The biggest takeaways from our Social Media Conference at Disney World

More than 500 communicators gathered at the Walt Disney World Swan resort to learn, network and take in the magic.

Over the course of three days, ranging from pre-conference to the closing session, new friendships were formed, new insights were gleaned and new ideas bloomed.

It’s impossible to capture everything from the conference — you had to be there. But from across all three tracks, here are some of the most insightful takeaways we hope you can apply to your work.

1. If you don’t have a budget, look for an internal influencer. Other “influencers” who work for free probably aren’t ones you’d want to work with.

2. Much of what we call “thought leadership’” is not thought leadership. True thought leaders start with why and solve targeted pain points for multiple audiences at once by looking at where those pain points intersect.

3. You can’t feed folks a script or questions ahead of time for a video. Leave enough time for the interview so that you can ask the same question a few different ways to get the soundbite you’re looking for and keep it authentic.

4. We must create the right conditions so we can give the mutual gift of feedback — and we must help our managers achieve this.

5. As the iPhone has defined the internet since 2007, generative AI will define the future moving forward. However, writers are safe for now. ChatGPT isn’t quite there yet. 

6. Storytelling is the heartbeat of social strategy. “It’s how we learn from the past and ground ourselves in the present. It’s how we plan for the future. It’s a tool we use to build connections, develop relationships, and form attachments.”

7. Identifying issues early with social listening can allow you to defuse situations before there even is an issue.

8. Your demographics should determine your strategy. Not every organization needs TikTok – look at your audience. 

9. Influencer marketing doesn’t have to be a slick, perfect video from a celebrity. It’s often more successful to have something authentic from a nano-influencer or even an internal ambassador.

10. Variety and repetition both have value when it comes to content.  Repetition will help the message stick and variety keeps it fresh.

11. Create exclusive content found only on your intranet to drive repeat traffic to the platform.

12. As a comms pro, it is up to you to give your people the tools to show up to shine, on campus, at an event or on social.

13. Don’t innovate for the sake of innovation. Innovate for the sake of cultural relevancy.

If you missed out, stay tuned for details of our 2024 Social Media Conference.

Allison Carter is executive editor of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.