Last week saw Social Media Week take place all over the world. At Another Word we were lucky enough to attend several events in London.
Of course there were interesting trends shared. The rise and rise and rise of vloggers as well as the new guidelines that determine how brands can work with them, highlighting the fine line there is between advertising and earned media. The significant growth in live streaming, via Periscope and Meerkat in particular, ignited interesting brand content conversations, while the topic of social commerce was much debated and continues as a trend to watch.
What stuck us, more than any other topic, was the continued focus on community management – brands and businesses developing communities and then serving up content for those communities to engage with. Community management is, in reality, an out dated concept. Social media encourages passionate, diverse and opinionated discussion. Above all, social media is still just that…social.
Lest we forget, social media is about transparency, open and two-way conversation. And the role of content is about igniting that conversation, not just producing great content and expecting people to watch or share it.