Sam Strieter BIS 315

Marketing & Applied Business Communications Student | Central Michigan University

[samstrieter-blog]

Throughout the semester, I have gained a lot of knowledge and insight about marketing through my classes as well as my internship. If I could pull one thing away from writing this blog it would be this: EVERYTHING IS MARKETING.

Marketing is everywhere whether you realize it or not. The sunscreen does not move to the front of convenience stores every summer by chance, artists do not attend press events just because they want to. It all cycles back to marketing.

It is so important to find a strategy that works for your company and not falling into a routine--especially when using the powerful tool of social media. Messages can now reach millions of people within seconds, so you can’t just lump and dump information into a post and pray that it reaches the right audience. Marketing can be an amazing thing for even small companies if executed correctly.

[samstrieter-blog]

Consulting Advice Plans

Check out our group’s presentation if you missed it in class today! Underwater Antics was a great company to work with. Us as students as well as the business owners gained a ton from the project. This was a great way for them to get their name out, and we learned a lot and now have new professional contacts.

I would give the Try Scuba course five stars! If interested in diving, head to their website for more details. Also, my group mates and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have!

http://www.uwantics.com/

[borislavkiprin]

The anatomy of the perfect Instagram post

[ayeshaambreen]

Balance Your Media Diet!

Practicing good nutrition keeps your mind sharp, your body fit, and your life long. The same could be said for consuming media. (Seriously, knowledge is power.) When you add it all up, the average American spends roughly nine hours a day glued to some kind of screen, and like your diet, quality is as important as quantity. Here are some suggestions servings for optimal media health.

[samstrieter-blog]

It is crazy to think that we spend an average of 9 HOURS per day occupied by technology and social media. We are becoming less connected with other people and our surroundings because of this “media diet” we have all gotten accustomed to.

During these 9 hours, we spend about 1.25 hours on social media, making for a smaller window for social media marketers to grab the attention of scrollers. That being said, marketers need to be strategic about what, when, and where they are posting in order to trigger consumer interest and engagement.

[gyparakismanos]

Facebook foresees the future of mobile advertising

[samstrieter-blog]

A Marketer’s Favorite Holiday

More and more marketers are taking advantage of April Fools Day each year (for good reason). Many companies are jumping on the viral advertising bandwagon and pranking followers and customers online to gain media attention--and it works!

Over the weekend, several huge companies like Netflix, Apple Music, Google, and H&M participated and (in most cases) hilarity ensued.

This Forbes article gives their take on the good, the bad, and the ugly (sorry Google mic drop) online pranks that took place on April 1st. Read more to find out how John Stamos ruled Netflix for a day, and how a Minion GIF led to thousands of complaints and an apology from Google.

Read more here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/keithwagstaff/2016/04/01/april-fools-the-best-pranks-on-the-internet-for-2016/#5ce0388224a8

[analyticisms]

Nicely done infographic about Gen Z’s social media usage.

[samstrieter-blog]

I just found this infographic while scrolling through my news feed and found myself reluctant to take the time to read it all. Infographics are supposed to be short, sweet and easy to read in order to captivate viewers before moving on to the next post.

What are some other issues you find with this particular infographic? Would you take the time to decipher the meaning or scroll on?

[samstrieter-blog]

Accurate

[samstrieter-blog]

As entertaining as social media is, we still need to make time to engage with others face-to-face. Do you know someone who has lost touch with reality and has become a social zombie?

[evellynnee-blog]

Content Marketing: 5 Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

Your brand may face some hits and misses when it comes to content marking. Some strategies may work, while others may not.  When it comes to content strategy, many brands do not realize the mistakes they are making until it’s too late.  They invest all their time and resources, only to lose it all because they failed to develop a good content strategy to market their content.  The better you are at developing great content, the easier it is to build an audience that would engage with your brand.  

It is easy for brand to make mistakes when it comes to content marketing. Here are the 5 common content marketing mistakes  according to Content Marketing Institute.

Mistake #1: You give up

As Joe Pulizzi said, “Content marketing doesn’t usually fail because of content quality. The main reason is because it’s inconsistent or it stops.”

Many brands trash their content marketing after several months into them.  Main reason is because content marketing takes too much time and effort.  Most importantly, it does not drive any traffic.  What brands do not realize is that it takes time to build your audience.  Content marketing is not designed to drive traffic immediately.  Content marketing is long-term with continuous engagement.

Mistake #2: You are focusing on quantity, not quality

Like I mention in my previous post, content marketing is about quality not quantity. Brands tend to focus on everything else except the quality of the content.  There a lot of options on creating high quality content.  Digital marketing expert Sam Ovens revealed that many brands fail to make contents that solves a problem. Brands tends to create content for the sakes of creating content instead of achieving their content marketing goals and objectives.  

Many brands mistaken that the more content you publish the higher search engine will rank your website.  Although it is true that Google loves fresh content, it cares more about the quality of the content.  Google will likely to send traffic your way if your updating reliable and valuable content.  Here are some tips that would catch the eye of Google:

Posting unique contents

Do not duplicate your content.

Use relevant keywords, but don’t overuse them.  

Make sure your website doesn’t load slow.  

Make your website easier to navigate by adding a sitemap.    

Don’t overwhelm your audience with affiliate links or ads.  

Create content that is relevant and trustworthy.  

Include helpful features like takeaways, key data, explanations, videos, or images.

Mistake # 3: You aren’t marketing your content

Brands often forget the importance of sharing their content.  You can not build audience unless you are sharing your content.  There are 4 ways that can build your audience.  

One way is by asking your brand’s influencer to promote your content. Their followers are likely to respond by taking action and spreading your brand out.

Second is to activate your followers and subscribers.  You want to get your audience to be excited about your content so that they would share it to their social circle.  

Another way is to create Google AdWords campaign.  If your brand is still new, the best option is to pay for you content to be visible. 

Lastly, share your content on social media.  Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram allows audience to easily share your content.    

Mistake No. 4: Your offerings have become passé

Brands tends to use the same type of content strategy, and that can get old.  You want to create content that is unique, something that will attract your audience.  If you are only blogging and publishing articles, you should be thinking outside the box.  Start using visuals like videos and infographic to catch the eye of potential and current audience.  In addition, you should be creating conversations with your audience and offering a glimpse behind the scenes of your brand.    

Mistake No. 5: Your storytelling leads to a dead end

What brands fails to do is including call to action.  The best way to build loyal and engaging customer is to asking your audience to take action.  You can simply ask your audience to sign up for your mailing list, visit your website, and asking them to follow you on social media.    

In conclusion, content marketing is a long-term commitment, not a campaign. Don’t give up thinking that it’s not helping your brand; give it some time.  If your current strategy isn’t working, try a different strategy.  Focus more on creating great content, instead of coming out with content that aren’t valuable and unique to the audience.  Make sure that your promoting your content, otherwise your content would be a waste.  Lastly, create content that would drive audience to want to engage with your brand.  

[samstrieter-blog]

My bosses recently returned from one of the largest social media conferences in the United States held at Disney World in Florida. Our staff meeting this past Monday was full of advice and insight they had learned from the conference.

The single most important piece of advice they were given at the meeting was number two on this list--it is all about QUALITY of the content you are sharing. If you post multiple times a week about nothing in particular, your audience will not engage with you and may even be tempted to unfollow you. To be successful online, you must focus on what your audience cares about.

On another note, they told us the next most important thing to focus on is VIDEO. Without video, you will not be as popular in today’s society. Any video has the potential to go viral, but the content has to be there.

For instance, at the conference, they shared a video advertisement for Kleenex, which had the entire room on the brink of tears. Since this was a social media based conference, all in attendance took to their Twitter feeds and Facebook posts to talk about the touching ad. A great example of seizing an opportunity was this: Kleenex caught wind of the conference based on the number of shout outs they were receiving, and the very next day, Kleenex company bought out all local stores in order to ship Kleenex brand tissues to the hundreds of people attending the lecture.

In business marketing, it is vital to take each and every small opportunity you can grasp to get your name or message out.

[evellynnee-blog]

5 Quick Tips For Designing Better Infographics!

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Does your business have a lot of important data and statistics to share with the public? With new technology, our attention spans have drastically shortened, so listing them all in a document is no longer an effective option.

Consider these simple tips on creating an eye-catching infographic. Most importantly-- keep it simple!

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Do you think these are accurate representations of current and older social media platforms?

Are you guilty of snap chatting at the gym? Will anyone ever outdo the “Granddaddy of Video Content?”

[digmarnews]

Setting Local SEO Expectations: 3 Points To Hit Early And Often http://ift.tt/1Q42FlR

[samstrieter-blog]

This article provides realistic and helpful expectations for businesses who are engaging in Search Engine Optimization. Not only do you need to set your business up for success using SEO, but the read stresses that this is not a “set it and forget it” type of scenario. SEO is constantly changing, therefore, we must always be updating our sites and making sure our marketing campaigns remain relevant.

This is an important article for my group in particular. We are working with the business owners of Underwater Antics in Midland, a scuba shop who is having a little trouble with their online presence. One of the top issues we will be focusing on working through with them is SEO. When you type their company into the Google search engine, their site does not automatically stand out at the top--it is about four links down. Since we are a generation that has attention spans shorter than those of a goldfish, we expect their site to pop up first and immediately, otherwise we will be moving on to their competitors who may be more convenient to access.

[1stinseo]

“Our social tools are not an improvement to modern society, they are a challenge to it.” ― Clay Shirky

[letmeconfideinyou]

http://www.vanityfair.fr/culture/livre/articles/generation-wuss-by-bret-easton-ellis/15837

[samstrieter-blog]

Social media marketing is constantly evolving, but the Millennial generation may be a cause for drastically sugar coating and altering messages shared on viral marketing platforms like Facebook and Twitter. In the article (link provided) “Generation Wuss” by Bret Easton Ellis, 51 year old author of American Psycho, is deeply transparent with people born after 1989. Ellis highlights in his story just how dependent Millennials are on technology and materialistic items as well as how much we crave feedback and compliments but cannot handle criticism.

We have become a society that sits in front of a computer screen waiting to jump at a statement they can justify being offended by. Politics, religion, gender, race, occupation--all of these topics are huge. So how does this impact the world of social media marketing? It impacts us in every way possible. To avoid hurting feelings or stepping on toes, our messages must be filtered until they have almost no humor or room for interpretation. Since these messages have the ability to reach mass amounts of people, the chances of one person or several misinterpreting a message are great. Once one person grabs onto the negativity, others can chime in on why it is an offensive post as well, potentially snowballing into a huge mess for the company. As marketers, we must now be extremely careful in today’s society because of this heightened sensitivity in the media.

[samstrieter-blog]

Social media is the ultimate equalizer. It gives a voice and platform to anyone willing to engage.

Amy Jo Martin

[eugenedumanskiy]

The Power of Hashtags in SMM

[samstrieter-blog]

Taking the time to read over this infographic about the importance and development of hashtags could be extremely beneficial for your business. Over the last few days, my Social Media class learned just how powerful hashtags can be at a competition held at Central Michigan University.

Twenty teams competed in an event in which they played a game designed to simulate real-life business scenarios using SAP technology. Each of these teams was assigned a social media representative who was to live tweet the event from the team’s point of view, many being from my class. About mid-way through the all day competition, we noticed that our designated hashtag (#cmuERPsim2016) was “trending” on a national scale. With just over 20 individuals sending out messages to a Twitter feed, we were able to spread our words and communicate messages across the nation at a high popularity level, which was really cool to witness.

Hashtags are important when it comes to making a larger impact-- the more interesting or catchy the hashtag is, the more you will likely see it being repeated by others involved with the event. During a meeting with my on-campus registered student organization last week, we discussed what hashtags we could use to spread the word to students about a fast-approaching spring concert. After brainstorming and voting, we were able to produce two catchy tags for our event that college students will want to talk about and involve themselves with.

In order to utilize social media to its fullest capacity, hashtags are an absolute must. With great hashtags comes an immense amount of power if implemented correctly.