I was at Social Media Marketing World this past week and WOW, what a fantastic event. I had the pleasure of hearing a lot of great presentations as well as learn a ton of new information. Here are some of the best Tweets I pulled from this event along with a few how-to’s. Enjoy!

Facebook  Tips and Tricks

@MariSmith: 10 Most Popular Facebook KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) http://t.co/gXQGsm9RgN via @fanpagekarma [Good one!] #smmw13

Is your Facebook page performing? Here’s a link to a great site that will tell you things like Reach, Posts per Day, and how many shares you’re getting, etc. It’s important to keep track of all of your metrics, not just some of them. You want to know if what you’re doing is working!

@MariSmith: Keep up to date with all things Facebook! Follow this Interest List: http://t.co/HAh85RlAw6 (over 30k followers!) #smmw13

Fabulous and fun group to join to keep up with Facebook changes, social media networking, etc.

@Ben_CaFCP: Wait about 6 hours before you promote your FB posts to get some organic reach – #SMMW13 @MariSmith Increase FB reach

This is an interesting revelation. So, often when we run promoted posts we’ll do them right away. So put a post-up on FB and then pay for the promotion. Mari says not to do that, wait till it’s got some organic outreach. She says it’s a better model for marketing.

Tip: Are you familiar with Hyper Alerts? See:   http://www.hyperalerts.no/  you can use this service to track any comments or posts on Facebook. So if you’re tracking a particular person, company, or a bunch of people, use HyperAlerts to help you keep track of these folks.

@eernoult: We have the perfect tool for you to gauge your #Facebook #Reach how do you stack up? http://t.co/l6bLqeryaR #SMMW13

This is such a fun and helpful site, connect your FB page to it and it’ll help you keep track of your stats on FB, it’s really great if you want to go deeper and see if your reach is growing, what’s getting the most attention and what’s not working. Always important to know what’s not working!

Tip: Fun Facebook Facts from Amy Porterfield!

Amy Porterfield did a fantastic session on Facebook, here are some takeaways:

• Am I educating, entertaining or empowering? This is a good question to ask when you’re promoting to your FB Fan Page.
• Looking for more engagement with the photo’s you post? Try “caption this” to a photo to get people engaged.
• Key point: Images are great attractors.
• How many times should you post: Amy suggests two to five times a day! She also suggested calls to action, so saying “please share” or “click this” or “watch now”

 Using Kickstarter:

 @ChristinaMila: Kickstarter is about selling product – not funding a business – and building  direct relationships with customers. @mitchjoel #smmw13

This was a great tweet on Kickstarter because I think that most folks getting on there want to fund something. I get it, it’s Kickstarter it’s kind of how the whole site got so well-known, but candidly it’s really about connecting directly with your customer. This site will let you do that if you work it right.

Marketing That Stands Out From the Crowd

@SuperRob: You’re not competing against others in your field, you’re competing against EVERYONE for attention. Be helpful! @jaybaer #smmw13

Super thought. Here’s the deal, we are always competing against everything for attention. Consider this: do you really think that your consumer is so laser-focused on the products they want that they won’t be distracted by whatever is going on in the news, or what’s happening in other areas of their work and home lives? No, it’s all one. So you’re really competing against all of it, not just your competition. If that were true, we’d all be rockstars.

@monikarun: RT @julielowe “Make them laugh or cry & they’ll share it out the wazoo.” @MariSmith #SMMW13

 Amen. This is the emotion that it takes to get something to your buyer. Think Susan Boyle. What made you want to share that video? It was the awe factor or as someone once called it, “The time to Cool!” meaning the time it takes for someone to see what you’re doing and go, “Wow, that’s cool!”

I like that analogy! RT @DaveKerpen: We eat news but we cook from recipes. Be useful. #smmw13

Totally great analogy: make sure that your information breaks down the steps, ideas, whatever just like a recipe!

@JHouston89: What dreams are you empowering? 20% of your message can be promotional #smmw13

@micheseco: It’s better to sell dreams than benefits: it brings more engagement & interaction #smmw13

This is great, though I realize it may not work for everyone reading this. But if you can empower dreams then do that first. What can you help your consumer with? What problem do you solve for them? Key into this and include it in your marketing message!

Factoid! The average attention span is 9 seconds

WHOA, can you believe that. Nine seconds. That means I’ve already lost everyone’s interest in this piece. 🙂

@Bethany_Kate: Boring is the kiss of death! Stand out or don’t bother. Social media is not about blending in. @SallyHogshead #SMMW13

That’s so true! I think that the best kind of marketing is whatever makes people think.

@UrviMehta: RT @MariSmith: 80% content, 20% promotion. 80% focus on *them*, 20% focus on you. #smmw13

Love this tweet. So often the balance shifts to 80% sales and 20% on them, I really hate that when I get newsletters or subscribe to them only to find that they are just a sales pitch. Nothing makes me unsub faster than that!

 Take Care of Your Customers

 @MariSmith: “45% of questions that companies receive via social media are *not* responded to.” @socialbakers #smmw13 [:/ Hmm!]

Yikes, this is a scary stat. And more and more businesses need to communicate with customers yet so many of them aren’t doing it. Are you?

@MariSmith: “On average, companies take 13.7 hours to respond to Facebook fan posts.”  @socialbakers #smmw13

Another yikes. Almost 14 hours to respond to a Facebook like post? That’s ridiculous. If you post something, do you want to wait 14 hours for a response? Not likely. Keep in mind that responding is money and typically, consumers want a response in 30 minutes or less!

@lisackeller: 50% of Twitter users expect a response within 2 hours. 70% expect a response on FB within 48 hrs. #smmw13

Can you believe this timing? Well, it’s easier to manage than Facebook, that’s for sure. But candidly if you’re not on top of your social media, it might just run you over. Be sure to respond to your fans, consumers, readers. Very important to engage in a timely fashion.

 @SusieHays: Worry less about selling better, worry more about teaching #SMMW13 @JayBaer

 Totally true. A good reminder about content over sales copy. People are tired of being sold.

The Power of Podcasts

Tip: Think podcasting is a not-so-hot idea, maybe think again, check this out:

BMW and Ford are integrating Podcasting into cars. @mike_stelzner @smexaminer #smmw13 [Woa!]

What does this mean for you? This means that if you think you can be a radio star then grab your own podcast. In a few weeks we’ll identify some great ways to get started with podcasting! And here’s another fun tip:

Podcasting tip: Keep folks engaged – pause, repeat important things, use dynamics, break it up with transitions – via @PatFlynn #smmw13

Build Email Lists; They Work

Are you building your email list? Check this out from Chris Brogan:

RT @mikehermus Email: far from dead @chrisbrogan says his email list is much smaller than social presence, but drives more traffic. #SMMW13

I would 100% agree with this.

 The Power of Using Images Online:

 @EricaEfron: Great tips! @MariSmith: 4 Best Practices for Finding Facebook and Blog Images http://t.co/AZFrYekHBh #smmw13

It’s so important to use images these days, but finding them can be tricky. This is a great link to help you find good images for your blog and Pinterest!

@therichbrooks: 13 Free or Cheap Stock Photography Sites for Your Blog (or #Pinterest) http://t.co/qLeiaj1s7C #smmw13

Love this! If you need stock images (and who doesn’t) try one of these great finds! Thanks, Rich!

  Blogging Inspiration:

Tip: Looking for interesting topics to blog about? Check out www.alltop.com and also: http://holykaw.alltop.com/ – both places are great for finding content when you’re feeling tapped out!

Learn About SlideShare:

@dawndevirgilio: Slideshare. It’s like YouTube for Powerpoints. Love these comparisons.

Have you started using SlideShare yet? It’s a great site and it’s getting quite a bit of reach. Check it out at: http://www.slideshare.net/

@JasonMillerCA: Slides from my presentation today: How to Optimize Social for Lead Generation – on @slideshare http://t.co/OQvQNMwf7Q #smmw13

And speaking of Slidshare, here’s a fun presentation from one of the speakers. Enjoy!

@ciaoenrico: Great site for stupid questions http://t.co/SVJ9ICkeri This one I did for, “how do I sign up for Twitter?” Try it yourself! #smmw13

This is kind of a fun site – give it try!

  Odds and Ends of More Good Tips:

 @DebraJasper: Jason Miller: 33% of us trust company to buyer messages. 92% trust buyer to buyer messages. #smmw13

 Wow this number is pretty staggering, no? It says a lot when someone recommends something to you, doesn’t it? What does this mean: engage your consumers/buyers/readers. Seriously. This is why it’s *so* important to engage your readers and connect with them. This will help you grow your market, probably more than any other marketing tool in your toolbox.

 @QRKim: YouTube tip: Use @fiverr to have your videos transcribed. Don’t leave it up to #youtube to get it right.  #Smmw13

 Fun tip! So you know that YouTube will do a transcription of your video but it’s often not that great or precise. So Fiverr is a fantastic and inexpensive place to find someone who can do inexpensive transcription.

@Bookgal: Great speaker tip: schedule tweets to run during your session. Sharing info real time. Yah! Love it @MariSmith #smmw13

This was such a great idea. So, what you do is schedule tweets that relate to your talk and set them to run during your session. Fantastic idea and a great way to engage beyond the room. Don’t forget to add the conference hashtag, too!

@angelamarie85: Real life communities have formed because of hashtags. So see. I told you all #YOLO wasn’t stupid. #smmw13

If this confuses you here’s what this means: hashtags are fantastic for search. So using them on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook (also don’t forget about Google+) is a great way to build community within your messages and help you show up better in search. I use hashtags everywhere now! You should, too!

@TheMikeEllis: If you become the greatest listener in the world you’ll become the greatest blog content writer — @TheSalesLion #smmw13

This is a great blurb and totally true. Listening to what your customers want will help you be better at everything, not just blogging!

@KateRados: ‘Be the orange ticket’ might be the best advice I’ve gotten so far via #smmw13

This came out of a session with Sally Hogshead where she talked about a ride at Disneyland that had a green ticket and orange ticket. So you could pick the level of ride you wanted. Orange was super-fast, super harsh and only for the die-hard riders. Green was a bit gentler, etc. Needless to say 90% of folks wanted to go for the orange but guess what? When she tried the green ticket ride Sally discovered it was the same ride. Guess what? The same is true in marketing: Change perception of your value. Be the orange ticket. Here’s another tweet about that:

 @HollyChessman: You don’t have to change the product – you have to change the perception -via @SallyHogshead #smmw13

This is a super tip. Most of the time we think we need to reinvent everything. Sometimes we do but most times we just don’t. Change the perception, not the product. YAH!

@therichbrooks: From my #smmw13 presentation: How to create external links to your website from within your YouTube videos: http://t.co/ptMCw5mX07

Fantastic and fun article by Rich Brooks who has a ton of super helpful content. YouTube is a huge help when it comes to promotion. Be sure that you’re doing something on YouTube because video and images are huge traffic drivers in social!

Want to know more about this fab event? Click here: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/smmworld/