Week #8 Get Visual – The Competition

I have researched several of my competitors and they mostly don’t use any of the visual social networks.  The majority of them don’t even have any links in their websites to social platforms like Facebook or Twitter.  However, the one visual tool that some of them use is YouTube.  They are using it for the same reasons that I would use it, and that is to show or explain how to do a repair on a computer or to show an advertisement about their business or why you would need a service that they are providing.  I do think that YouTube is an effective visual aid for my business.

Week #8 Get Visual - The Visual Networks

Although I see how the visual social networks can benefit a business, I don’t feel that the majority of them would be beneficial to my business.  I think they are geared more to a business that is selling a product where a prospective buyer would want to see a picture of it, or how it is used or installed.  Since my business is a service only business and I don’t sell any physical products, it would be hard to see the use of anything other than YouTube.

I think YouTube would have some value with my business as I could use it to explain how to repair a computer, or some other repair or fix that I would want to show my clients.  I know that when I've needed to learn how to perform a repair or build something for my house, YouTube videos are really helpful.  It’s definitely more helpful to watch a video on how to do something than to just read the instructions.

Week #7 Twitter

Week #7 Twitter

The search words I used to find my connections were; computer industry icons, tech services, computer repair, social network marketing, marketing, and some combinations of these.  Since I feel anyone potentially could use my services, I didn't want to restrict myself with trying to find individual users that need help.  That will come.  Instead, I wanted to stay abreast of what industry leaders are saying about the tech industry, to broaden my horizons.  I also am becoming very interested in learning more about social marketing and how I can help my existing and new clients.  I still feel this is very under-utilized among small business owners simply because they don’t have the time to really learn these marketing tools in social networking, and it’s something additional I could offer them as a service.

The lists I created are Marketing and Tech News.  They will keep me more organized because it only shows tweets of the people or organizations that I’m following.  It helps me to stay focused, and there is less noise from all of the rest of the tweets out there.  If I’m not getting what I want out of the people that I’m following, I will look for more people to follow that would be relevant to that list.

Week #6 Facebook Posts - Scheduled

I scheduled 3 post that I feel my target audience would be interested in.  These have to do with cyber security and protecting their computer from attacks.  In the final post I asked if they needed help with securing their computer and offered my services.  I see how this can be beneficial in helping to build my business by giving my fans useful information, and then offering my help if they need it.  No pressure.

Week #6 Using Facebook As - Likes - Strategic Connections

I picked these businesses to like because I feel they will be either using my services, or may know some other business that may need my service.  They are businesses that I already know and they know me so there is a bonding of trust there from the beginning.  This in turn will give their fans a reason to trust me and try me.  Hopefully this will lead to new business and relationships that can be built upon to lead to even more relationships while growing my business.

Additionally, by liking other pages, I will see those posts as well and I hope that they will inspire me.  I will see posts that go viral and those that don’t.  What worked? And what didn't.  This should help me improve my posts and interactions with others.

Week #5 Post Reach vs. Post Engagement

After goggling these terms, this is what Facebook help has to say; Post reach is defined as the number of people who have seen your post.  Your post counts as reaching someone when it’s shown in News Feed.  The figures are for the first 28 days after a post was created and include people viewing your post on desktop and mobile.

Post engagement is the number of actions related to your post as a result of your ad.  This refers to actions that happen within 1 day of your ad being served or 28 days after clicking on your ad.

So, just because someone saw your ad, doesn't mean that the viewing had any meaning to them.  Post engagement is much more important as a metric for you to analyze if your ad had any impact.  Engaging people with brand impact is the number one priority for marketing on Facebook.  Facebook is a network that is designed for engagement.  When a user engages with your posts, it reflects your brands ability to attract their attention and to create a connection with the content.

It also determines how many other people see your posts because when they engage, those actions will appear in their timeline, which in turn makes your brand visible to their friends and increases the awareness of your brand.

Page insights are Facebook's analytics for a user’s information about their Facebook page. It will give you breakdown information about visits, likes, reach, posts, and demographic info on the fans you reached by your page and the people that engaged.  This can help you determine if you are reaching your target audience.  If you aren't, then it might be time to look at your strategy and ad targeting and other efforts to grow your Facebook page.