Week 4 Part B

Hi Everyone!

Ever since I became interested in photography I have wanted to create a social media page to post my travels. My dad loves to travel, and I have been lucky enough to be able to travel the world with my family. My husband is from Australia, so I had the opportunity to live there for two years. It was then that I really fell in love with nature and everything surrounding me. I always took my camera places that I knew were going to have beautiful beaches, National parks, or wild animals. 

My nickname is Coco, and my closest friends have been calling me that for years. For this class, I decided to create a new page called cocos__travels. I wish it didn't have the space in between but it is pretty tricky trying to have the name you want on social media these days. I am going to consider this a class project for now and see where it takes me. I just started this, so only six followers so far! Due to the pandemic, I have not been able to travel like I normally would so I do not have anything current to post so it will have to be posts from my previous travels. My personal account where I share a lot of my photography has 880 followers. As I had said in my last post I have always found it a challenge to get a ton of followers, so this new account could be a fun experiment!

My goal with having a travel photography page would be to ultimately have hotels or companies reach out to me to have them take photographs for them. I specifically would want hotels because I work for one and see the amazing perks when you have a huge following and what they will offer for a few pictures. My target market falls into that, companies who are looking for someone who can photograph landscape well and promote it for them. 

My target market is also people who love photography, and who are interested in travel and would like to know more. I would love to interact with people and introduce them to places they may have not even thought to go to when travelling. My advice being where to hike, what beaches are worth seeing, and the best when it comes to nature and being outdoors. I also love recommending places to stay such as hotels, or places that are fun to camp! I want people to be able to see nature through my eyes and how I interpret it. 

Week 4 Part A

     Armstrong Garden Center has an attractive website with beautiful images of flowers and plants that immediately attracted me. The website has a lot of color and is quite vibrant. I love the concept of being able to order online especially during a pandemic where some people may not feel comfortable leaving their homes. This gives people the opportunity to still have beautiful plants. They also offer classes and events which is great for those wanting to learn more how to take care of their plants at home. The website also offers DIY and "how to help" links. I feel that these would be considered psychographics for customers, the offerings Armstrong provides are what many consumers are looking for when choosing where to purchase their product. There is ample amounts of information on their website and direct links to their social media for inspiration. I feel their target market could be anyone interested in plants or gardening as a hobby. 

    Rancho Vista Nursery is immediately attractive for San Diego residents because it there is one location and people love supporting small business. Their website is organized, and easy to read. Everything is located on one page rather than having several links. They specialize in cactus and succulents so this would be the perfect spot for consumers looking for those plants specifically. Their website is simple yet to the point which I know for many is something they look for when browsing through several websites at a time. Their social media is also linked to their homepage for inspiration. They offer events which allows people to meet other locals in their community and find people who have the same interests as them.

    I feel the obvious when looking at these two websites is that one is a company many have already heard of and another one is a local business. The target market for both companies would be the same: people who have an interest in gardening or plants in general. There is definitely a crossover because the two companies are both plant companies that offer the same type of business. The obvious stand outs the websites have is that Armstrong has several links and tons of information while Rancho Vista Nursery is subtle and simple. Ranch specializes in cactus and succulents while Armstrong has several different kinds of plants and flowers. They both also have similar psychographics because gardening and flowers are an interest and a lifestyle for certain people. I feel when it comes to values is where they differ a bit; if someone is interested in supporting small business they will buy local, other people are interested in the big brands they've heard of and want more variety. 

Week 3 Part B

Hi Everyone,

This post is going to be a challenging one for me. To be completely honest, building a brand has been something that I have been struggling with for quite some time. This is something that I want to do, and I feel I have the right idea of how to eventually get there but I also feel that I may not be doing it right. My issue is that I feel so many things I would like to do have already been done, or the competition is too much. My hobbies would be considered popular ones so I struggle with that quite a bit. I would love to incorporate my love of photography and fashion into something, but I am not sure what my message is or how I would differentiate myself from others. 

I would like to write this post as if I did have a brand or idea in mind and how I would like to get there. My first step would be to have a purpose for this brand and why I went this direction. I believe you have to be passionate about your brand or your business or else it will most likely fail. I may overthink this process to a point that I can't figure out how I'd like to brand myself. I feel there needs to be a purpose behind your brand, and I feel your audience should know a bit about yourself and how you got there. I want to be able to intrigue people, and get people having conversations. I'd love to have a platform where I would be able to communicate with my audience.

Standing out is important, so when I decide to create a social media page I would like to have a logo or something more professional for my profile photo. I want my audience to be drawn to something that looks like a professional brands business page, and I want to have a biography that captivates the right audience as well. First impressions are so important, you only have a few seconds to grab someones attention before they are on to the next brand. I would want to have a theme that continues throughout my social media page, using the same filter or using similar colors to keep my theme balanced and cohesive. 

My challenge as I stated above is feeling that I may not be doing this right. I have had a personal social media for years, and have gained very little attention on it. This has made me lose confidence in myself because I do feel I take good photos for the little experience I have with my cameras. I use hashtags, I follow accounts that I'm inspired by, and yet I see very little activity on my page. This is where I really need the right guidance before I take the next step of creating a business social media page. Another thing I have tried posting at times other people are on as well and it seems my photos get lost in the algorithm. 

I would love to hear from people and figure out their tips for how they started their brand and how they differentiated themselves from everyone else on social media. I would like to come up with a creative name (such a struggle for me) and then eventually have my brand take off. This is something I think about constantly, and that is why this post is a hard one to type. 

Blog Post Week 3

 https://jamilin.com

The first thought when I saw this website was that I felt it was a scam. It looks like a bunch of random ads that are squished together making it confusing and hard to even understand what this website is for. The layout is super messy and the font is pretty small. I do not see this as a professional website by any means, a lot of work needs to be done in order to make this website more attractive. There is so much confusion when I look at this website, I feel there is way too much going on and that is what makes it look so unprofessional. I feel to improve this website there would need to be an actual layout and some organization. There needs to be a purpose for her brand, which I do not see. I feel with a more structured layout and way less advertising this website would make more sense. 

http://gatesnfences.com

This website is so overkill, there are too many colors, fonts, and font sizes. I understand what this website is unlike the previous one, but the structure is awful. The photographs showing the gates and the fencing are far too small and they look like they were just copied and pasted in random areas of the website. It looks as though they just pasted it all together and had no time to align anything or finish it off properly. I do not find this website professional, it seems like someone threw it together and did not care at all. The amount of links, colors, and fonts is stressful to even look at and I would not know where to even begin. If I were looking for this service personally I would take one look at this website and exit out. In order to improve this website there needs to be a ton of condensing. They need to not have so many links and start to find similar ones to each other and condense the information into a few categories. They need to focus on a theme and maybe one or two colors that make sense together. Their photos need to be in a gallery section where they are more clear to the eye and the consumer can get an idea of what they can do. 

https://artcenter.org

This website has great organization. It is visually pleasing to the eye and you can see exactly what the purpose of this website is. I like how they categorize events and you can click on each one for more info if you are interested. I also like the featured event at the top page that sort of stands out amongst the rest because it is the next upcoming one they want to showcase. This website is very professional, and has great structure. It is laid out in a way that makes sense, as I look at it I am interested to see what they have to offer. The design of the website is inviting and interesting to me, I think it's great how everything is categorized.

https://www.apple.com

This website is super clean and minimalistic which I love. It is very to the point and the photos of the product are clear and bright. This website is professional and is viewed by so many people around the world so it is important they stick with their brand and promoting their product to their consumers. The layout is easy to read and understand. I like their use of design off of their photos, they expand their product so you can clearly see all of the features they are offering on their phones and computers. They discuss everything that will be included in the newest featured product as well. This is something that will attract their consumers and keep them wanting to upgrade their technology. 

Blog Post Week 2

National Geographic

https://www.nationalgeographic.com

National Geographic is a magazine that showcases amazing photography from all over the world. They mostly photograph people from all cultures, beautiful landscapes, and animals. They are a magazine that educates people on travel and what the world has to offer and they are an international magazine.

Their social media platforms include Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. These social media pages are easily accessed by a quick search on any of the platforms listed. They use their social media daily, and their last post was today at 3 pm on Instagram and at 6 pm on Twitter. On Instagram they have 145 million followers and on Twitter they have 24.3 million followers. 

National Geographic is very interactive on their social media platforms. They post on each of their accounts multiple times a day. They interact with their followers by looking at photographers who tag them in their own posts. National Geographic will sometimes share content from photographers who are talented and crediting them for their photography offering them incredible exposure. Their posts are usually educational, and they are showcasing what is happening in the world around us. 

Architectural Digest 

https://www.architecturaldigest.com

Architectural Digest is a magazine that is all about interior design. They show the insides of peoples homes and apartments all over the world and offer inspiration to others. They also show the backyards of homes to offer even more inspiration. They are an international magazine and they have photos of homes from all over the world. 

Their social media platforms include Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube. All of their platforms can be discovered on their website by clicking the icons at the bottom of page. They can also be easily searched in the search engine per platform. Their last post was around 3 pm today on Instagram and at 6 pm on Twitter. They have 6.5 million followers on Instagram and they have 1.9 million followers on Twitter. 

Architectural Digest is quite active on their social media platforms, they are posting multiple times a day. They are all about inspiration and showing their followers what can be made possible for their homes. On their platforms they feature some photos that are going to be in their next issue, typically featuring a celebrities home or an interior designer that has created something beautiful. 

Earth Pix

https://www.instagram.com/earthpix/

Earth Pix is a social media platform that allows people to share their photographs from their travels. This is more of a blog, and they are trying to reach others by giving people credit and potentially growing their own social media accounts. The owner of Earth Pix has created a few other major social media accounts and he is offering to help others do the same and show them how. 

Earth Pix is an Instagram account, although they do use Twitter and Facebook as well. Earth pix is a very followed account and often times will pop up on the explore page for people who are interested in this category. It can also be searched in the search engine and would be one of the top accounts to pop up. They have 16.9 million followers on Instagram and their last post was around 1 pm today.

The owner of this account, Eric is very active on this social media page. He interacts a lot with other social media users who are looking to grow their accounts. He started this account to show dream travel destinations to his followers and it continued to grow from there. He sometimes will do contests and features to have people win opportunities for a beautiful vacation and to be featured on his account. He has the ability to give people a lot of exposure. 

Vogue

https://www.vogue.com

Vogue is a magazine that celebrates fashion and beauty. They are also involved in pop culture and focusing on celebrities, fashion designers, and fashion photographers. Vogue is a magazine that offers inspiration in fashion and design and will keep their viewers up to date with the latest in trends, colors, and styles. 

Vogue is on multiple platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. All of these platforms can be found on their website in the upper left hand corner, or by a search engine on each platform. Vogue has 28.4 million Instagram followers and 13.7 million Twitter followers. They are an international brand and their magazine branches out to multiple cities around the world. Their last post was around 3 pm on Instagram and at 7 pm on Twitter.

Vogue is not as interactive with their followers as the other brands I mentioned. They are very active and post often but I rarely see them replying to other commenters or featuring people's accounts. They are very particular in who they are posting and that usually means it will be a well known person in the industries they feature. 

Park Hyatt

https://www.hyatt.com/brands/park-hyatt

Park Hyatt is apart of the international chain of Hyatt Hotels. Park Hyatts are considered the luxury of the Hyatt chain and are typically a Forbes rated 5 star or 4 star hotel. Their brand is all about providing the best possible customer service to their guests.

Park Hyatt hotels have their own Instagram account allowing people to see what Hyatt hotels are the most luxurious when planning their next vacation. Their Instagram account has 103 thousand followers. This account is a bit harder to find in the search engine as each Park Hyatt has their own personal Instagram. The last time they posted was today around 10 am today. They also do not post as often as the other accounts, usually every few days rather than everyday. 

Park Hyatt's Instagram account does a good job with interacting with their followers. They welcome positive comments and let people know they are looking forward to having them stay at their resort. They post photographs of the resorts that are all within the Park Hyatt chain so followers can see what each individual hotel has to offer them in terms of luxury. 

    I chose these five brands because I have spent a lot of time looking at all of them over the years and I would love to be in the photography industry. I have a love for travel, fashion, and interior design so these accounts are my absolute favorite to follow. I work for Park Hyatt so that is why I chose that as my fifth brand because before the pandemic I was helping a bit with their social media pages. These five accounts are the most inspirational to me based off their content and how they've all grown such a huge following. They have created these brands and continue to have them grow by interacting on social media almost daily. 

    The research I conducted showed me how much work it takes to have multiple social media platforms and how often you have to post in order to stay relevant. These accounts are posting 3 or more times a day typically and have it spread out in a strategic way. I notice they will usually have these posts spread out by several hours of each other. I also love how some of the brands want to help their followers by featuring them on their pages. This is giving people amazing opportunities to grow their own brand and they can have the potential to make a career out of it. 

    All of the brands I have chosen are International, so they have a much wider audience to attract to. I believe this is a great advantage being that people from all over the world are able to follow these accounts and are aware of what they are. I feel that local brands or national brands do not have as much exposure so it is even more important that local brands are really interacting with their followers and posting multiple times a day to be on their followers feeds.

    Overall, the most profound part of my research was seeing how often these brands post and the time of day they post. Most posts were at 3 pm today (Tuesday) and I find that to be very interesting. These accounts are clearly strategic when it comes to posting to get the most attention. I feel that timing really does come into play when posting on one of these platforms, especially Instagram. I have tested it myself and have personally seen how a photo can do poorly or can do amazing just based on time alone. There are a few factors to this, one being that it is a weekday and later in the afternoon when many people could be on break from work and are scrolling at that time. I have always posted in the evening for that exact purpose of knowing people would be off work and at home relaxing and looking through social media. 

Week 2 Post 1

     Social media has become an integral part of communicating with businesses because it is instant. Once something has been posted or published, it is available to the public within seconds. This allows communication to be done faster than previous types of communication in the past. Normally, businesses would use email and phone calls as a type of communication/advertising or marketing their business with billboards, magazine ads, newspaper ads, etc. These techniques are still used today and will grab people's attention, but social media spreads the business promotions to a bigger audience. It is also less costly to run a social media page and be able to have that free marketing. Marketing can be extremely expensive for a business, this way of communicating is much more cost efficient. Typically, companies now have hired a specific team to run their social media pages. This career involves reading all comments and feedback and replying in a short amount of time. If there are issues, companies have someone respond to the comment as quickly as possible and ask them to personally reach out via a direct message so they can communicate and solve the issue from there. This is also time efficient for businesses, sometimes a phone call or email complaint can take days to get the issue solved. These new ways of communicating and solving problems through social media makes it much easier on the company as well as the consumer for a positive experience. 

    If I am extremely happy with a purchase I will write positive feedback in order for other consumers to see that this a product worth purchasing. Something that I like about reviewing product especially clothing is when you see other people wearing the product and seeing how it fits. I have not personally done this but I think it is a great way to see it on another body type. With the social media businesses I follow, I always like their photos and will sometimes leave a nice comment expressing what I like about the photo. I do not leave negative comments on a social media page, if I have had a bad experience purchasing something I do not feel that is going to solve the issue for me personally. I prefer to email or speak to someone or go into that specific store to deal with the problem.

    If I were to have my own social media page for a business I would try and respond to as many comments as possible. I think it is really important to engage with your customers regardless if it is positive or negative. I have worked in customer service/hospitality for over ten years so I would do my best to recover the situation. I would apologize for the bad experience, I would reach out to them personally rather than have a conversation in the comment section. I would respond with gratitude to those who were happy with their purchases, and thank them for their support. I think consumers appreciate when they are acknowledged, it makes them feel good that a company had the time to respond to them personally. 

Week 1 Part B

I am in Group 3

I am really excited about my group, I feel that everyone has a lot to bring to the table! I read and commented on the following three members of my group: 

https://csit155-fa20-izzyb.blogspot.com

https://csit155-fa20cheise.blogspot.com

https://csit155-fa20-chaser.blogspot.com