Reflecting on the Semester - Social Media Marketing

 

I have had my final Social Media Marketing class. I have presented my final project and have spent today studying for my final test. It’s hard to believe that my class is almost over. Looking back on the semester, I’ve learned a lot. I’m not sure what I expected to learn in this class, but what I did learn was so much better.

I want to share some of the biggest, most important things I learned while taking this class with you.

1.      Social media marketing is about marketing socially, not about marketing on social media. Social media provides you with a unique opportunity to connect with consumers and help them to develop a relationship with your company. Don’t squander the opportunity.

2.      Don’t let your accounts scream “ME ME ME!” No one wants to follow a brand that only talks about themselves. Retweet your followers. Follow other people. Respond to comments on Facebook. Encourage others to share content with you. Do whatever works best for your business, but most importantly be one of many contributors, not the only contributor.

3.      Know your audience. This may sound obvious, but it’s important to know who you’re talking to and how they use social media. Take some time to develop personas, figure out where your audience is, and determine how they use social media. If you’re targeting teenage boys, chances are you won’t find them on Pinterest.

4.      Have a strategy.  Just because your teenager is on Facebook all the time does not mean they know how to maximize it for your business. It’s easy to make big plans and dive into social media by creating lots of different accounts, but you have to have a strategy. Make a plan for connecting with your audience and for creating content. The more organized you are, the easier it will be for you to manage your social media efforts.

5.      Finally, never stop learning. Social media is constantly changing and evolving. Your social media marketing strategy needs to too.  Take the time to keep up with the social media changes and learn what’s new in social marketing. You don’t want to be left behind.

I hope that I’ve been able to share my new knowledge with you and that you have also learned something from this class. I plan to follow #5 and keep expanding my social marketing knowledge even though my class is finished. Who knows how social will change in the next few months?

Happy Marketing!



21 Types of Content We All Crave

 

Recently in class my professor shared with me a great infographic about the 21 types of content we all crave. As a consumer, it’s something I had never really thought about, but as I read through the list, I realized it was true. I wanted to share these content types with you and some examples of this content that I found on Facebook. Not all of the content is brand related, but hopefully it will give you some ideas for content for your business.

21 Types of Content We All Crave

1.      Content that reminds us life is short.

2.      Content that reminds us dreams can come true.

3.      Content that gives us faith to believe for bigger things.

4.      Content that reminds us that we matter.

5.      Content that reminds us of the overlooked or forgotten “basics.”

6.      Content that has unexpected twists.

7.      Content that tells us a story.

8.      Content that takes us along a journey.

9.      Content that inspires us to action.

10.  Content that makes us laugh or smile.

11.  Content that makes us cry (tears of joy or sadness).

12.  Content that reveals secrets.

13.  Content that surprises us.

14.  Content that encourages us to never give up.

15.  Content that reminds us that we are one-of-a-kind and encourages us to live that way.

16.  Content that reminds us that there’s more.

17.  Content that confirms our assumptions.

18.  Content that challenges our assumptions.

19.  Content that educates while entertaining us.

20.  Content where David defeats Goliath.

21.  Content that gives us a fresh point of view, even about common things.

There are so many examples of this type of content to choose from. Some content is more in-depth and complex than others. Some content is as simple as a picture. Here are some pictures of examples that I found from some well-known brands.

 

Here Nike surprises us (#13) by sharing a video about childhood obesity and reminds us that life is short (#1) by showing us what you could do with five years of your life.

 

Here ESPN reminds us of Hank Aaron’s historic homerun that made him the “Home Run King” and reminds us that dreams can come true (#2).
 

This story on Facebook about saving a humpback whale reminds us that we matter (#4) and we can make a difference.

 

Here the Academy of Country Music reminds us of the importance of sharing special moments with your loved ones (forgotten basics #5) with this picture of Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton from the 2013 ACM Awards.

 

 

 

Dove inspires us to let someone we know they are beautiful. (#9)

 

Home Depot makes us laugh with this April Fool’s Day joke about a Home Depot fragrance. (#10)

In this video, Publix reminds us of the importance of something as little as blowing out birthday candles and gives us a fresh perspective on this little act (#21).

 

So next time you’re looking to create great content for your business, think about these 21 types of content that we crave. Remember that your customers are human and you’ll benefit from showing them you know that.  Not every type of content will work for you and your business, but figure out what does and roll with it. It’s sure to please your followers.

 

 

 

Just Say No to Spam

 

Spam. We all hate it. It comes into our inbox with great subject lines like “Brittany Spears Weight Loss Program” and one of my personal favorites (and a recent visitor to my inbox) “Open Me.”

Emails like this are what first come to mind when you think of spam. But recently, with the advancement of marketing tools and social media, consumers are thinking of spam as more than just emails for diet pills and virus links. Consumers are starting to think of all of the marketing messages they are receiving as spam too.  

When people are receiving emails from your business every day or in some cases more than one email a day, they start to think of your emails as spam. Spam has spread and isn’t just for email anymore. Businesses are finding other ways to “spam” their followers on social media. Excessive direct messaging, unnecessarily repeated tweets, and begging consumers for likes and shares are annoying to consumers too. While self-promotion like this may seem like a good idea at the time, you don’t want to be that business. Sending out endless promotional emails and messages just makes consumers want to unsubscribe from your email list, un-follow you on Twitter, or un-like you on Facebook, probably the opposite of your goal. Remember that you want to position yourself as an expert to consumers and a business that is beneficial to them, a business they can learn from. Don’t make them think of you as spam.

So before you set up an email promoting your current sale to send to your entire email list for every day next week, think about how your customers will perceive you.  Take a moment to think about your next marketing move not as a marketer or business, but as a consumer. Would you be annoyed if a company sent this much information to you? Of course it’s okay to send out some promotional information, but make sure you don’t cross into spammer territory. In the long run, all it will do is hurt you.