The Dean - Vitrue CEO Reggie Bradford

Vitrue held its annual client summit, entitled the “Vitrue School for the Socially Gifted,” at the Eventi hotel in NYC this week.  It was a tremendous opportunity for both Vitrue and our clients. Be sure and take a stroll through campus and tag yourself in our photo albums for extra credit.

Vitrue, which has always let clients take the lead in letting us know what their needs and challenges are, got to spend great face-to-face time with those we work for and find out from them in which directions we need to be thinking.  And clients got insider information both on the most effective usage of the Vitrue SRM 3.0 platform, and on what Vitrue’s plans are for the future, as well as where social marketing is headed overall.

The Students Invade Hudson Yards Kitchen

Two of the summit’s keynote speakers added some real valuable insight to the proceedings we’d like to share with all of you.

Professor Brian Solis

Brian Solis – Altimeter Group

• -People connecting to each other based on common interests is the foundation on which all social networks are built.
• -Each social network has its own culture and engagement requirements.
• -The least asked question in social marketing is “why”. Why would someone like my page?
• -There’s a great “unlike” movement coming.  Social blindness is on the horizon just like banner blindness.  People who are unliking brands are doing it because they’re overwhelmed.
• -Social is an audience of audiences with an audience.
• -With social, some brands literally have greater reach than national TV cable networks.
• -The 5 I’s of social are: Intelligence, Insight, Ideation, Interaction and Influence.
• -Content should not be king, context should be king.  Getting messaging to the right people, in the right place, at the right time, in the right way.
• -Resonance is going to be a metric one day.
• -Above all else, customers want to feel valued.
• -Establish a connect-worthy, shareable presence; take an always-on approach; reinforce value; engage; and amplify.
• -There’s deal-fatigue going on.
• -It’s not that social commerce isn’t working, it’s that brands have put dull, horrible catalogue experiences up as their strategy.

Professor Ekaterina Walter - Intel

Ekaterina Walter, Social Media Strategist – Intel

• -The average user is connected to 80 Pages, groups and events
• -The “Like” button is pushed 90m times a month across the web
• -65% of FB users say they’re more likely to buy based on a friend’s referral
• -40% of Fortune 100 companies show that their website traffic is decreasing.
• -Engagement gets your stories in news feeds. You’re not going to get engagement if you don’t know what your audience wants.
• -Why not ask and tell fans the same thing you’d ask/tell your friends?
• -Don’t assume your fans know how to tag or hashtag.  Teach them, they won’t mind.
• -Keep posts short and scimmable, less than 400 characters, and include a call to action.
• -If you make fans “Like” your Page to get to certain content, wow, that better be really great content.
• -Brands should always be aware of the Facebook promotions guidelines.

Students Get Deep Into Vitrue "Tabs"

Again, we’d like to send out a huge thank you for all our Vitrue clients who participated.  It was great seeing you and connecting with you, and we look forward to continuing to give you all the very best customer service and the best, most comprehensive social marketing tech platform available in the industry. If you couldn’t make this one, don’t miss the next School for the Socially Gifted in Las Vegas in November.