TED Talks have risen to fame over the past few years as a method for the best and brightest minds of our world to convey their thoughts in a simple way that the rest of us simpletons can take in and learn from. Aspiring social media marketers have the opportunity to go online and watch content created by the cream of the crop. Here are my top 4.

#1  Alexis Ohanian: How to make a splash on social media
In under 4 minutes, the creator of Reddit takes his audience through the story of Mr. Splashy Pants’ rise to internet fame. While created back in 2009, Ohanian’s point still stands strong: to succeed on social media, companies need to be willing to relinquish control. Messages no longer proceed through a controlled, top-down hierarchy – and that’s a good thing for us.

#2  Evan Williams: The voices of Twitter users
While the creator of Twitter focuses on examples specific to Twitter, he brings to the forefront an important concept when looking at social media: it is user-generated, user-created, and user-directed. What implications does that have for your social media strategy? It means that you need to be willing to let others generate and direct the content. Evan might not be the most engaging presenter, but his points are still valid for anyone looking to engage their online community.

 #3  Tim Leberecht: 3 ways to (usefully) lose control of your brand
In this talk, frog CMO Tim Leberecht takes his listeners through 3 practical ways to take advantage of the fact that you cannot control what others say on social media. Focusing on the idea of control – letting go of it, taking more of it, and applying strict processes to encourage more engaging social interactions. Applicable to both human resource professionals and marketers, Tim makes his point in a visual, engaging way with examples spread throughout.

#4  Seth Godin: The tribes we lead
Although less “concretely applicable” than the posts above, Godin does an excellent job of walking his audience through the ways people and companies have interacted through the years. From the era of the factory line to mass TV marketing, we’ve now evolved to a point where companies need to be seen as innovative leaders. Marketing is no longer about top-down messaging; truly successful companies develop full brand communities and let those communities do the marketing for them.

There you have it – my four favourite social media TED Talks. Of course, there are plenty more excellent talks floating around the internet on this topic – send me a link to your favourite in the comments below!