The “New Trends in Marketing: Social and Tech” at the Digital Minds conference will offer publishers insight into what’s coming next in tech.
By Mark Piesing
LONDON:Have you just got used to Facebook and Twitter and are terrified of talk about the big swing away
from these big social networks? Do you know the difference between Meerkat and Periscope, WeChat and KakaoTalk? And even if you do, have you any idea how you can actually use any of these apps to sell more books?
Sara Lloyd
If you have never heard of the new wave of live-streaming video and messaging apps – or if they are your favorite apps on your phone – then you might want to go along to the “New Trends in Marketing: Social and Tech” workshop on Monday 13 April at the Publishing for Digital Minds Conference, part of the London Book Fair, to hear what panelists from the cutting edge of digital media think about what is coming next and how to use it to help your bottom line.
“This is an opportunity for us to look beyond the publishing industry to hear experts from other industries give their perspective on the big themes that are shaping our times,” says Sara Lloyd, Digital and Communications Director at Pan Macmillan. “We’ve designed the event so that each of our panelists has a different expertise and can provide useful insights for publishers, who face a future in which they will have to make greater and more effective use of technology and social media.
“Who better to talk about how social media is changing or how we discover and consume content than Blathnaid Healy from Mashable, a site which analyses social trends, memes and businesses every day?” asks Lloyd. “Meanwhile, Andy Oakes from The Drum will be a mine of information for publishers looking to learn smarter marketing techniques. For lessons as to how brands are building platforms for themselves on social media, there are few voices more knowledgeable than James Whatley of Ogilvy & Mather.”
Lloyd herself is there “as a voice from within publishing to draw all these strands together and pull out what relevancy these insights might have for our industry.”
Live-streaming video apps like Periscope and Meerkat offer an opportunity for publishers to reach potential readers. But how will publishers take advantage of this new tech?
2015: All About Mobile
For Lloyd it is “stating the obvious” that 2015 is going to be about mobile, as more and more readers are going to discover and read books – as well as related content – on their phones, phablets and tablets; publishers will need to become that much more sophisticated in using marketing to manage how consumers can pull demand one way or push it another.
The rise of vloggers, or video bloggers, such as Zoella and Alfie Deyes was a big part of 2014 and Lloyd will be interested to see just what the panel thinks the next developments will be in this space in 2015 and beyond, as publishers work out how to use video marketing to suit the millennials, who were born between the 1980s and the 2000s.
“My personal pet interest is the interplay between the physical world, including offline events and store experiences, and the digital one: for example the impact of near-field communication or digital ticketing to involve and engage or even sign up consumers before, during or after the physical event or experience.”
She is also interested in just how “native” publishers should go in using social media, as “there is the tension between producing polished, quality content, which is both the instinct and the habit of publishers, and the growing taste for ‘quick and dirty’ ‘home-made’ content that is easily shareable and likeable on social media.”
Whatever the issue that is challenging or bothering you about the latest trends in social media and technology , “come along to this event to find out more!”