Monday marked the 5^th annual celebration of Social Media Day, a global event that brings together – live and in person – people who typically only interact online. It also gives everyone the opportunity to reflect on the impact social media has made in our world.

This year I had the pleasure of celebrating Social Media Day with the best and the brightest in San Diego. Looking back through my notes, I see a few ‘ah-ha moments’ worth sharing.

10 Ah-Ha-Moments from Social Media Day San Diego

1. Content is King, but engagement is Queen and she rules the house… Courtesy of Mari Smith.

2. Zach King told us… The Internet is a battle for people’s attention. So tell stories that capture, surprise, teach or entertain.

3. Work for yourself, but don’t work by yourself… This also came from Zach, who did admit to finding the quote on the wall of a Starbucks.

4. Leverage video on LinkedIn, it’s not done often (at the moment), but it’s powerful… Thanks Ron Nash.

5. Jenn Herman opened up the world of Instagram, telling us… use organic or native images, not image that look like ads.

6. The use of video came up again, with Jenn also suggesting we leverage video, this time on Instagram.

7. Martin Shervington closed the day with a talk on Google+. He certainly got a lot of people thinking differently about the platform when he said G+ is a social layer across all of Google’s products and services.

8. Podcasting is an intimate way to connect and build your audience. The panel shared some tips…

• Find a small community of like-minded people and create a podcast support team, help each other be successful podcasters.
• Be strategic; define how podcasting can benefit your business. If it can’t, don’t do it.
• Create your avatar, that one perfect listener. Know your avatar and use it to guide your business decisions.

9. A common theme highlighted by several of the speakers… create a visual content strategy.

10. Be a fan of the platform you’re using, this makes you a better, more engaged user.

How did you celebrate Social Media Day? What were you ah-ha-moments? I’d love to hear what you learned and took back to ‘the office’.