I recently had the privilege of delivering a keynote presentation during Social Media Week Chicago. The topic was the evolution of connection.
Evolution of connection explored the past, present and future state of social media. The initial section highlighted the transformational innovation that forever changed digital marketing by enabling accessibility to create content and how consumer behavior has evolved.
Next, we took a look back at the past decade and touched on some of the macro trends that have shaped the now rapidly evolving digital landscape and what it takes to now break through in the attention economy.
Then the focus shifted to how we connect in today’s heavily fragmented world. Focusing on the role data, content and channels play as well as new millennial research outlining the importance of life stage vs. simply segmenting by age.
Next, the conversation shifted from content marketing to contextual marketing. This section highlighted key trends over the past few years and teased what’s to come as consumers shift from macro sharing to intimate and contextual connections.
The discussion then shifted to the rise of moment based marketing. Google, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat are all trying to align moments, which is an event + context as a means to re-imagine connection beyond one off personifcations of atomized content.
From moments to influence. The next section outlined how influence is evolving and highlighted the massive shift in entertainment that is taking place as well as looking at the heuristics of how influence works.
After influence we discussed the role that video plays when it comes to connecting with consumers. We explored expanding video content strategy across the full content continuum as well as key platform considerations that highlight key points to consider when comparing platforms.
Next we discussed one of the more important topics of the presentation. This section defined the pending shift from social media to social messaging and how both consumer behavior and platforms are driving towards 1:1 connections.
The shifting role of messaging also has a profound impact on the future of commerce. The next section discussed the different shifts in mobile commerce that will have an impact in 2016 and beyond.
We ended our journey discussing the near future and explored topics such as virtual reality, IOT, artificial intelligence, holographic computing and more.
From shifts in entertainment that make co-creation essential to understanding the role that data, content and channels play when connecting with consumers. Gaining insight into the dynamic shifts in how we connect will be key areas of focus in 2016.
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360
