What We Learned at SocialWest: Insights, Eye-Openers & A Few Hard Truths

We came, we caffeinated, we took TONS of notes, and left inspired (bagged fun swag along the way too)!

This summer, a few of us Creekers packed our bags and headed to Calgary for the SocialWest Conference, one of Canada’s leading marketing events. We came back buzzing with ideas, insights, and a healthy dose of reality about where the industry’s headed. From AI overload to personas as we know them being fazed out, here’s what stuck with us—and what might stick with you, too.

Using Your Unfair Advantage

Teresa: So, at the SocialWest Conference, I got to attend this pretty great breakout session, and it was all about using your unfair advantage, and I wanted to share this tip with you. Your unfair advantage can actually be personal, it can be related to your team, and it can even be related to your company or business.

What is an unfair advantage? Here's a great example: Shaq: He's super tall. That's an unfair advantage. He uses his height and has used his height to propel his career. Access is another one. Do you have access to a great network? Do you have access to resources that other people don't? That can be an unfair advantage. So, using that unfair advantage, whether it's a personal one or a team one. 

Also, your unfair advantage with your team could be that you've got a really diverse group of people who can bring a whole bunch of different talents together to produce something that other people can't. Or what about your company? Maybe an unfair advantage is that there is no geography when it comes to your business, meaning you can operate and be anywhere without actually having to be there. That can be an unfair advantage, too. So, finding out what that unfair advantage is can really help you be successful with your business.

Why Reddit Might Be Your Most Underrated Marketing Channel

Jocelyn:  Did you know that Reddit is a very underutilized marketing channel, and it's one of the fastest-growing marketing channels, at least in the social media world? 68% of Redditors are not on LinkedIn, and 20% are not on Facebook. So this ultimately means that you can reach a unique audience through Reddit.

It's also great for conversational advertising rather than the broadcasting, “in-your-face” type of advertising. Conversational advertising is amazing because it's very effective in driving those buying decisions. Long story short, conversations are effective in driving buying decisions.

It’s Time to Map Your Audience’s Behaviours, Not Demographics

 Shana: The most mind-blowing thing I heard is that the rules of marketing have changed. And we've seen this happen bit by bit, and we are aware, but the big boom factor is that personas are no longer a thing. So, looking back, there are so many social and so many content platforms overall, from Facebook to Instagram, to Reddit, to Descript, and so many more. And there are so many creators out there. 

Brands are fighting for attention, not just with other brands, not just with their competitors, but all sorts of content creators. Your target audience is no longer a 35-year-old millennial named Mike. But, it should instead be based on your behaviour and on how your target audience behaves.

So, I think it's time for us to start moving away from demographic factors altogether. It doesn't matter if your target audience is male or female, or if they've gone to school or have a degree. 

Instead, we should look at what they do in reality. Are they watching reels and videos at midnight? Where are they shopping? Which channels are they using to shop?

The summary? It's time for us to move from personas towards mapping behaviours.

The Hard Truth: AI Can’t Save a Weak Strategy

Alannah: I attended a session that was on what and what not to do with AI. And as we all know, AI has been taking the world by storm. And so it is very relevant at the moment, and we're all confused with all the tools available. One very important point that I heard was—AI is not a fix; it's an amplifier.

So if you are building your strategy, you have to make sure that it's aligned with your market offering. Is it resonating with your audience? Is there clarity? Is it in tune with your goals and what you want to offer? If not, and if it's cluttered and if there's noise, AI will amplify that noise.

What you want to do is formulate your strategy from the ground up. Use real-world insights. Start listening. Don't use any guesswork. Don't make assumptions, because AI can be biased too. It can create generic content, and it can hallucinate, so you want to make sure your basis is strong, and then use AI as a tool to do a little bit of fine-tuning, a little bit of tweaking, and make your message just that little bit stronger.

The bottom line is, do not use AI for everything because it will just cause more chaos, and that's not what you want. What you want is clarity, because that will take you just a little bit closer to success.

You Could be Trapped on ‘Mount Stupid’...

Kristina: I learned a lot of great things at the SocialWest Conference. One of the main standouts was how much I learned about the application of AI LLMs, or learning language models, in content marketing. And my favourite metaphor was that of ‘Mount Stupid’.

Now, if you've heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect, basically, you start off not knowing something. You think you know a lot, and then you realize you know nothing, and then you have sustained growth on the other side. So with the growth of LLM—Learning Language Models—and AI content, a lot of people are stuck on what's called ‘Mount Stupid’ because there's a sense of overconfidence that happens, and then you eventually fall off Mount Stupid..

We think we know what we're doing, but bad content keeps getting made. So at this conference, I learned a lot of ways to stay off of Mount Stupid and scale with intention.

Those were just a few lightbulb moments we had, and trust us, there were plenty more where that came from. If anything sparked your curiosity or made you go “Wait, I need to rethink that…”, reach out to our team at Twin Creek Media. We’d love to hear from you and chat about how these insights can be applied to your business.