Online marketing and social media have taken the world by storm in the last few years, with companies getting more and more creative in how they use these tools to their advantage. Social media has consumed the world and has become one of the main sources of information for a good proportion of people on the planet, so mastering this method of promotion and marketing can make your business fly. This is especially true in recent times, with the pandemic meaning that many other forms of traditional marketing have not had the same access to consumers as the internet has, especially through subsequent lockdowns. So, in the grand scheme of things, how can people innovate in a time of mass internet consumerism?
One unexpected application I have found for online marketing and social media that relates to my field is an increase in online English lessons. Many people around the world learn English every day with a view to living and studying in English-speaking countries or improving their job prospects in their own countries. Traditionally, most would attend lessons at a private or public language school, with a few choosing to study online. Although online lessons have been gaining in popularity in the last decade, most teachers have affiliated themselves with a middleman, such as a language school or online service which can connect teachers with potential students. However, as the pandemic caused a lot of ESL/EFL teachers to lose their jobs, especially those who were working abroad and who were forced to return to their home country, many have turned to social media as a way of making money.
Although systems with intermediaries are helpful and take a lot of the effort out of finding students, they always take a cut of the earnings. As many teachers have been struggling financially, every penny counts. As such, a lot of teachers have been learning how to market themselves online through social media by creating attractive and appealing marketing materials, as well as exploiting their network of connections. One way of exploiting a network has been through foreign social media platforms. As many ESL/EFL teachers have worked abroad at some point in their careers, this opens the doors to building connections in foreign social media platforms. For example, people who work in China often create their own Sina Weibo or WeChat accounts, whereas people working in Eastern Europe will sign up for VKontakte.
Some teachers who are familiar with popular international English examinations such as IELTS, TOEFL, and the Cambridge exams have set up services through social media where students and potential examination candidates can do virtual practice speaking tests with a teacher through Skype, Zoom, or MS Teams.
The pandemic has forced people to be creative in how they make money, and the lockdowns and unemployment have given many teachers the time they lacked before with which they can set themselves up with a website, a variety of social media accounts, and a growing clientele. Hopefully, this trend will allow English teachers in the future to use these skills to improve their resumes and either become fully self-employed or able to use their knowledge to supplement their incomes on a freelance basis.
Professional networking is not something that I have given too much thought to in my life and career. As an ESL teacher by profession, it is important that I cultivate contacts in this sector to give me the best opportunities possible, but this is not something that I do consciously. Over the years, I have collected a ragtag group of contacts and connections, but in the future, I need to be more systematic about this approach.
In the ESL world, most of my professional network has developed organically. When I left university, I came to Canada for an adventure. I had studied French and German for my degree and wanted to practice my French skills, so I participated in an international exchange opportunity to work as a language assistant in a school in Quebec. The plan was to stay for a year and then start a career. I ended up staying for three and never wanted to leave.
Alas, it was not meant to be. I had accidentally stumbled upon English teaching, and I was hooked. Unfortunately, I didn’t qualify for any Canadian immigration programs at that time, so I had to leave. I did, however, keep in touch with my colleagues, especially my supervisor, with whom I had become good friends. We kept in touch, and she has been a helpful member of my network.
After leaving Quebec, I spent four and a half years in Russia. This is where I really started to develop my network. I made connections with my colleagues, who were English teachers from all over the world. One colleague, Charlotte, who was also a good friend and my roommate, became instrumental in my future career. While working in Russia, I became involved with the IELTS international English examinations. This was a move which really demonstrated to me the importance of a professional network.
When I was finally able to immigrate to Canada permanently in January 2016, my professional network became vital. My colleague Charlotte had moved to Ottawa a month before I did and found us an apartment to share, so when I arrived at the airport, she picked me up and took me to a furnished home. Not only did this make the immigration experience smoother, but it also allowed me to just launch straight into finding a job.
Through my connections at the IELTS centre, I was able to obtain a transfer to the test centre at Algonquin College and started work three days after arriving in Canada. My manager introduced me to the coordinators of the EAP program, who introduced me to more people within the college. Over the course of several years, this has kept me in near full-time employment. My role at the IELTS centre has expanded, I have taught a variety of classes, and even developed a course that will be launched soon. One of my colleagues at the centre was also the Director of Studies of a private language school on Bank Street, through whom I managed to gain some teaching hours for myself and Charlotte.
I took a break from Ottawa and used my professional connections again. My colleague from Quebec, with whom I had kept in touch, has a son who worked in Nunavik. Craving a new adventure, he helped me find employment teaching in the high school of an Inuit village for a year. After this, I moved to Toronto, where, in my absence, Charlotte had opened a new school. I transferred to the IELTS centre in Toronto, where I worked with two other former colleagues with whom I had worked in Russia. At this point, I realised what a small world the ESL profession is. I did not enjoy Toronto and moved back to Ottawa, using my connections at Algonquin College to regain my previous positions and continue with my career.
Although I do not have a specific strategy when it comes to networking, I feel that my professional network is quite large. I keep track of everyone via Facebook and LinkedIn, which is a helpful tool to reconnect with previous colleagues and potential future employers. I have even used some of these connections to gain private students through word of mouth.
In the coming months, I hope to consolidate my network somewhat and streamline my connections with other people in my industry. Although gaining contacts organically has its benefits, sometimes you need to curate your network more carefully and shed some of the dead wood. I will do this by going through my social media accounts, especially LinkedIn, and culling any contacts that may be detrimental to my future career or who serve no useful purpose in a professional capacity. I also plan to go over my past work experience and try to make connections on LinkedIn with former colleagues and associates to help grow my network further.
In the world of social media, there are those companies who are hitting it out of the park and those who have missed the boat completely. While the majority of organisations around the world have jumped on the social media bandwagon and have found some sort of comfort zone depending on their level of experience, relatability, and the budget they have to hire trained social media specialists, there are others who stand out from the crowd for the right – or the wrong – reasons. So, let’s look at some examples of companies who are displaying strong social media strategies, and those who haven’t even bothered to try.
One example of a superhero of the social media world is, surprisingly, the Royal Academy of Arts in London. When most people think of art, they think of stuffy professors, starving artists, and pretentious paintings. Dynamic social media is not usually the first thing that comes to mind. However, the Royal Academy have developed a reputation on Twitter for their quirky posts and relatable content. Their Social and Content Editor, Adam Koszary, has revolutionised their posts and turned an otherwise dry and dull topic into a modern, humorous subject matter.
Mood: staring vacantly into the distance while your dog steals the show.
As someone with an interest in art and museums, who also happens to be British, I was drawn to this Twitter account through my work and studies. The Royal Academy has managed to use a combination of witty posts and engaging challenges to win over the general public and make art and culture relevant to todays younger generation. The pandemic has hit many organisations in the cultural sector particularly hard, so they have had to come up with increasingly creative ways to keep the public interested and tide them over until better times return. The Royal Academy has joined several other notable museums and heritage organisations around the world who have kept interest alive through social media. One particular highlight is the RA Daily Doodle challenge, where people are given a subject matter, often something bizarre or quirky, and asked to submit their own interpretations of the prompt.
My British roots are showing again with my choice of Greggs as a further example of marketing genius. For the uninitiated, Greggs is a British retail bakery which specialises in bread, cakes, and, most famously, sausage rolls. In 2019, Greggs shot to superstardom in the UK when it launched the ultimate juxtaposition: the vegan sausage roll. The backlash was huge, with “purists” railing against the concept and the health-conscious hailing it as a culinary milestone. Naturally, the masses took to Twitter, and Greggs rose to the challenge.
Greggs is a staple of the UK akin to Tim Hortons’ place in Canadian culture. As a food lover, Greggs has always been my go-to lunch venue when I’m in a rush or just want a tasty treat. Having discovered their social media accounts, I have not been disappointed. They take sausage roll obsession to a new level, but this kind of post connects with the British public on a fundamental level. Their general irreverence also appeals to the British sense of humour. This style of post makes them seem more human and taps into the cultural aspects of their audience’s lives, making the content relevant and relatable.
Despite their success, there have, however, been a couple of missteps. Some of their posts and ads have missed the mark and have enraged some sectors of the population, such as their replacement of baby Jesus in the nativity scene with a sausage roll, which was used in one of their Christmas adverts. In true British fashion, though, wherever there is controversy, an upswell of support is sure to follow. We do like to be contrary…
One company lurking in the doldrums of the social media world is the British pub chain Wetherspoons. With over 900 pubs in the UK, a country known for its pub culture, locals have a love/hate relationship with the company. For many, it’s a convenient place to meet your friends for a pint after work. For others, it’s a pretentious and soulless corporation driving independent pubs out of business. The chairman, Tim Martin, is also a controversial figure, as he is an ardent Brexiteer who has managed to anger a good portion of the country for his political views.
Even before the pandemic closed the pubs and Martin’s Brexit-supporting views turned customers increasingly sour, Wetherspoons was struggling with its social media presence. A lacklustre response rate to customer enquiries, posts made in bad taste, and the trolling of MPs online was a perfect storm for Twitter backlash. Wetherspoons became the butt of many jokes, and their dismal social media strategy was doing more harm than good.
In 2018, Martin made the decision to pull all of the pubs off social media and revert to using print advertising, website updates, and press releases only. Many people claimed this was a stunt, but to this day Wetherspoons has no social media presence. This has, however, not stopped its customers from trolling them online.
Wetherspoons in Newcastle right now! How’s that whole Brexit thing working’ out fer ya Tim?-John Hodge pic.twitter.com/qlBd1Ef9gG
Wetherspoons’ reputation has taken a number of serious hits in the last couple of years, and a return to social media with a solid strategy could be what they need to drag themselves out of the mire. Using social media, if done correctly, could try to humanise the big, bad corporation and make it gain some sympathy and restore some of its bad press. The combination of the Brexit failures and ongoing supply shortages, and the long-term COVID lockdowns, has done serious damage to the company, and the loss of faith from its customers is not helping them to recover the lost revenue. Setting aside my own personal views of Tim Martin and his politics, Wetherspoons is a major employer and the use of social media to boost revenue and regain consumer confidence could save a lot of jobs.
Incredibly pleased to have found this Facebook group full of people comparing the amount of chips Wetherspoons gives them pic.twitter.com/2yu1oF7L0f
There are a number of goals and objectives Wetherspoons could set themselves. They could start by conducting research into strategies that work with the British sense of humour. Other companies have proven that a combination of self-deprecating humour and needling competitors is usually a winning combination in the UK. Finding out which platforms their customer base used the most is also important. Wetherspoons is often frequented by young people and middle-class individuals, so tailoring their presence to these market segments may regain them some lost customers. However, this may be a tough sell, as these demographics are also largely Remain-voting and may be resistant to lining the pockets of a staunch Brexit voter. Having a more coordinated, centralised approach to their social media accounts rather than giving individual branches carte blanche to handle their own posts may also prove a unifying factor.
There is a God, how's it going for you @GroovyTimbo. I just love it when a plan comes together, 1st year Remainers boycotted Wetherspoons, 2nd year Covid, 3rd year BREXIT. WE TOLD YOU SO.
— Irene Garth 🔶#FBPE/PR/PA #Woke@RebootGb (@irenegarth1946) October 9, 2021
Final thoughts…
We all know by now that a good social media strategy can make or break a company. There are umpteen examples of companies who have dragged their brand out of obscurity by using a combination of wit and humanity to make their target audience wake up and take notice. However, for those who shun social media, the internet is rife with critics and naysayers who are shouting loudly and going unchallenged. Failing to win over your customer base on social media can be a death knell in today’s digital world and, unfortunately, many companies are being left in the dust.
As a person who has not yet fully delved into the different capabilities of social media, and who does not have a career in the industry, my knowledge of trends and good news sources is limited in scope and possibly not always appropriate for a workplace setting. However, like any area of weakness, I am gradually learning how to monitor social media and manipulate the data within it to later put to good use in my industry.
One tool that I have recently discovered, and which I really like, is Nexalogy. This tool is free to use and presents the information you are looking for when monitoring trends in a user-friendly and highly visual manner. Graphics include charts, diagrams, and colourful bubbles in a matrix. As a person who is very much a visual learner, this format is very helpful and allows me to process the information much more quickly than when it is presented in a text-only layout.
Another useful tool is Tweepsmap, which focuses more on Twitter. This tool is less visually appealing than Nexalogy, even though it does incorporate some graphs to illustrate its data. However, the overall dashboard interface is nice and clear, which makes it a consumer-friendly method of following Twitter trends and seeing how and how far topics are travelling around the Twittersphere. This can be very useful in my industry, as it allows me to monitor the topics that are currently trending with my students. I work as an ESL teacher and staying on-trend is very important when choosing themes and topics of interest to the students. If they are interested, they are engaged, and if they are engaged, then they are learning.
In terms of news and updates, one of my main sources of information is Facebook. Although it can often be dangerous to take to heart the information disseminated on this platform, as with most social media, it is often the first place to report news. Even before the news cameras have arrived on scene and the reporters are giving their perspective on events, there is always somebody who has uploaded a video of the incident to social media. Very often, this finds its way onto Facebook very quickly. As many of the pages I follow are relevant to my industry and most of the friends I have are fellow English teachers, the types of news that people pick up on and share are usually of relevance or interest to me. Once I have become aware of a piece of news, I am then able to use more reputable news sources to verify the information and read the full story. By gaining my news largely from industry professionals, this allows me to network and develop my knowledge within my field.
While Facebook is useful for a broad variety of information, a more specific source of industry updates and news is LinkedIn. Although it is not as widely used for sharing information as other social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn still provides a lot of up-to-date information about the development of various industries. The information is often shared in the form of posts by colleagues, peers, and potential employers. As this site is geared towards the professional sphere, there is a lot less clutter with the information and the news is often useful in terms of professional development and staying on trend when it comes to potential interview questions.
All in all, there are a plethora of ways to monitor social media for trends and updates, as well as finding out relevant news that can help you in your professional development. Finding the right source can include making sure the information is of use and relevant, as well as being in a format that is user-friendly, and which targets your personal learning style.
Storytelling is an important part of creating digital content. The digital world has expanded our capacity as humans to create content at an exponential rate. We are no longer constrained by the means to publish in print, allowing a greater volume to be produced and giving the opportunity to amateurs to generate their own content. As such, this glut in the market means that originality and personality are needed to hook in readers and viewers. Storytelling is one way of creating that human connection and moving away from dry, lifeless, and anonymous text. By telling a story, we are showing that there is a real person behind the narrative, not just a bot or an overworked and uninterested employee.
The content I produce online is mostly related to my travel blog. Each post is connected to a place I have visited and provides insight into the things to see and do there, as well as my thoughts and opinions on the place as a destination. Storytelling is an important component, as the posts are connected to my past and they relate events from my personal story. I try to use a more narrative style to gain the reader’s interest and inject some humour into my posts. I feel that this is a key component of travel blogging, as recounting dry facts is not interesting to the reader and this information can be easily found in a commercially available travel guide. Travel blogging is about humanising the experience, and to do that you need to share your story.
So, what kind of stories do I want to tell? I want to share experiences with the world and give people the opportunity to step outside of their front doors and use their imaginations. I want people to see how beautiful the world is and how taking a chance on visiting an unusual place can open their eyes to countless possibilities. I want to show that going off the beaten path is just as fun, if not more so, than going with the safe route and sticking to that which is known. Life is an adventure, but only if you grab it with both hands and refuse to let go.
In his article How to Find Your Story: A Checklist of Questions, John Jantsch asks a series of interesting questions to get you thinking about your personal story. Thinking about it carefully, there are a few things that motivate me and get me up in the morning. My driving force? Helping people achieve their dreams.
It started when I was a child. I was one of those children who is constantly insecure and wondering if I was good enough. I have a burning need to be helpful as a form of self-validation. Logically speaking, I know that this is not healthy, and I have some deep-seated issues that should be dealt with at some point, but I have been able to channel this crippling insecurity and need to please into a successful career as a teacher.
Teaching, in many ways, is a selfless job. A teacher who is not driven by a desire to help their students to succeed in life is not in the right profession. Teaching, in many ways, is a creative outlet as well. Each student is different. They all have their own drive and motivation. They have their own difficulties and hang ups. They have their own strong points and weaknesses. The challenge of teaching is being able to puzzle out the student and figuring out the best way to help them to get where they need to be. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Teaching is a process, just as much as learning is.
So, what makes me get up in the morning? What drives me to succeed in my career? That little girl filled with helpless anxiety and a need to please. She has been moulded by time and experiences, and her restless energy and insecurity have been channeled into something positive. The drive to succeed means that I don’t give up on a student. I need to help them, and I will succeed, by any means necessary. My issues are my drive, and this makes me good at what I do.
For previous generations, the concept of brands and branding was restricted to companies and corporations trying to sell you their products. It went hand in hard with marketing and, like many things, has developed and evolved over time. For the modern jobseeker, as well as for professionals looking to advance in their careers, personal branding has become much more important. Branding has taken a step away from the strictly corporate spheres and has become a way of standing out from the crowd on a personal level. Without personal branding, a person’s career can stagnate. So, with that in mind, I will reflect on my own “brand”, such as it is.
What would my personal brand entail? I am an English teacher by trade, specialising in IELTS preparation, which is an area of study which is increasingly important among non-native English speakers. For those not in the know, IELTS is an international standardised examination used to grade people’s level of English language knowledge and competency. IELTS scores are primarily used for entry to English-speaking universities and colleges for people whose background and education did not take place in English. It is also used for immigration purposes and to determine the language requirements for citizenship. As such, it is a niche, but rewarding area to specialise in.
So, what makes me special in the world of IELTS? Unlike many of my competitors, I decided to specialise early in my career and have been able to build up extensive experience teaching in a variety of countries. While living in Russia, I trained to be a writing and speaking examiner, which gave me insider insight into how the examination is run. Lately, I have been developing this specialist knowledge further by taking on the added responsibility of supervising the administration of the examinations. As such, I am able to offer my students comforting advice about the entire examination process, which helps to put their minds at ease when they are stressed about their results. For many, IELTS is their gateway to escaping a place or a situation that they do not want to be in, or a method of achieving their dreams. Being able to help them with that is the best part of my job.
If my colleagues were to pick out my best trait, it would be my ability to relate to my students and their situation. I have been where they are now. I have learned another language (several, actually), and have struggled to communicate in that language. I have made mistakes and caused confusion, and I have felt embarrassed when speaking with native speakers in their mother tongue. I have lived abroad and have compassion for those who struggle to adapt through their culture shock. I am also an immigrant to Canada, having moved here almost five years ago from the UK. I know what it is like to desperately want to emigrate to another country for a better life. I have also taken the IELTS exam myself, as it is a requirement for all Permanent Residency applications to this country, no matter the mother tongue of the applicant. Having been in their shoes and knowing what success in this exam means to them sets me apart from the average IELTS teacher and allows me to give personal advice that cannot be given by every teacher.
So, what am I most proud of? I’m proud of my students for achieving their scores and reaching their dreams. I’m proud of myself for helping them to reach those goals. I am proud of my tenacity in pursuing my own dreams and using my experiences to influence others. I am also thankful for the opportunities to see the world that this career has afforded me. I am grateful that my choice to specialise and work at building a system of lessons that can change people’s lives for the better has benefitted not only myself, but also others. I’m not someone who likes to brag, but in this instance, I am proud to be myself, and I hope that my personal brand reflects this.
Today I will be looking at a business that has upped the ante when it comes to using social media for marketing purposes. While it may not be the obvious choice, one of the stars of Twitter and other social platforms is, undoubtedly, KFC. While a fast-food chicken place may not seem like they have a sense of humour, they have had their fingers on the pulse of public interest for a long time. Over the years, they have run a number of successful advertising campaigns that stick in people’s minds. For instance, their Christmas hit in 2013 was “The Taste that Unites”, a hilariously catchy song that I even bought on iTunes so I could get the full version.
In recent years, though, social media has gained a lot of focus for the company. They are very active on Twitter and like to engage with their public. They even managed to bury an Easter Egg in their Twitter account, as one keen-eyed user pointed out when he realised they only followed 11 accounts on the platform: six random people called Herb, and all five of the Spice Girls. When he pointed out that this was “11 Herbs & Spices”, KFC promptly rewarded him with his own painting of himself riding on the back of Colonel Sanders.
KFC is also quick to send witty and sharp replies to people’s comments, which often makes for a refreshing change from the usual “DM us” response that a lot of company Twitter accounts provide. They even had an ongoing flirtatious exchange with Tinder at one point, much to the hilarity of the Twittersphere. All in all, KFC provide quality interactions and quirky responses that keep their audience engaged and interested in their brand. This approach works well for them, and I imagine they will only take it to new heights in the future.
For this week’s blog post, I’m going to delve into one of my more recent hobbies: diamond painting. As a result of successive lockdowns and the ongoing pandemic, I found myself in need of a new hobby. I’ve always done a lot of crafts, mostly cross stitch, ceramics painting, and other more obscure activities. However, when my mother took up this new craft and suggested I give it a go, I jumped at the chance. Now, I have been sucked into the world of social media diamond painters.
The diamond painting community is surprisingly diverse. I had expected it to be mostly middle-aged women (which it is), but there are a surprising number of men who enjoy it as well. It’s popular with children, mostly girls, and women of all ages. The men tend to be middle aged or older, though, and are in the minority. People with this hobby can be split into three distinct groups: those who prefer round drills (diamonds), those who prefer square drills, and those who like both. This hobby is popular all over the world and diamond painters flock to social media to exchange tips, ideas, and store recommendations.
The most effective tools for communicating with this audience would be blogs/vlogs and Facebook. Community members enjoy displaying and sharing their completed work and exchanging information about the best places to buy from and how best to frame or fix the images once completed. Blogs would be a useful way of sharing projects, as would sites like Pinterest. However, the biggest communities of diamond painters can be found in Facebook groups. There are many such groups, some organised by geographical location or language, while others have a global following. Getting a message out about new products, for example, would be best done in these groups.
What hobbies do you have? Do they have large followings or dedicated groups on social media?
This week I learned about the art of storytelling and the need to develop a communication style to be successful in writing internet content. When developing a style, it is important to consider four main factors: clarity & conciseness; spelling, punctuation & grammar; active & passive voice; and practice. It is also important to interact well with your audience to achieve maximum impact.
Many of the guiding principles of storytelling have remained the same over thousands of years, even if the formats have changed with the advent of social media. Music, dance, art, and literature have been replaced with TikTok videos, DeviantArt posts, and fanfiction archives. The way we consume media may have evolved, but the way we develop content that appeals to the masses has changed very little. By developing a good relationship with your audience, you can receive feedback and constantly improve. After all, an Elizabethan audience’s reaction to a Shakespeare play may have been supplanted by YouTube’s comments section, but the outcome is effectively the same.
To communicate effectively, though, it is necessary to keep the content concise and clear. Rambling on in an elliptical, meandering mess is a sure-fire way to turn off an audience. Likewise, if the content is riddled with preventable errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar, this gives the impression that the author is lacking in either intelligence or in a desire to present quality work. After all, if the author cannot even be bothered to proofread a few paragraphs, why should the reader take the time to trawl through it? Another mistake people often make is to try to use passive voice to make the material sound more sophisticated. Unfortunately, this is rarely successful and can come across as clunky and pretentious. Finally, as any good writer knows, the best way to improve is practice, practice, practice. Take the amount of time your work deserves, and you will soon become an accomplished storyteller.
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 