As the March storms and showers left us drenched during the first two days of SXSW, we were literally able to soak in the experience. However, we did manage to leave with more than just the foresight to bring an umbrella next year, here are some of the new lessons the team felt important enough to share on Tumblr from our trip to SXSW:
- Accessibility is important to your brand. You must think about the people who may inadvertently be disenfranchised from viewing your message. For example, if your website shows running bus schedules, your consumer base will most likely attempt to access your information on the go. It is important to make sure that your website is enabled to be viewed on mobile devices or else your consumers will look somewhere else for that information.
- Whatever you are passionate about should translate to your blog posts. For example, write about brands, companies, people, things you love and make those your focus.
- In order to build a brand online, your brand must stay true to its authentic self. It is important that your brand remains relevant to your industry while still coming across as an outlet to the public. For example, @oscarprgirl, the communications director for Oscar de la Renta, curates personal tweets that are a mix of brand news that resonates the upscale aura of the brand, as well as personal fashion insight, in order to be genuine.
- In order to monitor ROI for social media, you have to first define the specific goals. If your goals include community building and engagement, than you can absolutely say, yes there is ROI in social media by seeing how large your community grows within a certain time parameter, how many people are interacting with you each day, and the level of loyalty you see online.
- Multitasking is a habit. We must make environmental changes to make sure we are not distracted from what we need to focus on. Put your phone in the trunk. Turn off the internet when you need to write something.
Overall, SXSW was the perfect opportunity for Integrate Public Relations to surround ourselves with like-minded individuals who share the same passions that we do. It was important to learn the new trends in the industry, what kinds of tools and campaigns have been working around the country and see what is coming for the future. The team could not have had more fun, and we are excited to show our clients how we can apply the lessons learned to their accounts.
Now, back to work!