2010 Predictions from Social Media Breakfast Austin

Earlier this week, my friend, Bryan Person, invited me to be one of ten speakers to offer a prediction up for 2010. Bryan wisely segmented the group into categories (see below) so that you didn't get the same prediction several times.

Wesley Faulkner | fundraising
Dara Quackenbush  | education
Sheila Scarborough | travel/small biz
Lisa Goddard | nonprofit
Mike Chapman | public policy/politics
Tim Hayden | media & events
Kathy Mandelstein | B2B Marketing
Aaron Strout | brands
Deirdre Walsh | B2B marketing & community
Jen Wojcik | recruiting

My prediction (branded online communities) comes about three quarters of the way through but I strongly recommend that you listen to all ten as you'll find some interesting and useful insights.

• Blog post wrapping up the breakfast (including PPT presentation of photos and memorable tweets)
• Blog post with embedded Scribd document of the predictions
• SMB Austin Ustream page
• SMB Austin 11 presentation: Photos and Tweets (Slideshare.net)
• Event photos by Callie Richmond

What are your predictions for 2010?

Photo credit: Callie Richmond Photography

Content Marketing FTW

This morning, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel on content marketing at Bryan Person's Social Media Breakfast. I was fortunate enough to have three very smart, eloquent and experienced individuals in Lionel Menchaca, chief blogger at Dell Inc., Simon Salt, ceo and founder of Incslingers and Natanya Anderson, VP of content strategy and development at Powered (yup, she's my colleague).

The premise of today's talk was that as consumers continue with their “search and click” approach to buying new products, it’s becoming harder for brands to differentiate themselves from the pack. As continued pricing pressures continue to mount, these same companies are turning to great content as a way to drive ongoing, active engagement with their brands and products, which can ultimately create deeper loyalty with their customers. Creating this type of "user-centric" content that puts the customer’s needs first instead of focusing on brand and product messaging requires a paradigm shift and development of new ways of communicating.

Because I was the moderator, I wasn't able to take many notes but due to the power of Twitter and hashtagging, I was able to go back and read through many of the nuggets captured during the session. Here are my ten favorite:

MisssK: Best content focuses on what other ppl need/want 2 hear, not what u want 2 say...gr8 take on push vs pull/outbnd vs inbnd mktg #SMBAustin

kpearlson: There are only 26 letters in the English alphabet how hard is it to write? Same goes for creating content. Not all of it is good #smbaustin

ThomasUmstattd: As your product becomes a comodity you must compete on relationship. What kind of relationship do you have with your readers? #smbaustin

charlienb: When a company engages with customers they also should be committed to real org change too. @lionelatdell #smbaustin

Stalelife: The closer you get to getting advocates to produce social content, the less time you spend on it yourself. #smbaustin

iamseanmcdonald: ever sesne a company trying to force tongue down your throat? thx to @aaronstrout for that visual #smbaustin

Stalelife: Most brands are not Disney? Not a passion brand. Content can be the proxy for the brand. #smbaustin

TWalk: "Always start with the audience." @natanyap's closing thought at#smbaustin

Stalelife: You don't own your brand. Make content sharable. #smbaustin

LiveWorld: Great line from @NatanyaP at this morning's Social Media Breakfast Austin 7 (#SMBAustin): "The best content is in service of others."

Here is the full stream of tweets from Social Media Breakfast 7 (in Austin).

Is your company creating great, engaging content? Are they engagine in "social" content that Simon Salt mention is so important creating engagement?