Week 6: Setting up a FaceBook Business Page

1.      Define the difference between post reach and post engagement.

Post reach is how many people have seen your posts in a newsfeed. It’s doesn’t mean they have engaged in anyway shape or form. Just simply “viewed”.

Post engagement calculates when someone has clicked, viewed, clicked like, or commented. Basically any “engagement” what so ever with a post.

2.      Why is knowing the difference important?

It is important to know the difference between post engagement and post reach because you need to know what your conversion rate is with your posts.

It will let you know what is working for your audience and what isn’t. You don’t want people just to see your post but you also need engagement.

3.      After defining the terms, describe how a business can use Facebook Insights to better serve their customers.

Facebook Insights allows you to see number of likes, how many people are talking about your page and how may people you are reaching and page views.  It will also see what the best time of day to post the best day of the week and what kind of content that is popular.

All this information is important so you know what to post to keep your followers engaged. It would also not be a good idea to post in at 10:00pm when most people are sleeping. Having the insights activated on your page will help you know the post times to post.

Week 5: Post 2

TARGETS: 

I would like my target market to be the owners of HVAC, plumbing, electrical, landscape and construction companies. 

I would like to target them because they are small business owners who can gain from using my “timeblocks” since most can’t afford to pay their employees all year round. 

They also don’t have much in the way of social media and some don’t even have a website.  

Week 5: Post 1

I first decided to review https://www.armstronggarden.com/

The very first things I noticed was the over whelming amount of flowers that were all over the first page and the second thing I noticed was the older lady on the left-hand side of the page. This gave me an initial impression that they are trying to target an older demographic of people. Older lady = older customers. This makes sense that they would want this because someone who gardens usually has more time. People with more time are usually retired people. I love gardening, but let’s face it, I have zero time to garden. The closet to a garden that I have come is in a window seal that is 8x12 space.

This site isn’t new or fresh looking but looks to be dated, I am wondering if this is done on purpose to appeal to the older generations.

They had an “advice” page which also told me that they may be targeting people who have time to read and research. Again, these may be an older demographic.

They also have “gardening” classes. I am sounding like a broken record, but the older community would have time for these classes. I would also think that stay at home moms would also be able to attend but it doesn’t seem to be a website for a younger demographic.

The second website I reviewed was https://discovermyrtlecreek.com/

Myrtle Creek was very different from Armstrong as it didn’t feel as if they were selling something but rather offering an experience. Their content seemed more geared toward an outdoors demographic. People who have kids can come here since one of their main focuses is the botanical gardens. They have animals on their site which tells me this is a great place for a mother to bring her kids. In the events page there are kid friendly themes, such as, Tinker Bell and The Curious Garden” and several events that picture people in their 30 to 40 with families.

The other demographic would also be the locals who are interested in buying/dining local since there is also a restaurant.

These are two notably different companies as one has more of a store feel and they the other has more of an attraction/event venue. Armstrong is targeting an older crowd and Myrtle is targeting families and the local community.

Armstrong draws in an older crowd with their color theme choice on their site and with the photos of older people. Their message is more of “come here and get everything you need for your projects” and Myrtle Creek is drawing in families with their photos of children and families. Their message seems to be one of, “come here, shop and relax”.

Both sites had their social media links up to date and seem to be fairly active on each of their social media platforms.

Week 4: Blog 2. Aesthetics, Design, and Branding

My two favorite sites: 

www.Lacantina.com

This is a site that I visit frequently for two of my clients.  I must pull information from their site since it’s a manufacture that they use.

I like the number of photos on the La Cantina Website and the clarity of each one. I have been to sites where the photos are low resolution and its similar to a house you are buying with the paint job is bad.

I like their use of all the social links. Each one is active, and they have most of the popular social media links.  

I like the interactive videos, this helps consumers when they need some guidance and from what I have seen, not many of their competitors have it.

I don’t feel overwhelmed even though their site holds of lot of content. I feel like they organized everything perfectly and they are giving you a guided tour throughout the site.

www.apple.com

As I have mentioned, I am not an Apple user, but I do appreciate their site and marketing magnificence that goes into everything they do.

I love the clarity of their photos, the colors that they use and the size of their photos. I haven’t seen many websites like Apple where the images pop out like 3D and I believe that it’s apart of the appeal.

 I like their simple, clean-cut logo that isn’t overwhelming.

I like that their content is always fresh and updated. Seems like they are always changing the first page, which is a brilliant idea.

Their menu bar is very simplistic, which is important for a not so simplistic company, so I also think that is neat.

I like that they don’t use a lot of content and the pages that they do have content on, are most likely at 1^st grade reading level which relaxes the brain when you don’t have to put hard work into buying your item.

Week 4: Blog 1. Aesthetics, Design, and Branding

Below are the 4 sites that I evaluated and let me preface this by saying I could not have done any better than the websites below. 

http://gatesnfences.com/

One of the things that I liked about this site was that it had a lot of links on the left-hand side that provided you with over 20 links to photos of all their product lines. I am happy to know I will be able to view all their products.

Their contact information was right at top, which is very helpful when it’s time to buy.

They had real images of their work and that is important when making such a hefty purchase. Gates are like marriages, FOREVER. Scary, I know.

There is no social media icon links on their site. So there is no way for me to quickly see what people have said without going hard detective on them through the BBB.

I disliked the alignment of their company name on the left hand-side. This site had a major lack in branding. There business name was positioned on the left-hand side, which was good, but I just would like it to be separated from the other content. I feel bad talking about this website because it seems like someone did the coding for the first time.  

I also dislike the floating credit card logo that says, “buy now”. Purchasing a gate for a home is a costly purchase and there is no way I would be able to decide from one visit to a site just because a button popped up. However, if I was on amazon and buying something for $20.00 then the “buy now” feature may influence me, but for this product I feel like it doesn’t do anything but look tacky.

I love the links on the left-hand side because the information it holds is necessary for me to make an informed decision but there are too many and I feel a bit overwhelmed. Sort of like when I go to Costco and see all the overwhelming aisles filled with goods.  

In conclusion, I do not like the aesthetics, design or branding of this page.

https://www.nps.gov/index.htm

I liked this page. Aesthetically, it was easy on the eyes. The layout is easy to navigate so I can locate what I need to find with a page that has the potential to be overwhelming. However, their page is not overwhelming. 

They placed a “find a park” drop down menu and that was the winning ticket for me. Now I feel like they are helping me find what I need.  

I didn’t care for having to scroll down, that always makes me feel overwhelmed with too much information.

The man on the right-hand side was cut off in the photo so I didn’t care for that. I also would place the “Explore the wilderness” to the left or in the middle.

I would have liked to see their social media icons at the top of the page but they were located at the bottom.

I would’ve liked their logo to be bigger for branding purposes, I couldn’t see the writing on the logo. I understand it’s a National Park service, but I would’ve liked it to stand out more.

Aesthetics, design are a 6 out of a 10 and branding is about a 3.

http://jamilin.com/

I can’t even with this page. I tried but my ADHD went on high alert and we are super overwhelmed. There are ads to the right, but some aren’t ads and is the actual website content and it makes me question my intelligence because I can’t figure out what’s what.

Let me act a bit more positive for a second, I like that she had a video on the first page. I do think marketing is going towards video content and so this was nice to see that she is on top of it.

However, her photos are mixed together on the banner and I can’t figure out what’s going on there either. I don’t know if the banner is ads, mixed in with the website owner’s content? I am not sure. It’s overwhelming and saturated with content that is helpful and some I can’t sort out.

There seems to be a lack of branding because I can’t find the business name or the main product/service being sold. I have a few ideas of what’s being sold so I am going to evaluate it further to see.

After looking over her website a bit longer, she appears to offer a multitude of services and a bit of products. Unfortunately, this isn’t good for branding when you have too many services mixed up in the pot.

She doesn’t have all her social media links up. She has one link that says it’s for Facebook, Youtube and Twitter but when you click on it, it will take you to her Facebook page only.

In conclusion, I do not like the aesthetics, too many colors and photos all meshed together.  The design is too busy and there is not much in the way of branding on this page.

https://www.apple.com/

I am not an Apple fan. I know a lot of you will hate me for this, but it’s a fact. However, I find their website and everything they do marketing wise to be beautiful and magical. 

Aesthetically speaking, I would marry their site if I could. It cool and crisp and not easy to navigate. They have followed all the C.R.A.P. and applied it to their site. 

Their use of colors are relaxing and their product photos are like art work. I want to buy everything on the site because of their layout. I can focus on one product at a time and colors of the product pop out and I don’t even know how they got so much clarity in one space.

I would have liked the pages to be shorter, because as I have mentioned previously, I get bored quickly, so I am not good at scrolling down any further. Some of the pages hold a lot of content but Apple is a monster, so I am sure that this is necessary.

Their branding is amazing, they don’t even need to put their business name “Apple” on the first page because their icon has branded itself in such a way when you see the apple icon you know it’s APPLE.

I would have liked to see the social media icon links on the first page, but I assume they said “we are Apple, we don’t even need social media” and they wouldn’t be wrong.

Aesthetics, design and branding are an A. They have poured the big money into the business and it shows.

Blog Post 3 Part 2.

1      Loewen Window and Doors

                                 i.            https://www.loewen.com/

                               ii.            Platforms: Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram

                             iii.            Last Post: Facebook: 16 hours ago Linkedin: 16 hours ago Instagram: 16 hours ago

                             iv.            I do like their content on their social media and the use of their photos and hashtags. I would’ve liked to see more social media links; such as, Pintrest.

2.       Western Window Systems

                                 i.            https://westernwindowsystems.com/

                               ii.            Platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram

                             iii.            Last Post: Facebook: 3 hours ago Twitter: 3 days ago Pintrest: 3 hours YouTube: 4 weeks ago LinkedIn: 3 hours ago Instagram: 1 day ago

                             iv.            They have a good social media presence however, I am not impressed with their content and photos. The photos are low quality and they don’t have much in the way of hashtags.  

3.       Weathershield

                                 i.            https://www.weathershield.com/

                               ii.            Platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, Instagram

                             iii.            Last Post: Facebook: Yesterday Twitter: Yesterday Pintrest: Yesterday Instagram:  Yesterday

                             iv.            I liked that they have a social media presence, content and the photos are aesthetically pleasing.

4.       Arcadia

                                 i.            https://www.arcadiainc.com/products/windows

                               ii.            Platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn

                             iii.            Last Post: Facebook: 2015 Instagram: 0 posts Twitter: 0 posts LinkedIn: 0 posts

                             iv.            They do not have a social media presence. They have created the accounts but they have not posted in many years, if at all. When looking at their social media, I wondered if they were still in business.

5.       La Cantina Windows and Door

                                 i.            http://www.lacantinadoors.com/

                               ii.            Platforms: Insta, facebook, Youtube, Pintrest, Google Plus, LinkedIn, Twitter on a constant bases

                             iii.            Last post: Insta, Pintrest and Facebook was 6 hours prior, Youtube: 6 months ago, LinkedIn: 1 week ago Twitter: 7 hours, Google Plus:  7 hours ago

                             iv.            Their social media is amazing, they are up to date with all forms of social media platforms. They have amazing photographs and their information is relative. I am really impressed.

After analyzing all 5 of the business I have gathered a few observations that have helped me to further understand why social media and the way we manage it, is important.

I realized that content is very important when it comes to your social media platforms. The links and the hashtags and what you are saying is very important as well. On some of these websites I noticed that they didn’t articulate as well as their competitor. The photo and what it’s explaining, and the clarity of the photo is also imperative. One of the sites has low resolution photo and that stood out as a negative in my brain when I compared it to the high-resolution photos of their competitor.  When you have bad content, it reminds me of having a bad store front. You must make sure your store is clean, organized and looks pretty.

Presence is important because if you haven’t posted on your social media in while, it makes me questions whether you are a legitimate company and if you are still in business. It’s sad that business is this way, but social media plays such a huge part in business now a days. It’s a monster we can’t avoid if we want to be a successful business owner.  

The amount of social media platforms that a business has on their site is important. When I saw that La Cantina has almost every relative platform, it made me think that they really have their s*** together (or they just have a good marketing team) but either way, they are placing money into their business and this gave me a sense that they care. This also made me think that they have money and if they have money then this sends a message that they are success and must have good products. I am not saying that these are all facts, I am just giving my “at a quick glance” observation. It’s like looking a guy and at a quick glance, he may look unattractive but once you get to know him he may become more attractive. Quick glance isn’t everything, but it does count as your initial thought till proven otherwise.

I commented on the following posts

:

Bantle, Taylor

Dahmann Christian

Koo, Bonkun

Blog Post Week 3 Part 1.

Have you ever experienced difficulty communicating with a business?

I have experienced some difficulty communicating with a company who was a life insurance company and they did not answer their phone and no one responded via email. It was very frustrating since I was paying them an automatic payment each month. I ended up having contact a third party and I canceled the account all together.

Does social media make it easier to get noticed or get your problem solved?

Social media can make it easier to get noticed and can solve a problem, so both can happen at the same time. Social media does a great job of letting you get noticed by anyone whom you let into your social media world and the people you engage with. Good businesses keep in touch with their customers via social media and respond to the problems their audiences have and try to correct and appease their customers.

Have you ever had a positive experience communicating with a business through social media?

I recently had a positive experience on social media, I felt was a bit disingenuous, but positive still. I had bought a pair of workout pants from this online store and they wouldn’t exchange the pants, even though their size chart was incorrect. I fought with them over this for 2 weeks and they wouldn’t budge. So, one day, there I am scrolling through my Instagram one lonely, single, pathetic night, just me and my wine and I come across their stupid ad and all these comments about how great they are under it. So, I go on there and I comment “I wouldn’t reorder, size chart is incorrect, and they refuse to exchange”. Next thing you know, they reply to the comment saying they will exchange the pants and took care of the issue with no further questions. Thank my wine.

If it was your own business on social media, how would you respond to positive or negative comments?

With my business and other social media I have cared for on behalf of my clients, I respond with “the customer is always right” motto. “You’re wrong, nope your right” and “You’re right, yup you are right”.  If there is a negative comment, I thank them for their feedback and I try to make it better. We messed up your order, here’s a free order, we didn’t call you back, here’s 10 more calls and last, but not least, we were rude, let me tell you how amazing you are.  If the feedback is positive, I thank them and try to squeeze a review out of them.

Describe what made your experience negative or positive.

What makes my experience negative is not being heard and what makes my experience positive is being heard and validated. Just like being in a relationship, social media seems to be no different.  

Week 2: Posts I commented on

I commented on the following blogs:

• Taylor Bantle
• Bonkun Koo
• Vicki Mowery