If you’ve previously attended one of our annual Social Summits in New York, London, or San Francisco, you’ll know what inspiring and informative events they are. Because of the challenges of this year we were unable to do another live event, so instead we created the Meltwater Social Media Festival, and we called it a festival because we think this year, of all years, social deserves to be celebrated.
The two day event began on October 6th with the second day taking place on October 13th – for which you can register here, or if you’re already registered you can go straight to the event hub. Day one’s sessions are available for on-demand viewing at the hub, and day two will be streamed there too.
Even my cat is into #MeltwaterFestival. pic.twitter.com/xznpubPmoZ
— Rachel Moore | #vGHC20 (@RachelMooreRS) October 6, 2020
Our keynote speaker opening up day one was social media marketing expert, Neal Schaffer, whose session “It’s Time to Reset How You Measure Social Media ROI” asked marketers to reconsider how they measure the success of their social media campaigns.
It’s the % of fans sharing not % of fans engaging! #MeltwaterFestival pic.twitter.com/n1rzv1JdpO
— Alyssa Jones (@creeksideally) October 6, 2020
Neal was followed by Facebook’s Weronika Sobolak, who shared some inside tips for success with her session “Marketing Strategies for Success on Facebook’s Family of Apps.” Her advice included starting with clear objectives and KPIs, and using data and insights to understand consumers, with some case studies to show us successful examples.
#MeltwaterFestival – Facebook’s Weronika Sobolak says that the best way to reach your audience is not by frequency but by relevance… and always consider #MobileFirst pic.twitter.com/tremH9nkzk
— Alissa A. Arford (@AArford) October 6, 2020
Next up was Instagram marketing expert, who gave us her advice on how businesses can get more value from the image sharing platform, including liberal use of hashtags and improved photography skills: “Make Instagram Work Better for Brands.”
Writing better IG captions…
@jenns_trends #MeltwaterFestival pic.twitter.com/dG3E552Zyz
— Kristy Gillentine Callaway 
(@KrisGillentine) October 6, 2020
Leo Morejon, Senior Manager of Social Media Marketing at Applegate came next with a session encouraging people to see the wider value of social listening platforms, beyond just the marketing team: “Social Listening as a Business Tool.”
“Social Listening is not a social media tool. It’s an all-business tool.” #MeltwaterFestival pic.twitter.com/aFQKatJuo5
— Taylor Sidwell (@t_sidwell) October 6, 2020
The day’s penultimate speaker was our own Chris Caro, a product specialist at Meltwater Social, who presented a deep dive into the value of podcasts for brands, along with some practical suggestions for how marketers can begin to work with the fast growing medium: “Why Brands Need to Listen to Podcasts.”
Podcast ads get you the reach of a TV show with the credibility of a subject matter expert, plus the specificity of social media ads. #MeltwaterFestival
35% of the labor force is listening to podcasts… wow! pic.twitter.com/xpY8xf6nyj
— Rachel Moore | #vGHC20 (@RachelMooreRS) October 6, 2020
The final session was presented by Tammy Luke, a Senior Social Media Researcher at IBM, who gave us a case study on how IBM used social data to build audience insights for ESPN’s Fantasy Football game: “Play to Win with Audience Insights: A Fantasy Football Case Study.”
Wrapping up Day 1 of #MeltwaterFestival as @tammylluke is psycho-analyzing fantasy football players. “Feel desires strongly and are easily tempted.” Indeed, Tammy. Indeed. pic.twitter.com/DCEVXOu9cM
— Chris Winston (@cwinston75) October 6, 2020
If you like the sound of all this, remember that there’s still time to register for the second day of the Festival, when we’ll be joined by speakers from Twitter, LinkedIn, GlaxoSmithKline, Red Havas, and our keynote speaker, Ann Handley, founder and Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs.