Be it generating a higher ROI, creating a social media strategy, tying your social media goals with your business objectives, justifying social media budget or maintaining a good brand reputation, social media management is no child’s play. Add to that the changing dynamics of social media and you have a stiff challenge on your hands. How can you become a better social media marketer? One great source is TED Talks. Listen to social media experts and know the latest social media trends that will drive social media industry in a new direction.

To save social media marketers from the hassle of finding the right TED Talks to watch, here are 7 TED Talks social media marketers must watch.

Related Read: Calling All Social Media Managers! Avoid These Instagram Marketing Mistakes

1.    How to Get Your Ideas to Spread?

Every social media marketer wants their content to go viral. Unfortunately, not all succeed in doing so. Seth Godin reveals the secrets of the trade in this TED talk and shows you the way to spread your ideas. Seth Godin thinks that your brand needs to find a loyal customer base that cares about what your brand has to say. Once you have identified your loyal fan base, it is time to engage and delight them.

Make it easier for them to share your message and spread the word.  He proves his point by giving a series of examples. Seth Godin sums it up brilliantly when he says, “It is really simple. You sell to the people who are listening and just maybe, those people tell their friends.”

2.    3 Ways to Usefully Lose Control of Your Brand

“Your Brand is what other people say about you when you are not in the room”—Jeff Bezos

Tim Leberencht begins his TED talk with this famous quote from Jeff Bezos. He went on to explain why brands need to accept the fact that they do not even have full control over their reputation. He says, “If you are relevant, there is a constant free form conversation happening about you that you have no control over.”

Tim proposes an innovative three-point formula for businesses to lose control over their brands and create a better experience for customers. According to him, businesses should give more control to the people, if they cannot do that, they should provide users with more meaning and value. Stay true to your brand philosophy and try to be as transparent as possible, which can help you deliver more satisfying customer experience to users.

3.    How to Make A Splash In Social Media?

Reddit’s co-founder Alexis Ohanian harnesses the power of storytelling to deliver valuable lessons for digital marketers. He gives a number of examples of memes, infographics, and other modes of content to support his argument and make it easier for his audience to understand the point he is making.

According to him, if you want to make a splash in social media, you will have to think out of the box and change your approach, especially when it comes to different social networks. This short and focused marketing TED talk shows you how to make an impact on social media and steal the limelight.

4.    Why Videos Go Viral?

You might have heard that interactive and visual content, such as videos and infographics, tends to perform much better than text based posts on social media. Did you know why? This TED talk answers that question. YouTube’s trends manager, Kevin Alloca, highlights three key reasons why videos go viral on social media. You can easily make your video content go viral by roping in the right influencer, delivering something unexpected, and focusing on driving community engagement from video.

Related Read: 4 Essentials Tips for Creating Engaging Social Videos

5.    The Tribes We Lead

Another TED talk delivered by Seth Godin made it to our list, and this time around, it is much more amusing. He focuses on the differences between mass marketing and niche marketing, and stresses on the fact that mass marketing is dead. He draws an interesting parallel between tribes of stone ages and today’s social media groups.

Social media has united us all under the umbrella of a single tribe just like in the stone ages. Akin to tribes, social media groups are formed based on shared ideas and values. The power to lead is in the hands of ordinary people and making huge changes is not a big deal.

6.    Everyone Wants To Be Heard

Dave Isay, founder of Story Corps is of the opinion that everyone around you has a story that the world needs to hear. This TED talk revolves around the power of storytelling and listening to varied human voices. He shares his own experience when he says, “I’ve also learned so much from these interviews. I’ve learned about the poetry and the wisdom and the grace that can be found in the words of people all around us when we simply take the time to listen”. If you aspire to listen to your fan stories as well, you must check out this TED talk.

7.    How YouTube is Driving Innovation

Chris Anderson, Head of YouTube shed some light on how YouTube is changing our lives and driving innovation in this interesting TED Talk. His TED talk revolved around two core concepts that YouTube capitalized on to drive innovation; “Crowd Accelerated Innovation” and “video driven evaluation of skills”

According to Chris, “This is the technology that will allow the rest of the world’s talents to be shared digitally, thereby, launching a whole new cycle of crowd accelerated innovation.” He also predicts that 80% of the world’s data will be in the form of video. Are you ready for the video revolution?

Conclusion

As a social media marketer, you are always up against time. Time management TED talks, such as How to gain control of your free time by Laura Vanderkam, will change your perspective regarding social media marketing and turn you into a much better social media marketer. Which TED talks have helped you become a better social media marketer? Tell us about your favorite TED talks in the comments section below.