Week 16: Final Assignment

My view of Social Media has changed in that it is so much more prevalent than I even suspected. I knew that it was the up and coming way to advertise and communicate, but there is much more data and analytics behind the scenes than what I thought. There are ways to track and analyze who is liking, following and interacting with all of the different sites. And what is effective and what is not, even down to the time of day to do posting or ads.
Tracking everyone's moves on-line is very controversial. People can be traced by whatever sites the look at or click or engage in, and then that information can be used to further target them for an ad or marketing campaign. Some people love this, some people feel it's too intrusive. They even can GPS track you based on your location. For instance I was in a hotel in New York and the next think I know I had an ad review that was from that hotel and nearby sites to visit. I felt a little uneasy that this had occurred because it just shows how even our physical location is not private or anonymous anymore. Beacons in stores track your location within a store and target you for things you may be interested in or ads of what you are looking at.
Also, there is the trend for the younger users moving towards the shorter posts and quicker, faster forms of sites that don't have as much information and sometimes don't even stay posted for very long. It just shows how much technology has sped up society even more. Taking the time to read longer posts and even more wordy ads is less and less.
I love Social Media, that's why I chose this as an emphasis to get my Certificate in. It provides a way to stay in touch with friends, family, professional affiliations, job hunting and just getting information etc. And there is so much more information on anything that you want to know... you can just "search it" or ask friends or sites for input.
But I do think it has affected people's communication and communication skills. People are so tied to their technology that face-to-face communication is getting to be less and less. People don't visit or call as much, they text. Even emailing is getting less and less because it is more wordy and more time consuming. This is one of the reasons that Sales Rep jobs and retail stores are closing. People are buying on-line so much more it is putting companies and people out of business and jobs.
But it is here and growing and is not going away. If anything it is growing faster than most people can keep up. New sites pop up every day for everything you can think of wanting or needing. It has created gaps between the different generations that are very significant. And is shaping and molding the younger generations in new ways that the older generations did not have. They have been raised with technology and the speed of doing things, and this has affected everything including their expectations and work ethic. So it's something that all generations need to be aware of and stay on top of or get left behind.
Businesses that are not on some form of successful Social Media Platform will more than likely not do as well as those that are. And because it is interactive now, vs. one-way communication, there is so much more that people can do and learn from it. It is useful and exciting and fun, but there does need to be some sort of balance between using Social Media and the "old school" way of doing things, like meeting someone face-to-face instead of just a video chat or conference call. We need not lose perspective of real life person-to-person interaction and relationships.

Week 15: Optimising Yourself & Data Analysis Part 2

Regarding Facebook Analytics I don't have more than 30 Likes for this week, but the data that I can see is that everything has increased. Page Views, Likes, Engagements and Followers have gone up, but just by a few. So it skews the percentages, but  it looks like a lot of growth %, but it is only a small number of people. Except for Reach which went down. This is a fictional business, so I don't have a lot of people following that are actually buying product. But if I was really selling I would definitely try Boosting or creating Ads that would Reach more people.

Week 15 Optimising Yourself & Data Analysis Part 1

Regarding Data Analytics what I am most concerned with right now is building awareness and interest in my different sites. So I am looking to build the number of people who see and like the same types of pages and follow them. Animal, in particular dogs and ridgebacks are my focus. So building rapport and a relationship is the most important goal at this stage. I want to have people that return to see fun stuff that's been posted and with some relationship and some loyalty then they would want to purchase their pet supplies through my sites. This is more important to me than just posting a lot of "selling" posts of product pictures and brands. Except that we carry a little bit of unique stuff. Size of pads that's not easy to find, paw prints on the pick-up bags etc. But the nature of just product pictures is not too exciting, so posting the ones that are photos of dogs doing funny stuff, or dogs out and about walking, hiking, riding in cars, staying in hotels, puppy training in the house, is much more effective with those photos or videos. It shows the products in use and potential situations where they will need to use and buy these products.

Week 14: Creating Your Own Ads

I created an ad for Facebook and Instagram, and one for Twitter that contains 2 tweets. They are both photos of the products in use with dogs in them. Photos have been shown to be the most effective way to grab people's attention. And there is a call to action mentioning the usage of the products and that we have them on our website with a "Call To Action Button" to our website for the Facebook and Instagram sites. The Twitter ad is to create awareness and reach more tweets.
These are commonly used products that can be purchased many places, but when they go to the website they will see the Frequent Buyer Offer, Buy 10, Get 1 FREE, that is posted and encourage them to continuously re-order from there.

Week 13 Part 2 Researching Advertising

Facebook ads are really solicited on my business page. They bombard me with trying to Boost an Ad and according to the video, she recommended to not do the Boost. But to place an ad. Whether it's in the line daily feed or a side bar ad. I do agree that it is creepy when there are tracking ads that pop up of something you may have been shopping for on another website, then it pops up on your Facebook page! Not sure I like that. I do agree that Buy Now ads create urgency, because sometimes they disappear? I also agree that the exponential benefit of the likes and follows creates a mass target audience at no extra cost of hundreds or thousands of people. The app installation ads are probably becoming the way to go based on the # of downloads they are reporting. and how much is done on mobile now days. But likeablity and attention getting is the most important part of ANY ad.
Twitter ads are targeted to people using keywords. They work to drive people to your website or apps or for email lead generation. So it would be pretty targeted if people are searching for something specifically.
I think if I were to opt for an ad, I woudd go to Facebook and Instagram because it can cover both sites. And I think people spend more time on those sites when they're on them. My type of products, dog pet supplies, are not glamorous, so I'd need something more attention getting. Some of the photos I've chosen to post recently that would make good ads are of cartoon dogs throwing away their own poop bags in the trash can, the signs that say "It's required by law to pick up after your dog," and people actually in the act of picking up using bags with dogs in the pictures. These would be more attention getting than just showing a picture of my products. I also have a loyalty program that's posted, but not in a paid ad for a buy 10, get 1 free."

Week 13 Part 1 Researching Advertising

When looking at advertising on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram from similar companies to mine, I find that the posts or ads are very similar to mine. They have the same concept. Mine is for re-orderable products like poop waste bags and potty training pads. They may have those items or they may have collars or harnesses or kennels etc. But they are using photos of the products and some of theirs are modeled on dogs, but then they are just doing dog photos or videos as I am. Some choose different breeds, one is using dachshunds another is using a bulldog cartoon. Mine is Ridgebacks. The types of products we are selling aren't as glamorous as some other products, so it is hard to make them look fancy or pretty. So the appeal is to the dog owner and lover. I use other breeds in my posts too so as to not just pigeon-hole myself with just one breed. And I do use other posts of interesting items that are non-competing but that dog lovers would like or need. Or new innovations like a video of a new car that is totally built and focused on dogs needs. Product photos are necessary and I use mine to show the design on the bags and the sizes of pads. Because x-lg are harder to find in this size. The other "fun" photos of dogs playing or doing funny things are entertaining and people tend to love looking at them. But they don't sell the product, they just get them to keep coming back to your site.  A couple of large companies have paid ads on Facebook that pop up with the pads for instance, and have a CTA button to "shop now" at their website. Some even include pricing, or claims of being the best deal or least expensive. So they are more selling ads, not so much to build relationship.

I think Social Media ads are very effective because of the masses of people that are constantly on it, as long as the posts and ads are targeted and not just random products that have nothing to do with you. There are definitely times when things have caught my eye, maybe from a sports team I like for example and I'll take a look at their website to see what new t-shirts they have. Or other new products that you can click on and they'll give you an "infomercial" but the great thing is you can click off of it at any time. You can't do that with TV, except to change the channel. Otherwise you are stuck waiting for the ad to finish. TV I believe is one of the only as good or better forms of advertising that is effective. They have the benefit of moving pictures, videos, stills, text etc. whatever they want to use to get their message passed on. And people are clocked at watching hours of TV a day. Even if it's just on as background noise people are still hearing it and getting the message. Social Media is more focused attention, although most people are on it probably more hours a day now, they are quicker to scroll through and pass over ads in mere seconds. With TV, unless you can fast forward through ads with a DVR and many On Demand shows don't allow that anymore, you are stuck continuing through the whole ad. TV is also more mass marketed, although they can pick shows, dates and times to air, Social Media you can target much more closely to the exact audience you are looking to impress. I think magazines, newspapers and particularly direct mail are all declining and not as effective and not a great spend. Unless it is in a "dog" magazine, I wouldn't even consider it. And I also have been hit with the masses of emails you get when companies do email advertising and I always opt out of getting them. Because no matter how many they say they are going to send they end up sending way more than I want to receive. So I would stick with the appropriate Social Media sites and if I could afford targeted TV I would do that as well.

Week 12 Using Other Social Media Tools

Some of the other social media tools may not be as helpful to me because my business is selling a few select products to a specific market. And because it is online only, I would not use Google Maps. I do think LinkedIn would be beneficial because there are dog groups and breeders and different breed lovers that are listed. And sometimes they overlap. Also, other vendors that sell other or similar products to compare to. My focus is on the Rhodesian Ridgeback and there are groups that follow them like the RR Club of the US. And the AKC is important too. A lot of the Facebook pages that I've liked I would also include on LinkedIn. I would like to be on Yelp and that is a good way for people that are searching for the top vendors would be able to find the website, email or whatever site that was listed. But I think Groupon and LivingSocial would be the most beneficial to get exposure. I have used both of those many times and have been exposed to some great new restaurants and a great place to go horseback riding, both that I've gone back to many times. For my online business I would present some kind of an offer, like the one I've posted on the website of "Buy 10, get 1 Free" of products. That would create awareness, exposure and repeat business. And maybe even new followers, but for sure new users. The only downfall that might be created is the date range and tracking of the purchases. So even doing a straight $% off of their purchase would be a great way to start. Personally I had a situation that I wanted to report a bad experience with a company on Yelp, but they wanted me to fill out a whole profile of information and sign up. Which I didn't want to do. So many people may not want to do all of that to do a positive review, which are less frequent to begin with. Usually people are more inclined to post negative. But for my businesses that I like I do "like" their pages and posts and follow them and make comments because I appreciate them and how they are doing business.

Week 11 Email Newsletters

Email Newsletters are great for the following purposes according to "Get Up To Speed With Online Marketing", pg. 55
1) Building a relationship with current customers
2) Encouraging repeat business
3) Acquiring new customers
4) Persuading people to buy something (or to take an action)

The response rates for these direct mails is very high and the action to "opt in", "sign up", "read more" or take other action like "go to website" are very high compared to other forms of marketing. Other forms of marketing like social media are great, but not everyone is involved with the different ones like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. And even if they are, it may not be on a daily basis. But it seems that most people do keep on top of opening their emails daily. So the reach rate for emails is much greater.
But it must be very concise, and segmented as to what is published. And it must be aesthetically pleasing and easy to maneuver through. It can not be too cumbersome and too much information at first glance. There should be "read more" options on longer articles or if there is a lot of information segments on the email newsletter.
It also should be pertinent information to your business or related to your readers interests or industry.
There needs to be an "opt out" or "unsubscribe" button for people that choose to not get the emails any longer. I support many animal welfare organizations and for many of them they require an email sign up box. But then they overwhelm me with all of these emails sometimes daily or weekly that I don't want to get. So even though I support the organization, I opt out of the daily or weekly activities of the emails. It is recommended to have a third-party service provider for this and for other reasons, as opposed to using your own email address. They offer other link options and analytics that will help to track and identify what is working and what is not.
There are many ways to build an email list, but it should be done with permission so that it is not considered spam. Adding a sign up form to the website is the best way to get the action taken. Creating a sign up form, links to other social media accounts or incentive offers are good to do.
The campaign can include a quick announcement, a welcome letter, a survey a press release, a special offer or a discount. The newsletter form needs to contain pertinent information about your industry your specialty, expertise or key benefits you offer, latest news, subscriber benefits like discounts, new products. And I love to post upcoming events that people would be interested in attending, like dog meet ups or dog festival or street fair events.
The specifics as to write the email are From (a person's name that is recognized), the attention grabbing Subject (without spam words like "free"), To (that is to a person's name), Body (with the most important information at the top and not too long), Call to Action (with only one per newsletter which could be to "take a survey" or "buy now"), and the Footer (to include all of your contact information required and the "unsubscribe" or "opt out" buttons.
Managing the email newsletter includes having a consistent theme and staying focused on fresh ideas that are relatable to the reader.
And measuring your results using the analytics mentioned above can help you to know who, what, when, where and why people opened, read or proceeded with action to the newsletter.
It doesn't need to be a lot of work if you jot notes of ideas as they come and use them later or re-post things from other sites that relate. It can be a growing tool of your client base and of sales!

For my business Go Virtual Products (pet products) I would not use a newsletter more than once a month or once a quarter. I would include upcoming events that are going to happen for that time period and a subscriber discount on products purchased, or a give away within a certain date range to include pictures of the 2 products that I sell. I would also include an article or photos of pertinent dog activities that I may also post on my social media. My dog is a Rhodesian Ridgeback, so I am partial to them. So I might post the photo and information of the first RR that was a winner in the AKC back from years ago. Or other dog products that are coming out (even if I'm not selling them), like the paw print Christmas tree bulbs that a page that I like on Facebook "The Animal Rescue Site" is selling as a courtesy to keep the readers up to date and coming back for more tips. It also gets them interested in this new site and gets them connected. Mine would be a more relationship building newsletter platform and theme and would help to connect them to my other social media accounts!

Comments to: Tiffany, Savannah and Abduls

Week 10 Part 2 Blogging for Business

Blogging categories that help people to find your blog are supposed to be as simple and as minimal as possible. I read from WPromote.com that 3-4 is sufficient, I also read on another blog to not do more than 8. It says that using the words intitle:"query" will give you all of the sites that contain the word that is being searched for. For example for my blog I would use intitle: "dog interests" or intitle: "dog events" or intitle: "pet supplies" to be searchable. It said to not make it so basic like just the word "dog" because it is too broad and readers won't know what it is that you're focusing on. This is what makes it easier to reach my target market. When they find a category that is relatable to them.
This can help to grow business because people will be attracted to say "dog events" to see if there is anything they would like to participate in, and would show that I am keeping the blog current with upcoming events. This is using the right SEO strategies. And having guest bloggers from different pages I follow on Facebook for example from the AKC or Ridgeback Club would be of interest. It makes it easier for readers to search and see if they're interested and want to comment or follow.

In regards to categories within my site, I would use the categories of "product users" and "product influencers" and "dog events" and "dog product ideas" and "guest bloggers" and just "site followers."
The categories can help to make it more easily searchable and also keep it more organized.

I commented on: Krong N, Karen D, Tiffany D.

Nissan X-Trail 4Dogs concept: the ‘pawfect’ car for family adventures

Week 10 Part 1 Blogging for Business

Adding human interest to blog posts can help to build a relationship with the customer and the company. It brings it down to a more personal level and helps build a relationship. There may be similar interests, different events that you'd both be interested in, different articles or authors, other sites you have in common. It can build trust and drive business to your site without actually doing a sales pitch or asking for the sale. And could even build loyalty.
There are definitely different times and products or services that would be appropriate or not to get personal with. Some businesses need to stay strictly professional or direct to the point. Where others are more casual or there are services where you need to build a relationship based on your service your selling,.
My business falls under the casual category where it is appropriate to get personal. Selling doggy supplies to pet parents, some take it very personally as their dogs as their kids. I even use my own personal photos of my dog and her friends as my profile or cover photos on different sites. I also personalize local events that are going on in my area. And I relate to the Rhodesian Ridgeback community since that's what Roxy is. And I re-post things that I get from them. So it is OK for my business to get personal and get to know my followers, and them me, because I sell products that can be bought in a million other places, so to get the loyalty, it is important to build that connection and relationship.