Blog #9 10 Ways to Grow Your Business Using Social Media

   The article I am blogging about is titled, 10 Ways To Grow Your Business Using Social Media by Andre Kay, CEO of Sociallybuzz. The article begins by pointing out how big of an impact social media has on our lives and that social media marketing is critical for companies to have a strategic advantage over their competition. The first way to grow your business is to stop living in denial. This step explains that social media is here to stay and that it is imperative to learn and accept it. You need to know that everyone is using it and by not using it you are severely hurting your chances at being better then your competitors. It is also important to understand that social media is constantly changing, you need to stay up to date with all the new technologies. The second way is join the conversation. You need to communicate with your customers over social media, if the post a complaint or praise on your wall it is important to interact with them in real-time. Not only does this give your company a voice but it shows that your company has a personality as well. The third way is stay true to your business. It is very important in social media to post content that is related to your company and brand image. It does not have to necessarily selling a product but it can be just a message that relates to your industry, business or target audience. Give the consumers a way to relate to your brand. The fourth way is to be in the know. As stated before, technology and social media are always changing and revamping. To help your company stay ahead of your competitors you need to be able to adapt and learn to the new changes. The fifth way is choose the right channels. When creating your social media accounts it is important to be on the social media outlet that is most consistent with your brand image. It is also smart to not waste time investing in all social media outlets and focus on a key few that will be consistent. The sixth way is create a plan. When posting on social media it is important to be consistent with your posts, if you create a weekly schedule on when you will be posting it will be easier to stay focused and ahead of your postings. The more often you post you will see the right timing and frequency that is right for your company. The seventh way is develop a crisis plan.  It is important to be prepared when it comes to social media. When a customer complains or bashes your company you need to know how to respond and control the situation. By making these plans in advance you do not need to scramble and you can have an effective response. The eighth way is develop multi touch points. To grow your  business more substantially and effective you should have multiple touch points of your social media and digital strategy to achieve specific goals. This helps grow your page with potential customers and keeps them engaged. The ninth way is make a great impression. You need to not only post great content, but great visuals as well to keep your customer interested and proud to be sharing and following your company. It not only expresses professionalism but cohesiveness. The tenth and final way is don't be afraid to delegate. If your business is expanding to rapidly it is important to know that you can hire an out of house social media team to control your social media accounts. Not only does this use less of your companies resources but it will be done by professionals that know how to handle professional social media accounts.

   This relates to our social media class because these are 10 basic rules that all companies should follow when they want to use their social media profiles effectively. Social media should not only create awareness of your company but it should also be an outlet for communication between the business and the consumer, a channel that is desperately needed to keep customer satisfaction high.

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andre-kay/10-ways-to-grow-your-busi_b_6979470.html

Blog #8 Bosses Can't Get Even

   The article I am blogging about is titled Bosses Can't Get Even When Staffers Gripe On Social Media written by The Associated Press. This article starts out by describing a scenario where Bert Martinez's employee posted her dislike for her boss and job on Facebook, after Martinez consulted with his lawyer on firing the individual, he finds out that the employee can not be fired. Martinez, Owner of Bert Martinez Communications in Phoenix says that he learned that employees are allowed to vent, you can not fire them for saying that their job environment is unpleasant. However, the employee quit a week after Martinez found out about the post. The article then states that the government protects workers' rights to say what they want about their work environment regardless if it is insulting on Facebook or Twitter. It states that it is illegal for employees to be fired for posting about pay, hours, work assignment, supervisors, dress code or any issue regarding their employment. All companies of all sizes deal with this issues, but it is especially harder for smaller companies to deal with this properly because they do not have the resources to hire a legal team. According to the National Labor Regulation Board, employees can not be fired for venting on social media because they are involved in concerted activity, or joining with fellow employees to improve working conditions. Henry Perlowski an employment law attorney with Arnall Golden Gregory in Atlanta states, "The NLRB is effectively taking the position that commentary about working conditions on social media is completely protected".  In 2014 the NLRB said that a restaurant fired two employees illegally when firing employees for discussing how income tax was withheld from their paychecks on social media. The NLRB quickly reversed those firings. The NLRB will uphold firings if a post damages a company through revealing trade secrets, saying disparage about product or services, posting about showing up and not working, or posting information regarding clients. 

   The article states that companies should have a written social media policy saying what employees can and can not due to prevent this incident from every happening. It also says that the company should review all of these policies with a lawyer or HR specialist to make sure it does not violate laws. Also, if an employee does post negative content on social media consult an attorney before taking disciplinary action. This deals with our social media class because employers on social media is a hot topic in today's job market. Employers will see what you post on social media and it can impact hiring decisions. It is important to be smart with what you post! 

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2015/03/25/workers-rights-on-social-media/

Blog #7 What to Consider When Trying to Market on Social Media

   The article I am blogging about is titled What to Consider When Trying to Market on Social Media by Brett Relander. This article first starts out by saying that social media is here to stay. Millions of people are on Social Media on a day to day basis and a lot of companies are exploiting that. The article then goes into steps on how to run a successful social media marketing campaign. The first step is to know which social media platform works best for your brand. People assume that they need to put their business on every social media outlet possible. However, it extends your resources and expenses. It also causes the company to work on many different platforms instead of focusing on one. The article suggests using the outlet that is  most relevant and valuable to your brand. For example if you are a cooking company, you make focus on YouTube to demo videos instead of tweeting recipes. The article describes that it is very important to find the outlet that will relate most to your company. The second step is that consistency matters. It states that social media marketing works best when it is consistent. The best way to stay constant is with a set posting schedule. This not only allows you to make the posts ahead of time, but you do not need to be necessarily on when the post get posted. Too much posting can also drive away your customers, becoming to loud on the web causes confusion and distaste. The third step is viral content. The goal of any social media marketer is to have their content go viral, which is not easy at all. When a brand posts daily the attention of the users becomes divided. Social Media Today states that content goes viral when it meets three characteristics; it is unique/exceptional, it appeals to influencers and can easily be shared. If you post too much it will be hard for anything to be unique.

   Not all content you post will go viral but if you aim yours posts to include those three characteristics the likely hood of content going viral increases. Social media gives companies the chance to get noticed and launch any startup business. When you take the time to set up each post so that it not only relates to your brand but sparks the interest of your consumer you will have a better chance of brand recognition and sharing. This relates to our social media marketing class because it gives tips on how to make the content you post viral. It also relates to our group project where we had to make viral videos representing the school of business.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243215

Blog #6 Salvation Army puts #thedress in a new light with powerful domestic violence ad

   The article I am blogging about is titled, Salvation Army puts #thedress in a new light with powerful domestic violence ad written by Abby Phillip of the Washington Post. This article started by mentioning the famous dress that exploded over the internet and had millions wondering...was the dress white and gold, or black and blue. Days after this post went viral the Southern African brand of the Salvation army tweeted an image of a very bruised women wearing the gold and white dress with a caption saying, "Why is it so hard to see black and blue". The ad also includes this powerful message, "The only illusion is if you think it was her choice". 

    The Salvation Army Southern Africa division tweeted this on Twitter while also saying that one in 6 women are victims of abuse and even started a hash tag #stopabuseagaisntwomen. When the original image was posted it was retweeted 16,321 times and favorited 7,817 times. The original image was created by an agency in Johannesburg and was posted in the Cape Times Newspaper on Friday morning. In the Cape Times they linked it to the work that The Salvation Army does with abused women, children, and human trafficked women. They wanted to bring awareness to a growing problem. This problem is also seem with many famous sports team this year such as Ray Rice punching his girlfriend in an elevator and a hockey player from The Los Angeles Kings charged with domestic violence. It is an epidemic in today's culture. Hours after the Southern Africa Salvation Army tweeted the picture, the Salvation Army in Canada tweeted the same image. This image sparked positive feedback to not only the Salvation Army for "getting the message right" but for incorporating such an iconic image with it. Celebrities began tweeting their respect towards the Salvation Army. Chelsea Radler posted, "@SalvationArmySA brilliant campaign to #StopAbuseAgainstWomen that social justice marketing profs can learn from. #thedress #iwd.

  Last week I blogged about the original picture and how it caused a conniption because people did not know the color of it but this week it is important to blog about the dress because it raises awareness to such a problem in our culture. I think The Salvation army and Cape Times Newspaper got it right with this ad, it has feeling and provokes emotion while relating to common topics. This relates to our Social Media class because it shows the power of the internet and how even the most ridiculous things that become viral can be used to spread powerful messages.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/06/the-salvation-armys-powerful-new-ad-on-domestic-violence-puts-thedress-debate-in-a-new-light/

The White and Gold (No, Blue and Black!) Dress That Melted The Internet Blog #5

Social Media News Update 
   The article I am blogging about is titled, The White and Gold (No, Blue and Black!) Dress That Melted the Internet by Jonathan Mahler. This article starts out by giving a background story about the infamous dress that has gone viral over the weekend. A mother of a bride posted a dress on social media that has many disagreeing. Some see the dress as black and blue, while others (like myself) see the dress as gold and white. The dress was posted to numerous social media sites such as Buzfeed and Facebook and were shared by hundreds intently. Even scientists had disputes about this dress. That same afternoon. 30 minutes later Buzfeed posted a poll about the dress generating more than 28 million views. At the post's peak 670,000 people were steaming the post simultaneously breaking their old record for traffic.

   Celebreities got in on the action, posting their opinions to popular social media sites. Taylor Swift, Mindy Kaling and Kanye West all said that they see the dress as blue and black while other celebtries such as Kim Kardashian and Senator Chris Murphy see the dress as white and gold. However, the dress is actually blue and black and goes for 50 pounds at a British Retailer. Scientists say that one theory on why people can see the dress as different because of the lighting in the room. If it is darker, the dress is blue and black, if the room is light you will see the dress as white and gold. Duje Tadin the associate professor for brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester says that the color change may be due to the different number of photoreceptors or cones, located in the retina which perceive the color blue. Josep Tsocano, an assistant professor in the Villanova University Department of Psychology says that the image can be interpreted two different ways, much like an optical illusion. However, scientists do agree that this image is very unusual because once you see it one way, it is very hard to see it the other way.

   This relates to our social media class because it shows the power of social media. One regular person posted a picture of a dress on Facebook and it went viral generating millions of views and shares. If companies can harness the power of social media, it will be virtually impossible to not see ads because everyone is basically on social media 24/7 anyway. All I know is, to me, the dress is definitely white and gold.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/28/business/a-simple-question-about-a-dress-and-the-world-weighs-in.html