Attending the first ever MediaPost social media conference (OMMA Social) made me feel good. Why? Because it’s good to know that the experts in the industry have just as many questions about social marketing as I do.

It was an interesting day to be sure. The conference re-affirmed much of what I knew alredy, and provided a few new insights as well. I thought I would share key take aways from this conference, in case you were wondering if you should dip your toe into the world of social marketing.

1. Users are systematically ignoring traditional advertising both on and offline.
2. ‘Seeding’ is the new advertisement.
3. Social media is about infiltrating communities.
4. Be sure to listen before you engage.
5. As social media tactics are just beginning to emerge, learning and optimizing is key.
6. Because advertising has been in the forefront of media for such a long time, people are used to thinking that if millions and millions of eyeballs aren’t looking at your messaging, then the efforts are inconsequential. What they’re missing is the value in the relationships that are created through conversations.
7. To facilitate / create social marketing the following groups need to be involved:
   • PR
   • Media
   • Creative
8. Old metrics of ROI / RFM / CPM do not work with these new tactics. Measurement must be developed on a case-by-case basis depending on the campaign goals.
9. Walking away from a social media campaign isn’t an option

And finally: How do you know when a social media campaign succeeds? 

  10.”You get it on Oprah, and you’re done,” said one OMMA Social speaker.

A huge goal to reach, as I’m sure Oprah has a long list of things to talk about already .

But I’m interested in hearing from you – have you started any conversations through social marketing yet? And what are you seeing?