During this semester I have learned
about some new social media sites as well as gained a deeper understanding of
some which I have used earlier. I have been using Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn
for some time. But Instagram and Twitter were new platforms for me. I also have
never written or read blogs before. I found it very useful to learn all the different
ways to post on Facebook. One thing I learned in this class that I find very handy
is creating polls on Facebook. I also find it quite helpful that I can create a
post on Facebook and with one click I can also make that post available on
Instagram and Twitter. I love Instagram for its simplicity. It is easy to
create posts there, with just couple of clicks I can upload photos from my phone.
We have learned about so many
good tools this semester, it is hard to decide what to choose, what is the best
option for my company. But I know, that I should focus on just a few tools,
otherwise I would quickly get overwhelmed. I think I would use Facebook as my
main social media site. There are two main reasons for that. First, it is still
the biggest social media site with the greatest number of users. And though the
younger generation is nowadays using many other social media sites, my target
market is still mainly using Facebook. The second reason is the diversity of
the possibilities that Facebook offers. You can post photos, videos, stories. You
can go live or post scheduled podcasts. You can create and advertise events.
And of course collect detailed user data analytics.
The other site I would like to
use is Instagram. Why, you ask? First, it is connected to Facebook, so it is
easy to share posts that are already on Facebook to Instagram. I know that only
sharing the same posts on both sites can become boring for my followers, but it
can be effective if used selectively. Second, it’s simple and clean design matches
with my own company’s design very well.
I would like to maintain a
regularly updated blog on my site. In the past, I saw writing blogs as an extra
hassle that is more trouble than it’s worth. In this past semester, I realized
that I quite enjoy writing blog posts. And I learned how valuable good, “evergreen”
blogs are for a company. So, from a sceptic, I turned into a true believer! I had a somewhat similar
experience with the newsletters. In the past I mainly received newsletter that,
after a short time, I found quite annoying. Too many emails with too little substance.
In this semester, I also learned that it doesn’t have to be that way. If I don’t
overdo it, and only create newsletters when I really have something useful to
share, this tool can become a great help to my company. For these reasons, I am
planning to have both a blog and a newsletter for my company.
Keeping all social media sites up
to date, varied, and interesting will take a good amount of my time, especially
because I am planning to start my business alone. I am planning to create at
least one blog post every month. I also would like to send out a newsletter about
once a month. On Facebook and Instagram, I think I need to post once or twice a
week to remain visible to my followers. All of these things will require 4 to 5
hours every week. I will need to create professional and exciting new pictures followed
by different types of posts every week. I will also have to reply to the different
comments on all my social media sites or on my blog, which will require some amount
of time every day. To create successful blog posts, first I will have to research
the subject I am writing about, then I will need to write the blog in a short
and sweet way with well-balanced keywords and valuable material.
If my business were already up
and running, for the next month, I would have the following schedule. On Facebook
I would have sales advertisements starting in the afternoon of the 12th
and the 19th of December, and running through the weekend. I chose Thursday
afternoon as a starting time for my sales ads because I think most people will
be doing their Holiday shopping from Friday to Sunday, so seeing my ads a day
earlier can help me catch the attention of my followers a day before they start
shopping. Both on Facebook and Instagram, every Monday and Wednesday until
Christmas, I would post pictures that reflect the Holiday spirit. I would post
a Christmas post on the 25th, and a New Year’s post on the 31st.
If I had a real business, I would have released a new blog post on the 1st
of December about how the Holidays are celebrated in Mexico. Along with that
blog post, I would have sent out my December newsletter, with information about
my Holiday sales, events I am attending, and my blog post. In the first week of
January I would post my next blog post which would be about a blue gemstones,
lapis lazuli – kind of in keeping with the winter theme. During this busy time
of the year, Facebook and Instagram will require at least 3 hours every week. I
will need about 5 hours to create each of my blogs, and about 2 hours for each
of my newsletters.
Its definitely smart to have those holiday timed posts like you mentioned. Its always a nice surprise when a relevant company is offering a nice promotion around those times that you can snag. It almost feels like a treat of sorts, especially when compared to the overflowing river of junk mail that we all get these days. Good luck with the future!
ReplyDeleteHi! I really like your thought process when scheduling your ads. I also schedule my ads with certain things in mind such as, not too many people are planning on getting haircuts Mondays or Tuesdays (except a few), these are our slow days, so this is why I start my ads on Wednesdays. I figure people are starting to plan their weekends on Wednesday. I have also noticed the most bookings on Wednesday so this is why I chose to start my ads then. Well, cheers to the end of the semester and it was a pleasure reading this blog post of yours.
ReplyDeleteKatalin, it sounds like you have a solid plan to use social media to promote your business. I felt the same about creating a blog. I found that I actually enjoyed it. However, I don't think it would be a good social platform for my business. Let me know when you're up and running. I work with a lot of event planners who rent my margarita machines for all kinds of events.
ReplyDeleteKatalin your post sounds amazing, your plan would work out nicely. I do believe it is a great idea to plan for holiday posts.
ReplyDeleteInteresting what you said about how the same post on different social media platforms would become boring for your followers. I hadn't thought about that and I agree with you that it can be effective if used selectively. I also think your monthly blog timing is a good amount, I agree sometimes it can be fun.
ReplyDelete