Overview

• 2^nd Social Media World 2013 Conference

  Social makes the Business go round!

  Social media are now dominant in our everyday lives and tend to become the main medium through which large population groups express and communicate, rendering the previous prevailing voice communication, almost obsolete.

  And although we used to joke with the motto “you either are on Social Media or your do not exist”, now we have come to mean it, because there is a rule for every business or entrepreneurship to “hang out” where their perspective clients do so.

  Therefore we have come to the point where each and every one of the major social networks, offer the possibility to have an online business presence, at the same time when most companies invest in building their social image on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Google+, Twitter and so on.

  Given that social media form extensively the online and offline brand perception, a new ground for marketing has emerged where the absolute leaders are the consumers and the profile they create online and share with their friends and followers.

  Α little less conversation, a little more action!  

  Traditional word of mouth rapidly changes to world-of-net, a connected world for the user that suggests brands, creates trends, tests and publish their opinions on products, affecting thus their digital community groups positively or negatively, raises off its needs and become ambassadors for their favorite brands, or complain openly about the bad customer service and misleading advertising, whereas at the same time, they publicly reward a smart campaign and a good partner.

  In this new field created, the main role does not only lie on text and image which are the traditional marketing and communications tools, but also other technologies that have forcefully invaded and created new opportunities for companies and organizations who are looking for ways to be set apart from the “noise” caused by the already intense competition.

  Inspired campaigns, interactive dialogues, promotions, communication, stand now on apps, tabs, microsites etc. and come to win the hearts of consumers, claim a market share, make the brand more widely recognizable and powerful, not only just on desktop screens, but also on laptops, tablets, smartphones. Even the “traditional” e-commerce is becoming social commerce since the market is where people are.

  Which are the new trends in Greece and Europe? Investing in the social readiness of companies, the creation of social intranets, the step-by-step training and promotion of employees into brand ambassadors, B2B social media marketing and many, many more. Last but not least, is big data; the next target now for companies is to manage and analyze the vast amount of data resulting from social media marketing, to produce not only marketing strategies and sales opportunities but also to set the strategic thinking and direction for the business.

  Addressed to:

  The conference is addressed to professional and businesses in Greece who accept, provide, utilize of think of utilizing marketing services using the tools and techniques of social media in all aspects of the industry: manufacturing, trade, hospitality, travel, tourism, services, transportation, banking, telecommunications, electronics, computers, entertainment and internet.

  The conference will host executives and senior corporate executives, heads of departments of companies, entrepreneurs and students with professional skills on social media and who are already working on the field of: marketing, branding, social media, customer service, e-commerce, online and direct marketing, sales, CRM, SW & web development, graphic design and advertising.

  Social media, life and marketing

  What is social media today? What is the profile of a social media marketing specialist, of a brand representative or of an average socially engaged user? Where do they come across and how they differentiate? During the first session of the conference, marketing specialists and social media power users will take the stand and present their view on the role social media have taken as a means of communication and social awareness, as well as a brand enhancement tool. They will talk about the trends that prevail in the market and will present the outlook of social media in Greece for products and services.

  Social is personal (meet the people, meet the market)!

  In today’s reality, brands have a face again; or better yet, faces. The people who manage the product, the people who manage the communication and the people who shape the products course in the market: the fans. Everything mixes up wonderfully during the second session of the conference and all of those faces present us the market as it is shaped and changes daily through instructions, techniques, case studies and of course, technologies that have impressed or will impress. For, everything behind social media is about people and our presence there is eventually something personal.

  The secret is not only to link supply with demand but to make sure they match at the right place and time.

  Technology and Big «Social» Data

  There are very few who still believe that social media today is just a means of exchange views, an open forum for ideas. The science of marketing today proclaims that “everything is countable” when using the appropriate technology. And since everything can be counted, it can create many different profiles, available to be utilized by company to adapt, not only their strategy but mainly their promotional and advertising policies, both in B2B and B2C. During the third session of the conference we are going to discuss with marketing and IT specialists about this huge machine in which everyone voluntarily enters and gives personal information, be it significant of insignificant: for products we like, places we like visiting, things we like doing and much more.

  Social media beyond day-to-day business

  In the last session we talk about new practices, innovation and generally the trends that will prevail in social media, marketing and communications, for the next decade. We are going to talk about new knowledge, skills, qualifications and certifications needed to be acquired or developed by employees and employers, in order to use the medium as a method for organization and promotion of new activities and professions. Of course, negative phenomena that inevitably exist in our daily lives will have their place in the debate. Manipulations of speech, cyber bullying, cybercrime, identity theft occupy and aggressively expand as behaviours. The tactics and techniques to deal with all of the above, whether simple of complicated, do not differ much from those applied in the real, non-digital world. It is simply a matter of conscience and ethics.