Rumor has it that Eli Pariser author of “The Filter Bubble” is speaking at the Reykjavik Internet Marketing Conference 2012 – Other speakers include people from the BBC, Microsoft, former head of SEO for the Chicago Tribune, Yahoo! and more. For more information and to monitor progress go to www.rimc.is/en/.

Here you can see Eli Pariser speak at TED.

The next session in the social media track is called social marketing goes mobile and concern how people are now interacting with the internet instantly and everywhere via their mobile phones.

The first speaker in this seminar is Cindy Krum from MobileMoxie. Cindy starts by linking mobile social media to Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs – as it has been used for safety, social interaction and many of the other basics of all our lives.

The beauty of mobile social is that people can instantly interact – for example by being prompted to ‘friend’ a shop in order to get discounts instore. This can be done instantly and easily.

Social media are a workaround for those wanting to boost their mobile presence from scratch. In fact social profiles tend to rank better in mobile search than they do in traditional search — and at the same time, creating a dedicated mobile site can be expensive and time consuming. If you don’t have a mobile website, don’t forget that your Facebook page is automatically mobile friendly. Why not simply use Facebook as your mobile website?

The number of Facebook mobile users went up by 300% in the last year. And people can SMS “like [username]” for free to automatically like a page. This means they can like things instantly without forgetting to do it later.

When updating your Facebook page, keep mobile in mind. For example by adding apps and promotion codes that people can use instore.

Moving on to Twitter, the fixed website is still by far the most common access point; but the number of people using Twitter mobile is increasing sharply.

The next speaker up in this session is Gillian Muessig, president and co-founder of SEOmoz.

Iceland is the global mobile leader with the highest internet and mobile phone penetration in the world — but on the other side of the Atlantic Gillian explains that AT&T stopped their unlimited internet packages because people are now using their smart phones differently and bandwidth usage was rocketing by thousands of percent due to things like YouTube video streaming. In 2010 more smart phones were sold than PCs for the first time.

AT&T predicts that the sales of smartphones will peak in the coming years and grow more slowly thereafter, but that the apps revolution still has a long way to run. With oil as expensive as it currently is, people are increasingly not going to multiple physical shops; preferring internet shopping instead.

Mobile net browsing is much quicker than traditional browsing. We consume snippets of hyper-local info in a short time. It is not a sit-down medium. Having said this, the user engagement of mobile users is much higher and the conversion rate too. This applies to restaurant bookings, shopping decisions and even the purchase of airline tickets while stood queuing in the airport!

The mobile innovation does not stop there. What about digitally test driving an Audi? Or scanning the strawberries in the shop with your phone to track them to the particular independent farmer who grew them? Both of these are already a reality.

When developing apps, make sure they are sticky. Sticky, in this case, means offering users a reason to come back again and again. At the end of the day, it is all about relevance! You can try SEOmoz for 45 days free with the code RIMC2011!

At the end of Gillian’s presentation, the floor was opened to questions from the audience.

The first speaker in this session is Icelandair’s Guðmundur A. Guðmundsson who begins with defining what a brand actually is. It is far more than a logo — and extends to staff attitude, telephone hold music and even what people are saying about you online.

From Icelandair’s point of view, what customers want is a brand with a clear promise which can also come through on their promises. Through social media, companies like Icelandair can broadcast their story like never before. Also due to social media, your brand is going to be defined and gain reputation online — whether or not it is led by you. That is why brands should take their online presence so seriously.

The traditional consumer funnel appears to be falling apart; with new research suggesting that as they move down the “funnel” they are actually adding more possible brands to choose from and not zeroing in on one. This is an opportunity for marketers to push their brands as something new and different.

The post-purchase stage is a new area which goes way beyond word-of-mouth between friends. Online reviews and social media comments (among others) are becoming an important way to spur further purchases from others. This works equally for airlines, face creams, televisions and all sorts of products and brands.

Guðmundur suggests that companies need to reconsider their advertising spending and where it is focused. 70% of traditional advertising budgets are currently focused on the wrong areas of the “funnel”.

Is social media all you need? Well, it might be if you do it well. But it is unpredictable and can be your worst enemy if not done properly.

Following on from Guðmundur, the next speaker to take the stage in this seminar session is Liana “Li” Evans from LiBeck.

Li begins by pointing out that not all social media users are equal. People get involved to greatly differing degrees. The creators, for example, are top of the tree: they have blogs and websites and really drive the field. The ladder runs down through critics, collectors and joiners and down to spectators and inactives — the people who interact least with social media; but it doesn’t mean they can be ignored. They are still there and taking notice of what they see.

Only 1% of social users are considered heavy users and 90% are classified as ‘lurkers’. Whoever you are, it is important to not concentrate solely of Facebook and Twitter. There is so much else out there; from Wikis and LinkedIn to YouTube and MySpace. As well as the direct users, search engines like Google also care about all these social media outside of the Big Two.

Li also recommends the power of email as an enduring draw. If they are on your mailing list, the chances are they like you and want to hear from you! This is a great driver to build an audience for your Facebook Page (for example).

On the subject of integration, it is becoming vital to remember the awesome and growing power of the smart phone. They are quick and convenient and people are using them more and more. At the end of the day social media marketing should be part of a unified and targeted overall marketing programme.

Following Li’s address, the floor was opened to questions.

One of the key themes of the question session is on knowing your customer base and spreading yourself over more than just Facebook and Twitter — a sentiment even endorsed by Rick Kelley from Facebook!

The 8th annual Reykjavik Internet Marketing Conference is now underway with Ingvar Hjálmarsson currently giving the opening speech.

Ingvar has also been honoured with the title of Icelandic Internet Personality of the Year — the first time RIMC has awarded the prize. Congratulations to him!

Ingvar is giving a very informative and funny opening speech from his position as the founder and face of mbl.is — Iceland’s most popular website by far.

Reykjavik Internet Marketing conference is just around the corner with speakers from Ericsson, Bing/Microsoft, Anomaly, CCP games and Icelandair to mention few. In its 6th year the conference is going to be bigger than ever, attracting a wider audience on an international basis. The conference is accompanied by an Expo that lasts all weekend, Netið 2010 (roughly translates Internet 2010). Some 40 – 50 companies are expected to show their Internet related products and services.

You can get more information about RIMC 2010 at www.rimc.is

We are starting to look for speakers for our annual Reykjavik Internet Marketing Conference, held in March next year. The conference has atracted some great speakers like Chris Sherman, Anne Kennedy, Bill and Motoko Hunt, Andy Atkins Kruger, Dixon Jones, Shari Thurow, Adam Lasnik, Mel Carson, Rand Fiskin and Dennis Mortensen. See more information about the event at www.rimc.is and if you want to be in the pool of speakers let me know by sending an email to kmh [at] nordicemarketing – COM.