Week 16 Final Post

My view of social media has changed quite a bit in the fact that I can see what a resource it is for business. I did not think I was into social media so much before this class but I realize now how much I use it and rely on it. I noticed when I was speaking with someone in passing the other day and we spoke of current affairs, family etc, conversation seemed to revert back to social media in a way. So many times I have said or someone has said"I saw that on Facebook." So of course social media is important for business as we use it so much for information even if we do not realize it or on purpose.

I very much have a better understanding how to use social media to develop a business.  Even though I only had 32 likes on my page it was fun to watch it grow in that little bit. I realize there are many dynamics and strategies that can be used to promote, advertise, enhance and just get a business out to reach more people.I understand content, and business relations more through the use of social media as well.

I did find social media products and services that I will use in the future for my self or if I am working for someone else. This has helped me personally gain ideas of what I want to do not that I have my Real Estate Sales license and have an office to work at I am going to apply what I have learned into this business as so much of it relies on outreach and what better way then social media and integrating the sources.

Week 15 Facebook Analytics

My Facebook Analytics said it was processing and would get back to me later, I just think I did not have enough information. I was able to gain 32 likes which to be honest I was not sure I would be

able to.

It was neat to look at Claudia's data from her business and see how the data represents different information such as views, likes and followers. I understand how analyzing this data can be important for reaching out to customers, followers, etc. I see the importance of knowing the timing of when the posts reach the most, also would be good to watch over time for changes.

Week 15 Google Analytics

I can see how Google analytics is helpful when trying to analyze and determine market user data. I think most useful features to start would be the demographics and interests and maybe use that information for SEO or adwords to try to get views. Hopefully this would get some attention and interest in my services using the organic optimization. While my Google Analytics has no data at this time I think it will be fun at some point to watch this data and see how things progress.

Week 14 Creating Ads

I went through the motions of creating an add but since my page is of a fictitious business (for now) I did not pay for the advertising. I do see the benefits and I would also pay the $20 for the boot post to reach more people. I did notice from reading other classmates blogs and noticed on their facebooks that the advertising does help. The ads looked enticing and professional and has the hook, or "call to action."

I would rather get trial a little and see when the timing is appropriate and I do not want to be one of those businesses that is hard high pressure post after post of advertising. I think a little can go a long way if the quality and call to action is good, if it packs the punch and reaches a significant amount of people. Also I realize to consider the business budget at first I would experiment and then invest more into what gets the most positive response.

Week 13: Researching Advertising

My business has a very definitive target market of busy real estate agents, and I think there is a branch of that that I would also be targeting their clients or potential clients as my service markets the agents service. It seems that can be quite a range.

Where marketing for my services to agents I think the call to action approach would be important because the time is essence to catch leads and make sales, so if I can catch their attention and get to a point where I have numbers and success rates I think that would be important to put into my ad. Facebook in my case with the visual, relevance and call to action.  The Facebook boosts and the targeting ad approach would be good for my business. I think a good video for visual would be beneficial s well. I have to be able to reach people and get their attention and hold it long enough to convey the importance of my service. Also I think Facebook is good because it is more personal and that is important for my business and Facebook gives that chance to see what the market and clients/ potential clients needs are.

It surely must all be trial and error and with the ever so quick changing trends of social media it will be full time work just keeping up with what is the popular platform and how the demographics respond.  I don't want to say "oh that won't work", or be disappointed when something I think is surefire to reach clients and bombs. I also want to get prepared to what may work at what point may not always attain. I do think I should follow the model of visual, relevance and call to action.

Week 12, More Social Media tools

The four most essential social media sites that I think would be important to my business are google+, Yelp, LinkedIn, and Google Maps.

I think that google+ would be important for anyone as it seems like another good way to distribute and receive information. I like that it is linked right up to the google account and of course is good for SEO. I have it on my personal google but I have to admit I just do not use it that much but perhaps for business it would be better.

Yelp of course is good for business because I know that anyone I am going to do business with or especially invest time and money I want a little honest feedback of their services. I have experience with Yelp and I know from that that many customers, or potential customers will use Yelp to find out what the community is saying about a business or service. Or people turn to Yelp when looking for services.

Linked in is good for my business professionally because people Link In with their professional profile and again use it for their research in getting to know the people behind the service or business. I have used it when job hunting even to see the people at a certain company and what their backgrounds are to see if I am a fit before I waste time applying. I see there are groups and professional networking with Linked In.

Of course Google maps is always good for location. I think it would also enhance the SEO. When I look for something I like that it pops up on Google maps and I can easily gps it and I like to see the establishment if it is a brick and mortar place. I think the whole bundle of google services is probably just a good idea, again for SEO and people are familiar and use google frequently.