Blog Post #7 Personal Reflection

I was never really much of a blogger type person but I will have to admit that with this course I actually learned to enjoy it. I have learned that story telling is a big part of what makes a blog great. You are a unique story teller, your experiences and thoughts are your own for you to put out into the world.

Image Source: Unsplash.com

Learning about the different demographics and communication styles has really helped me be a better communicator both in person as well as online. I cannot wait to put my new skills to use in my career both in my new freelance business but also in my career at the animal hospital, I talked to management about reviving the hospital blog page so I could continue brushing up on my storytelling skills.

Thank you so much for your guidance these past few weeks!

Blog #6- Getting to know you, getting to know all about you

Just like the quote from the King and I (did I just age myself?) my audience wants to know who I am behind the screen, what makes me do what I do every day. Well in the interest of keeping this blog post short and to the point I’ll answer one question “Why did I start my business?”

Image Source: minimalistwitch.ca

I have always been a creator, a crafter, a tinkerer so creating my candle business just seemed to click. Back in 2015 I started my small business “Minimalist Witch” just as a hobby to add a little extra income in conjunction with my main career in veterinary medicine (lets face it vet med does not pay nearly as much as people think it does). I started off with local craft shows and using the online platform Etsy to draw in my customer base, and I did really well! Customers loved my product and I even had some returning customers, I had no idea what I was doing but it was working.

Fast forward to this year, I have a 4 year old daughter who as autism spectrum disorder and she requires a lot of therapy time and that requires quite a lot of time and funds. I decided to put myself 100% into my business in hopes that eventually I will be able to support my family on it alone and while I am not there yet I hope to be soon. I really want to be my own boss, make my own hours so I can be there for my family who means the world to me. This is why I started my business.

Getting to Know My Personal Brand

When it comes to personal branding, you are essentially painting a picture of yourself for others to view you. When asking friends, family, coworkers and even my therapist they all came back with the same traits. I am kind, I am a hard worker who gets the work done no matter how long it takes, I’m wise, creative, approachable, friendly, and I am smart. They say that I can do anything that I put my mind to and succeed. But of course no one is perfect either, I am stubborn this is a big trait of mine, followed by emotional (depending on the situation that is), like Yin and Yang there is always a partnership between good and bad, this is what makes us human and helps us to always put our best foot forward (most of the time anyways).

Image Source: Unsplash.com

So what sets me apart from my competition? I believe it is my experiences, those are unique to me, and I care about my image and what I project out into the world. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that my competition does not care about their images too, but there are times that a certain picture maybe should not have been posted on their end or a statement that should have been said behind closed doors, we all know someone like that from our working career right? I also care about the image of my company and the organizations that I want to represent and be a part of my personal brand.

To me I want my personal brand to stand out amongst the crowd, I want others to see me as my family, friends, coworkers see me. I am that person that anyone can come to for anything, and if it is something that I can do right off the bat you bet I’m going to use my stubborn trait and find out how to do the impossible.

Professional Networking Now and in the Future

“Where do you see yourself in the next year or two?” That is the question we have all heard at one time or another, whether that is through job interviews or chatting with friends or coworkers everyone wants to know where your going in life.

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For me, I plan to continue building my professional profile primarily through LinkedIn as that is the network that other professionals tend to gravitate towards when they want to expand their professional network. It will allow me to branch out in my field of veterinary medicine to link with others that are also in the same profession. Now what about Facebook you ask? Well I believe I will tend to keep Facebook for my more personal network as I tend to post more about what is going on in my life and lets face it funny cat memes that are meant for just family and friends to see.

Image Source: Unsplash.com

Since covid there has been less face to face get togethers but my goal for the next 6-12 months is that I want to get back into going to conferences, get togethers and meetings to have that face to face interaction and network that way. It is interesting to see other professionals in my industry and to learn from them. When it comes to my network at the clinic, I want to reach out to more of my coworkers and bond with them even more through events such as a clinic staff get together or some fun event that way we can bond over something fun and not bonding over the chaos of the clinic setting.

Where is Social Media Headed in 2023?

As we approach the end of 2022, we have seen some changes in regards to social media. Elon has taken over Twitter, TikTok is continuing to climb the ladder of most popular social media app, and people are still continuing to have conversations over everything online. Below are some of my predictions on what three of the social media apps will look like in 2023.

Image Source: Josh Rose Unsplash.com

Twitter

Oh good ol’ Twitter, since the Elon Musk take over there has been a decline in users and I foresee Twitter continuing its downward spiral. From paid verification check marks (which have increased in price), to Elon firing Twitter staff, and removing features such as creating moments, the app just does not seem relevant any more. Users are going to look for another alternative for their 140 character app, maybe Mastodon will work its way up the ladder?

TikTok

This app is going places and rather quickly at that. TikTok has been chosen by younger users as the number one social media app that they turn too, and I can see why. There is a lot of entertainment on this app, like watching funny animal videos? Or my guilty pleasure cleaning and decorating videos, there is almost a video on anything you want to see (minus anything what would go against their guidelines that is). This is definitely a good place for the influencer market as well, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been tempted or actually bought something that a user was using in their videos..#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt I believe we will see TikTok reign supreme in 2023 as the most used social media app.

Facebook

Facebook has been that old reliable friend that we always go back to, whether its to check on family and friends, or share memes. Facebook will always be that place where people come together, will it be as popular as it once was probably not as much but who knows.

What are your thoughts? Are there some social media channels that could rival the three I’ve chosen? Let me know in the comments below!

Where do you think social media is headed in 2023?

http://bit.ly/3VSQLSX

What is your predictions in regards to social media in 2023?

http://bit.ly/3VSQLSX

COM0014-Blog#4 B2C- Pick-It-Fence

Image Credit: Pick-It-Fence Facebook

In the heart of downtown Pembroke, Ontario there is a small little boutique that is doing great at B2C social marketing. Taking one look at their Facebook and Instagram pages you know who their target audience is, with a combined total of a whopping 34,917 followers! If I could drive into their metrics I would probably see that their audience is primarily females between the ages of 24-50 years old.

Image Credit: Pick-It-Fence Facebook

Pick-It-Fence is a boutique that is run by local women here in the community. As you can see from the photo above they market themselves quite beautifully with each of their posts on their social media being more stunning than the next. They also use local women to model their apparel instead of hiring models, this gives them a much more home grown vibe that women can relate to. Pick-It-Fence also uses their social media to advertise event such as “Gal-entines” where they posted about sales, swag bags for the first 30 people through the door and even a single rose because it was Valentines Day. This campaign was so successful that they had women lining up 2 hours before their opening time and the line went down a good block and a half, and it was the most coldest day of the year which did not seem to stop the shoppers which included me, and yes I was one of those people who came 2 hours early so I could be one of the first people in to get a swag bag and a rose (I am easily swayed by good marketing tactics).

If you are not quite the shop in person type they do have a beautiful website where you can find all their home goods and apparel but I do urge you to check out their shop if you are ever in town, they make it quite cozy and they are always willing to help you out if you are looking for a gift for someone or even just for yourself!

Is it Social Media or Entertainment?

Have you ever asked yourself the question of what is social media? What is the difference between social media and entertainment? Where does your favourite platform sit in those categories?

Image Credit: Unsplash.com

Is TikTok a social application or is it an entertainment one? How about Snapchat, or Instagram? With their algorithms deciding what we see on each app it seems to be more of an entertainment aspect than a staying up to date with our friends. There seems to be a big shift to video content as well. This will definitely change the ways that businesses tailor their content in the future, to keep up with growing trend of video content they will have to focus less on their social graph and more on their entertainment aspect.

Did you know that TikTok has surpassed Netflix and has become the second most popular app in the United States for people under the age of 35 years old? TikTok has become the most popular app for viewing video content, I myself have gone down the rabbit hole of TikTok videos and spent countless minutes just scrolling for my FYP (For You Page). I tend to see TikTok as an entertainment app than a social one, sure I have friends who have added me on TikTok but besides that we do not engage socially.

Image Credit: Unsplash.com

Instagram I see as a half social and half entertainment app. While Instagram has story reels which adds a touch of entertainment, socially we are still seeing what our friends, family, and co-workers post on their feeds and keeping up with them with direct messages and comments on each others photos.

Facebook will always be a social app for me, both on the side of personal and business. This is where most of my social interaction takes place, whether from friends, and family or to a client/potential client there is always communication happening on Facebook as opposed to other apps.

I would love to know your opinion on whether you think that your favourite app is a social channel or an entertainment one, let me know in the comments below!

Resources:

http://bit.ly/3FoLprR

Is your favourite social media app actually used for socializing with friends and family or is it more for your entertainment?

http://bit.ly/3iu6IAa

Is your favourite social media app actually for socializing or is it more for entertainment?

http://bit.ly/3iu6IAa

COM0014- Blog #3- Target Audiences

In my social media role at an animal hospital, our audience is made up of pet parents and people that are interested in pets. More specifically when looking into the audience on our social media pages our demographic tends to be females between the ages of 25-34 years old. 85% of our audience is female while only 15% of our audience is male. I found this to be interesting, why such a high number of females compared to males? Is it because females tend to be drawn to our content compared to males? Or is this just an insight as to the ownership of pets is primarily female? This has prompted me to research further into our databases at the animal hospital to see if this is actually true.

Image from Unsplash.com

Now communication is a two way street, we tend to give more informational communication to our audience via social media (Facebook is our biggest platform. Instagram being a close second). However, we do try and engage our audience by asking questions or doing fun polls, we even post heart warming photos of pets that enter the clinic which tends to get us the most engagement (who doesn’t love a picture of a kitten or puppy right?). I have noticed from using Agorapulse which I found to be a great tool for listening and even to see how content is being engaged with, that more personal posts, like day to day happenings at the animal hospital tend to be what the audience wants to see. They want to get to know us on a personal level not just an informational side of things. This tells me that our audience tends to gravitate to quick, digestible content. We can build on this by starting to make Instagram reels, or Facebook stories that contain our informational content to make it more intriguing and get our point across.

We recently launched a “Meet the Team” campaign on Facebook/Instagram where we post team members pictures and a short biography about them and this has significantly boosted our engagement with our audience, our pages are receiving comments, and likes. This gives us a chance to make connections with our audience and keep them engaged with us.

COM0015 Blog Post #2- Strong vs Weak Organizations

Social media strategy is not always easy to get right, especially when it comes to the tricky issue of making quality content. With that being said there are a few brands that seem to have mastered it, and some that need help but for the purpose of this blog I will be looking at two organizations.

Image by Caspar Camille Rubin Unsplash.com

Sony Playstation

With a huge 24.8 million followers, Sony’s Playstation is the most followed brand on Twitter. According to Unmetric, Playstation added 12 million followers in the last 5 years. That is a staggering 376% growth in followers, with an average of 6866 follows per day!

I believe one of the reasons Playstation has gained such a strong social media presence is the fact that they are continuously active on their platform. They post a mix of content to engage fans which include new game trailers, game footage, and streaming events. Another reason they seem to be doing well is that they are there for the gaming community, whether it is resolving a question, or concern Playstation seems to be at their beck and call.

Image from Unmetric.com

Urbandaddy

Not everyone is rockstars when it comes to their social media game, and Urbandaddy definitely dropped the ball with theirs. Urbandaddy is marketed as a go to website for tips on food, drink, style, travel and sports. However, they lack with any social media identity. They currently operate on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, but their social media is definitely lacking. Their Facebook currently only has 455,747 followers and their Twitter only has 39.6k in followers, their content seems to not have a proper posting schedule, paired with non engaging content it looks like most of their posts are glanced over and barely liked or shared.

Urbandaddy could definitely take a page from Sony’s playbook and have a more reliable posting schedule, have engaging content like having their audience review the restaurants they are posting about or asking their audience about there favourite places and drinks. Also they should be there for their audience by being more active with having conversations with their audience.

What are your thoughts? Which brands do you think are killing it with their social media and which ones should really step up their game? Let me know in the comments!

Resources:

http://bit.ly/3gDgmQu

https://blog.unmetric.com/most-followed-brands-on-twitter

COM0014- Blog #2- Tale as Old as Time

Story telling has been around since the day the human race began. What started as pictures on a cave wall has flourished into something greater thanks to the online world.

Image by Debbie Hudson on Unsplash.com

I’ve always had a grasp of having a title that grabs your readers attention, but what I learned this week was to know your audience. What do they want to see or read, what is their age, genders, even family dynamic. I never knew that so many details should be examined when telling a story. I have learned that all content is in fact a story in some way, a social media biography is a story in its own way. Every piece of content that is published is a way for someone to tell a story. I’ve also learned that you want to make your story approachable for your audience, this will open the lines of communication between both of you and inspire engagement.

Communication styles is another thing I’ve learned and will continue to prefect. I typically like to write carefree and casual but I find myself flowing back and forth between casual and serious in regards to my communications. In module one it was suggested to create a communication style guide, I will definitely take the time to create a style guide for my writing to help improve my communication style.

Do you struggle with storytelling or finding your communication style? Let me know in the comments!