ICSC RECon 2016: Using Social Media to Your Advantage: Part Two

Digital Marketing|Retail Marketing|Thought Leadership|

Welcome back! 

Last week we talked about where to engage at ICSC RECon16. You can check that blog here in case you missed it. This week we’re focused on what to post. Content is key in engaging with ICSC’s profiles and followers – how many times have you heard this? It’s even more important when engaging with your prospects. The nature of it should vary from a company or personnel perspective on the basis of opinion, personal connections and experience. But the end goal should remain the same: thought leadership. This is how you stand out.

ICSC puts industry leading content out on all of its social networks – that’s not something you need to do or waste your time trying to find, repurpose or even creating organically – yuck. Instead, invest that time commenting on it and sharing it with your peers and prospects to establish yourself as a thought leader; cut through the minimal effort of likes, favorites and retweets; and start and join conversations that matter. This is exactly what ICSC wants you to do! Just as you network in person at the conference and meet new people, you can network online. Prospects always want to know “What can you do for me that’s new and exciting”. Well, use social media to tell them! It’s such an obvious answer and so few people are doing it. (If you’re one of the ones that says, “I don’t have time”, make sure you come back next week where I talk about how to manage it.)

Our Recommendations:

  • Tweet/connect immediately after you meet. (Especially on Twitter and LinkedIn.)
  • Don’t be generic – stand out. Be a thought leader! Share your opinion and let your personality shine through. People want your opinion, they want you to challenge them, they want to know how you’re different – your intellectual property is the answer. Show them.
  • Share something you just discussed, that’s personal, and directly relevant to their current needs that you literally just talked about.
  • Include hashtags to stay in front of conversations and have your thought leadership appear in other people’s newsfeeds to. (Two birds, one stone.)
    • Popular conference hashtags are: #RECon16, #ICSC, #Dealmaking, #Networking
    • Make sure you use your corporate ones too. Ours is #infiniteeworks – as in the agency at large and our project work. Clever, right?

So we’ve now made it through Parts 1 and 2 of this three part series and so far you’ve learned where to engage and connect on social media and what to post for ICSC RECon16. Last week is our final post on how to manage it all and I’ve been told you don’t want to miss it.

Stay social, friends.

-Chelsea Smith

Social Media Strategist
infinitee Communications, Inc.

About Chelsea Smith: Chelsea started with infinitee in 2013 merging her two-year old start up with infinitee’s twenty-four year old agency to develop its in-house Social Media Department. She created a proprietary and strategic approach to address all social media projects applicable to any industry and vertical known as Social 7 and has since evolved it to include Social 5 and Social 3. With her strategic and analytical mindset, innovative ideas and constantly evolving services, and easy-to-understand consulting tactics, department personnel and annual revenues have since tripled since inception. She’s quickly made a name for herself in the Atlanta market and is now being asked to speak at industry wide conferences. You can catch her next one at ICSC MOCIAL in San Francisco this August 2016.

Want to connect on social media? Tweet @infiniteecom and ask for Chelsea!

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