Blog Post 10

Facebook Forces its users to download their app

Throughout the past year, Facebook has been promoting and encouraging people to use their new app, Facebook Messenger, instead of just messing friends from the original Facebook platform. Though many downloaded this app originally, Facebook was not happy with the turnout and wanted more to join and download. They made a very bold move and discontinued the messages from the Facebook mobile app, forcing people to download the Fecebook Messenger app if they wanted to continue to communicate with their friends through direct message. Many are upset about being forced to download this but Facebook says they will continue to upgrade the app so that eventually the positive feedback will overpower the negative.

When I first saw the Facebook app, I downloaded it because it seemed like it would be easier to communicate rather than having to open facebook and go through a number of steps to get to message my friends if I wanted to. However, this was when it was still optional. I think Facebook was very bold in making it mandatory to download this app and the negative feedback should have been expected. Although it is free and easy to use, when people are forced to do something they always think negatively about it and want to resist doing it more than if they were encouraged but still had the option like it was when I chose to download the app. Eventually this app will be beneficial and if facebook continues to update it like they said they will I think people will really like it. However, I don’t think forcing people to download it was the right move.

Blog 9

Holiday Ruined by Marketing Automation

            They Holiday season is coming so similarly here come the holiday ads. Personally, when Christmas and Thanksgiving come at the same time as Halloween it bothers me and I disregard the product and the company. I used to still feel this way about Christmas at Thanksgiving but I have began to become more lenient about this. However, these advertisements have to come at the right time and form. Throughout all my marketing classes I have started thinking about how to do this efficiently and how company manage this. In reading an article this week I have just received my answer, Marketing Automation.

            So what is Marketing Automation? Marketing Automation refers to software platforms and technologies designed for marketing departments and organizations to more effectively market on multiple channels online and automate repetitive tasks.

Marketing Automation is usually a very successful strategy around the holidays. It enables a company to be able to set up their campaigns at the right times during the holiday seasons that will draw people in.  However, if they are not set up right they can be a nightmare. The article I read to learn about this laid out these 5 points to make sure it is successful rather than a disaster.

1.     Ensure that your holiday campaigns go out on time and stop on time

2.     Make sure you have double check that everything works

3.     Follow through with leads and stays connected with customers

4.     Include multiple channels in your campaigns

5.     Try an all in one marketing automation solution

So when setting up a marketing campaign that is specific to an event or holiday, Marketing Automation is very useful, just make sure to think about those 5 points.

Blog Post 8

Using Social Media to Meet your Idol

            On Social Media Today, there is an article explaining tips and tricks to meeting your idols through social media. In addition to this article, I know someone who went to my high school who was able to accomplish this last year. She asked Shaun White to prom, and yes he showed up. I would like to go through the steps she took in order to do this.

            First she researched Shaun White, his likes, dislikes, background, and what he did when he was in high school. Then she made a video. This video included all the information she found about him including that he was never able to go to his senior prom. Through facebook, she began trying to connect with him. She posted the video and tagged his facebook page and a hashtag that she used throughout her efforts.

            From facebook, she went on twitter and tweeted at him and his band, constantly with the same hashtag and all of her friends did it too. Then she went on YouTube and Instagram and did the same thing. She tagged him in all the posts with the same hashtag and begging him to answer and go to prom with her.

            The power of social media showed its strength to her May 2014 when she had a surprise guest at prom. Shaun White and his band showed up at our little all girl’s high school’s prom in a little town in Philadelphia. His band played a couple songs and she was able to hang out with her idol, Shaun white for the rest of the night. Not all efforts are this successful but she proved that night that social media is a powerful tool in connecting with the most unlikely people.

And now the video is all over the news. Here is a clip from OneMinuteNews:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wzajq741yE

Blog Post 7

9 Mistakes Businesses make on Social Media

I recently read a post on socialmediatoday about the mistakes businesses make on Social Media. It really interested me and I thought it was extremely important to know what to do and what not to do when we eventually need to promote on different social media platforms so I wanted to reiterate this message and expand on a couple of them.

1.     Focusing on the Quantity of the Followers, not the quality

Sometimes companies dwell just on having a massive amount of followers. While this is good for marketing sometimes, like building a network and making others think you are more credible for being popular, it does not help where it counts. If you have a ton of followers but none of them are very interested in your product or likely to buy your product or service it doesn’t help you at all. So sometimes, although it is good to have large numbers of followers, we should think about the quality of our followers and if they are likely to buy rather than just the numbers in general.

2.     Not posting engaging content regularly

If I am interested in a company I am going to want to see what they are doing and when they are doing it. If I don’t see any posts that interest me in a decent amount of time, I will most likely get bored and move onto another similar company. This is why companies have to have a schedule about what they are posting and when they are posting it.

3.     Not converting followers into paid customers

I feel the same way about what I said for the first one. This is all about the quality of the follower not the quantity.

4.     Focusing on too many social media channels

It is great to have different channels but if you are on too many and do not have enough time or man power to successfully advertise on all of them or engage with your audiences then focus on a smaller group of channels that you can actually manage. More information and content on fewer channels will most likely be more effective than a lot of channels with little information and content

5.     Having no Brand Personality

You have to have a brand personality so that it is easier for people to connect with you. If you are dry and have no personality it is less likely to catch peoples attention and make them want to engage in business with you. If you make it personal by having a personality more people will be able to connect on a deeper level.

6.     Spamming

Just no. I hate Spam

7.     Doing Everything Manually

Takes too long. Will not be effective

8.     Broadcasting the Same Message Across all channels

You are on different channels for a reason. If you use the same message across all channels you are not using your time and channels efficiently. It doesn’t have to be drastic but little changes to adapt to the channels and audiences of each channel could have a great impact.

9.     Not having a strategy at all

If you don’t have a strategy at all it is pretty noticeable. This will cause the content to be messy and the frequency of content to be unpredictable and may cause followers to loose interest. A strategy is the first thing your company should come up with, even before choosing the content or channels.

Blog Post 6- 8 Business Growth Strategies for Instagram

8 Business Growth Strategies for Instagram

I recently read an article on social media today about the different Business Growth Strategies for Instagram. Although I didn’t feel that all of the strategies pertained to our generation right now I did feel that some of them did.  The 8 strategies listed were Profile, Photos, Video, Hashtags, Mentions, Innovate, Manage, and Integrate. While these are all important concepts I wanted to focus on the couple that, to me, seem are harder to conquer. These include Profile, Hashtags, Manage, and Integrate.

Profile- should include your name and important information that might be relevant for a new person looking at your account. A short bio would be nice and a description of you or your business, depending on what you are trying to promote.

Hashtags- these can be very useful for many reasons. They are a good way to link different pictures or videos with a similar concept or idea. They also are a good way to direct traffic to your account, which will then lead people to look at your profile, and hopefully engage with you or your company.

Manage- although people instagram for entertainment and to show people what they have done recently, it is important to manage it well if you are trying to promote a business. This includes liking and commenting on other peoples instagrams from your account and also being very aware of your captions and hashtags. You can look at your competitors instragrams to decide what the most efficient way to manage your account is but you should be aware.

Integrate- You want to make sure you integrate your instagram with your other forms of social media or advertising. This means you want to make a similar or the same user name for each account and make sure to list how to follow or look at each type of social media. This makes it easy for consumers and other people to connect with you easily in as many channels as possible.

Like I said before, all 8 of the strategies listed in the article are very relevant and important but I feel these 4 are the hardest to master.

Blog Post #5

5 Mistakes to Avoid on your Linkedin Profile

As we grow up, social media is constantly changing and we have to continue to adapt to these changes. The platforms are not necessarily changing but rather the ones we use and how we are supposed to use them. One of the main changes that comes to mind is the switch from facebook to linkedin. While facebook is for social media and social interactions with family and friends, we have to remember that linkedin is for professional interactions and we have to be careful about how to use it. Here are 3 common mistakes to avoid on your linkedin profile.

            First, get a professional headshot. This is likely to be the first thing that people see when they look at your profile so you don’t want to have some random unofficial picture that you could use on facebook that could cause a questionable first impression. Instead, you want an official professional headshot that will cause people to have a positive first impression and make them want to trust you and think highly of you.

            Next, unlike facebook, on linkedin you don’t need your life story, but you do need details. These details should be kept professional. Any type of experience, travel, and personal skills are good to include however getting too personal or unnecessary details can clutter up your linkedin page and discourage people from reaching out to you.

            Lastly, make sure you leave your contact information. On facebook, most people don’t include their contact information so that people will not contact them. However, that is the purpose of linkedin. This is sometimes the initial source of how people get to know about you and your skills. For this reason, it is crucial for you to include this on your linkedin. Your phone number, email address, and any other information you would like people to know so they can reach you.

Blog Post 4

Brand Attachment

            We have all heard about brand loyalty through many years of our college lives and in pretty much every marketing class. Put simply, brand loyalty is when you consistently buy one specific brand no matter what the condition or location where you need to buy it. Now, taking it one step further, not many people know about the concept of brand attachment. I know I didn’t.

            This new concept is very interesting to me. I am still trying to decide if I am sold on the idea of it or not. Brand Attachment is defined as “the emotional connection between humans and brands.” This means that they become not just loyal, but actually attached to the brand. This often happens when companies like Ben & Jerry’s come up with unique flavors and names that can make a deeper connection with consumers. The three elements that were highlighted specifically were affection, connection, and passion. These elements put together bring the audience to a deeper connection with the brand itself and not just compared to the other brands in its industry.

            Now, do you agree that this is possible? I am not fully convinced but I believe I do have a deeper connection with specific brands in different industries because of their advertisements or what their company stands for. If it is actually an attachment I am still deciding and doing more research but for now I think it is more and more convincing and a very interesting concept.

6 Word of Mouth Marketing Tips

6 Word of Mouth Marketing Tips

We all know that one of the strongest marketing techniques is through word of mouth. If your friend tells you they like something you are probably more likely to look it up or try it over seeing a random ad or having companies constantly talking to you, I know I am. But how do we get people talking? Social Media Today recently outlined 6 Tips....

1.     Promote Word of Mouth by Providing Above Average Service

2.     Connect with Industry Influencers

3.     Create a Core Group of Insiders

4.     Incentivize Word of Mouth to Get People Talking

5.     Use Social Media to Create Personal Connections

6.     Publish Quality Content

These are all awesome ideas but how do you do this? I think it really depends on the specific market you are targeting. With our generation, the three of these that I think would be most efficient and a lot of companies are doing nicely are Connecting with Influencers, Incentivize Word of Mouth to Get People Talking, and Use of Social Media to Create Personal Connections.

Connecting with Influencers of our generation gets the company the first look. If we see a celebrity we like in a commercial or promoting a specific product I think we are more likely to stop and check it out or look at what they are promoting rather that just a random ad that we may glance over.

Incentivize Word of Mouth to Get People Talking is another big one. Just the other day I was looking for a place to get my haircut and my friend immediately recommended a place because she really liked the service and if she recommends someone, both she and I would get $10 off our haircut. Just by giving this little incentive of $10 now the company has both me and my friend coming back for a visit we otherwise may not have had.

Lastly, Use of Social Media to Create Personal Connections. I wrote in my first blog about the difference between social media “likes” and “shares” If companies can successfully use facebook and other kings of social media and make personal connections that lead to people “sharing” the post with their friends I think it would greatly help their companies.

All of these 6 mentioned I believe are important in general but Thinking about this before I read the article and matching my ideas with the ones listed, the 3 I just explained seemed to stand out the most to me and are most powerful to our generation.

Social Media; Good vs. Bad

Social Media; Good vs. Bad

With every change in everyday life, people always debate about the good and the bad. Is it worth the change? How is this affecting other aspects in my life? Do the pros out weigh the cons? Just as we ask ourselves these questions about many personal decisions, we can ask the same questions about international changes too; like social media.

Some of the good things about social media that people recognize include immediate access to information, constant connectivity to others and globalized voices. These help us keep up to date with nationwide news and information while also staying connected personally with friends and family if they are right down the street or half way across the world. Another arguable plus side to social media is the concept of a hashtag. This one simple tool can now connect millions of people’s ideas into a common space for them to share. It also allows businesses to market to specific people and spread powerful messages to the right market of people in a couple seconds.

On the other hand, there are many downsides to social media that we don’t always acknowledge right away. One of the biggest in my opinion is hiding behind anonymity. People tend to say whatever they want when they are hiding behind a computer screen. Many of the things these types of people are saying are often naïve have very little to back up their opinions. This can be hurtful to both specific people who they are targeting or a much larger cause.  Another downside is a lot of people are all talk and no action. They can say all the want and advocate for a million causes online but they are not really doing anything to help unless they take action and social media is drastically hindering that. Lastly, ignorance. It is amazing the comments some people make after hearing one comment or story that they think is true. People are so often misinformed or just blatantly ignorant and go on ranting on social media with no legs to stand on.  People are so quick to state their opinion to everyone when they often don’t even know what they are talking about.

Good vs. bad. Pros vs. cons. It is a very fine line between the pros outweighing the cons. Is social media worth it? I think it is solely because the idea of being able to stay connected with people and news around the world is so strong and beneficial. However it is very hard to cancel out and ignore the many people who cause the down side to social media.

Blog Post 1

Too Many Advertisers Are Talking, Not Enough Are Listening

All of us are on some type of social media, if its facebook, twitter, instagram, or one of the many others out there. When on these different sites we all see tend to see a lot of ads, but how many do we actually look at? Personally, very few catch my attention enough to actually look at it, or watch it if it is a video, and see what they are advertising. This is the problem a lot of companies are having today. The switch from print marketing to “social” marketing has proven to be a great challenge for many big companies because they don’t tend to realize the difference between someone liking their post and someone sharing their post. When someone likes a post they personally looked at it, but when someone shares the post they are spreading it to all their friends and more people are likely to see it. The “sharing” is the main basis of social marketing.

So what can companies do to change their marketing and advertisements in favor of this “social” marketing? In my opinion, they should try to better engage with their audiences, make the consumer want to look at the clip or watch the video. If they stop just telling you about their product and focus on a little bit of what the consumer wants to hear or what they like to see they have a better chance of getting these “shares” rather than just likes. This way it wont be advertisers telling consumers what their brand it, it will be consumers telling each other what the brand is. This should lead to better social marketing success.