Last week, I attended Social Slam in Knoxville, a fantastic one-day social media conference. I learned a lot and enjoyed spending time with some really smart people in the industry.
If you weren’t able to attend, here are my top takeaways from the event.
I also thought you’d enjoy reading what some other folks got out of it too:
- Thoughts After Social Slam 2012 — Jayme Soulati
- 9 Quick Takeaways from Social Slam — Jenn Whinnem at Connecticut Health Foundation
- 50+ Huge Ideas from #SoSlam — Courtney Seiter at Raven Tools
Let me know if there are some other good ones I missed.
In addition to all the great articles about Social Slam, there was lots of other great stuff floating around the web this week. Here are some of my favorites:
- The 3 Essential Qualities of a TRUE Social Media Expert — This post from Marcus Sheridan is one I wish I had written. It cuts to the heart of what any social media expert should be. If you’re thinking about hiring someone to help you with social media, you should check this out.
- Goodbye PostRank, Hello Google Social Reports — In case you haven’t heard the news, Google has added more social reporting tools into Google Analytics. There’s some pretty nifty stuff in there, including the ability track conversions from social media and learn about the behavior of site visitors from each social network. This article from Small Business Trends highlights some of the key features.
- Traditional Advertising is Truly Dead — This post at Copyblogger has sparked quite a debate. While I don’t think traditional advertising is dead, I do agree that the age-old approach of brand advertising needs to change. If you’re going to go with interruption marketing (i.e. TV ads), you’d better find a way to solve problsm or tell a story in a compelling way…otherwise folks will just tune out. Go read the post and the comments for a lively discussion about whether content marketing has replaced advertising.
- How to Use Google Trends to Get Better Traffic — My friends over at Fluxe Digital Marketing wrote a tremendous step-by-step guide about how to use Google Trends to gain intelligence about topics to write about on your blog and when to write about them.
- 7 Blog Promotion Tests You Should Try Now — If you’re stuck on how to grow your blog’s audience, you should check this simple ideas. Stanford Smith at Pushing Social wrote this post as part of his 1K New Reader Challenge. Check it out if you’re serious about growing your blog.
What were your favorite reads this week?
4 replies on “5 Must-Read Social Media Articles”
Great feature, Laura, and thanks for including me! I relish Social Slam for the content and the IRL experience. This year, the tone was different — more automated and less personal, but we still managed to chalk up a fabulous time. Looking forward to next year; let’s see where we all are then!
You’re very welcome, friend!
Interesting comments about Social Slam….what made you feel it was less personal? Was it the size of the event this time? I’m curious to hear more of your thoughts on that.
A good recap of the SoSlam recaps Laura!
🙂 It was really interesting to see how differently people interpreted the event. A little bit of the cocktail party effect in action.
Looking forward to the SM articles!
So true! Everyone found different pieces to be important. Even though I was there, I’ve enjoyed seeing what other people took away from it.