Magic Mile Media will be hosting the first Social Media Masterminds Marketing Summit (SM3) on October 5 in Kinston, N.C. The day-long event will feature social media professionals and thought leaders in discussions about how to market to the younger generation, how to tell your story and more.

Ann Marie Taepke will be speaking at the summit on how to cut through the social media clutter and go viral.

Taepke has been working in social media marketing for over 10 years, after transitioning from a position in financial software sales out of college.

“I had to put in a lot of free work for non-profits and events to learn my way around digital marketing,” said Taepke. “Eventually I had an agency take a chance on me and it changed my entire career. I worked on national social media brands’ campaigns starting in 2009 and I’ve been evolving my own strategies alongside the industry’s evolution ever since.”

Taepke has produced award-winning digital campaigns for national clients like Jeep, The Holderness Family, Fox Home Entertainment, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, and most notably, the viral campaign for Velcro Companies in 2017. She also helped create a course on social media strategy currently being taught at Wake Tech Community College.

We sat down with Taepke to ask her opinion on the state of social media marketing today and what you can expect from her summit presentation:

What unique perspective do you bring to the summit?

I have had a first-hand look from the agency, brand and influencer side of shareable content creation as well as helping generate multiple award-winning campaigns over several years.

What’s the most challenging thing about social media?

Knowing where it’s going. I am always trying to forecast the trends to stay ahead of the curve. I pay attention to what companies are investing in or what smaller platforms they are acquiring and hypothesize what they plan to do with those business decisions.

What’s the most exciting thing about social media?

Being an underdog! Almost every successful brand campaign I have worked on has been for an organization on the fringe of the consideration set in their industry. This provides a tremendous opportunity to be nimble and test ideas that put them on the same playing field as their competitors.

What do you think is the most important thing any business or individual should know about social media?

Defining what you mean by “social media” – it drives me crazy when that term is used too broadly. A social media strategy, for example, has many nuances and robust capabilities per social platform that are woven together to drive business outcomes. Social media also requires a vast skill set. You need to be part strategist, copywriter, graphic designer, videographer, paid media specialist and programmer. While individuals can certainly handle all these aspects (especially with a good set of tools to help), larger-scale organizations need to be mindful that they will likely need more resources.

What are you most looking forward to about the summit?

I am really excited to share my learnings with others. I recently helped write a 96-hour course about social media strategy at Wake Tech and was a co-instructor. It will be very rewarding to continue spreading knowledge around North Carolina.

You can hear more from Ann Marie Taepke and other professionals in social media marketing at the SM3 Summit on Oct. 5. Register below!