Social Media Content Course Reflection

Social Media Content was an extension of the Intro to Social Media course I took last year. We dived deeper into the actual content with tools and strategies to create engaging content for all social media platforms. Here are three of my favorite topics from MNGT 139.

1) Other Ways to Make Money Online – In our Week 8 Module, we learned about various ways to make money online. We learned about making money on Pinterest, YouTube and creating stock photos to make a profit. Our assignment was to find multiple ways we can monetize our e-commerce website aside from selling products and services. While working on these assignments I learned more about affiliate and referral marketing.

2) Social Media Marketing Plan – I created two social media marketing plans this quarter – one for my SoMe project and Module 9. In the beginning of this program in my Intro to Social Media course, I created a Social Media Marketing Plan. I wasn’t 100% confident with my result. With dozens of social media templates out there how am I supposed to choose the best one? This quarter we went more in-depth into what makes an effective social media marketing plan. The time I put into creating these two social media plans was the experience I was looking for this quarter. I refined my goals and tactics, prioritized what was important and continually learn the more I do assignments where I put myself in the position of an actual small business.

3) White Papers – Our final module, week ten we’re learning about white papers. White Papers are written content bundled up in a pdf or word document providing valuable information to a niche audience in a particular industry. Be it internal or external. White Papers are becoming ubiquitous. Investing in quality White Papers can be the most useful lead magnet tool in your arsenal.

Learning about the other ways to make money online is helpful for my life because I don’t plan on going back to a regular job. I plan to perfect my skills in marketing and become MVP in whatever industry I choose. I love the autonomy. But I understand it’s gonna be a rough start, so learning about as many ways I can make money not only will help me financially, but it puts me in a “what’s next” mindset. Constantly looking for ways to make a profit is the kind of mentality that will open up doors to opportunities.

Social Media Plans and White Papers are helpful to learn because those will be essential parts of the work that I do. I will be creating social media plans for brands and businesses. The more I make, the better I get at crafting them and learning what’s most beneficial for the brand/business. White Papers especially are becoming more popular. Learning how to make a comprehensive White Paper will be another skill set I can add to my list that will help me in my Marketing journey.

Kalu Social Media Plan

Ways to Drive Traffic to the Website

1. Facebook posts- Upload bracelet and fashion photography to Facebook. Create graphic designs for Facebook posts promoting kalu bracelets. Use a software like UNBOUNCE to create a tailored landing page for a specific promotion on bracelets. Gradually unveil new bracelet styles to correlate with the seasons. Create short promotional videos for each new collection and upload native Facebook video post. Include the site link in the description with a CTA to check out our website for more colors/styles.
2. Create a Kalu NW Fashion Blog- Create and maintain a fashion blog on the kalu website. Aim for 2-4 blog posts per month. Blog topics can be fashion advice, style ideas, NW fashion, etc. Blog posts don’t have to be just written content. They can be photoshoot collections, videos, infographics. Blogs will target college students in the NW. Seek local aspiring writers, college students, and fashion bloggers and encourage guest posting! Guest writers can benefit from any exposure their blog posts bring. Investing in an online blogging community has the potential for mass digital reach, check out The Hundreds Blog. Find 2-5 bloggers who are willing to blog at least 1x a month, pay them per blog post to encourage quality and participation. Share blog posts on Facebook and Twitter. Monitor progress and make adjustments.
3. YouTube- Create short videos of behind the scenes in making custom plaques for customers. Encourage viewers to visit our website to see the rest of our works. Create photoshoot videos with local aspiring models. Interview local fashion boutiques and accessory brands about their company. Encourage viewers to visit our website to check out our fashion blog.

Four Ways to Monetize Your Website

1. Lead Magnet –  “Lead Magnet – noun – an irresistible bribe offering a specific chunk of value to a prospect in exchange for their contact information. The goal of the Lead Magnet is to maximize the number of targeted leads you are getting for an offer.”

The most common form of a lead magnet is an e-book; an informative document in PDF format. Usually offering industry insight and tailored to a specific niche. Lead Magnets add value to their audience through informing, establishing themselves as industry experts and collecting information such as emails to build their email list.

Identify a problem within your niche. Know the solution? Break it down into steps. Write a rough draft, rewrite and find a designer to create a cover for your e-book. Post it on social feeds and use it to promote your website, your business, and services.

2. Referral Marketing –  “Referral marketing is spreading the word about a product or service through a business’ existing customers, rather than traditional advertising.”

It’s encouraging your best customers to tell their friends and family about you, and offering an incentive. Reviews and social proof from others, let alone close friends have the most influence when it comes to driving new people to your services. Choose a referral program that turns customers into brand advocates. Customers can use a code to refer their loved ones to our products and get rewarded for it!

On the bottom of the site, there will be a link to our referral program like this…

Incentives can include discounts, gift cards, and special offers. Referral programs introduce your business to new audiences, reward current customers and drive traffic to your website. It’s a win-win-win!

Browse around for Referral Softwares like Ambassador to get you started.

3. Amazon Affiliate – “Affiliate marketing is a revenue-sharing venture between a website owner and an online merchant.”

Affiliate marketing can come in the form of blasting advertisements on your site, but depending on the incentive and how much traffic your website generates this may not be a viable route. You may only get 1-2 clicks the whole month and if you do your potentially leading your customers away from your business and to someone else’s.

Ads are also just plain tacky. I have my blinders on when it comes to these irrelevant ads. A better solution is using Amazon Affiliate to promote products YOU use and endorse. Use blogs or videos to review products and post the Amazon Affiliate link to the particular product. Post your reviews on every social platform you use to bring traffic back to your site.

“Writing for other websites within your chosen niche will help you build authority, and it’ll help you build backlinks. Backlinks from important websites will bring people directly to your site. At that point, you could advertise your specific goals and bring them into your campaign.” 

4. Membership Sites – Also known as subscriptions. Membership sites offer content, and people pay for it. These types of sites are ubiquitous in the personal development industry. Thought leaders offer premium content exclusively for site members. This can be exclusive events, advice, industry insights and products.

References

Lead Magnets | 9 Lead Magnet Ideas and Examples. (2014, July 09). Retrieved May 28, 2016, from http://www.digitalmarketer.com/lead-magnet-ideas-funnel/

Why Referral Marketing is Awesome [Infographic] – Word-of-Mouth and Referral Marketing Blog. (2013). Retrieved May 28, 2016, from http://www.referralcandy.com/blog/referral-marketing-awesome-infographic/

Referral Marketing | What is Referral Marketing? (n.d.). Retrieved May 28, 2016, from http://www.marketing-schools.org/types-of-marketing/referral-marketing.html

N. (2015, February 04). Affiliate Marketing for Beginners Guide – 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52VBLoghF68

What makes content, convincing? (TZOA)

TZOA is a wearable environmental tracker with internal sensors that measures air quality, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, ambient light and UV exposure. Compact, portable with a super sleek design, TZOA brings chic and innovation to the sustainability sector. TZOA comes with a mobile app that monitors results and gives feedback about the quality of the air you are breathing. TZOA devices across the world provide valuable information into a community map. Sort of like when Google Maps using the Google Van to take pictures across the world. Neat right?

Social media content can be entirely convincing, but when it comes to me making that purchase or giving my support it all comes down to the actual value. What TZOA represents are values that I deeply care about; innovation, sustainability and a way people can contribute to something bigger than themselves, to the greater good of humanity.

The type of content that TZOA, as well as plenty IndieGoGo and Kickstarter startups, do well are PROMOTIONAL VIDEOS. 

“..The right length for a YouTube video is exactly as long as it keeps people watching (shorter videos, around 5 minutes maximum seems to be a widely accepted limit..” (pg. 132)

Keep the content relevant and create with the web user in mind. This TZOA promotional video is interesting (cutting edge technology device that measures air quality) and persuasive – “Join a community of people standing together to build a cleaner and more beautiful world for generations to come.” At about 3 minutes this video is at a perfect length. It’s informative, has a powerful message and utilizes cinematography techniques effectively to connect with the audience.

Reference

Macarthy, A. (2016). 500 social media marketing tips: Essential advice, hints and strategy for business: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google , YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and More! (UPDATED FOR 2016). S.I.: CreateSpace.

 

4 Things You Can Do to Make Your Video Go Viral

1. Identify Your Theme – Hilarious, disgusting, shocking, endearing, inspiring, informative; what do these adjectives have in common? They’re incredibly, emotional. More-so these are the feelings that best describe some of the most viral videos we’ve come to adore (or find appalling).

The first step is identifying the emotion. Take into consideration your video objectives, your brand, and your target audience, to double-down on what content will make the most impact.

Extra emphasis on impact. The genius behind viral content is the way they tug onto the heartstrings of the human emotion, good or bad. But for the sake of marketing, you should always aim for positive association with your videos and brand.

“If your clip is emotive enough to want to pass it on to their friends, you’re definitely on the right path.” (p. 180)

2. Dissect Your Findings – Say you want to create a HILARIOUS viral video, think about the funniest content popular today. How about create a funky little dance? Dance memes are a part of youth culture and quickly finds itself into the mainstream. The dab, the running man, Harlem Shake, Whip, Nae-Nae – are all examples of videos you can study. Find the TOP 10 Funniest dance memes and take note on the lyrics, the moves, the catchiness of the tune.

How about a prank video? Find the top 10 funniest prank videos and take note of the location, the context of the skits and the acting. Or even a reaction video. You have the entire world for inspiration in the palm of your hands. All you have to do now is strategically gather the right influence for your video.

“To give you a good idea of where to begin your strategy, search YouTube for ‘Best Vine Compilations’ and you’ll find a huge pool of inspiration from which to garner your own ideas.” (p. 180)

3. Share, EVERYWHERE – My best bet is that you’re going to want to focus on YouTube. Make sure you strategically write your description and choose your tags for SEO optimization. Think of all the things people might search for when trying to find your video as well as other similar videos.

Then, post it on every social platform, site and digital community that comes to mind. Create a native upload onto Facebook so it auto-plays. Share it on Twitter and Instagram (choose the best section of the vid as a teaser with a link to the YouTube video if it’s longer than 30 seconds). Share on your blog and your website. BASICALLY, any of the links available when you click “Share” underneath the video.

Share onto Dailymotion, Vimeo, and even WORLDSTARHIPHOP.

“These sites may not have the massive popularity over YouTube, but it could be that your most lucrative customers only ever browse those video websites.” (p.145)

And when your views really start to rack up – send it to Ellen Degeneres.

4. Tru-View Video Ad –

“Try to keep your video ads relatively short – 90 seconds or less is a good target — long enough to formulate a compelling visual story, but not too long that viewers will get bored and skip past it.” (p.147)

Now it’s time to crank your exposure to the next level. Turn your viral video into a YouTube Video ad using Google AdWords Tru-View. Select your target demographics and select In-Stream Ad for your video to play in the intro or the middle of YouTube videos. The catch is you must captivate your audience in the first five seconds generally, to hook them to continue watching. Once they feel compelled they will head to your YouTube Channel and want to see what else you’ve got to offer. So have welcoming content for your new viewers and make a good first impression!

Reference

Macarthy, A. (2016). 500 social media marketing tips (UPDATED SPRING 2016). Lexington, KY: CreateSpace.

 

LinkedIn

Describe how you currently use Linkedin and why you think it’s helpful to your career, job or business.  

My priority for LinkedIn was to have a complete profile with up-to-date information and overall well-crafted presentation. I like to connect with friends, colleagues and people that I’ve met at networking events. I actually don’t attend too many networking events, but it’s an excellent way to stay connected and expand your professional network. Adding someone on Facebook tends to be reserved for friends and family, LinkedIn lets potential relationships/collaborations stay connected.

I went to Seattle Interactive Conference (SIC2015) where NW industry experts on marketing and technology gave presentations. I met some cool people there and added them to my LinkedIn circle.

Other than staying connected with friends and people I’ve met, I use LinkedIn to keep my finger on the pulse of multiple marketing industries. My priority right now is to complete my Social Media Marketing Program. I’m mindful of mine and others people time, so I won’t randomly connect with someone I don’t plan on meeting.

LinkedIn will be helpful when I obtain my Social Media Marketing Certificate and completed Professional Portfolio. I have job search notifications for social media marketing jobs. This Summer I plan to find an apprenticeship style or entry level social media marketing position to gain valuable real-world experience. Craigslist, Indeed, Monster are all popular but I will focus on more modern platforms like LinkedIn. I believe businesses looking for quality candidates will post onto LinkedIn jobs versus older platforms.

LinkedIn will also be helpful once I have 1-2 years of experience in digital marketing. I can showcase my publications and projects onto my profile. I’ll be open to collaborating with other creatives or doing projects with local business owners!

Graphic Design Concepts

Address why having some knowledge of graphic design concepts are helpful in creating social media content. 

Knowing the concepts of graphic design and how to manipulate visual elements to create attractive graphics is a surefire way to make your designs stand out. Whether it’s facebook, twitter, company websites – studies show that users engage more when there are images. Infographics combine pictures, numbers, words, and colors to articulate information better or to get their message across.

Graphic design plays an essential role in content marketing today. It’s highly unlikely you can run a successful business today, without using graphics to articulate your brand. Logos, banners, flyers, e-newsletters, Facebook posts – it’s everywhere. Ensuring you’re using best practices in graphic design means appealing,  impressive, engaging content and an outstanding representation of your brand.

Define and explain at least three concepts in graphic design & why the concept is helpful to know. 

Color – Elements like hue, shade, tint, contrast, saturation make up the variable qualities of a color. Colors incite emotion. People don’t often paint rooms solid RED, BLUE or BLACK for a reason. We usually expect our living spaces to incite feelings of tranquility, like white and lighter tones of pastel colors.

Red = Passion and romance

Navy = conservative, authority and trust.

Take advantage of color conventions to make sure you’re sending the right messages/emotions to your audience.

Shapes – Shapes have been around since the dawn of humanity – in our drawings, inventions and the world around us. Like colors, shapes communicate qualities that humans interpret subconsciously. Feelings of trust and security, tenseness and harmony. Utilizing shapes tied the message you want to get across will result in interest and curiosity from your audience.

Line – A line is a point from one end to another. Lines can emphasize a focus point, or lead the eyes another direction. Underlines can be used to draw attention to specific words. Lines combined with shapes can create unique, appealing content and a sense of harmony. Lines are an easy way to add life to marketing content for social media posts.

 

HTML

HTML is a coding language used to program webpages and applications. HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. HTML can be identified as combinations of letters, numbers and symbols carefully formulated to dictate specific outcomes. Right-clicking on any webpage and selecting “view source” will reveal the HTML source responsible for the websites components.

HTML to the internet is like The English language to the United States of America. HTML code is responsible for the UX and UI of what you see when you browse the internet. Coding is the practice used by programmers to which fuel innovation in the world of cyberspace.

While completing this module, I realized I’d been HTML coding since I was twelve years old. Before Facebook was the king of social, I had accounts on two popular social network/blog sites at the time – Myspace and Xanga. If you were part of this generation, you’d know that popularity contests were settled by who had the coolest layout. The way to change your layout was to copy the HTML layout code and paste into your backend profile editor.

Pretty soon I was playing around with the HTML, adjusting the code to change font sizes, colors, resize pictures, and learned basic tags, etc. If someone had a feature I liked on their Myspace or Xanga profile; I’d recall saying something like… “HeY, YuR RoTaTiNG BaNNeR oN YuR PRoFile.. SoOoOOO CooL! WhaT CoDe DiD Yu YouZ? PAycE OuT” (this was the language of the Xanga generation) and I’d use mix and match codes to get the layout I liked.

HTML can be helpful in creating social media content in a team environment. Understanding basic HTML means better communication with the web programmer on the team. Knowing HTML also allows me to make basic adjustments to websites, images and WordPress. Since this assignment I’ve been learning HTML basics through tutorial videos and practicing coding. I’m now convinced I want to invest some time to master a few code languages. Coding is in high-demand and is a great opportunity for me to challenge myself. Coding teaches critical thinking, data analysis – a fantastic skill to add to my digital arsenal.

 

 

Week #2 Blog post

Week 2 assignment – Edit an article from the web. – Excerpted from the NEW YORK Times. 

NO decision we make as Americans more dramatically affects the direction of our country than our choice for president. He or she is more than the manager of the executive branch, commander in chief or appointer of judges. The president reflects, but also helps define, our national values, priorities, and direction.

Bernie Sanders is boldly and fiercely addressing the biggest challenges facing our country.

He has…

• Opposed trade deals with nations that pay their workers as little as a dollar an hour.
• Passionately advocated for pivoting from fossil fuels to renewable energy to save our planet from global warming — the greatest threat facing humanity.
• Recognizes that to accomplish this; we must keep the vast bulk of the world’s fossil fuels in the ground.
• Been unflinching in taking on predatory lending, as well as the threats to our economy from high-risk strategies at our biggest banks.

Bernie is a determined leader in taking on the concentration of campaign cash from the mega-wealthy that is corrupting the vision of opportunity embedded in our Constitution.

His leadership on these issues and his willingness to fearlessly stand up to the powers that be have galvanized a grass-roots movement. People know that we don’t just need better policies, we need a wholesale rethinking of how our economy and our politics work, and for whom they work.

Special interests, aided by their political and judicial allies, have exercised an ever-tighter grip on our political system, from the rise of unlimited, secret campaign spending to a voter suppression movement.

We need urgency. We need big ideas. We need to rethink the status quo.

The first three words of the Constitution, in bold script, are “We the People.” The American story is a journey of continuous striving to realize more fully our founding principles of hope and opportunity for all.

It is time to recommit ourselves to that vision of a country that measures our nation’s success not at the boardroom table, but at kitchen tables across America. Bernie Sanders stands for that America, and so I stand with Bernie Sanders for president.

Reference

Merkley, J. (2016). Why I’m Supporting Bernie Sanders. Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/opinion/why-im-supporting-bernie-sanders.html?_r=0 

 

My Three Goals for MNGT 139 Social Media Content

1. “Examine differences between writing for print and writing for the web and produce effective and appropriate marketing content for both mediums.”

My #1 priority is to improve my writing skills. Throughout this program, I’ve come to terms with the ultimate power of persuasive writing. Customers are doing plenty of research about businesses before choosing their services or products. Poor writing can dissuade potential clients and portray a lack of credibility; which can be bad news for small businesses who don’t have experience with writing for the web. I’m interested in learning how to write in various tones and personalities to match their audience. Powerful writing is a dark force in the hands of fascist dictators or annoying advertisers, but a super power for the ones who serve the people.

2. “Research and discuss knowledge, skills and abilities required for professional positions in the fields of social media content and digital content creation.”

Within the next five years, I see myself as this Rockstar CMO of an organization that benefits those whom it serves. In crafting my master plan towards this vision, I find myself working backward. I study the top CMO’s of today and look into top marketing skills and abilities for 2016. Identifying the most sought after skills gives me a framework for these next few years. I’ll develop a plan and devote time every day to perfecting these skills. I love how this is one of the outcomes. It takes in-depth research and discussions for someone like myself to effectively plan this sort of roadmap.

3. “Evaluate and propose strategies for delivering effective marketing messages and business content for the web and social media channels.”

We’ve covered so many different strategies throughout this program; My first concern was how in the heck am I going to retain all of this information? But what it’s done so far is cultivated the “problem-solver” mentality inside of me. Asaph MacGyver. Putting myself in the shoes of actual brands gives me experience in content creation for multiple platforms. The diverse-rich world of business pushes me to think outside the box and pull lessons from the past, with the customer in mind. The marketing message must match the core values of the brand if they want to resonate with the people. The audience determines what channels, post frequency, tools and content. Every factor correlates with the other, and this process calls for critical thinking, intensive research, and decisiveness when proposing strategies.