From 360-Degree Live Mobile Video (With Example) to Copywriting: A Recap From Social Media Marketing World 2017

Social Media Marketing World 2017 was an undeniable success. Held at the San Diego Convention Center, the event, presented by Social Media Examiner, featured over 3000 social media marketers, thinkers and strategists.

Most of the industry’s biggest names either attended or spoke, but the event went beyond talk. It was a practitioner’s playground, where new ideas were shared and new tools were demonstrated.

For example, Alex Khan didn’t just speak during his session about 360-degree live mobile video, he showed what it looks like. Click on the video below and drag to look around:

But while the future of tech may have stolen the show, Social Media Marketing World 2017 covered all aspects of social media marketing—from how to use old-school copywriting techniques for modern landing pages to what the ever-changing nature of Facebook’s algorithm means for social media marketers.

Depending on which area you want to learn about, here are 20 experts I was impressed by:

If you’d like to learn more about a particular area that isn’t covered above, shoot me message here on Facebook Messenger and I’ll send you a few names of people I’ve found to be at the cutting-edge of their field.

How Social Media Marketing World Could Improve

While I can’t gush enough about how well-run this event was, in looking forward to Social Media Marketing World 2018 there are a few areas that I think could be improved:

1. The event app. Bizzabo, the event platform used, made it easy to see the layout of the event, get information about the speakers, and even follow #SMMW17 on Twitter through the app. But I think many participants would have loved a cleaner calendar feature—a way to easily build out all the sessions they were attending so the details could quickly be pulled up.

2. Diversity. At times the conference felt like a sea of whiteness, particularly of white men. Rand Fishkin of Moz has been one of the marketing industry’s leading voices on this topic, and I could see the team at Social Media Marketing World 2018 certainly learning from what he and the Content Marketing Institute are working to do:

Also, it’s important to keep in mind this quote from Vernā Myers:

“Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.”

3. Moderators. While the panels I attended went incredibly well, the 1-1 interviews felt flat. The former left the audience itching for more and wanting to stick around after, while the latter... not so much.

Why? In large part it comes down to the moderator/interviewer. They are the point guard directing the show, dishing out assists and calling the plays. If an answer doesn’t cut it or feels like fluff, they can step in and call on the panelist/interviewee to go deeper. If one panelist isn’t getting a shot, they can balance it out.

Jay Baer, in moderating a panel titled, How to Staff Your Social Media Team in a Changing Marketplace, did a fantastic job—bringing in his own charisma while ensuring the focus remained on the panelist’s insights. Bryan Kramer, in moderating, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and the Future of Social Media Marketing, did a brilliant job as well.

But the 1-1 interview can be a different animal—whereby unless the interviewer is good (as in journalist-good) and the interviewee is willing to go deep (rather than simply push their brand messaging) it can all feel like a staged 60-minute infomercial.

Here’s a glimpse into how this event came to be, and here are my daily write-ups from the event: Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3. Lastly, here’s the link to lock in early-bird rates for Social Media Marketing World 2018.