Social Media Club Event – Veronica Belmont – Keepin’ It Real

Veronica Belmont led a discussion, hosted by the Social Media Club of Seattle,  to a packed audience at the Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond on December 8th. Her core message was that social media tools like Twitter and Facebook are fast becoming de rigueur for both start-ups and established companies looking to stay relevant and in touch with their target audience.

Key to this new reality is the need for the messenging to be honest and open as audiences are more sophisticated and discerning in their understanding of the content directed to them.

Veronica also addressed the very real work required to create social media content and transmit it in a tactical way for strongest impact. This new marketing platform has evolved into a full-time role at most companies. As a result of the heightened role that media has taken on, companies are grappling with the issue of what to say and how, bringing about a tension between a traditional need and desire for tight control of messaging and the new realities of the internet that demand creativity and spontaneity.

The event closed with the question: as social media goes mainstream, will it lose the magic that makes it the avant garde tool that it is now?