Social Media @ Work

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I decided to post my last blog about the company I work for and their current social media strategies. I also wanted to write about possible ways they can appeal to a wider demographic to potential gain a stronger following and increase sales across the board. The company I work for is Arhaus, which is a high-end furniture and home lifestyle store. The company has been around for 30 years and continues to grow nationwide, opening several new stores and warehouses each year. The beauty of Arhaus is that not only is the quality top notch but also when you walk into a store it’s very visually pleasing to the eye and has a creative atmosphere. Over the years the company has continued to grow, mainly due to new stores as well as their social media and marketing. Arhaus currently uses Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to showcase their product and ads to people from all over the country. They do a wonderful job when it comes to providing stunning photos of their furniture and accessories. Majority of our business comes from people seeing marketing e-mails and checking their Facebook and Instagram feed of new product and pictures.

I am very passionate about Arhaus and want it to continue to grow and increase the success it already has received. I do see some ways that the company is lacking social media wise and think with just a few changes the business could grow so much more. I would love to see Arhaus post more YouTube videos featuring product but also showing how things are created. Quality is one of the most important things to Arhaus and by showing product demonstration videos and telling the stories behind the creation of their product, I think this would really grab the attention to more customers. Romancing the product is a key selling point and sometimes just by showing and talking about the history, creation or where the piece was discovered in the world, could make the difference between someone choosing to buy it or not. Also, with the Arhaus Instagram I think they do a great job already with beautiful photos of furniture and home spaces but I do think it could be even better. Instead of focusing just on residential areas I think Arhaus could branch out more into commercial as well. We have some beautiful office, bedroom, dining and living furniture that could look great in hotels, restaurants and offices. This could be a major benefit to the company and really increase popularity and sales. Also, with Instagram and Facebook the company could do more contests and incentives to help gain more customers and followers. One of the things I enjoy that we promote through Instagram is take a selfie with furniture. We have signs in our store a couple times a year and whomever takes the most fun and creative selfie with that piece of furniture wins it! This seems to bring a lot more customers in and I think the potential is huge if we built off of that idea and did more throughout the year. Snapchat is something that we currently don’t use but with the growing popularity of the app I think this would be another great addition to Arhaus marketing. Arhaus could post short clips and behind the scenes of the company such as retail store employees, warehouse workers and even corporate office. Show how much fun we have and the young, vibrant feel for the company. I think this would be a great marketing strategy to bring a younger demographic in of first time home buyers and young businesses.

Social media plays such a huge role in advertising and marketing which we’ve learned a lot about throughout the semester, especially doing our client projects. When working on my client project this semester it made me think of how we focused on small/local businesses that even the major corporate level businesses could also gain a lot from the strategies and things we did for our client’s small business. With social media constantly expanding and new networks popping up daily, it’s important for all businesses to take advantage of what’s out there and continue to grow from the advantages of social media.

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Final Project

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Over the course of this semester, I’ve learned so many things about my social media presence and how to improve my social media brand overall. Some of the main social media networks I use are Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. These are the networks I use the most and the ones I’ve decided to reflect about. I never knew how important social media is in today’s society and job market and that they’re not just for entertainment and connecting with friends but also a great way to connect with future employers. Your social media can really play a major role in determining your future career and employer as businesses do look at these and are a first impression of you.

 LinkedIn is probably the most popular social media network when it comes to employers and companies seeking future candidates for positions with their business. Before this semester I really didn’t use LinkedIn for anything but an extra social media network I connected with friends and coworkers. Now I’ve posted a more professional looking profile that shows my work and education history in a clear and simple format. I believe that a profile that is simple and to the point but yet showing some specific information and details is what employers want. If your social media page or profile is loaded with tons of information, photos and postings then people may not take the time to look through and find the important things about you. Also, my profile image is just a nice photo of myself, not with friends, pets or eating food. This portrays a more professional image of yourself. The challenges I faced with cleaning out my LinkedIn profile and starting fresh was that I wasn’t sure where to begin. I basically erased everything and started fresh, which really helped me declutter and put the focus on myself. Now my LinkedIn profile is to the point and makes it easy for coworkers, companies and potential employers to see me and my professional background. Since doing this, I’ve noticed a large increase in LinkedIn profile views as well as professional connections. It seems as though my LinkedIn is being seen by more people and the more my connections grow the more people I potentially can connect with.

Facebook and Instagram are really for more of an entertainment use and way I keep connected to friends and family. I have made a few changes though and improved some things on both social media networks. Facebook I’ve had for 10+ years and I still use it daily. It’s my number one source for posting photos, comments and updates with friends and family as well as seeing what’s going on in the world. What I’ve done in terms of my Facebook network is that I’ve been more cautious of my postings and watching things that I post and share because once I post it’s out there for the world to see. I’ve never posted anything extremely horrible or bad but I’ve tried to be more professional and adult. I’ve realized that when I post, comment or share content that these could potential damage my brand and people could judge me in a negative way because of these. Also, I’ve been more careful on who I connect with and become friends with. I think it’s so much more manageable and easy to keep your connections and friends as just that and not to add several people that you don’t know or have a friendship with. Of course Facebook is a great way to meet new people but I don’t have to add everyone as a friend. This was my greatest challenge, going through and removing people I’ve never spoken with and filtering through friends that I actually have a friendship and connection with. Now I’ve noticed that I’m able to focus more on the people important to me and connect with quality people over quantity. Instagram is really just a fun social media app that I use to post photos and connect with friends and see what my friends, family and favorites companies and celebrities are posting. Before this semester I posted pictures of whatever and really didn’t think much of it. Now after learning new strategies of social media and branding, I’ve really made Instagram an outlet of posting photos of myself with friends and family instead of pointless items and things. I’ve gained more followers and liked images because of this. I really didn’t experience any challenges but noticed a big difference over the course of this semester with my Instagram account. By posting more quality images and experiences I’ve been able to connect with new friends and networks.

          This past semester has been both exciting and educational in terms of social media branding. I’ve learned several new techniques and strategies that have made improvements in all of my social media networks. It’s also been a great way to declutter my life and have a fresh start. I’ve felt that with the changes made to my social media networks based on what I’ve learned this past semester, I’ve grown my social media and myself into a young adult and put my high school social media times behind.

Social Media Policy for MASC

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My client already has an active social media networking strategy and uses many different accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. I think as far as the future goes for MASC and future employees, the more interactive the better. As mentioned on previous blogs the guys at MASC already do a great job with their social media networks and try to create an interactive atmosphere for their employees and customers. Since MASC is primarily an online retail store, it’s important for them to take advantage of all social media outlets since majority of their customers cannot physically come into their retail store to touch and feel the products. MASC does an amazing job with their “Masc Minute” videos on YouTube and they post links to them on their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts so no one misses out on them.

The internal approach now and going forward into the future for MASC is to continue being as interactive as possible with videos and images. Make sure that future employee’s have the same passion that Jamie and Patrick, the founders of shop MASC have for men’s health and skincare. Their enthusiasm and energy will come across through videos and social media and will help grow the brand and increase customers and sales. The more interactive that MASC can be the better!

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My Client Project

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ShopMASC Client Report

It’s been such a great experience working with my client MASC and the guys who started it Jamie and Patrick. I’ve learned so much and hope to have helped them with continuing to grow their business and promote their products and expertise in the world of men’s skincare and grooming 🙂

Client Strategies

What does the term "Men Beauty" actually means?

This week I really focused on finding out what my client, ShopMasc’s target market/audience is. ShopMasc is a men’s health, beauty and grooming brand that caterer’s to men of all ages. I have begin to see that the majority of their business seems to be with men between 25-40. ShopMasc does have something for everyone carrying skincare, cosmetics, tools, hair products, etc. but a lot of their products such as skincare does focus on preventative measures and include a lot of anti-aging properties. They also have products to stimulate hair to help prevent future hair loss that can happen with age. I’ve been shopping with them since my teens and now being in my late 20’s I am more concerned with products to help keep me healthy and youthful. ShopMasc really goes in great detail through their YouTube account posting videos demonstrating these products. They also will start with a product and show you how to use it and what the target areas the product is for. Jamie one of the owners will give you updates monthly on how the product has worked for him and what results he’s noticed so that you’re able to really know if this product would be for you.

While we have focus on our target market this week, the past few weeks I’ve been starting to follow, subscribe and like several different men’s beauty and lifestyle brands. I’ve noticed more traffic through YouTube video views as well as more views, likes and follows on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. I’ve noticed it’s important to really put my client’s brand out there in the market of several categories such as fashion, lifestyles, travel, magazines, etc. instead of just strictly in the beauty/health category. By us liking, posting and following more of these brands, there has been a greater deal of interaction with my clients social media networks.

Going forward this is something that we want to keep building off of and continue to research what our target market’s needs and wants are to help promote the ShopMasc brand. I want to keep a very interactive content strategy by continuing to post product videos, photos, promotions and posts through ShopMasc’s social media networks. When it comes to a younger target audience, being engaging and interactive through social media is really one of the best ways to promote the brand and grow our community.

Client Advertising

 

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My advertising strategy would consist of two social media networks, YouTube and Instagram. I think both of these appeal to the masses while being two completely different social media outlets. YouTube would be the best use of  advertising for my client because I believe that the key to selling products and the beauty industry is seeing the product in use first hand. As mentioned previously, my client ShopMasc already posts tutorials and product reviews monthly on their YouTube channel. This allows customers to learn about the product, what ingredients it consists of, the purpose of the product and what it does as well as how to use the product. I’m a very hands-on, visual person so for me seeing them demonstrate the product and seeing its color, consistency and how it’s applied really stands out to me. My strategy on YouTube would be to feature actual commercials of the products they’re promoting and possibly getting a celebrity/athlete endorsement deal for one or multiple products they sell. I think those are always a great way to sell a product and make something memorable when seeing your favorite celebrity endorsing and using a product.

Using Instagram I would take some of the successes my client has with their YouTube tutorial videos and use that on Instagram. I think posting a short video clip on Instagram and really using key words and phrases as hashtags can show off the product to so many more people than normal. Quick video clips with sounds always catch my eye on Instagram, regardless of what it is I always seem to stop, click and watch. They could post daily or weekly short clips featuring a different product and be interactive with their followers and market the product at the same time. I think this would be a great advertising strategy for my client ShopMasc and appeal to a much larger following than they already have.

Instagram/Youtube ShopMasc

 

Both Instagram and YouTube are amazing social media networks for my client to have and use. Part of their success has been through uploading videos to YouTube. They do a great job reaching out to their target audience (men) through this method. ShopMasc posts demonstration videos called “Masc Minute” monthly, describing the products that they carry in-depth. The normally post at least one video if not more weekly, talking about the featured product, including what it’s used for and ingredients. The videos are very educational and can help men manage and take care of their appearance and health. ShopMasc target audience is men of any age and they want to give you the info you need and showcase products that will make you feel and look your best. Jamie, who is one of the owner’s of ShopMasc usually does demonstrations weekly from in the store or from his home, so you can get a feel for the product and make sure it’s something you’re needing that will benefit you.

Instagram is another social media network that my client tends to use often, mostly when they’re featuring new products from their shop and online store. They do a nice job of showcasing new products, while giving detail about the product with hashtags that relate to them and the product that’s being featured. Their photos that  they upload tend to really make the product the star and use nice filters which make the product stand out.

ShopMasc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopmasc/

ShopMasc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/shopmasc

Client progress and changes

I have noticed progress and some crucial changes have been done with my client’s social media sites. This past week I’ve made sure that all my clients social media pages are cohesive and match each other. I think it’s important to keep things cohesive for the customer viewing these sites so that they’re not confused by my client and their brand. Although not every social media site has the same profile pic and/or banner, they all seem to flow together and promote the Masc shop brand, so that there is no confusion on what page the customer is viewing.

I have noticed progress especially with my client ShopMasc’s Facebook and Twitter sites. Facebook seems to have several views and new followers daily. Twitter is getting new followers often as well so it’s great that my client is getting new views and potential customers just from social media.

Hopefully everyone is noticing some great progress and have some new and fresh ideas on making their client and brand even bigger and better!

Week 8!!!

Wow, who knew there were so many guidelines and etiquette when it comes to social media. I’ve learned quite a bit on the do’s and dont’s when it comes to putting things online and connecting with others using social media. I’ve learned a lot especially when dealing with professional and business social media accounts and being cautious on what you’re posting and who you’re connecting with. It’s so important to use your best judgement and think before you post and connect. One little mistake could potentially cause you to lose a relationship or even worse a future career with a company. Once something is out there and put on the world wide web, it could be there forever!

This week has been especially educational when it comes to our personal branding and our client project. I feel as though I’ve made some good progress with my client’s social media sites by getting the brand out with following and hashtagging. Each week seems to get better and I’ve noticed more views and likes through my clients social media, mainly through Facebook and Twitter. I’ve also learned that you need to be careful when posting a status, comment, photo, etc. because something you think is fine other’s may not agree with and could damage you or your client’s business and reputation. One thing I took away from this week was what we learned about posting photos. I never really thought about it before but I do see why it’s important to always ask permission and make sure it’s ok to post a photo that has other’s in it. You don’t want to just post and tag people in a photo because you could potentially offend a friend or connection.

Another major thing I took from this week was how important online branding and your reputation can be as well as how quickly you can hurt or ruin it. It’s crucial when it comes to personal and business that you don’t put things out there that could damage you, your business or others because once it’s posted and out there, anyone can see it. Always listen and think things through especially online because you may not be able to retract it and you only get one shot at a first impression.