Dipping my Toes Into the Social Media Pool

I need to learn about online marketing to bring my company’s business to the next level, so I decided to learn what a Twitter was compared to an Instagram compared to whatever a Snapchat might be. Signing up for a social media course, I prepared to gingerly  dip my toes in the pool that everyone is swimming  in these days.

A Saturday in January was my day one.  I started with assigned reading at 8 am, by one pm my husband asked just how many articles I had to read that day. I was on my first one but he didn’t understand, it may seem like hours to him but now I knew how to make a messy bun,  cook chocolate mousse with just an avocado, sugar and cocoa, and I could even tell you which hotels were the eight most expensive in the world (Hotel President Wilson, Switzerland tops the list FYI). The glitz and movement,  I needed to focus but how could I with all this important information just floating around  page edges, taunting me with my lack of knowledge?!  I promised myself just five more minutes and back to the article. What will Rob think when I tell him I had to print the articles in order to read them without getting side tracked?! I tried dipping my toes and fell in a  whirlpool! I was ready to give up, feeling like I had developed what I imagine ADD is or perhaps had just lost my mind completely. Two full days and I read one article and had eighteen tabs open in my browser.

Moving forward things improved. I could resist temptation once I learned the word  retargeting, advertising from sites you have visited,  and understood why there were so many interesting things to click on . I also enjoyed discovering what other people had been  looking at on my computer as the ads popped up for American Eagle and makeup sites, this could be useful around Birthday times! Wow, I was maybe treading water now!

I have learned how I can use Pinterest or Instagram for visual branding of our business and product, You tube for education, Twitter and Facebook for connecting and feedback with our clients. Snapchat I think will remain unused except for personal use, such as sending pictures of a new hairdo from the salon to tease everyone until they can see the full cut.

Finally feeling like I have swam back to the bank, next week I am prepared to publish my first five Tweets, I plan to do a daily countdown to Valentine’s Day of the people our business loves in Ottawa. Then I am ready to plunge back into the water and see if I can learn a new stroke. As for tonight I am heading into the kitchen to make chocolate avocado mousse.