Week 10 Comments

I commented on Sheeri Moore, Sophia Ludyjan, and Skylar Hunter's blogs

Week 12 Blog Two

I decided to look into the different banner ads available on Facebook, as I am very interested in potentially utilizing this feature. I came across a series of different advertising forms for Facebook, and of all of them, these are the few favorites I had. 

The typical, simple photo ad: I enjoyed this form of advertising as it is simple and cost effective. It is visual, and has a solid call to action. For my company, I may put a picture of my product and then add a call to action during the holiday season that offers 15%off for Christmas purchases. I will allot 50 dollars for this type of advertising and if it earns recognition, I will continue to add more. 

The right hand column ad is another that I prefer, because it isn't as invasive as the photo ad, but is still seen. As long as the advertised product is relevant and has a call to action, it can be successful. If my ad popped up on the side of an eccentric clothing brand's website, it could deem very beneficiary for my product. As long as my brand comes up with an efficient target audience, this type of advertising will be useful. Because my company is just starting, I would only allot  50 dollars for this type of advertising. 

When it comes to Twitter, I am not all too familiar with all its features. I am more of a visual person, so Twitter doesn't seem to be the most efficient for my company on a surface level. However, when I looked into Twitter advertising, I learned it is actually much more similar to Facebook advertising than I had assumed. You can add a target audience, create new website tags, and set a budget to get more clientele. I will definitely allot 25-50 dollars for this type of advertising, and have similar deals as my Facebook ads. 

On a side note, I was interested by the fact that more people seem to be reached on Instagram opposed to Facebook by boosted posts. I will definitely make sure to boost one of my ads once I come up with a decent pitch. 

Week 12 Blog One

The first business I found that was similar to my own was Spirit Nectar. I follow them on Instagram and decided to take a look at their Facebook as well. The first thing I noticed was their shop now button as well as beautiful imagery. This company creates customized crystal art and has a unique niche in the market. Another two companies similar are Dolls Kill and Alien Clothing. I think in this case, focusing on social media and traditional advertising is essential since they are larger companies. Dolls Kill and Alien Clothing sell eccentric clothing and targets the audience I am interested in for my brand. When I went on their Facebook's, I noticed either a bunch of color, or black and white images. Their websites also follows the same guidelines. Channeled Creations and  is yet another brand similar to my own. They are a small jewelry company that creates a unique twist on crystals. The first thing I noticed on this account was their links to their other social media accounts and website. Each of these companies list a shop now button as their call to action. All follow the same protocol for attracting an audience and each is very successful. 

For companies that focus on aesthetics, I believe social media is a great way to market your product. Traditional advertising such as Newsletters, ads, etc. are effective, but for companies that are trendy and need imagery are more successful with mediums such as Facebook and Instagram.

Week 11 Blog 2

I wanted to blog about the benefits of joining yelp and linked'n in, as these two advertising mediums interested me the greatest. 

I have not set up a yelp account yet due to the fact that I have not sold any products currently, however, once my company does begin selling, I will make sure to. The benefits of yelp are infinite, however, the consequences for a faulty product are tremendous. 
I looked up popular companies that I know of that have sold eccentric chokers and crystal necklaces and none of them had signed up for yelp. This surprised me, but I decided to keep digging and found some shops that sold crystals and read their reviews. 
Crystal Works was the first I came across, and their reviews were fantastic. They are a crystal shop in Austin, Texas that sells genuine crystals, meditation tools, spiritual novels, and jewelry. They had 53 reviews with a 4.5 star rating. The price range of their products are listed as well as their hours. 
Another shop I found when searching on Yelp was Rock Star Crystals, which is located in New York. It had a 3.5 star rating which was much lower than Crystal Works, and was lower on the list.
 I found establishments with low ratings did not show up on yelp until pages down. If you have good reviews on yelp, your facility will come up first and you are much more likely to get customers. 

I also researched Groupon and was surprised by the deals they had for choker necklaces. The majority of the products had discounts that were 90% off, which almost seemed like a scam to me. There were products whose original price was $69.00, and were going for $6.90. I know that Groupon is a great site for entertainment deals, spa packages, and restaurant coupons, but for products, it seems rather cheap. I read the reviews for a product similar to my own, and they were pretty poor. The product that was said to be originally $69.00 and was going for $6.90 was said to be cheap and not genuine. If I were to post my product on Groupon, I would list my original price as $25.00 and make my discount price at $19.99. This will make my product look more realistic and people will get what they are paying for. 

Week 11 Blog 1

The four online marketing tools recommended are GooglePlus, Linked'n, Yelp, and Groupon.

 By reading the lecture, it seems although Googleplus is an excellent tool for growing a business. GooglePlus allows you to create circles and see who is tracking your business. This can be very useful when deciding which groups of people would be the best to target. Although I do not have my own GooglePlus account, it may be a good addition for my company's progression. 

Linked'n was another suggestion made in order to grow awareness of other business's similar to my own. This is a way to get my brand out there, but also to learn about brands. Linked'n is also a great way to partner with like minded people and find people in my line of work. 

Yelp is mentioned in order to build trust from my buyers. If my reviews are good, more individuals are likely to buy from my business, so this is a really important tool. I feel like karma is really prevalent for this particular form of marketing, so treating customers with respect and handling the products with care is extra important. A person that sold me crystals over the internet once put a thank you letter as well as a note that described the significance of my stones in my package. It added a flare that my company could definitely also benefit from, and would allow for positive feedback on Yelp!

Groupon is the last noted marketing tool that I wanted to blog about. This is a great tool for bringing groups of people to my business. Most groupons I have noticed are for entertaining business's such as Boomers, however, I beleive I could offer discounts if individuals are buying multiple products. Groupon is a great place to get business's noticed, and everyone can appreciate a deal. 

Week 10 Blog One

Newsletters can be a very efficient forms of advertising for several reasons. The two main reasons stand as so; they remind their customers about their business and can make the customer feel special with customized messages. Because the customer feels valued, they are more likely going to want to either donate or purchase from the given company. When I worked for the animal rescue, I would create personalized newsletters thanking my donors for signing up for the newsletters. I would also send out future event invites and let my donors know of volunteer opportunities. For my up and coming company, it may be a little more difficult to think of newsletter ideas.

The first newsletter I can send out for my crystal company would be a welcome email similar to the one I sent out for my animal rescue. This will just thank my customers for the interest and let them know a bit about my product.

For birthdays or anniversaries, I could send out a newsletter giving a discount to my loyal customers. As mentioned in the power point,  this is likely going to encourage a customer to buy my product whereas they may not have previously. Maybe I will send a personalized birthday souvenir when a purchase is made if it's an individuals birthday. For major holidays, I would send out newsletters with discount opportunities and our seasonal products. I have already thought of a few different product ideas for the season and think this would be a nice touch.

If anyone makes large purchase orders, I would send a newsletter thanking them for their loyalty. I feel like this will show my loyal customers that I appreciate them. I may send a discount for future purchases as well. 

Lastly, I will send newsletter just about the general whereabouts of Crystal Coven. This may include any trade shows or street fairs Crystal Coven may attend, and what products will be launching. It is important to inform guests of future products as well as current to keep their interest. 

Week 9 Blog 2

The categories that I believe would optimize my blog views would be the following:

Spirituality: I believe this to be an efficient category for my company because Crystal Coven is derived around the magic of crystals. The effects of crystals is a pseudoscience and a great topic to mention in my blogs to amuse my readers. Maybe stating Crystal Coven's opinion on whether crystals do have an effect on one's well being with research to back our theory up could be a good topic.

The benefits handmade products have over generic products: This would be another good topic to let my buyers know how genuine each of Crystal Coven's products are. Each necklace is handmade and full moon charged which may be important to those who connect well with crystals. 

About the creator: This would be my last category, as I would explain what made my inspired to start this company in the first place. I would explain my background with sewing, reiki, business, and meditation. This will allow my buyers to feel more connected to the product.

I commented on Skylar Hunter, Sophia Ludyjan, and Marcelle Montes

Week 9 Blog One

I believe if you are passionate about a given topic, you are much more likely to get positive recognition. As I have learned in my mass communications class, individuals crave entertainment, so adding a personal twist on something that would normally be black and white can really boost your business's chance of being viewed in a positive light. An example of my theory can be proven by the popular show, Shark Tank. The show is about business proposals from aspiring entrepreneurs, which sounds incredibly boring. Because they added a twist of entertainment into the show by hiring "sharks" to pick apart the companies, it made the show a hit. The same can be applied to blogs. If you are the creator of a company and want to write about something inspiring about your company, it is much more likely to gain attention than someone writing about the statistics of their company. Entertainment is key.
Now in the case that you are writing on behalf of your company and have little passion or little experience, the likelihood of your blog being inspirational is low. I would only recommend writing a personal blog if the company is yours and has information that individuals can learn from. I personally wrote a blog in the past that was in regards to the animal rescue organization I work for and mentioned a story that grabbed my listeners attention and pulled at their heart strings. My blog got a decent amount of publicity and was also posted on our website, which added a personal spin. This allowed our company to have a bit more character, but it was the passion and personal experience that led to this.