As one of the world’s leading conference series, Social Media Week has an undying commitment to equipping community members with the tools, insights, and practices for shaping their business in profound ways that positively define the industry.
In 2019, with the global theme, “STORIES: With Great Influence Comes Great Responsibility,” SMW Holland brought its unique perspective into the power of storytelling in changing how people think and act, and our responsibility to use this influence for the greater good to the discussion table.
We sat down to speak with the organizers of SMW Holland about the recent event, what sessions most closely addressed year’s theme, which seemed to resonate the most with audience members, their favorite moments, key insights from the sessions, and projections as to which digital trends will be dominant in this year’s event.
How did you address the 2019 global theme in your agenda?
We explored the theme of storytelling through a variety of lenses. One session, for example, looked at how to apply psychology in order to boost the engagement of social channels.
In another session, we honed in on platforms exploring ways LinkedIn can be leveraged to find your own brand message and portray it authentically. Finally, we discussed the music space walking attendees through the do’s and don’ts and what the future of music in the social space looks like.
Which session(s) seemed to resonate the most with your attendees?
One session that really stood out to us was the Advisor Digital Communication talk from the Van Gogh Museum. Boudewien showed how she used applied psychology to boost the engagement of the social channels of the Van Gogh Museum.
Another great session was from a national news channel (NOS) that featured two speakers. They talked about new ways they decreased the gap between the younger and older target audience by delivering news in a variety of narrative forms.
Describe your team’s favorite moment from SMW this year.
We have a lot of favorite moments that came out of this year’s event! As a team, we really liked the #SMWNL Student Night. This was a pre-event hosted at the Student Hotel The Hague, where two keynote speakers of #SMWNL gave a presentation for around 200 students. It was awesome that the students responded really well to this event.
What are three key insights from the conference that stuck out to you?
- Organic reach isn’t dead
- Make social media work by being SOCIAL on the platforms
- Find the right way to tell your story consistently across platforms
Are there any digital trends in your market right now that you believe are going to be big topics during next year’s event?
Based on what we’ve heard and seen, we expect three big topics at next year’s event to include virtual influencers, XR and communities.
Check out the full recap report with highlights from the event: https://19.smwnl.org/recap