Final Class Presentation

Greetings

In this class you had an opportunity to develop your personal branding marketing campaign using social media.  The purpose of the final project is for you to reflect and analyze this marketing campaign to determine its effectiveness, what you learned and what you would do differently.  Yes, your presentation should be a reflection of your hard work and you should be sure to cover all of the main components, however this is an overview and should not be comprised of countless “screen prints” I will be going in to each of your profiles to make sure that you meet the requirements but this would like make for the most interesting class presentation, so for your presentation you should focus on showcasing your work and analysis of each tool in light of marketing strategies:

Part 1: Showcasing your blog.  How many final posts did you end up with?  How many total comments?  Did you find that you got more comments or views when you posted on certain days?  What was the post that got the most views?  Why do you think that is?

I would like to see you also discuss your video.  How easy was it to do?  How long did it take you?  How many views do you have up until now?  What would you do differently?  Now that you’ve had to see how others have done it, how could you improve it or how would you do it differently?

Lastly, do you think that you will keep up a blog?  Why or why not?  How might you use the blogging strategy in the future?

Part 2:  Facebook:  What did you learn about FB?  How have your perceptions about FB changed from the first day of class?  How effective do you think this tool is?  How might you use it in the future?  Analytics:  How many friends do you have?  How many brands and or groups do you follow?

Part 3:  Twitter:  What have you learned about Twitter?  Will you continue to use Twitter regularly?  How do you follow and why?  (Name at least 3).  What are your perceived strengths and weaknesses of Twitter?

Part 4  LinkedIn:  Were you already using Linked In before the class?  If so, what have you learned about it that you didn’t already know or how has your perceptions of it changed?  How can you use this tool to leverage and build your personal brand?  Which groups do you now belong to?  Why did you choose these?  Will you continue to follow these after the class?

Closing thoughts:  (a) Comments on any of the other tools, such as online communities, knowledge sharing, etc.  (b) What are your biggest take-aways from this class?  Why/how might this be valuable to you in the future?  How could you utilize these tools for your business?  Which ones do you think you will use versus which ones are you NOT crazy about?—Why? 

Thanks for all of your work!  I’m looking forward to seeing your final projects.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Hello Class

This week we discussed “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO).  As I have done most of the class, I will approach this from the Google perspective as Google is considered one of (if not the most) powerful search engine for navigating the web.

I hope that you will take a look at the following article called Google Basics for a sneak peak into what we will be discussing.  

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=70897#1

It is important that you gain a basic understanding of some terms.  Especially the terms:

Crawling

Indexing

Serving

SEO can be very complex, especially since we are Marketing experts and not everyone has a strong IT background.  It is very common to hire a SEO expert, however as managers, it is important to have some basic understanding of how we can improve our content so that it is more effective and attracts the greatest amount of traffic.  For more on what to look for in an SEO expert, check out this info on Google http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35291.

On this same page you will also find a link to the Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide by Google that will help you better understand how Google works.  I will be using this in my lecture tonight. 

http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/www.google.com/en/us/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

Thanks

Dr. G

How to Sync your accounts

Hello class

I hope that you have been working your weekly assignments of Tweeting and posting on FB updates on from you blog.  If this is becoming too much work, you can explore some short-cuts.

The first step is to explore Facebook apps.  You can begin by checking out the app:  facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2231777543

I can help you with the rest.

Thanks
Dr.

Understanding ROI for Social Media Efforts

Hello Class

Hopefully everyone has been enjoying getting to explore all of the various social media tools we have covered so far.  Today, we will be discussing how we can measure the effectiveness of these tools and hopefully determine if our efforts to utilize them, is actually paying off.

If you find yourself thinking, "oh no, that doesn't sound very fun..." you are not alone.  There are many surveys and reports out there that suggest that more than 80% of businesses using these tools do not have precise return on investment (ROI) metrics in place.

I will be covering this in detail today, in the meantime take a look at this article
http://mashable.com/2009/10/27/social-media-roi/

What do you think?

VLOGs Implementing Video

Hello class

I hope that everyone has had a great week.  I hope that everyone enjoyed working on their VLOGs.  I want to introduce you to another helpful website that can provide a lot of information on social media topics, especially pertaining to blogs. 

Please read this brief article that outlines the pros and cons of incorporating video into your blog. 

http://www.dailyblogtips.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-using-video-in-your-site-or-blog/

We'll talk  a lot more in detail today in class... see you soon!

Dr. G

Twitter Chat

Hello class

For Wednesday Oct 31, you know that we will be having a Twitter chat.  I have selected the hashtag #smclass2012.  Please be sure to include this hashtag at the end of your post so that we all know that it is a post directed to the class.

Some requirements you must meet to earn full credit...  Each person must post an initial greeting once I start the chat.  In addition, to this "checking-in" post, you must make a minimum of 5 Tweet responses within the chat.  I will be posting some questions that you can respond to, but you should not limit your Tweets to me.  It works best if you reply to each other.  Remember the Twitter-ettiquette that you start your Tweet with @_____ and the person you are responding to.  So if @Bob posts a question and my response is directed to them, I would start my Tweet with @Bob and then my message.

In preparation for our discussion please read the blog post

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/blog/2012/10/new-social-media-mindset-think-of.html?page=all

Some questions I will be posting include:
 1.  What's your favorite social media tool for business and why?
 2.  What is your least favorite social media tool and why?
 3.  Is anyone interested in keeping a blog after the class?
 4.  What is the most valuable thing you have learned about in the class so far?
 5. Is keeping a blog difficult, why?
 6.  Who is enjoying keeping their blog, why?
 7.  Have any of your friends or family inquired about your social media blogs, Tweets or FB posts?
 8. What is your favorite social media tool that we have not yet covered, why?
 9. How many times a day do your check your phone?
10.  How many times a day do your check your FB?
11.  Do you sleep next to your phone?
12.  What kind of phone do you have and do you like it?
13.  What is the longest time that you have gone without checking your phone?

Well, that's about it.  I'm really looking forward to our chat!

Dr. G

Micro Blogging with Twitter

Hello Class

By now you have all opened a Twitter account and (hopefully) you've had an opportunity to explore this unique tool which we also refer to as micro-blogging.  In my experience, it seems that people either love or hate Twitter.  It is a unique tool that may not feel entirely intuitive.  On a personal note, I believe that this tool is only as helpful as our ability to select relevant organizations and/or people to follow.  Being completely utilitarian, I prefer to follow those organizations that will provide me relevant and useful information.  Since I am very busy, I don't have too much time for celebrity updates and the like.   Think about what is the information that is useful to you and what organizations you are very loyal to.  Being selective about who you choose to follow will help you to make the most of this tool, especially as you begin to get familiar with it.
Well, as hopefully you’ve noticed I have been trying to familiarize you with some useful blogs.  Here is another one with a nice article on Twitter.  Please read the following:

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4034/How-to-Use-Twitter-for-Marketing-PR.aspx

Notice the amount of comments after the article… I encourage you to join the conversation!

Lastly, next week we will be participating in a Twitter chat so be sure that everyone is following me on Twitter.  You can find me @Cr8knowledge

Thanks
Dr. G

Managing Online Updates (RSS)

Hello Class

Did you have fun participating in online communities?  Did anyone find TOO MUCH information? Did anyone find that they accidently spent hours browsing the internet? Personally, I think that there is so much wonderful information out there. By enlarge there is a lot of interesting people that are willing to share their insights and experiences with us so that we can learn from each other.

However, it can also take up a lot of time! Some of you may be asking yourselves, "how do we manage all of this and how the heck can we find the stuff that we came across and really liked and now it seems to have disappeared?!" That will be the focus of our discussion today. Mainly, I will be focusing on RSS feeds. What is an RSS feed you ask? Well, please read a little bit about it here:

http://www.problogger.net/what-is-rss/

If you are still not clear, don't worry we'll be talking more about this in class today.

The other tool we will be exploring is social bookmarking. Again for a little preview of what that is about, check out this great blog post:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-use-delicious-social-bookmarking/

Online Communities

 

Hello Gang

Well, hopefully you have noticed this week, that online communities are everywhere. The internet and social media have made the world a much smaller place. As consumers and citizens we "have a voice" and we are no longer just passive observers. Oh yeah, just one little thing, as more people "use their voice" it can get rather loud!

So, what communities did you observe? Was it a positive experience or did you feel over whelmed by the amount of input? For those of you struggling to "find a home", hang in there. I'm sure that as you delve into the world of social media you will naturally come across interesting forums that you never realized where there. For now, if you haven't found something try checking out eHow.com, you should surely be able to find an article of interest. Once you find an article view comments and join the conversation! Now days, just about every article provides you the opportunity to respond. So if you like to follow the news, perhaps Yahoo News or MSN is a better option for you.

The opportunity to communicate is all around us. Just be sure to follow good netiquette. You should be respectful at all times, even to those who are not. Be sure that you are showcasing your insights and that your input is well written, easy to read and clear. For more on netiquette check out the short article http://www.ehow.com/about_4609432_why-do-people-use-netiquette.html

Looking forward to hearing your feedback!
Dr. G

Checking In

Hello Class

I keep waiting to find everyone's blog but there are still quite a few that I can't locate, so I'm going to modify your assignment....

Please respond to this post with your first name and the URL link directly to your blog.  Just open your blog and copy and paste that main URL after your name as a comment to this.

That's it.  We will get everything else straightened out in class on Wednesday.

Also, to confirm we will now be in room 211.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
J.

Some Tips For The Upcoming Class Meeting

Hello Gang!

I hope that everyone has been doing well. I see that some of you have been working on including your pictures. That is great! If you haven't done so already, please do upload a picture of yourself into the profile set up. I recommend that you use the same picture on all of your profile accounts (FB, Twitter, Blog, Communities). Consistency helps build brand recognition. If you HATE using your real picture, you can use an avatar. There are a lot of websites that will help you design a custom avatar, my personal favorite is http://faceyourmanga.com/ (Yes it is free! It is also very easy to use which is why I like it)

This is my manga avatar that my husband made up for me once.

Hee-hee, this always makes me laugh, do you see the resemblance? He was being nice, not making one that is wearing thick glasses, a sloppy pony tail and a sweatshirt which is what I usually wear! (Please refrain from making any mean comments that might hurt my feelings.) Anyway, have fun playing around with it, but don't waste so much time that you don't get your work done!

Oh yeah, I'm still waiting for the official confirmation that we were able to move classrooms so be sure to check the board in the lobby for the right classroom.  While I will have enough seats for everyone, you can also bring your own laptop if you prefer as you won't be able to save anything on the lab computers. 

It's an exciting time with so much changing on Social Media sites! Looking forward to seeing everyone next week.

Thanks!

PS. If you ever have a private question or concern please email me.

Welcome to Social Media Marketing

Hello class!

I want to welcome you to Social Media Marketing Fall 2012.  Social media is really becoming a mainstream part of our lives and it is important for you as business professionals to both understand it, and to leverage it.  Do remember that although we have fun, we must still work hard, we will have quizzes and homework assignments so I will be keeping you busy.  Everything will be done online so you must have reliable access to the internet you should also bring with you a "thumb" drive to save any work, as the lab computers do not allow you to save anything.

It is important for you to purchase and have the required text as soon as possible.  The text, The Social Media Bible, is readily available online and as an eBook.
 
As always, please don't hesitate to ask questions.  In fact, I encourage you to communicate with me as much as possible and express any concerns right away.  The best way to reach me out of class is by email jenn.guignard@gmail.com but you can find all of my contact information on the syllabus.
 
Again, I'm looking forward to meeting each of you and to a great class!
Thanks
Jeannette

 

Dr. S. Jeannette Guignard

UCR Instructor

Social Media Marketing