The simple way to success with social media

Host Sheelagh Caygill and guest Kim Scaravelli, a digital media strategist, connected on Twitter by chatting and sharing knowledge. Three or four months later they created this podcast and have a good, professional relationship! That's the positive power of social media! Kim, owner of Trust Communications, works with businesses to develop a presence on social media. She does this by finding the best mix of technology, platforms, and content to build awareness and grow business. In this episode, she explains how you can harness social media for your own organization and direct new contacts to your website. That's where you'll have a strong, well-designed call to action.

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If you're unsure about how to start with social media, or are not having any success with your current approach, Kim presents the steps necessary to begin on Twitter and LinkedIn. She explains the need for a strategy, how to be conversational and avoid selling or sales talk, and the time-frame needed for this approach.

Kim has created many successful digital strategies for clients, and has transformed failing approaches into winning ones for businesses frustrated with their inability create connections on social media.

In this podcast episode:

02:16 - Avoiding the mistakes of being on too many social media platforms and not having a strategy

04:10 - A digital strategy should begin with a website first, then the right social media platforms

05:40 - Building a robust website

08:05 - How to create a social media strategy

10:42 - Researching your audience

12:44 - Connecting research and messaging

14:42 - Socialize about your product or service benefits

16:00 - Understand why people are using a platform, and think about tone, let go of selling

19:02 - Tools for analysis and insight

20:12 - How to do social media without it taking over your time

21:04 - Start with a couple of platforms and read useful articles

21:25 - Struggling? Get help, but make a goal of managing your own social

21:45 - Tools to manage your social media

23:30 - Why you shouldn't over-automate

25:38 - "What should I say?" AKA "How do I post engaging content?"

26:35 - Socialize by following the conversation

28:39 - Jumping into the conversation

30:35 - Stop chasing follower numbers - it's the quality that counts

32:05 - Is social media saturated?

34:00 - Don't get wrapped up in just one social media platform

34:18 - Remain aware of trends, be flexible, and never forget that social is rented space

36:44 - Social media's place in marketing

Resources:

Find Kim at trustcommunications.ca. Social media tools: Buffer, Hootsuite