The Social Fresh East conference in Orlando brought together marketing and social media professionals from all over. Two smart marketers in attendance were Kim Garst, CEO of Boom Social, and Nathan Latka, founder and CEO of Heyo (the company that sponsored this episode of the Marketing Smarts podcast).

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I invited Kim and Nathan to sit down and talk with me for Marketing Smarts to talk about content marketing, social media engagement, and Kim's book (due in January 2015): Would the Real You Please Stand Up.

Here are just a few highlights from our conversation:

Even now, some brands try to bring outbound marketing methods to social channels. (03:55): [Kim] "The majority of brands still don't have it right. I think they get so wrapped up around traditional marketing methods—push marketing. They bring what they think they know to social media and realize it doesn't work. There are still a lot of brands that need to embrace an authentic voice, whether it's an enterprise brand, or a small business owner, or a solopreneur. It all boils down to having an authentic presence online and in social media."

To choose the right channels, figure out how your audience learns. (07:49): [Nathan] "The way I look at where I engage...is [for] every social platform, the reason people use it is because it identifies with a certain form of learning...auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. A podcast like this appeals to auditory; Youtube visual. Kinesthetic combines those: it's Facebook or Instagram or Vine... So it's less about the platform and significantly more about the consumers I'm trying to reach. How do they learn?"

Social media isn't just about engagement. (08:47): [Kim] "It's more about moving those people to another place. You're trying to get people...on your email list so that you can market to them consistently and so that you can serve them consistently. People come to a Facebook page. If they like your page, maybe they come back, but the chances of them coming back are slim to none, so the only time they see your content is if it shows up in their News Feeds, so I think its really important that you have a consistent strategy to move people from whatever social platform you're on (and you're active on) to your list, across the board."

You can learn more about Kim Garst at KimGarst.com, or follow her on Twitter: @KimGarst. You can also check out Heyo's special deal for MarketingProfs members, and follow Nathan on Twitter: @NathanLatka.

Kim, Nathan, and I discussed much more, so be sure to listen to the entire show, which you can do above, or download the mp3 and listen at your convenience. Of course, you can also subscribe to the Marketing Smarts podcast in iTunes or via RSS and never miss an episode!

This episode brought to you by...

Music credit: Noam Weinstein.

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Published on July 23, 2014