Social Media Week Singapore 2013

laura.picard

Last week was filled with fantastic events and invaluable experiences for all of us here at We Are Social Singapore.

Social Media Week returned for a second year, and this time around it was even bigger and better, largely thanks to the efforts of the lovely folks over at AKA Asia.

The conference packed a huge variety of events throughout each day, putting a round-the-clock spotlight on social media over the course of five days. Some events started as early as 8 am, while others didn’t end until well-past midnight.

Thankfully, for those who couldn’t attend all 41 events on the schedule, live-tweeting and the event-specific hashtags made it easy to follow and contribute to the discussions online.

We Are Social research shows that, over the 5 days of events, there were 4,993 tweets about Social Media Week from 1,153 unique users, delivering an impressive 13.3 million impressions on Twitter alone. #smwsg accounted for 98% of the tweets, with #planwathena and #smwsgwomen also delivering impressive reach. We Are Social’s very own #smwlivestrat, #smwtoptips and #sataysocial also created significant buzz on Day 4, accounting for almost half of that day’s social media activity.

The overarching theme of the week revolved around the true value of social media for brands. Compared to SMW last year, SMW 2013 saw a dramatic shift in brands’ understanding of the potential of social media, and where it fits into their overall business plans. An indicator of this increased appetite for social media, and one of the many great things about this year’s schedule, was the variety of events with a very specific focus.

Some of these events addressed particular platforms, such as Growing up on Facebook and Change the World with a Hashtag. There were events dedicated to niche audiences too: Love in a Time of Social Media looked at the developing convergence of social media and online dating, while The Future of Recruitment looked at the intersection of social media, recruitment and professional networking.

There were also events with a demographic focus, with many of Friday’s events dedicated to empowering and engaging women. This theme corresponds with the overwhelming support expressed for The Athena Network, who secured Diageo’s Plan W funding thanks to 1,934 #planwathena hashtagged tweets over the course of the week.

Another recurring theme was the topic of careers in social media, demonstrating that the industry is succeeding in differentiating its role within the nebulous concept of “marketing”. In particular, the panel of experts at We Are Social’s Tips from the Top event shared a variety of insights into how their own careers in social media are becoming far more specialised, more organised, and more tightly oriented toward the skills required to understand the real meaning and value of engagement, conversation, insight and long-term social strategy.

The We Are Social team had a great time, both learning and contributing to Social Media Week Singapore – not to mention partying, networking and making new friends all week! The wrap-up party was a blast, if somewhat bittersweet; good times always seem to go by so fast! However, we’re already looking forward to SMW14 – if this year offers any indication of how quickly social media can grow in a year, we’re sure that the next season will bring even more new ideas and exciting events.

So, until next year…