LikeMinds Conference: Social Media is Not Free

Exeter was the surprise location for the inaugural LikeMinds conference, bringing together an eclectic mix of social media experts and practitioners from near and far. The brainchild of Scott Gould (@Scott Gould) Trey Pennington and Andrew Ellis, LikeMinds drew over 200 delegates and pulled in some 500 to watch the live video streaming online, an audience cultivated solely by the very tools they advocate.

Tied very neatly into a half day session, international thought leaders and local businesses shared the spotlight to discuss one of the most pertinent questions facing marketers: How do you measure social media and make it sustainable?

Keynote speakers Oliver Blanchard (@thebrandbuilder), Trey Pennington (@treypennington) and Darren Forsyth (@darenBBC) agreed on some salient points:

• Social media is not free: Often a common misconception. Although technologies are freely available, it requires substantial investment in time and resource, requiring a well thought out purpose and strategy.
• Social media is a long-term investment: Don’t expect instant gratification. The ‘law of increasing returns’ can apply and the end game rewards can be rich if done well.
• Social media remains in the early adoption phase: As Oliver asserted, really solid case studies are thin on the ground and it could be 2010 before the real benchmarks emerge in this field.

It was pertinent for LikeMinds to be held in a regional UK city, since the event underlined a real truism of social media. It’s not just the big brands that are harnessing social media. Small, local businesses are embracing these tools head on, able to quickly flex their organisation to explore new ways to build trust and relationships.

There were plenty of examples of this from speakers and in the networking sessions afterwards. Panel speaker and self-made entrepreneur Vanessa Warwick (@4_Walls), was bold in her claims, claiming that ‘Small is the new black,’ and that small business will be the success story of the future.

Keynote speaker Maz Nadjm, provide an excellent contrast and end to the day. As head of Sky’s community portal, he raised the spotlight on the challenges faced by large corporations when embracing social media, highlighting obstacles such as adapting legacy systems, complex organisational structures and building advocacy internally. The rewards are certainly no less rewarding. Sky’s programs have achieved a 200% increase in engagement from members and non-members since its community programs were initiated.

The next LikeMinds will be in February and given its inaugural success, its almost certain to grow in size and stature. In the meantime, as is customary now with most Tweetups, the discussion continues on Twitter #likeminds.

Contributed by Suzie Shore, Purple List member, trends research analyst and founder of Juicy, a custom intelligence agency.

PSFK’s Purple List is a network of experts for hire. The list is comprised of designers, journalists, marketers, and entrepreneurs. The Purple List has been used by journalists to find expert views on new stories; by agencies in search of talent; and by global research consultancies. Plus, PSFK uses the Purple List both as a source of editorial research and opinion on PSFK and as a source of paid expertise when performing client work.