Post #4 : Out of the Box

                    Taking this social media course has opened my eyes to a whole world! I thought the best applications for online marketing were Facebook, a website and getting on the first page of google. Even though those all work wonderful, there are many applications and ways to spread the word of your business that I never would have thought of on my own.

                                   There were some applications that I heard about before but didn’t think of them as ways to market your business. Such as, Pinterest and Twitter. I saw Twitter as just another kind of Facebook that I didn’t want to bother with. I found out the opposite and use the Twitter account of our business just as much as I use the Facebook page. Now onto Pinterest, an application I figured was just for arts and crafts and DYI by individuals. I was wrong again. So many companies use Pinterest as a visual look into their company. Its just one more way to use online marketing at its best!

                       I had an account with LinkIn before starting but I have updated it and use for the sole use of networking with other companies. Its the ultimate resume!!!

                      What I didn’t expect was the use of blogging to help promote the company. I had always thought that blogging was for over active individuals who liked to talked about themselves (which I  still think its the case for most bloggers hehe) . Blogging adds a more personal touch to the company, its a way to express what actually goes on and it can help people understand you and your company better! For this application, I use WordPress, which was introduced in the course as well.

               I feel so lucky to have been able to take this course and help me with these applications!

COM0015 – Post #1 – Tools and Sources

My two favorite social media trend tools are photos and image sharing and blogs. When images/photos are posted on a social network people tend to at least glance, so it automatically catches their attention before they see exactly what it is, a great visual tool. With photos it is easy to measure the number of people who viewed the image which will over time create a pattern of what to stay with and what not to. My other favorite tool is blogging. Blogging is another great way to get more viewers and members, the more an organization post blogs, it will capture viewers interest and will at least something every once in a while which will lead to more viewers.

I think the two best sources of news and updates are Facebook and YouTube. Facebook is an amazing social media source; there are millions of users from all the world on Facebook including people and business’. The organization I am a part of an organization called ‘Friends For Autism’ that has a page for updates and facts on Autism and then a group used for a parent support online chat that parents of children with Autism can go and talk to other families. Facebook has many advantages when measuring the data from the page and group by viewing the insights and the increase/decrease on the number of members. YouTube is used for everything and anything these days.  ‘Friends For Autism’ will be having a channel soon on YouTube to post about individuals with Autism, who they are and what they can do, and also share related research videos on Autism. This will have a great impact for us since it will get us more members and provide a great opportunity for more awareness and acceptance of Autism.

April Kuhlmann