Below is my personal branding project. It went into the backseat when it came to work for this semester. I focused most my efforts on my clients project, which seems to be what always happens. I concentrate most of my effots on helping others or trying to prove myself to others. So when it comes to working on myself or showing myself off, I fall short. Its easier to engage as a business entity online rather then my personal self. At least in my case it was.

personal_branding_mh_18-194v674  – personal branding project

How did the social media project go?

What did you learn from your client/reviewer? 

Everything worked out well for my client. We learned new things about what to share, how to engage, and how to view results when it comes to social media.

What did you do well?  

I believe I make reports easy to understand and give good research as to why I am choosing to do something or not do something.

What would you do differently next time?

Looking way back I would have like to start gathering content photos, videos, or articles in one area. So when it came to looking for good content I could look in one spot, rather then going through many many emails. Looking back just on this class period working with Gutter Cover KC, I would have looked more in sharing different types of content such as blogs, videos, photos, and info-graphics against each-other to see how they do. I would also look into Facebook ads and try to learn the business manager interface better.

Feeling on Hootsuite

Although I have taken social media courses before online, I still was surprised to learn more on Hootsuite. Learning about the options Hootsuite offers was nice, it showed what organization can help you achieve on managing social media. This was also the area I was most drawn to as well. Organizing and structuring content in a calendar makes so much sense when in comes to posting on multiple sites. However its harder then it seems to start implementing and getting everyone on board to this. The content calendar module was most important to me, even if we don’t follow it to a T, it helps keep tasks going and being taken care of. I believe this is a must have when using multiple platforms and having a content strategy. I would also say its a tie between content calendar and content strategy- on most valuable module. Having a strategy to your content helps in getting in scheduled. It also keeps the big goal in mind of branding you business, not just findingrandom things to share.

certificate-1lq07q3 — screen shot >

This is currently Gutter Cover KC’s Hootsuite platform. I use it to monitor twitter topics to get ideas for content and blogging. I am working on getting the business owners involved with this platform to contribute and see results from social media.  I also plan on setting up a personal account for my own personal branding.

FINAL PROJECT

I really enjoyed this project. I am also really happy with the way the final project turned out.

Something specifically I learned during this project is the importance of setting goals and having a content strategy. This helps plan and execute your ideas and track what works and doesn’t work. It also helps keep your social profiles on track and in line with your company brand and objectives.

Posting to social networks depending on the content your sharing

Informational Blogging to create content

Below is a blog I wrote for my client Gutter Cover. As a business we like to share important tips to maintain your home in good condition. We like to share what to look for if your home is having problems with water. Most of the things we share right now on social media is informational to help inform customers on caring for their homes gutters.

http://bit.ly/homedownspouts 

If I was going to share this blog on social media platforms this is how I would word my postings:

Facebook- “Hate cleaning your gutters? This article will explain why its a bid deal! #important #guttercoverkc”

LinkedIn- “As a company is it important to us to educate. This new article explains why it is important to pay attention to your homes gutter system, specifically the downspouts. #guttercoverkc #companygoals #educate”

Twitter- “Check out our latest article on why you should care about your home’s downspouts. #important #saveyoumoney #guttercoverkc”

Instagram- “How are your downspouts functioning? Are you having water issues? The guttering system is one of the most important systems on a home. A properly functioning gutter system is designed to combat water damage to your house. Gutters collect the rain from the roof and direct it away from your house. It is very important to make sure all downspouts are not only clog free, but also directing water far enough from your homes foundation. Check out the below link to read more. #downspoutsmatter #guttercoverkc #localbusiness #importantinformation”

YouTube- I have already uploaded the video that is shared into this blog postings, that is how I got it to embed.

I am trying to link up to more videos in our blogs.  I think they help better illustrate how things work. Gutters can get a little technique and be hard to describe at times. Simple short videos give great demonstrations. I am also still determining what hashtags to use on what platform. We have a different market for each platform. Customers on Facebook, other local small businesses on Instagram, entrepreneurs on LinkedIn, and marketing people on Twitter.

What is content marketing you ask?

Content marketing is the material or content such as videos, blogs, or photos you share towards your customers. It doesn’t have to be directly promoting your product, but more so targeted content toward your customers to interact with. It is material that a target audience will enjoy reading or seeing. It creates a brand that customers are familiar and trusting towards. It creates loyalty, increased in awareness, and cost savings on advertising.

Below are two examples of content marketing that I have researched about.

https://www.coca-colacompany.com/ – the journey ; This is a great example of content marketing.

Farmers Insurance – https://www.farmers.com/inner-circle/ – Farmers inner circle of information. Whether or not you choose Farmers for insurance these articles are great. They state,”We keep you in the know with the latest tips and insights on auto safety, home upkeep, and planning for those special life moments… plus give you exclusive access to hand picked perks!”

Below is a link to my social media calendar process beginning.

Social_Media_Content_Calendar_guttercover_2018-2d0erye

This is the calendar I have started for Gutter Cover Kansas City. It was hard to come up with a full calendar, since I was unsure on to what content is going to work best and for ideas to use. After speaking to the owner on a few ideas I had, we agreed to try a few things. One being a employee of the month to highlight our company culture and to appreciate our employees. Second being a poll to see what our customers want to see and going from there. Third being a contest give away. This will help highlight small local business and hopefully drive people to like, share, and tag the post to win a basket full of goodies.  Most of the months are similar in scheduling, due to waiting to see how the 1st month goes to go from there. I also added blog ideas we have came up with and article to link to and share of our important blogs. Most content will be made a few days, to a day, to hopefully a week ahead of time. Once I have a good stock of content and photos. Till then I don’t have much content to share with the calendar. Our work also depends on the weather, so its hard to schedule out if its a rainy day and we have installation photos going out. (when we wouldn’t be working)

I spent a lot of time looking around at calender’s and content organizers. I didn’t really find any that I really liked. I need one that can be checked off, and have reminders. Basically to set up like a real work calendar. That way the to dos will get done and ill have reminders of what I need to get for the next post. I plan on just creating this in outlook. That way each day ill have task to complete with social media managing and with my other job duties, so things don’t get pushed out. Also be able to tag people on certain events.

3 focus points for setting up a strategy for social media growth with examples

1. Set objectives for the number of followers to reach on platforms that pertain to your business
2. Outline a strategy to adhere to- How are you going to make this work?
3. Then assess your success and thoughts on what did/didn’t work. When did you get the most followers and least followers? Did you do anything particular that caused this?

Twitter-192 to 200- How am I going to get this? By following and finding better and common like businesses. Joining up with other local businesses to contribute too, and engage with their post more. I think this will work just to help get our twitter back on track, less spammy, and more targeted. We need to grow our Twitter community.

Facebook- 339 to 350- Complete this by: Creating some good content, engaging back with customers, and boosting a couple post prior to our busy season. I believe this will work due to the fact that customers / people will feel valued. Also creating good content to educate possible or current customers on how to maint.  your house.

Instagram- 45 to 75 – Reach this target by: sharing good videos and photos, & highlighting specials. This is a new platform for Gutter Cover and seems to be doing well already. I need to make sure to follow back like businesses. Also engage, engage, and engage. when customers comment on our post, make sure I am following up on it. I believe this will work just because this is a highly visual platform, that what people look to like.

These targets are not extreme by any means. But I believe they are realistically reasonable. I would rather set small goals such as ten a week, rather then 50. Until we are growing at that rate easily; I dont see the point in setting myself up for stress or failure. Its more fun to celebrate 10 then it is to stress over 30. At least that’s how I see it.

A strong social community is good business

What is a social community?

Hootsuite states, “A strong community of engaged customers, interested prospects and excited brand and employee advocates can go a long way in growing the success of your organization.” Your social community can be employees, customers, partners, influences, and the community which you serve in general.  This can increased conversions, positive brand image, and help with sharing your brands voice.

What makes this social community successful?

Success within social communities is made by engaging and building relationships with possible employees, customers, and partners. You can track this success by making goals for the program, a criteria to follow, and continued engagement for follow through.

What are tactics you can suggest to grow the community?

• Research influences in your community to follow. Look into how they communicate to their following and learn from it.
• Possibly create an event to meet possible customers.
• Engage with your customers, talk back to their comments.
• Follow like businesses with a like brand voice to yours.
• Find your niche customers and see what other businesses they follow. \
• Geotarget key words related to your business and engage with the posters or learn from them

How could you apply this awareness to your Client strategy?

• We need to research more influences. Once we have this established we need to make better connections with them and possible trades to benefits both businesses.
• We also need to make sure we are always responding to any engagement we receive from anyone.
• Monitor key words on Twitter that go along with what people are saying.
• On Instagram use geo-tagging for our installations.
• Look into Socialbro and Followerwonk to look into social insights
• Set up Hootsuite to work all channels together
• Figure out if we need to share different content, not sure what to do with gutters. Customers are not interested in seeing gutter content everyday. So do we share more content that is more related to our customers. Our business is also not a repeat customer business, unless they have more then one home. So we need to figure out how to make this work.

Finding your Personal Branding Statement

This is a challenge for me. I think quickly and think I have something perfect. But, I continue thinking and coming up different things. Its hard to settle to just one.

Below are a few examples:

• I use my ______ to ______ for ______.
• I use my individuality to look for solutions
• I support/help/empower/activate _____ by ____ _____.
• I empower creativeness by valuable listening.
• Leveraging my _____ and ______, I deliver _____ to ______.
• Leveraging my imagination and intellect, I deliver solutions to obstacles.

Personal Branding Statement:

Mission Statement based on what you learned in Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk Video –> Why, How, What

Why; I Dream of generating ideas by considering differences, being authentic, and taking a new point of view.

How:  By helping small businesses find their unique voice and personality.

What:  I believe in branding. Looking for a consult?

Changes to personal branding on social media

 I would like to build out the blog continuing from this class. Reading articles and continuing to grow business and personal branding through social sights. Also while doing this rating some articles whether they really helped our not.

LinkedIn; Try to interact more on LinkedIn and find small business connections. Find good articles to share about growing business and articles that go along with my branding ideas. Read and engage with at least 3 people per week. 

Changes made:

I made my url more specific to my name- so its easily remembered and searchable.

I need to clean up my Twitter account and pay more attention to it.  Looking to start engaging on it as well, but more on a professional level. Find trustworthy connections on Twitter as well. My goal is to engage with people that already do what I want to do as a career and learn from them. My goal is to engage at least 3 times a week with a mentor like figure. 

The updates I made on Twitter include a better @.

I joined some different groups and chat areas to follow.

Starting to retweet things I find interesting in the marketing / branding field.

Still haven’t considered what I am going to do with Facebook. Its more of a personal platform and I am connected with a lot of family. They don’t care about social media blogging they want to see photos and videos of my daughter.