Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Week 17 - Final

  When I first signed up for this class, I thought I knew what it was going to be about and I honestly didn't think I would learn much.  I actually thought this would be my easiest class all semester.  I could not have been any more wrong.  I used to perceive social media as a brainless form of enjoyment for those who needed self reassurance but now, I see the depth and complexity of social media and it's true potential.
 
  From a business perspective, I thought besides using Facebook business page, there wasn't much social media involved.  Throughout the semester, we learned that several other social media platforms could be utilized to effectively operate a business.  I think that you really need to encompass multiple social media platforms in order to be successful. 

  One of the best aspects that I loved about this class was that we were actually allowed to create a mock business.  If at the very least, it allowed us to think about something that interested us and how we would run with it.  Some people from this class may stick with it to make it a reality.  For myself, I feel that there are too many factors to make Central Brew a real thing and a lot of market research would need to be done prior.

  I found that the overall utility of Instagram was way more than just posting selfies.  I never thought about it before but through the semester I analyzed how effective it could be.  Imagine that a single person has even 50 followers.  If they post a picture related to your business, then that's 50 more people who will at least see it and may repost.  It's like the pay it forward method where one person helps 10 people and then each of those 10 people help 10 more people and so forth.  Instagrams network is massive and I think more companies should take advantage of it.

  Overall, I really enjoyed this class and all it had to offer.  I saw the purpose of this blog which was to share our thoughts with classmates but it seemed to not relate as much to the actual business aspect of social media.  I would have liked to dive more into Instagram utility and even Twitter.  After our quick Twitter segment, I still feel like I didn't get much out of it and aside from product or business deal updates, it doesn't seem as powerful as facebook events or instagram posts.  I would have also liked to get more into utilizing Yelp since it is a form of social media and it directly relates to business and customer relations.

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Week16B: Blog responses

I was only able to comment on one blog post of my group because she was the only one that completed Week 16.

https://katchinupwithkatesaxecsit155fa19cf.blogspot.com/


Week 16A: Review

Over the course of this semester we talked about the different platforms of social medial that businesses can use and the utility of each. We learned that it's important to understand the customer in order to use social media to its full potential.  Aside from understanding the customer,  you have to understand your business.

I have enjoyed the exposure to certain features of social media that I have not previously used before.  I didn't even realize how useful the facebook business page was for businesses.  I haven't experimented with Twitter before but I found that I received a ton of notifications that seemed to be spam.  I honestly wasn't a fan of the fake tweets that were sent out but I'm sure there was way to block those.  For the business I created, I feel facebook would be a good "home" platform to use for the business but I believe Instagram would  be the most useful platform for advertising and gaining customer attention.  Coffee pictures mixed with a young target audience can create a wide exposure through the use of Instagram.  Having the customers share our goods would be free marketing that would reach similar members of the target audience.

I think a business should spend an hour or so daily on their social media to create efficient advertisements and to market the business.  Through the use of Google Analytics, a business is able to understand what attracts customers and can mold their marketing campaign based on that data.

Over the next month, I would continue to post events on the Facebook page.  Especially the holidays coming, there could be several themed events at Central Brew to draw in a crowd. Overall, just getting the word out of the coffee should should draw in a good customer base since it's getting colder.  I would also launch a holiday drink line which I would promote on both Facebook and Instagram.  Pictures on instagram would reach the most views of the two platforms and therefore should draw in more people.  To ensure the the word goes to as many people as possible, I would need to send out multiple ads every day which would take about an hour or two out of the day.  For the holiday season and the colder months, the goal would be to push sales as much as possible since this is the season for warm drinks. 

Week 15B: Review of analytics

After adding Google analytics,  the overall information received was zilch.  There has been zero traffic and therefore no data to report.  From this, I can see that the utility of the google analytics is really dependent on web traffic.  Even with a small sample size, the information received would not be very useful.  With higher web traffic,  I could see the usefulness of the tool.

The primary use would be understanding the traffic flow and what I can do to affect the flow rate.  If I were to create an ad and post it on Instagram, in theory I should see an increase in web traffic on my Facebook page.  Now after a week of the ad being posted I could refer to the google analytics page to see how it went.  Prior to this, I would have some sort of baseline for normal activity and I would see the delta after the ad post.  If I see that the traffic hasn't changed much, then I know I would need to adjust my ad or change the platform of its dispersal.  If I see that the web traffic has increased dramatically, then I would know that the ad deployment was a success and would continue to use it.

Week 15A: Intro to analytics

Google analytics is a great way to analyze the successful utility of ads.  It will help with overall traffic monitoring but I believe it's true potential is the evaluation of ad efficiency.  Checking the analytics of a web page regularly will help the business understand what is working and not working.  In doing so, the business will be able to understand the customer better by tuning ad's to what draws the attention of their customers.


Week 13B: Facebook Ads

In order to develop a solid ad for facebook, it should clearly appeal to the target audience.  There should be something to draw the attention of the customer.  In the case of Central Brew, using a picture of coffee or even a reference to a sale going on would entice people to click on the ad.  The ad itself shouldn't be overpowered with text.  The mission of the ad is to draw attention and redirect to the business. It's a given that most customers will only glance at an ad before slowing it or moving on and its within that two seconds that the ad must capture the attention.  

Instagram would be a much similar form of social media to incorporate ads. A quick picture that references the business with a large caption stating some sort of deal would instantly catch a customers attention.  From there, they can click on the picture to redirect to Central Brews facebook page or will get all the information they need from the picture description.  Overall this form of advertising would have minimal costs and with the large number of followers for each instagram account, the ad can easily reach a larger audience if properly deployed.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Week 13A: Online Advertising - Comparing Ads

  Social advertising is different across all businesses.  The large more established businesses like Starbucks utilize their larger capital to highlight the company.  In Yelp, you'll find them as the "star" business if you look up coffee shops which no only stands the location out on the map but also makes the business the number 1 on the list.  Smaller businesses like mine rely on saving as much revenue as possible by avoiding trying to compete with market giants such as Starbucks and using picture ads that show off the products.  I think it's safe to say that depending on the size of the business in terms of revenue will determine what type of advertising is chosen.

  The things that I tend to gravitate toward are usually pictures/videos.  Like everyone says, a picture is worth a thousand words and for ads that utilize text, I simply don't have the patience to read.  Instagram's fitness gear gets me every time because seeing the pictures of the products with fit people make want to get in shape.  So naturally, I click on the images to check out the products.  More recently, I was browsing instagram and an ad for black Friday electronics sale was showing and got me to click on it almost instantly. 

  Advertising through traditional methods just simply doesn't reach the same audience size as social media advertising. I know I personally haven't picked up newspaper since the early 2000's.  In my mail, I still receive ad mailers and coupons but I don't bother looking through them and it goes straight to the trash.  Social media allows ads to reach a larger audience, can repeatedly reach the same customer over and over, and can be a cheaper alternative than traditional.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Week 12B: Researching Other Online Tools

  My previous post mentioned that utilizing Yelp would be very beneficial to Central Brew.  By doing a quick search in Yelp of "coffee" within the San Marcos area, I can directly see my competition in the area.  In the same general area, I can easily see three other coffee shops.  The first one I see is Starbucks which is flagged as an ad in addition to the normal pin point.  From that, I can see the benefits of using money to have my location stick out from the rest of the points if people do Yelp searches.  Just glancing over, I can also see that they're ratings are low with only 72 reviews for 3.5/5 stars.  Another competitor in the area is Perks Coffee House which has 4 stars for 373 reviews.  Unfortunately, Yelp shows one blurb of a comment on the search page and this happens to talk about flies throughout the entire store. Had this review been for my business, I would have attempted to make a resolution immediately.  Now anyone looking for a coffee shop in the area will be turned away if they do not look further into the page.  The last coffee shop in the area is Duke's Hawaiian Coffee which only has 1 review and is 2/5 stars.  Clearly, they have not made an attempt to utilize  yelp to it's full potential and I would deem them as not a threat.

  Similar to Yelp, if you go to Google and search for a business in an area, business blurbs and ratings also pop up.  In t his case, I searched "coffee shops San Marcos" and really only one of the coffee shops mentioned above show up.  Perks Coffee House has 4.5/5 stars on Google for 228 reviews.  I personally use Yelp way more than the Google functions but for my business, it would be another way to get more details and customer feed back to allow me to adjust any issues I find.

  LinkedIn to me as always been a networking type social media and as an avid user, I don't see a draw for businesses to utilize aside from recruiting and getting their name out there.  For my business, I would not use LinkedIn as I feel it would be a waste of resources that I could be using to improve my customer interaction social media applications such as Facebook/Twitter.

Week 12A: Other Online Tools

  Aside from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, there are other methods of social media that could help with growing and maintaining my business.  For a coffee shop, Central Brew would definitely utilize Yelp to help get customer feedback and to promote our business.  Utilizing the "check in" function with deals will not only lure in new customers but repeat customers as well.  I know that when I go to my "go-to" Thai restaurant, I always make sure to check in to both show support and to get my free Thai iced coffee.  A similar strategy could also be used for Central Brew where we give a discounted or free drink with every check in.

  Yelp's best feature is the built in rating system.  The app allows users to giving ratings and post reviews of a business.  This allows for increased customer-business relationships and gives the business and idea of how they're currently doing. For Central Brew, we could not only acknowledge any customer issues but also keep an eye out for suggestions such as a type of coffee or ideas for an event.  The idea of utilizing Yelp is to give the customers a voice and for the business to be able to see both negatives and positives.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Week 11A: Newsletter Usage

For many coffee shops, the standard email news letter being sent out is usually a "Happy Birthday" email or even a promotion notification.  These newsletters come out every month or even quarterly.  For Central Brew, I think the best frequency of newsletters going out would definitely be monthly.  Anything less than that would be missed opportunities for attracting customer attention and anything more would be annoying and information would be redundant.  Of course a secondary email newsletter would go out to individuals on their birthday with a free drink coupon to hopefully bring in add-on sales.

Unlike most coffee shops, Central Brew does events throughout the year and deal days.  I think our newsletter wouldn't just be a promotion letter but instead, we would send out a monthly calendar.  This will have added benefits as it will let viewers know what events are coming up throughout the month such as Trivia Night or BOGO drink days.  Also, having a calendar would possibly lead to people wanting to remember certain dates and printing out the calendar to post on their fridge or at work.  This will increase visibility and act as a reminder everyday. 

-Calendar Events
-Promotions/Sales
-New Drinks
-Instagram picture of the month

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Week 10A - Blogging for Business

  A post, especially in terms of blogging, has a chance to create new connections and web traffic. The key is to appeal to the reader's interests and mindsets.  This would be similar to what is known as "click bait" which usually takes a picture and a few well picked words and plays on the viewers interests or curiosity.  This pulls the viewer into the author's web page which generates more traffic.  Now depending on the quality of the piece will determine if a bond is actually created between author and viewer.  The same can be said for posting a blog.  The post should be personalized and play to the emotions of the viewer. 

  To do so, the author could focus on creating a post revolving around a situation that they have gone through.  I find that Pinterest has pretty accurate examples of these type of posts.  Most people who frequent Pinterest are looking for ideas for DIY projects or recipes.  Many aren't contractors or chefs and they're looking for posts that come from average, non-experienced people. More often than not, there are tons of posts on "budget friendly" recipes or projects because they appeal to the masses.  People want to save money and seeing someone with equal experience pull something off really inspires them and causes them to share posts or revisit the page multiple times.

  For the most part, the posts should be able to relate to most viewers.  Sometimes, there simply isn't a need to personalize it as much.  Informative posts can have some personalized message however the point of it is actually to directly relay a fact or message.  This means that personalizing the post to play to the emotions of the viewer may distract from the message at hand.  This would typically be used more with news postings as they want to have a non-objective post to gain more repeat traffic.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Week 9B: Making the connection

The twitter page has been live for about a week now and we have made multiple tweets to let customers know about upcoming events and just to peek their interests.  We also wanted to start following people so utilizing the search function, we decided to look up CSUSM sponsored twitter pages.  We followed several of them which we hope will help us learn about student activities during the year so we can better gear our events to accommodate.  Hopefully if they follow us back, we'll also be able to draw in more customers.

We also began to utilize the list function of Twitter by making lists of potential customers and reviewers.  The reviewers were found by looking up "coffee shop reviewers" and "Boba reviewers".  For the potential customer list, we looked up "CSUSM" pages once again and will continue to probe people utilizing any boba or coffee hashtags in the North County San Diego region.

Our tweets will be posted in the evening to draw in our primary target audience of students.  Especially now when mid-terms are occurring, many will need the extra kick of caffeine to push through studying or just need a break.  The reason we target the later time frame is because after hours of studying, the students will lose focus and turn to their social media for relief.  They'll see our posts pop up in the most recent activity and will be intrigued by the coffee option.

Week9A: Sharing your thoughts

  Attention everyone! Central Brew is now on twitter, follow us at https://twitter.com/CentralBrewSM

Since we recently jumped on Twitter, it only makes sense to compare our Twitter account to other coffee shops to get some tips or lend some tips. I utilized the search function of Twitter for "coffee shops" and these are four of the Twitter pages that resulted.

101 Coffee Shop
https://twitter.com/101coffeeshop

101 Coffee Shop has put out over 4000 tweets and has over 3000 followers.  Clearly they're doing something right for being a local business.  I love that they used a picture of their store front for the profile picture but I'm not liking their cover photo. It looks like they took a picture of a wall.  They should incorporate something coffee related or even use a picture of inside their shop to show guest interactions.  I notice that they utilize multiple hashtags per post which definitely has opportunity to draw in a following.

Kirkharle Court Coffee Shop
https://twitter.com/KirkharleCourt

Kirkharle Court coffee shop is doing everything right.  Absolutely love the use of the building picture as their cover photo.  It really highlights their 18th century theme.  I do like that they have the business name in their profile photo which makes for easy searching when scrolling through profile pictures.  They really utilize their posts to the full intentional by incorporating pictures and videos. They're Twitter account has over 10,000 followers.

Peace Coffee Shop
https://twitter.com/PeaceCoffeeShop

Peace Coffee Shop is has over 1,000 followers and makes great use of their design pictures.  It's a great attention grabber to see the name of the business in a picture. They also utilize many pictures which continues to grab at the audience. One thing I did notice is that they're posts are very far apart.  They should consider doing at least weekly posts if daily is not possible.

Neat Coffee Shop
https://twitter.com/NeatCoffeeShop

Neat Coffee Shop has over 1,000 followers and utilizes it's posts to alert people of events occurring. They also do a post every few days which is great.  They're posts seem to be focused more on the music than coffee though.  I think they only really use the twitter for concert events after reviewing more tweets.  I would suggest to add more pictures of the audience as they drink coffee or even just pictures of the coffee available.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Week 8B: Businesses with Visual Support

Not all businesses can utilize visual social media to promote their business.  Some that promote services such as house cleaning wouldn't be able to get as much information to customers compared to standard advertising.  There are some businesses that can take visual social media and just run with it.  Below are some instagram pages of businesses that have fully taken advantage of visual social media.

Company: Bodybuilding.com
Type: Online fitness store
Followers: 2.9 million

Company: Seaworld San Diego
Type: Amusement Park
Followers: 98.2 thousand

Company: Apple
Type: Electronics
Followers: 19.3 million

Company: Taniokas
Type: Poke Shop
Followers: 12.6 thousand

Above are four random businesses that I found on Instagram from a small family owned business to a a large corporation.  Each of these four businesses have utilized their visual social media to improve customer attraction and to showcase their business in their own way.

Bodybuilding.com is an online fitness store that sells fitness supplements and provides a community for those who enjoy fitness and have goals.  Being in the business of fitness, it's a clear understanding that they took full advantage of Instagram by posting pictures of their products and sponsored athletes.  Anyone looking at the images will instantly want to be that super fit person and will think the supplements they're advertising in the other images can get them there.  The company posts multiple daily pictures and always utilize the #bodybuildingcom hashtag.  Clicking on the hashtag shows over 1 million posts from the community and not just the company.  I think they are doing well and have chosen the correct visual social media for their business.

Sea World is something that probably doesn't come to mind when you think of business and social media.  One of the best parts about going to Sea World is seeing the cute animals. Going to their instagram doesn't disappoint.  There are multiple posts daily with many of them being up close pictures of their cutest animals. It makes you want to visit the park to get up close and personal.  Not only do they capture the animals in the best light but they also take great pictures of the park highlighting the beautiful weather and scenery.  It's the perfect social media platform to attract tourists.  The hashtag #seaworldsandiego hosts over 100,000 posts from the visitors and staff which helps generate a higher customer base.

Apple is already the conglomerate of all electronics.  Some may think that they would have no need for using social media to get more of a following.  On the contrary, Apple has 19 million followers on their instagram alone which primarily consists of pictures from their newest iphone rather than pictures of their products.  With the new iphone boasting three cameras, it's no wonder that they want to show off the high resolution snap shots to entice customers to want to have the same ability.  Ironically, Apple only posts one picture a day but I guess that's all they need to promote their products.

Taniokas is a local staple in Hawaii selling primarily poke.  I actually didn't expect their following to be so high but for a local family owned business, they have nearly 13k followers.  Their instagram is made up of food pictures but with a hint of Aloha spirit.  I do not believe they take advantage of Instagram enough as flooding it with pictures of their food would generate a much larger flow of customers.  However, having personally been to this store multiple times, they are doing more than fine when they can sell out of all their fish (trays and trays) by 10am.  So as a small business, they may be the outlier that doesn't need to rely on social media, but for a food business, they could certainly benefit from utilizing them.


Week 8A: Visual Social Media for Business

  After reviewing several different social media platforms for my business, I think Instagram would be the best choice for Central Brew.  Instagram is capable of reaching out to a large community with little restrictions and allows customers advertise for you when they post pictures of their drinks/good times at the shop.  If just 10 people post a picture what they're drinking and 10 friends of each of those people decide they want to check out what's going on at Central Brew, then that will generate an extra 100 customers.  The idea is that those 100 customers can then post pictures and tag the shop and will continue to increase the customer base.

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Week 7B: Upcoming Events

  Coming up at Central Brew, we have three reoccurring events. Every Tuesday will be Boba Tuesday where all boba tea drinks will be half off all day long.  Every Thursday will be Thirsty Thursdays which will be buy one get one free from 6pm-midnight.  Lastly, there will be a monthly trivia night scheduled for the 4th Friday of every month.  All of these events are to draw in a crowd but also create a warm and inviting atmosphere.

  As a new business, I want to increase my customer base by drawing in customers with deals. If my product/business is good enough, then my customer satisfaction will be high and then I will develop regular customers.  Adding a trivia night will increase business on those Fridays but also just add to the idea of Central Brew being a place to just kick back and relax.


Thursday, October 3, 2019

Week 7A: Likable Social Media

  I recently set up my (fake) business' Facebook page for Central Brew. Since my business would ideally be located in San Marcos just off of S. Twin Oaks road across from Cal-State San Marcos.  To keep tabs on my competition and local businesses that I may work along side,  I decided to like their pages. These businesses include: The Bellows, Perks Coffee House, Urban Tadka, Players Sports Bar, Chef's Pho and Grill, Froyo Love, and It's Tabu Sushi Bar and Grill.  

  Being local businesses, they all have their experience serving the college students in the area and I believe I could learn a lot from them.  By liking their page, I'll get updates on how they connect with their customers and how they advertise their businesses.  Many of those businesses have been around for a while so they clearly found something that works. 

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Week 6A: Reach vs Engagement

In relation to Facebook insight, there are two metrics that can give a better understanding of the business page strength.  They are post reach and post engagement.  Post reach is the concept of views for the post.  That's it, just how many times a post has been looked at or has "reached" the customer. This number only indicates the success of spreading the word and does not necessarily dictate a strong customer base.  What does dictate the strength of content is the post engagement.  Post engagement is when a post is shared, liked, commented, or any sort of action is done on the customer end.  The two do not necessarily go hand in hand as you can have a high reach number but very low engagement.  It all depends on strength of content and marketability.

It's important to know the different because those two insight metrics can aid a business owner in increase sales and customer base (or vice versa).  If a business is having low reach, that means that the word isn't getting around enough.  This is when many will consider using a third party service to help spread the word and increase marketing.  When the reach is very high but the engagement is low, then there is an indication that the content isn't drawing the customers in.  The business is getting all these looks but for some reason, there isn't anything triggering a customer response.  This is an indicator that the content needs to be changed to appeal better to customers.

Let's say that a new pizza shop opened up in San Diego.  This pizza shop created a facebook page but traffic (reach) was low after several months.  The pizza shop hired a third party service who began advertising the webpage to better adjust to the changing algorithm which in turn generated thousands of views.  The owner was happy but for some reason, the store was still empty.  After researching, he finds that the reason his store is empty is because the word isn't being spread.  Even with the higher traffic, his webpage or posts aren't being spread or even liked.  He hires a consultant who notices that his posts are very generic and uninviting.  The consultant recommends posting staged pictures of his food and putting up offers on his facebook page for people to share and claim.  After fulfilling the recommendations, the owner sees a spike in his engagement has people are sharing and liking his pizza offers and commenting how delicious his pizza looks.  He also notices a huge increase in customers at the shop due to spread of word.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Week 5B: Business Market Analysis

The business I would like to start in the future is an all-night boba/coffee shop called "Central Brew".  The shop will be located in close vicinity to Cal-State San Marcos and will be targeting the college students.  Unlike most coffee shops in the area which are open from around 5am until 11pm, Central Brew will be open from 6pm until 8am.  This gives college students a place to get their study and hangout all while indulging on coffee/boba drinks and snacks. In addition to the late night college student customers, the shop will be open until 8am to also take advantage of the early morning crowds going to school and work.

The overall idea of the business is to take advantage of the lack places for students to hang out and study outside of the immediate college campus.  Central Brew will allow students to meet up in a safe environment and work on projects or study for tests.  Currently in the area, the competition for Boba primarily closes around 11pm with only one staying open until midnight according to Yelp. The competition for coffee according to Yelp close around 10pm.  Unless something has changed where student's do not study after 10pm, there is a huge customer gap that could be tapped into by my business.

Week 5A: Call to action!

A call to action is a marketing method used on websites to give direction to a viewer.  It allows the text to not only give information but also instill an idea of doing something.  Sometimes it will stress a sense of urgency like the old TV commercials that would make you rush to purchase their product since they're offering a discount that that won't last long.  Other times it's a subtle message to inquire more to generate more interest.

Myrtle Creek is a local botanical gardens and nursery targeting families rather than businesses.  They cater to the experience of visiting their location through the actual tour and gift shops.  In their "about me" section, they have three call to actions: Try their cafe, take their tour, and purchase from their shop.  As you continue to scroll down the "about me" section, the same call to actions keep trying to direct viewers to tour, eat, and buy from them.

Almost the opposite of Myrtle Creek, Armstrong Gardens is a chain store that focuses on sales to not only families but also to businesses.  In the "Armstrong grown" section of the "about me", the bottom of the page is calling other businesses to reach out to the company to build a partnership.  The home page has a few call to actions such as the image that says "visit us" or "learn more".  They are pushing the viewer to visit a store or to inquire for more information.

Both companies are in the same field however their businesses are definitely not the same.  Myrtle Creek targets homes rather than businesses and offers an experience outside of a normal store.  Armstrong Gardens focuses on growth through partnerships with businesses. 

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Week 4B: Website Effectiveness

  • Why are they effective?
  • What specific principles of good design do they include and why?
  • What makes you come back again?
  • What could be improved?

A website's design that typically appeals to me is something simplistic and user friendly.  I hate when I have to go on a scavenger hunt to find what I need on a home page.  Too many animations also make me not want to bother with reading the website content. If websites don't meet appeal to my standards, then most of the time they won't get multiple visits from me.  Two websites examples that I actually like are https://www.amazon.com/ and https://www.twitch.tv/.

Amazon's website is extremely user friendly.  On the homepage, the immediate needs for the average customer are there at the top.  You have the search bar and all the important menu items.  Below the "critical" needs are some picks that appeal to the users search pattern.  The website consolidates as much information as possible in the most practical way.  The home page does have a decent scroll amount but since everything important is at the top, there really isn't a need to go lower.  Besides the great deals, I come back just to see what's new.   A lot of the ads on the home page are fun to look at because every now and then you find something you weren't expecting to be interested in.  The only thing I don't necessarily care for that could be improved is the amount of suggestions that are given.  I wish there was a way to filter suggestions for similar items I search for.


Twitch's website is a little more chaotic for first time users but once you visit it enough, it becomes very easy to navigate.  On the home page you have the search bar which is the primary navigation of the website.  On the left side, you have the streams that you typically follow which allows for easy visiting of those streamers. I also like the suggestions for the similar streams.  The color scheme is easy on the eyes and the content is well balanced.  The only thing I could think of to improve the website is to disable the auto play of a suggest video when first getting to the home page.  I don't like trying to find the stream I want to watch and having to multi task trying to find the pause button on the video playing or turning down my volume if it's too loud.

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Week 4A: Aesthetics and Design

  Website aesthetics and design are what capture and hold the attention of the viewer.  They can be the deal breaker between a sale or just another visitor hit. Take http://gatesnfences.com/ for example.  One look at the website and my head aches.  My eyes don't know where to hold their attention and the number of options along the left side makes me want to just close the window. The main section is very text heavy and the font size seems to be varying without any reasoning.  What the company should do is significantly reduce the text on the main page. The bottom section should be moved to a separate page rather than taking up valuable real estate on the home page. I think most of the links on the left side could be compiled to reduce the quantity as well.
  Another company that has a decent website but could use improvements is  https://www.pennyjuice.com/. The company's website has a lot of color which for the topic, works well.  I think that the main issue I have is spacing.  The amount I need to scroll to get all the information displayed on the home page is excessive. After scrolling several times, I come across three paragraphs that could have easily fit on one screen or broken down to just two scrolls. Aside from spacing, I'm confused as to what the purpose is.  I initially thought it was a juice manufacturer focusing on kid sales but I see something about childcare justice on the top right corner.  There should be a clear purpose for viewers.

  On the flip side, there are websites that also have some good things going for their website.  Take https://www.apple.com/ for example.  They're menu options are straight to the point and the color scheme is very simplistic.  The home page is a variable design due to the ads for their products cycling through.  Sometimes it'll be an ipad taking up the screen and other times it'll be an iphone.  Overall, they kept everything straight to the point.  I find it very easy to navigate and find what I'm looking for.

  Slightly more hectic on their first page but similar to Apple, https://www.toyota.com/ is well designed.  I have one issue which is that there is a lot going on but I think they have designed to be more of a controlled chaos.   Everything I need is easily accessible at the top and there are just enough options to get me where I need to go without going overboard.  I actually love that conveniently a bottom menu lines up when you're at the top of the screen to give you an upper and lower menu bar.  

  

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Week 3B: Communication Business & Consumer Response

1. Dominos
2. https://www.dominos.com/en/
3. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr
4. I would say their social media platforms are occasionally used. Most have been posted on within the last 48 hours.
5. Facebook: 9/2/19 | Twitter: 9/8/19 | Instagram: 9/8/19 | Tumblr: Unknown
6. I think the main point of Dominos' social media platforms is to get the image of pizza in the viewers minds.  Post a picture of a delicious pizza on their instagram will have their followers glance, get enticed, and possibly order a box. Facebook isn't used as much as Twitter and Instagram which is probably due to the quicker updates on those platforms.

1. Regal
2. https://www.regmovies.com/
3. Facebook and Twitter
4. Facebook is hardly used at all while Twitter was updated just a few hours ago.
5. Facebook: 8/30/19 | Twitter: 9/8/19
6. Facebook was used significantly less which is probably due to the low follower count compared to Twitter.  Plus updates are given rapidly on Twitter which gives the platform the advantage over "update posts" like news from Regal.

1. Costco
2. https://www.costco.com/
3. Facebook and Pinterest
4. Facebook was heavily used to advertise products.  Pinterest had tons of product pins but the platform is hard to navigate to identify when things were posted.
5. Facebook: 9/8/19 | Pinterest: Unknown
6. I don't agree with using Pinterest as one of two platforms for this retail giant.  Even Facebook seems a bit weird to use but they do keep it updated.  This type of business probably could benefit from using instagram where they can post images of hot products that are on sale.

1. Dewalt
2. https://www.dewalt.com
3. Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
4. LinkedIn was non existent and should be removed from their webpage.  Facebook hosted an occasional post of their products and Instagram was updated a few times today alone.
5. Facebook: 9/8/19 | Instagram: 9/8/19 | LinkedIn: 9/5/19
6. As mentioned earlier, LinkedIn is not an appropriate social platform to promote their products.  It should be used as an internal platform for employees primarily.  The product lines should continue to be posted via Instagram for a mass following with facebook used on occasional (as the company currently is doing).

1. Braun
2. https://us.braun.com/en-us
3. Facebook and Twitter
4. Both social media platforms have not been used in years!
5. Facebook: 3/26/17 | Twitter: 5/15/17
6. It appears that Braun, a leader in hair grooming has completely given up on social media.  Both their Twitter and Facebook have not been updated since 2017.  Awkwardly, they're both still listed on their website as social media connections.

Conclusion
I chose a few different companies to analyze for their social media usage.  I tried to gather different business types rather than only focus on retail stores.  Overall, it seems Facebook is the popular choice for most of the businesses which is probably due to it being one of the original social media platforms of this decade.  Many businesses that specialize in products such as Dominos and Dewalt utilize Instagram which is a great platform to post pictures to a large viewer group.  Simplistic organization and constant updates makes Instagram ideal for putting a product out there for the followers to get attention. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

The biggest losers for social media platforms would be Pinterest, LinkedIn and even Twitter. Twitter was the most useful out of the three but with the platform being primarily text posts, its hard to get attention from customers quickly.  It's a similar platform to instagram but text just can't get enough attention like a picture can.  LinkedIn was a lost cause for promoting the business and I don't understand why it was even posted.  Pinterest is the DIY social media platform of the world next to Youtube.  Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be the best social media platform for a retail store.  I think Costco would have more success focusing on Instagram as their social media platform of choice.


I commented on the following:
https://dburkscsit155fa19.blogspot.com/
https://margmansd.blogspot.com/
https://csit155-fa19-isabelf.blogspot.com/

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Week 3A: Communication - Business & Consumer


  I currently work for a large bio-tech company as an asset manager for the laboratory equipment on site.  One of my main responsibilities is coordinating with different internal (sub companies) and external companies to perform equipment maintenance.  Most of the companies I work with understand the service level I require and are more than happy to make my job easier.  We had one company who was the complete opposite and although we gave them plenty of work, their mindset was very closed in terms of cooperating with our needs.  The things I needed from them weren't anything extravagant, mainly a constant communication (I need to provide updates to the equipment owners) and to receive service reports for their work completed. I reached out to the technician multiple times to try to resolve the issue at his level but he never replied to phone calls or emails.  After a few weeks of trying, I finally escalated the issue to his supervisors who made it seem like they were going to remedy the issue.  In reality, the issue was resolved for about a month before the communication died out again. At this point, I still have not received a service report from them.  I reached out to the supervisors again but no one responded after multiple attempts.  Finally, I had had enough and decided to stop using the company all together. Within a few months, they noticed their profits take a huge dip.  Each repair they perform is usually 4-8 labor hours at about $200 per hour.  They were getting about 10+ work orders a week.  Months later, out of the blue, I get an email from a new supervisor who had revamped the entire process and has adapted to my needs.  Seeing the turn around, I've been sending them work orders again and so far, I've received my service reports and had communication well maintained with weekly phone calls and almost daily emails from the supervisor asking for improvement points.

  As a customer, I've also had bad experiences at businesses and with no real form of direct communication with the owner, I had to take to social media.  Yelp has been my go to tool when I have an issue with a business and I tend to get responses back from the owners.  I think the reason it works so well is that yelp directly effects the profitability of a business.  If the Yelp reviews are low, then there will be less people willing to visit the establishment and vice versa. My wife love boba and we go to Sharetea a lot in Orange County and Mira Mesa.  Recently an Escondido location has opened up and we've become regulars.  We have noticed that the boba amount per drink is significantly less than the other locations by almost half.  After weeks of getting drinks there, my wife said she was going to just order extra boba to make it like the normal amount at other locations.  Funny thing is, when she got her drink, they gave her even less than their normal amount!  She was dumbfounded.  She asked the cashier if it was extra boba (which she knew it wasn't) and he checked with the kitchen worker who said it was. Usually I'm the yelper but she got on the app immediately and uploaded her picture of her drink with a 1 star review.  The next day, the owner reached out saying they will be providing training to their servers.  Who knows if it actually happened, but at least the business owner reached out to attempt to resolve the issue.  I've had several positive experiences based off my yelp review which has resulted in better service. 

  If I had a business, I would do my best to acknowledge every review on yelp.  I would thank all the positive reviews and probe for points of improvement.  For the negative reviews, I would acknowledge the issue and create a plan to remedy (if plausible).  I would ask politely for the reviewer to try my business again and to provide an update on their current review whether positive or negative.

Monday, September 2, 2019

Week 2B: Social Media Utility Comments

I commented on:

https://csit155-fa19-lindsayw.blogspot.com/
https://dburkscsit155fa19.blogspot.com/
https://csit155-fa19-chantellg.blogspot.com/

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Week 2A: Social Media Utility

I remember when texting wasn't around and our only way to "hit up" our girlfriend or boyfriend at the time was to use instant messengers such as MSN, AIM, and Skype.  Surprisingly, only Skype seems to have made it through all the changes in society to become a common business tool. Over the years, there have been tons of different social media platforms that seem to come and go with the fads.  Many are primarily geared toward personal use while others are geared toward professional communication.

There is always a grey area where a social media platform could be considered a personal and business purpose, however, typically they are usually trying to fill a specific niche and just happen to have a secondary purpose.  Take Instagram for example. It's basically the social media platform inspired by selfies and self conscious teenagers yet there is an entire world of business related utility within in.  Many people use their accounts to promote brands and products due to their high followers.  You typically see a lot of that with fire arms, clothing, and gym gear.  Facebook is another example of a dual purpose social media platform since it's primary niche is personal networking and yet there is a built in craigslist like feature now. 

There are still many platforms geared to personal use only.  These tend to be blogs which tend to have less followers and are more about expression.  These have stayed consistent over the years as a place to write your thoughts without really caring if anyone reads them.  I remember by first social media website platform was Xanga and I would write about anything without caring if someone would "like" my post or even comment on it.  Today, there is blogger and word press which are places where people can just write.  These I feel are some of the main social media platforms geared toward personal use.

From a business perspective, there are several social media platforms that my company uses simply because it adheres to our needs.  We use Webex which is similar to Zoom or Skype and is used for virtual meetings.  We use this to share presentations and even just to connect remote employees to our in person meeting.  We also use Microsoft teams which reminds me of my old gaming IRC.  In a way it's customizable to an employee based on their "teams" and it also acts as a file sharing and instant messaging platform.  I find it useful if I need to send someone an informal message quickly opposed to sending an email.  Linkedin is another platform that is geared to business. It's one of the best ways to maintain professional networks due to the limited personal touches someone can do.  It's also a given that if someone is using Linkedin, it's for some sort of employment opportunity and so everything is professional.  I always have my Linkedin link on resumes and I utilize Linkedin for job searching and even interview preparation. 

Social media is an ever changing environment. I think there can be those focussed on personal use and business use together but there is also opportunity to have completely isolated platforms for each.  

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Week 1A: The template

Hi all!

I chose this theme because I thought it was a unique design.  I was originally going to choose something vibrant but realized that this blog is for class and it should be professional.  I then decided that simple was boring since this is a blog after all.  Finally I stumbled on the water mark themes which I felt was a good mix.  Typically I wouldn't choose this color scheme but with the watermark map on the top, the color reminded me of writing in an old notebook.

Week 17 - Final

  When I first signed up for this class, I thought I knew what it was going to be about and I honestly didn't think I would learn much. ...