Outlook on Social Media after this course

Social Media Outlook

 

My outlook on social media has changed in a positive way throughout the time of this course. For one, I think focusing on the business side of social media is a huge stepping stone. Being an advertising major It is very important for me to see what social media outlets are available to utilize for success in spreading the word about a company.  This is the main reason why I chose this MC upper level electives other than the others options available, and i’m glad I did.

I’ve also come to terms with the fact that the web is huge and there are so many great social media sites available that are just waiting to be discovered. For example, I had no idea what delicious or any site like that was before I got into this class. It really shows that even though I am a millennial and our generation tends to be obsessed with various social media platforms, there is still so much that we don’t know about. It definitely gave me a little push to start digging into these unfamiliar social media sites and see what they can bring to the table.

Even though I may have felt like a bit of an outcast in the class because I didn’t share the same expertise as the majority of the great aspiring librarians but instead as an advertising major, I found the glass to be very helpful and an awesome learning experience. I’ll take what I’ve learned with me and keep diving into all the opportunities to learn about different kinds of social media platforms!

Social Media Project: Dog-N-It

For our social media project we put together a media plan for a independent dog-training company, Dog-N-It. The company didn’t utilize social media platforms for business awareness and growth much, so we tried to shed some light on what various sites could bring to the table. We included Instagram, website vs. blog, snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter. I had the opportunity to work with an incredibly talented group on our final project. My group partners were Kate, Darcy, Meredith, and Julia. They each really put a lot into this project and helped make it all come together incredibly. Kate did a great job writing about Instagram and doing some editing and formatting for the final draft. Darcy stepped up to make sure that we all had our references worked out and followed APA format. She also wrote about using Twitter for Dog-N-It. Meredith took in initiative to get the whole project rolling. She set up the first meeting, contacted the client, and wrote about Facebook. Julia posted our final blog on her site and laid out the pros and cons of having a website vs. a blog. I tried to shed some light on the functionality of the relatively new app, Snapchat, and how it can be utilized to grab attention/followers for Dog-N-It. I found this whole experience to be very informative and eye opening. I usually just look at the entertainment side of social media, but it was interesting to look at it from a business standpoint. Although many of us look at company’s social media sites for quick informational purposes, we rarely stop to think about how much strategic work goes into the development of it all.

Tagging + Bookmarking

SOCIAL TAGGING + BOOKMARKING IN THE WORKFORCE

Growing up, most of us had always looked at social media as merely being a place for selfies and Facebook rants and a platform for our own personal leisure/entertainment. Although this is one of the main purposes and the whole idea of social media, it can also be a great tool used in a more professional way to promote brand image, market yourself in the workforce (LinkedIn, Twitter, ect.), stumble upon new information, meet other experts in your field,  or even snag a job!

You might be thinking…”How on Earth can I get a job through social media?” Well, while you may not be able to get a job on the spot through, let’s say, Instagram… You can use tagging and bookmarking to find specific job listings tailored to your interest by using hashtags + bookmarks. Using #Jobs with a related hashtag to your job interest, you can usually find some pretty useful listings if Jobs.com just isn’t doing it for you. Check out THIS article by USnews to find some useful bookmarks for job seekers!

You can also help yourself by actively searching different companies/institutions that you’re interested in by viewing their tags on various social media platforms and seeing what they’re all about. Usually a company’s official website will give you the overall gist in a few paragraphs of what they do, but their social media outlets is where the action is really at. Viewing a companies bookmarks/tags can really help you grasp the energy and grit of the company by seeing what they’re doing on a day to day basis. Being familiar with their social media can without a doubt help you impress the boss during that first interview.

Tagging is also a great way to get your own name and ideas out there. The use of tagging can help garner attention to you when viewers stumble across tags relevant to your blog posts. The single most important thing while tagging is to be selective, strategic, and descriptive. For example, lets say you’re huge on the environment and are writing a blog post about the pros and cons of recycling. It may not do you good to only use the hashtag “#recycling” due to the fact that thousands of other relevant topics could come up before yours. Using #recycling is a good first step, but including other descriptive terms such as #polluition, #wastedisposal, #energyconservation, #prosandcons, etc. can help viewers that share similar interests hit your blog posts.

Getting a signature “hashtag-line” is also a great way to gain viewership. Not sure what hashtags to use? Try looking at Tagging 101 where Elissa Nauful talks about “Google Insights” as a great tool to help sift out the popular terms that people search for. She gave the example , “if you’re writing a blog about cardiovascular disease, Google insights can tell you where more people search “heart disease” or “cardiovascular disease”- or even that most people search “heart attack”. –Definitely a great tool to know about for future blog posts!

Check out this website about some other key hashtag strategies!

http://blog.wishpond.com/post/62253333766/3-key-hashtag-strategies-how-to-market-your-business

Thanks for reading!

K.