Week 13 Part A: Online Advertising - Analysis of the Marketplace

Lately, my daily social media activities have been almost exclusively at Instagram. I believe their algorithm receives data not only from my navigation in their platform but also from mostly all other sources of navigation and online search. As such, the ads and sponsored posts that appear to me are somehow related to topics of my recent interest. There is customization to my individual preferences. It is natural that such ads have a high potential of being effective and get my engagement. It does feel intrusive at times and an invasion of my privacy. Another problem is that once you show interest in that subject, by clicking on the sponsored link, for example, more and more ads and posts from different sponsors are offered, which at a certain point can become quite annoying.

I think that the traditional media has lost a lot of its power. I barely watch TV and all my news reading is done online, where we can just ignore the ads posted. One exception is still YouTube or free news vehicles, like CNN. To watch their videos, we must wait until the sponsored ad is completed. This can be quite effective, if the message and images are done properly.

Week 12 Part B: Business Specific Tools

I commented on Christian’s, Jessica’s, Anthony’s and Dustin’s posts. 

All my classmates' comments have one thing in common; they all consider Google Applications as the tools that would be the most helpful for their business. It also applies to Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn as social media platforms, which allow their business to connect with potential clients and display their products and expertise through posts and videos. 

I think there are hundreds of online tools for business available on the internet. It is difficult for anyone who is not a technology professional to become familiar with so many alternatives. In the end, most owners and managers of small business companies rely on the most popular tools that are reliable and efficient: Google Applications, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Yelp. Some other popular platforms can be great for more specific target markets, like TikTok. There are also those web-based business tools that offer solutions in specific categories, such as: website building (WIX), marketing (Hootsuite), payment processing (PayPal), branding (Canva) and communication tools (Microsoft Teams).

Week 12 Part A: Using Business Specific Online Tools

In this post, I will try to summarize my findings in the research I did on some online tools for business specific purposes. I will divide it into two sections: the first with the tools that I am familiar with and/or I have already used it for my business or as a client of someone else’s business. Among those are LinkedIn, Google Business, Google Map, Yelp, BandCamp, Spotify and TikTok. The second section is about the other tools that are new to me and I had never heard about it before this class introduction. Snacknation, Meetup, SoundCloud, Reverb Nation and Twitch. 

I see Google Business/Google Map and Yelp as online tools that offer many features that are appropriate to my fictitious restaurant business. I know a few small business companies and service providers who rely on their numerous and highly rated Yelp reviews to reach their target audience. This is also true for the reviews posted on other retail online platforms such as Amazon, The Home Depot, TripAdvisor, Airbnb, VRBO and more. I personally do not use music stream tools. Commercial ads are usually displayed only at the free option accounts. I am not very enthusiastic about these platforms as a means to reach my customers and I do not see it as an important way to develop business connections.

 
Snacknation is in fact an online platform that delivers a mix of snacks and drinks direct to consumers in their offices and homes. They have a blog and there is a post with an article on some of the best online collaboration tools and software platforms for business teams to work together on projects from anywhere in the world. Some immense knowledge and information are available and surely can be a big help to the people who have small medium business. I especially like the information with pros and cons of each solution. I am familiar with the listed Google tools (Drive, Keep, Docs) as well as with Dropbox, Evernote, Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams. The majority of the other solutions would require more in depth analysis to understand its fit to the business.

Meetup is an app that encourages people to meet face-to-face. While it does host online events, it focuses on promoting events and groups in your community. I read a few Meetup reviews and it seems that it is still an excellent way to make new friends and experience fun events. Although some users have reported bad experiences in certain groups, it is important to define your exact location and select groups and activities that relate the most with you. Sign up for events that are realistic for your time-management. Join as many meetings as you like, but try not to over-commit. Meetup is also as safe as other social media websites, so long as you exercise caution when meeting with those you are connected to through the website. 

Week 11 Part B: Comments

I commented on Nicole’s and Christian's posts. We all have done some research on Twitter. A social media platform different from Facebook and Instagram. However, Twitter can be another great platform to interact with people online, and ultimately bring more traffic to your website. Twitter sounds like an underrated marketing online tool and is not used as often as the other more popular platforms. It does require some unique techniques to boost engagement and you must be aware to avoid or manage the risk of bad engagement.

Week 11 Part A: Marketing with Twitter, TikTok, Google for Business, LinkedIn, AI and more

Twitter:

Without any reasonable justification, I have always been reluctant to be part of Twitter. With so many other social media platforms already in use, I just did not join Twitter. With all the recent media coverage on its controversial acquisition by Elon Musk, I thought this exercise could be an opportunity to learn more about it. 

With 320M+ monthly active users, Twitter can be a powerful tool to raise awareness about any business, engage with customers and develop leads. Twitter is a place where users, and clients get to talk about a brand, also publicly, on their Twitter accounts. A Twitter presence is a great opportunity for brands to build solid relationships with their audience. Setting up a Twitter for Business profile is simple, but it needs to be used regularly to be most effective. 

In my research, I was initially surprised to know that the use of Hashtags, a practice that has now become very common to see on social networks like, Instagram and Facebook, has all started with Twitter. 

In theory, the purpose of Hashtags is to group same-topic conversations to help users find more content on topics that matter to them. Moreover, the easier they are to find, the more likely it is that people will engage with them. With Twitter, however, this is not necessarily right. According to a recent twitter engagement report, using hashtags does not appear to increase Twitter engagement. In fact, it turns out that the level of engagement goes down as the number of hashtags used goes up. Therefore, instead of using a ton of hashtags, the suggestion is to use relevant hashtags that the target audience is following. 

Another finding is on video, which is generally rated as one of the best formats to trigger engagement regardless of the social platform. Twitter, however, is not the best platform to post video content. There are technical limitations in terms of time duration, resolution and maximum frame rate per second (FPS) which can cause the video quality drop drastically. 

On the other hand, Twitter is an excellent platform to create GIFs - which are very short clips made of a series of images. GIFs are one of the best ways to grab the attention of one’s audience on social media nowadays: They are animated with movement. They are not as heavy as a video and they will load fast on mobile devices, even on a low signal. 

It seems that the ideal tweet length - those that generate the most engagement on the platform - is between 71 and 100 characters. If a link to the company’s website is included the ideal size is between 94 and 123 characters. 

Twitter is also seen as a vital marketing, customer care and market research tool that can provide valuable insights on every aspect of the business. The platform makes it easy for customers to reach out to brands and provide their feedback or ask for help. Brands can then use this as an opportunity to not only collect vital feedback to improve their products but also to deliver the support their customers need.

Week 10 Part A: Researching Email Marketing

In my fictitious health food restaurant, I would send a biweekly newsletter with suggestions of meals from our menu list, taking in consideration the time of the meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner and the four seasons of the year. Some specific offers would be designed to reduce product inventory or take a profit on food ingredients that were purchased at reduced prices. 

Randomly, I would also include coupons and discount campaigns. The email marketing would in fact be part of a loyalty program. Clients would sign up to the program, providing their email to receive our newsletter and special offers. Customers are always attracted to the idea of a bargain, which is a good way to convince customers to return.

Week 9: Blogs, Vlogs, Podcasts & Webinars, Adding Categories

I am a strong believer that using a Blog and a Vlog for any business can provide valuable content and information for visitors and potential customers. In my specific fictitious health food restaurant, informational posts with scientific based articles, interviews and wed presentations can work as an educational platform for visitors to learn all the benefits of a healthy diet.

Considering that our main ingredient – the tapioca flour made from the cassava root – is still not very popular in our target market, blogs and vlogs covering the attributes of this superfood and showing how it is cooked and prepared, would be crucial to reduce its remote recognition by the target public.

It can also function as a means of association of these diet benefits with our restaurant menu and the various options offered to achieve each individual nutrition goal. It creates the opportunity to increase sales with both existing and new clients.