Create a Future of Human-First, Experience-Driven Marketing with SMW Austin
As one of the world’s leading conference series, Social Media Week has an undying commitment to equipping community members with the tools, insights, and practices for shaping their business in profound ways that positively define the industry and enable them to advance their careers.
This year, with the global theme, “HUMAN.X: The Future of Marketing Will be Human-First and Experience-Driven,” SMW Austin will bring its unique perspective into how we can influence, impact, and change people’s lives by bringing humanity back to marketing. This will primarily involve our obligation to respect consumers’ time and attention, foster meaningful connection through empathy and shared experiences, and create safe and trustworthy environments for interaction.
We sat down to speak with the organizers of SMW Austin about the forthcoming event, what sessions have the most intricate ties to this year’s theme, which partners and brands they’re most looking forward to working with, key questions that will be addressed in their specific SMW edition, and much more.
How does your overall agenda tie into this year’s global theme?
This year’s agenda will explore how to integrate human connection in an overly saturated, highly skeptical, and extremely divided world through impact storytelling, human-to-human marketing, and authentic branding.
What are some of the key questions that will be addressed during your edition of SMW?
There will be a lot to unpack with this theme but four particularly important questions we’ll aim to tackle include:
- How does your brand stay top-of-mind to a consumer base that increasingly demands authentic, purposeful, and transparent relationships?
- How are you leveraging digital communities to build, grow and nurture your audience?
- How do you create valuable content using storytelling based on the customer journey?
- Do you ever wonder how top brands create irrational loyalty among their users?
What session is your team the most excited about?
Our team is most excited about our opening keynote by Nic Kusmich in which he’ll share four shifts and proven steps for maximizing profits in all areas of digital marketing – the perfect way to kick off the event!
What do you think will be the most important attendee takeaways from this year’s conference?
This year’s program will be packed with actionable takeaways, but at a high-level SMW Austin attendees will:
- Gain a better understanding of platform nuance and the future of digital marketing across generations and audiences
- Discover new ways to create moving content that nurtures a human-to-human connection
- Learn new strategies and tactics for moving away from vanity metrics and optimizing for attention and conversion
Which partners or brands are you most excited to be working with this year?
We are excited to partner with Walmart Technology to host our first-ever Influencer Happy Hour, an intimate event designed to establish a real, lasting relationship with key community members across the country.
What are some local trends you are seeing in your market?
The Austin market is extremely invested in cultivating authentic connections within our communities. Social Media Week Austin looks forward to exploring these themes as marketers, influencers, brands, and peers.
Where can potential attendees find news and updates about your conference?
More information can be found at smwatx.com or on social at @bestpracticemedia on Facebook and Instagram or @bestpracticesmm on Twitter.