Sunday, December 2, 2012

So So Happy Study




Autum Bredmose

So-So Happy is a company that was started in 1999 and donates 10% of its profits to various charities. They offer clothing

So So Happy’s Twitter Presence



With almost 2,000 tweets and almost 5,000 followers, So So Happy has a large twitter base. They post many pictures and re-tweets. They know how to use Twitter to its fullest.


They try to tweet about every day.



Squishable’s Facebook Presence





So So Happy has almost 400,000 likes. They have contests, share photos, and write individuals back. They have a VERY strong Facebook presence






YouTube Presence



They also have a small YouTube following. They have 84 videos and 1,350 subscribers. The videos consist of  news about products and other cutesy videos aimed at teens and pre-teens.



Tumblr


They have a small Tumblr presence. They don’t update this platform as much as the others, but there are quite a few re-pins from their page.




Links Out

When you look at a product you can see there are several options they use to get their product out there. You can ‘Tweet’, ‘Like’, and ‘Send’ the product in a message.




They have a great social media button bar. Here are the links out are nicely displayed for users to click.



Summary
So So Happy has a growing base. I see them using Facebook and Twitter to reach their audience. 

Squishable Study




Autum Bredmose

I chose the Squisable industry. They were created by two people in 2007. They have grown in these five years and their online presence is quite large.

Squishable’s Twitter Presence



We can see that Squishable has almot 5,000 tweets. With almost 4,000 followers you can see that this company has a strong presence on Twitter. They use twitter to post about their products and get their customers involved.


Not only do the post but they quite frequently tweet back to people. This makes the company seem very human.

Squishable’s Facebook Presence





Squishable knows how to use Facebook to its full advantage. They constantly have caption contests and engaging contests. With over half-a-million likes, they know what they are doing.


Here you can see their interaction with their audience.  They let the customer feel like they are the ones making choices in the product, and they are helping make vital choices.

YouTube Presence



Youtube is not their strongest social media platform, but they do have almost 50,000 view, which is quite an achievement for a relatively small company.


Pinterest Presence


Again this isn’t their strongest platform, but they do have a small following on Pinterest. I imagine that this platform will grow as Pinterest grows.



Links Out


On the main squishable page they have links out that users can go to. They also have a mailing list you can sign up for as well. In the above screenshot you can see that they are highlighting their main platform for connecting with users (Facebook).



On their product page you also have the option to ‘Like’ the individual product.



Summary
Squishable has a huge, growing online presence. If they keep going the direction they are going now, it will be much larger. 

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Twitter: Week 11



My Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Autum55828791



My Rankings:

Pepsi
Pepsi uses Twitter to show great deals and it is effective.

Nikon
Nikon posts a lot, but they always post deals and tips

Squishable
They use Twitter to get their customers involved. It's great marketing


Guidelines:
I think the guidelines pretty much fall under every other guideline we have discussed in this class thus far. Don't tweet anything that would offend people, don't use crass language, and use common sense. Like I said the guidelines are the same.


Twitter is better for some organizations. I think some companies don't want to regale people with long winded posts. Since there is a character limit on twitter, they can only post so much. The Squishable company utilizes all their social media platforms well, but they get more people interested by little tidbits on Twitter.


The social media sites I chose were: DeviantArt, Livejournal, and Pinterest

Deviantart:
Deviantart allows users to share their artwork with others. This is a great niche community. You can also sell your items. They offer deals on the items they sell. You can also purchase a premium membership that allows more options.

Livejounral:
Livejournal is a website that allows to write journal entries. This is a wonderful way to publish your thoughts and let loved ones know what is going on in your life. Livejournal offers premium services to users and they sell adspace.

Pinterest:
Pinterest really is the mother of all awesome things. I use pinterest to post ideas for parties, recipes, home improvemet, and pretty much anything that sparks my interest. It's a wonderful way to organize thoughts and ideas. I don't see too much marketing content, but it does have the option where users can look up gifts on mostly Etsy.Com. 

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Week 8


My Video






Video 1

GREAT Coca Cola Video!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqT_dPApj9U

This was really cool! I like that they are implying that coca-cola can make people happy. These people will always remember that day and that it was coca-cola who helped them feel that way. I also thought it was really cool watching. It made me think.. "wow coca cola is a cool company" You can see that they are brightening the students day!


Video 2

Secret Deodorant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBvr3hsdyCM&list=SP752687C36CACA483&index=3&feature=plcp

This video is funny and brings attention to the product.

Video 3
Meow Mix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00M7CojclWM
Meow mix shares its videos online for many people to enjoy. The commercials are cute and clever. It's a good social media marketing plan any way you look at it.

Week 7

Part 1

1.https://www.facebook.com/squishabledotcom
This is the most effective use of social media marketing that I could find on my like pages. They engage their readers.You feel like you have a hand in making decisions WITH the company. It's really neat. They do contests, fun videos, share rough drawings of their products, and many other engaging, yet non-intrusive posts.

2.https://www.facebook.com/TheAnimalRescueSiteStore
This is the second most effective business I could find. They offer great deals. They have fun marketings strategies that like Squishable, engage the customers. They do have a tendency to over post.




3.https://www.facebook.com/LivingDeadDolls
This is the third most effective business I could find. They post well. The only problem I find, is that they tend to post weird things that have nothing to do with their products.


Google + and Facebook Comparison

According to these two websites:

http://mashable.com/2012/08/08/small-business-google-plus/
http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/technology-web/2011/12/02/why-and-how-your-business-should-use-google/

I know a lot about facebook, but not much about Google +, so I did a bit of research. According to people ( I know you didn't want personal opinions, but I feel it's relevant) They say you shouldn't use google + because noone uses it. From a business standpoint, many researches say you should use it. Since google is one of the most popular search engines, it easily catalogues the places on google. You are more likely to find Blogger entries first than any other blogging platform because it does belong to google. The same can be said about a business on Google +. If you can get your business out there, you should use all the options available!

Like Google +, Facebook offers great SMM opportunities. I think the major difference between Google + and Facebook is the user base. I don't know anyone who uses Google +. I am not saying that everyone I know makes up the majority, but you would think someone would use it. You hear people talking about Facebook, not Google +. That in and of itself is something.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Week 6


Classmate's Blog


I chose this blog to review http://sirk7101.wordpress.com/


I think this person gave a fine idea how to achieve social media marketing. They had good examples and easy explanations.


They gave a very good detailed description on what social media marketing is.


Social Media Blog


I chose this blog as my focus for the social media marketing blog (http://www.scottmonty.com/)


I really love these infographic posts for information. This post gives some tips for small businesses to utilize in marketing.  Here they are:

  1. Get their email. And make sure you give them a reason to sign up.
  2. Ask for reviews. Over 20% of reviews have local intent.
  3. Give back. Find a local cause that you can get behind.
  4. Change it up. Rotate your message or your creative.
  5. Learn from your customers. They're smarter than you are about what they want.


These are normal marketing tips, but I think that businesses could use these tactics in social media marketing.


I thought this was one of the coolest posts I have ever seen. It's about what it would have been like if twitter was available to those who were sailing on the Titanic. It's cool to see how social media has shaped how we communicate  It's awesome to see how it would have been used.


3 Business Blogs


This is a blog I design for. It's not a business, but it is utilized by many people for product information

This blog is very effective in reviewing books and giving information to potential purchasers of novels.



This is also not a business but is very useful at bringing news to the masses.


This is similar to awesomesauce.com, only for games. They have reviews, videos, and a blog. They review games and also sell adspace.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Week #4 Assignment #4

Slide ShareSource:


 http://www.slideshare.net/stevelatham/social-media-strategy-spur-interactive

This presentation pretty much goes along with the presentations posted. The same general techniques are used for a good social media marketing strategy. In all the items reviewed, the planning has a pretty straightforward format.

Changes I would make to the Project Marketing Plan Format


I've read through the project several times and I honestly can't really see three things  that I would change. I think that in the project you address all of the things a company would look for in a good social media marketing plan.

You address the need to identify the audience and their needs.
You address the need for company goals.
You address similar business market research.
You address choosing the proper medium.

The only thing I would suggest in the project is the need to discuss with the client about realistic goals and how these goals will be achieved. A client may go into social media marketing thinking that all their business dreams are going to come true. I believe that there has to be a sense of grounding that needs to come along with the goal setting. That would protect that client and yourself from any unmet expectations.

Is it a good idea for an instructor to solicit changes to an assignment from his students?


I think it's a fantastic idea. I love the idea that we are learning together in some way. It's like you are admitting that this is new class and we can learn from each other. It's almost like you aren't implementing a system of hierarchy in the process. In some ways it's a lot like social media. You have many people offering advice and you are actually listening. It's a very cool idea.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Week #3 Assignment #3

Marshall McLuhan tetrad asks these four question of a an object of the media.

  1. What does the medium enhance?
  2. What does the medium make obsolete?
  3. What does the medium retrieve that had been obsolesced earlier?
  4. What does the medium flip into when pushed to extremes?
1. What does the medium enhance?

I am going to use Facebook as my medium. We have to ask, what does this enhance? I believe it enhances communication. to many different people in one place.

What does the medium make obsolete?

I believe it makes having to contact many people individually obsolete. 

What does the medium retrieve that had been obsolesced earlier?

The difficulty of connecting with family and friends. You can connect with people at the touch of a button.

What does the medium flip into when pushed to extremes?

I believe it flips into a device to for people to access your information and intimate details about your life and family. You could involve people into your life you may not have wanted to.



Marshall McLuhan's theories really come down to market analysis to me. There are people that do this in every industry. They ask the questions: What's the next big thing? How can we utilize it? How will people accept this medium? It's really simple evolution. First people would write letters, then they called eachother, then they e-mailed,  and now people can text message. It seems like it's really just trend prediction. 

The mediums used and how people respond to them, may just be what is most popular. For example, if you were watching TV and the news said that a famous singer died, you would want to check the facts on the internet. Years ago people would rely on the news of their local papers and news. Now we have access to millions of articles. If a year from now something greater than the internet came out and began to evolve into what people use as their main resource for information, we would use that rather than the internet, because that is how the technology has evolved. I think in social media marketing, you have to try to predict what would be the best media for getting a message across and if it will still useful months from now.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Assignment #2 Week #2

Things that make for effective social media marketing are:

Time and Dedication
From what I have read, social media marketing takes time and dedication from the business or persons trying to use it. You cannot do it half way!

Using the proper Social Media Outlet
Do not use the wrong social media outlet if you know your consumers will not come to that specific place.

Engaging Your Audience
Ask questions and make your posts fun. Make people feel like they are a part of something.

Do Not Ignore Comments or Questions
Don't ignore anyone. This is harmful to your business. People want to know that you care!

Realize That It's Called SOCIAL For A Reason
This goes hand in hand with the previous statement. You must interact with your audience.



Sources:
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/print-edition/2011/11/18/social-media-marketing-builds-brand.html?page=all

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Assignment Week #1

Summary:

What I found about social media marketing is that it's a good way to network your business or anything you want. The good thing about social media marketing is that you have the potential to reach a lot of people. SMM can be used effectively to promote your business or personal endeavors. I do blog and web design. I also work with a lot of independent authors. Their main source of getting their books out to the public is through use of blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook. For them specifically, this is a great way to promote their works because they can network with other authors, who have authors and fans on their social networking sites. This creates a web of people that could potentially buy, read their book, and review it for others to read.

Some examples of how organizations use social media for marketing - your thoughts on the examples - Do you the organizations are effective in their use of Social Media? not effective? why?:

A prime example I can personally use is a company based in Texas that I did a business logo for. The company uses Facebook to promote their business(http://www.facebook.com/BarBSkew. When they first started using their Facebook, they were hardly updating it and they weren't promoting themselves enough on there. They saw it as secondary to traditional marketing. Once they started updating more and posting more about their business, they got more likes. I believe that if they updated more and offered coupons and discounts on their Facebook, they would be able to have people come back rather than just stopping in once because they were asked to. I think that is power of social networking. It's not just word of mouth anymore. Many people can access information about your business at the click of a button.


Sources:

http://mashable.com/2009/10/28/small-business-marketing/
http://www.socialquickstarter.com/content/1-why_social_media_marketing