open space unlike Facebook and may be the next platform where we see ads dominating the space.

Facebook Tips

Facebook is not about page likes since there is zero correlation between brand affinity and and likes and engagement, so reassure your customers that quality content reigns supreme and ads are where your value is. Another thing to take advantage of is creating lookalike audiences. This is Facebook’s best tool when you are trying to prospect on Facebook.

Customer Service

Where do customers go to vent about products, ask for help or inquire about information from brands? SOCIAL MEDIA. Customer service is geared towards responding on Twitter and Facebook. Seek opportunities to use social platforms to engage and respond to customers. This is a quick way to build brand affinity. Southwest Airlines is a great example of customer service done right on social. Tweet them right now and ask them a question. I guarantee you get an immediate response.

Authenticity

“The future of social resides in authenticity.”  I loved this quote from Camille Styles’ panel. People want to engage with people and want brands to behave like humans. Engage on social by commenting back to people. Be funny and inspirational by giving your brand a voice and a personality. These will all help you and your brand be relatable and compelling to your desired audience.

Mobile Mindset

“94 percent of people are accessing Facebook through mobile. We need to be creating content that is mobile first, not just mobile friendly.” I wanted to stand and applaud when Best Practice Media’s President Claire Winslow said this during her opening discussion. This number only continues to rise so if we don’t focus our content efforts on mobile quality and targeting we are missing the vast majority of potential customers.