Tuesday, September 11, 2012

The Value of a Linked In Profile


Linked In is a social media platform used for business professionals. I currently have a Linked In profile but I have not fully created my profile yet. I am waiting until I have a clear goal for the platform before I decide to use it to its full potential. I learned about Linked In from my social media class and am convinced of its usefulness. When I graduate and decide on a goal for the platform I will finish creating my profile and use it on a regular basis.

Multi-Generation



Today’s market is diverse in many different aspects. An aspect that can prove to be difficult to sift through is age. In order to understand a particular generation a person needs to learn the views that the generation shares. Interviewing a person is one way to get to know their views and how those views differ from the views of other generations. When implementing a social media strategy it is important to understand what generations fall under the target market in order for that strategy to work.

Different generations vary on their views of social media. During my interview, I found out that the person I was interviewing had not yet used social media because they hadn’t deemed it useful enough to use yet. If they wanted to talk to someone, they would call them. The fact that there is an “interaction” without face-to-face communication seemed unfriendly and insincere in their view. Hearing each other’s’ voice, or seeing their face established a more intimate and friendly interaction then simply reading letters that someone typed without an investment in getting together to meet or call one another. My generation views social media differently, because we can see the sincerity in what someone typed and establish friendly interaction without talking or meeting in person. Another view is the internet is used for business. The person I interviewed is very active and views the internet as a place to shop, email employees, or to pay bills. Leisure activities are done with friends and family, away from the computer. This is very different from my generation. About half of my interaction with friends is online. I use the internet for both business and leisure activities. Whether it is video games, Skype, Facebook, or email I use these outlets more than I do my cell phone for friend and family interaction.

A challenge to social media strategies to market effectively to the generation of the person I interviewed is that most of them do not use social media as much as other generations. So the marketing has to be twice as effective in order to justify using social media.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Social Media Empowering Customers


Social media empowers consumers by giving them a voice. If I am contemplating buying a new product I know nothing about, I ask people I trust about it… but if they do not know where could I turn? Before social media, the next natural step may have been the store, but now a person could just look up what people are commenting about the product using Facebook. This empowers customers to give nonbiased feedback on products they have used and receive the same feedback to use for products they wish to learn more about. For example, this camera already is generating feedback from customers.
 
 

Online/Offline Media


In the case study, Case Study: ROI of Social Media Campaign for Sea World San Antonio – A Year Later*, Sea World’s online/offline social media campaign was explored. They used both online and offline activities. These activities proved successful by gaining lots of attention for their new ride (Journey to Atlantis), increase their revenue, calculate an ROI for their social media campaign, and they were about to gain valuable experience.


They used both online and offline activities in their campaign. Offline, they created an analysis of influential voices. This analysis found 22 coaster enthusiasts and they later used this information to target them to be used to promote their coaster. These enthusiasts used blogs and forums to discuss their passion of coasters. In order to direct their passion of coasters towards Sea World’s new ride, Sea World gave them special VIP access to the ride. This exclusive access generated buzz and increased the ride’s awareness. Online, they created a content rich website, deployed videos and photos (via YouTube, Flickr, Veoh), and created online surveys for their customers. These online and offline activities lead to their successful social media campaign.

-Sources

*http://overtonecomm.blogspot.com/2008/04/case-study-roi-of-social-media-campaign.html

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Marketing in Social Media


Marketing in Social Media

Marketing in social media can be very effective, but only if an organization has a plan.

I believe this statement.

Some outlets would have an organization believe that social media is 100 percent free. That benefiting from these sites and apps costs absolutely nothing, but they are forgetting the most precious resource:  time. Using these tools takes planning and implementation, just like any other marketing strategy. Sites must be updated and traffic must be tracked. Messages must be clearly understood.

Kimbarovsky suggests, in his article, that an organization begins by outlining clear goals for their social media marketing efforts and figuring out how they will measure success [1]. First thing’s first: a plan. There needs to be a reason for wanting to get involved with social media, but if an organization does not understand what their goals are they might not understand, realistically, what social media can do for them. In the article, “Beware Social Media Marketing Myths”, Marks mentions that it will be more beneficial to focus on a few sites rather than overextend an organization and not be fully updated on all of the social media sites/profiles used [2]. According to this statement, it is very important to know just how deep into social media an organization’s marketing strategy needs to go. If it only calls for a few sites, then trying to fit them "all" in could be very costly in the end. In Lake’s article, she suggests integrating social media with other marketing tools [3]. Providing links, surveys, coupons, or games could help with brand exposure and customer relationships.
Success can come from well designed social media strategies, but only if an organization is willing to take to time to utilize them.
Here are some youtube videos that give tips about social marketing.
 
 
Really helpful tip. Don't forget what happened to MySpace... Will it happen to Facebook next? Best to not risk it.

 
This video is a discussion panel about social media and its impact on the bottom line.
 
 
Source Cites:
 



Monday, May 28, 2012

NORTHWEST STUDY TOUR DAY 5


WASHINGTON GREEN SCHOOLS

Washington Green Schools works with schools to make them more sustainable. They are a non-profit organization that is supported by government agencies, individuals, businesses and foundations. The schools they work with choose a category and the organization helps them improve upon this category. Once the category that was chosen has been improved upon, the organization then asks the school to try the other categories. They also collect and organize the qualitative and quantitative data in order to compare the data gathered between school. Working with schools is a way for the organization to teach the kids about sustainability and hopefully those kids will be able to use this information at home.

NETWORK FOR BUSINESS INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY

Network for Business Innovation and Sustainability believes that business is how to influence sustainability on a mass level. The organization is a business friendly portal to help businesses become more sustainable. Their method is to appeal to capitalists by focusing on how sustainability can be profitable. They are also working with a company to design an information system that can help with GRI reporting.

FUTUREWISE

Futurewise is a public interest group that works to promote healthy communities and cities. This organization is against urban growth at an unreasonable speed. They work to protect farmland. They also believe that communities should be built for people and not for cars. They use lobbying to promote the protection against urban growth and make sure cities in Washington stay at a sustainable growth rate.

SOURCES:



PICS:
wagreenschools.org
betterworldtelecom.com
growingedge.com

NORTHWEST STUDY TOUR DAY 4


EARTH SHARE

Earth Share works with businesses on employee engagement, “green” project planning, donations to other non-profits, educating about other non-profits, and supporting local and national non-profit organizations. They focus on getting people excited about helping the environment. In order to partner with Earth Share a non-profit organization will need to be evaluated. Once a non-profit is partnered with Earth Share, they will be available to be promoted to Earth Share’s business partners. Earth Share’s model is to partner with businesses that are directly connected to philanthropy and give their employees options to which organization they would like to help. They ally businesses with non-profits that are committed to sustainability.

SUSTAINABLE SEATTLE

Sustainable Seattle works with the community to measure certain key indicators on the progress of sustainability. They are a community based organization. Compiling all of the indicators they create reports on the city’s indicators. The organization is working toward measuring the city’s happiness instead of just focusing on economic measures. They are currently working on measuring 9 domains of happiness. They use surveys and other means of measurement in order to gauge the city’s overall happiness. They also believe in citizens having equal access to the city’s resources. Not only currently, but also future citizens. Increasing awareness of sustainability is a way for them to increase sustainable practices and the efficient use of resources. They attempt to reach people that are not generally knowledgeable about sustainability.

ISLANDWOOD

Islandwood is a unique learning experience that focuses on teaching kids about the environment. Touring the facility is a wonderful way to really get an idea at the experience a child would get learning in this type of environment. Most of the teaching happens outside. The children pack a lunch and learn in the forest that surrounds the school. They are taught about the plant life and how plants can play a major role in some technologies. The students are taught about composting food, recycling, and even how to take samples from the environment. The samples are analyzed in the school and the students are taught about its significance.

MCKINSTRY INNOVATION CENTER

McKinstry Innovation Center is an incubator for cutting edge sustainable companies. The campus houses emerging green technology innovators to promote a creative environment. The new companies are encouraged to engage with one another. The center also is home to many events. Some of which are events that bring investors to the center. They also house non-profit organizations as well. McKinstry does not own the companies that are housed here. The companies that are allowed to stay here are evaluated and are given an office if they pass the evaluation. Companies are evaluated on their business plan and their growth potential.

SOURCES:


PICS:
nonprofitshoppingmall.com
green.autoblog.com
persimmonimages.com
xconomy.com