Search This Blog

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Social Media Review - Final



Social Media Review


During the semester Spring 2017 , I developed some writing skills while  creating content for my Social Media for Business course.


I had social media accounts for personal and business purposes before this course. However, what really was new to me was "Blogging".  I realized that each person have different writing skills at one starting point and it is necessary to define your style or better said to create your style. That way you can enjoy writing content. Also to enjoy more you must be passionate and confident about the topics or field you are developing your blog.  


For Polanco Decora I started to post more frequently on Instagram and the Instagram account had an increase of 8% in a period of two month. (31 followers +). Also Polanco Decora Instagram account started to interact with Architects from other countries like Colombia and Brazil. 

The interaction will make possible to create content for the campaign  " Meet Architects in the World" 

On Facebook was not as good. The advertisement had only an organic reach while Instagram had more benefit because of the use of #hashtags. Nevertheless, I will keep scheduling weekly on Facebook.

The benefit of using Facebook  will be when creating a paid advertisement to target the market niche. Facebook has good features that no many people know and will  be a " must" to use and search more about it.

To use effectively social media platforms, it is important to read and search features.

Definitely I ended with a better understanding of the goals each platform offer. And this helped me to choose on which one I would like to focus for the "Marchellafit" project.

I conclude that Youtube and Instagram platforms are ideal for Marchellafit development.







Monday, May 22, 2017

Promotional Plan: Polanco Decora Week 16C



PROMOTIONAL PLAN FOR POLANCO DECORA







Market Analysis and Description



PolancoDecora is an Interior Design firm with 40 years of experience in the Mexican market. Polanco Decora sells blinds, carpets, fabrics, wall art, wall paper, wood floors, laminates and other products for decorating homes.

The services offered available are installation and maintenance of their products. Other service is cleaning of blinds and curtains.

From these past 40 years, Polanco Decora has selling products in its 3 locations in the city of Veracruz, Mexico. Now Polanco Decora want to get involve in the digital world and develop an ecommerce plan to start selling products online. Looking for new ways to reach clients and growth in the industry, Polanco is starting an ecommerce business of their products. 


Target Market


 POLANCO DECORA has 3 different target markets

1.- House wives
She is Martha. She is 60 years old. She was a teacher but now she is retired and stay home and enjoy of her grandchildren. She remembers to have bought some Polanco products 25 years ago. She has medium status, because she and her husband have worked all their lives. She likes to have her house well decorated. She enjoys going on Thursday with her friends to the coffee.

2.- Architects
He is Victor. He is 42 years old. He has his own business company. He has a family and 2 children. He gives his services to house owners, hospitals and companies. He likes to play tennis and gather with his friends some weekends. Once a month, he goes to play golf also with his friends. He likes to eat in restaurants on weekends with his family. He has a beautiful house built by himself.

3.- Hotels and Companies
He is Jose. He is the purchasing manager. He has 46 years old. He is in charge to make all the purchase of the hotel. He is conservative and follow orders. He is analytical and organized. He just makes the contact with Polanco, but he does not take the decision. Even though he does not take the decision, he participates and give his opinion about what is better for the hotel or company. He likes to exercise twice a week. Sometimes he likes to run also as exercise. He is a blue-collar worker. He believes he wants to be employer all his life.


Promotional Goal


·         Inform about the new sales channel; inform about promotions and decoration tips.
·         Persuade to trial and repeat purchases.
·         Remind the audience that Polanco Decora is updated with new products and info.
·         Engage with customers being frequently connected.


Campaign Themes


There are two campaigns that Polanco Decora is developing:

“Nos Pone Feliz Decorar Vidas”  ------“ Decorate lives make us Happy”

“Conociendo Arquitectos En El Mundo” -------  “Meet Architects in the World”

Both Campaigns have the purpose to engage with the target audience: Housewives and Architects.


Promotional Mix


Social Media

Polanco Decora have active three social media accounts: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Also, it has a Youtube channel.

As part of the promotional plan for:

Facebook:  Polanco Decora will post daily a picture from past projects, suppliers information, pics and videos; and positive statements. Also, posting “calls to action” messages. The scheduling for the week will be done on Sundays, to schedule from Monday to Saturday of the following week.

Mostly the posts will focus on the two campaigns mentioned. Sharing past projects pictures with the campaign slogan “Nos Pone Feliz Decorar Vidas” will make people to understand why make us happy decorate lives; posting about architect phrases to develop the campaign “Meet Architects in the World” which pictures will be share from our Terza supplier and from architect contact.

Instagram: Polanco Decora will post every two days about suppliers and past projects. Images from decoration trends and tips. Part of the plan is using this social media platform to engage with architects in the world; meet them more and share content.  By liking their pictures and making comments in their profiles.
Twitter is not a social media platform included in this promotional plan.

Polanco Decora choose Facebook because it is the biggest social media tool to develop. Because it has a great database to use  and support with statistics information. The Facebook advertisements can help in the campaigns by segmenting the target market.

Instagram also was selected as a social media tool to develop in this promotional plan because this platform is visual and Polanco Decora has visual products.


Public Relationship:

Polanco Decora want to organize and event with architects students to inform about our products and services and to engage with them.  

Email Marketing

For this aspect of marketing Polanco Decora will be emailing current customers about current promotions and tips; inform them about the online store in the website www.polancodecora.com  to encourage them to purchase, boost customer loyalty, and remind them about our brand. Polanco Decora owns an emailing list from customers but also it created a subscription program in the footer of its website to collect new email accounts.


In order to measure the results of the Social media platforms we need to know where are we at this moment. Following It is the data about Polanco Decora social media accounts:

Social media Data update May 22th, 2017


Facebook: 904 followers
Instagram: 401 followers
Twitter:  911 followers

Period of Promotional Plan

From May 22th, 2017 – November 22th, 2017

The period to consider is 6 months. During this time Polanco Decora will take support from Facebook analytics to know more about statistics and also feedback from the audience is important.





Friday, May 19, 2017

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Planning your strategy Week 16A



Social Media Strategy 



Social Media Platforms




Polanco Decora has active three social media accounts: Facebook, Instagram and twitter.


They are related between each other. When posting on instagram I have the option to post inmediately on facebook. However, I don't always do because as the lecture mentioned sometimes the audience follow the company in different platforms and they do not want to see the same posts.

I really enjoyed Instagram because it is a visual platform. Being an interior design firm that sells products and services of decoration, it is ideal to attract audience. Polanco Decora instagram's account started at the end of January with 340 followers and today it has 401 followers.  It was excited to noticed this improvement. Measure the data helps to keep in track.

About Polanco Decora Facebook account at the beginning of March 2017 started with 876 followers and today it has 903 followers. It was an improvement but less than Instagram. I noticed more interaction on the Instagram account. 
Some great Facebook feature is the scheduling. After that lecture I started to schedule every Sunday the weekly posts. It is easy and fast to  program in advance. It saves time.

An interesting fact that I noticed in Facebook Analytics was that posting about past projects pictures produce more attraction to the audience. Now I know what kind of content the audience like.

I will continue posting on both social media and  I am planning to develop a promotional plan to measure the results tracking from start date to a deadline.


Monday, May 15, 2017

Facebook Analytics Week 15B





Facebook Analytics


This week I want to showcase the Facebook analytics of Polanco Decora 


Data of last 28 days




As you can see in this graphic, there is 26 visits to the page and 7 likes to the page during the last 28 days. On average we have 6.5 visits per week and 1.75 likes per week.


Data of last 7 days


Looking the results from the last 7 days. There were 8 visits to the page and 3 likes. As a result, this week was above of the average. 

This week there was an increase of 200% of likes compared with one week before.Nevertheless, this week there was a decrease of 11 % in the visits compared with one week before. 


Time The Fans are online




In this analysis, we can notice that the time most of the fans are connected on Facebook is at 20:00 hrs. This information helps us to know what is the ideal hour to post in our account.

Posts


Reach - Interaction



Here are some posts from May, 2017. The last two columns correspond to the REACH followed by the INTERACTION. As you can notice, there are some post that have more than 300 of reach, but Zero of interaction. Two of the post that have more interaction (13 and 6) have little reach.

It is better to have more interaction with little reach than to have more reach and little interaction. The purpose of posting is to engage with people and call them to action. By interacting with the audience you can measure the results of how attractive is the content.


Analysis Post 1





This post shows that it had 13 clicks to the picture.

Analysis Post 2




This post shows that it had 6 clicks to the picture.
Analyzing the posts that had more interaction in this month and comparing with other posts of may, we conclude that the ideal posts are past project pictures.


Facebook Analytics gives you the tools to better understand the audience and take decisions to create good content.
Take advantage of this statistics for your business or personal accounts and start to create interaction with your audience.

Some Additional Blog posts to check out:

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Search Engine Optimization and Google Analytics Features




Search Engine Optimization



It is important to consider titles and keywords when posting content. Before you publish an article or create a link you must know the purpose of your business and try to convey it on your keywords and tags. However, It is convenient to write content that generates experience to your audience rather than just give keywords to a computer. The advice is to post useful articles, well produced videos and pictures focus on understanding your target market.


The Long tail keywords work better than a broad keywords. One reason is that broad keywords are applied by many users and the chance that your post will be on first line is minor. On the other hand, If you write an unique keyword, it will have more probability to be in the first searches.


Another recommendation is to use multi channels and have a consistent domain name in all your channels. Using social media platforms (Facebook, twitter, Instagram, etc) plus your website and blogs with the same domain name will help to create synergy. You may link some of your channels to improve your SEO experience.


Some guidelines are :


  • Apply keywords related to your industry using long tail.
  • Consider the length of your keywords (not too long and easy to spell and write).
  • Take advantage of your strengths: Use some tags related to your  stakeholders or well positioned brands.
  • Give every page a different title: you will have more links to catch the eye of your audience.
  • Don’t saturate your post with keywords:  When talking about keywords and tags think of quality more than quantity.


Google Analytics Features


Talking about the Google Analytics features for Polanco Decora Website and Social Media accounts. I think is ideal to start using the "Data activation" to take better and intelligent marketing decisions.
Google Analytics gives you the chance to activate your data in your campaigns and experiment with new channels. Some ideal Features are : "Audience Demographics" and the "Predictive Analytics".

Audience Demographics.- Facilitate information to segment markets by demographics as gender, interests, status marital. The benefit is that you can understand better your audience and connect with them in an easy way.


Predictive Analytics.- Give you valuable information about users. For example, which users will be more pleased to buy. The benefit is that this feature predicts the user behavior to take better decisions.




Saturday, May 6, 2017

Creating Ads in Social Media




Creating Advertisements 



When you want to create a Social Media Advertisement, there are some points that you need to review. Here are three points to consider:

  1. Your target Market
  2. Your objective
  3. Your Social Media platform

Your target market is the audience you want to reach, the people who want you to see your advertisement because they are your potential customers. To define your target market, you must identify and profile target segments. 

Following an example  of Polanco Decora target market. 
In this example the segmentation is classified by demographics (men and women between 26 and 64 years old); by Geography ( audience located in Veracruz and 55 km around);  by psycho graphics  and lifestyle (audience interested in cooking, going to casinos and travel).


Your objective has to be clear when you want to create an advertisement. It will help to create the effective content to end with the best results. Objectives must be stated in terms of results and be measurable.


The third point to consider is your social media platform. Once you know who you want to target and what is the objective. You have to decide what platform is appropriately for your target market.

Instagram: Is great for visual content. 
Pinterest: Caters more toward style-oriented women.
Twitter: Attracts those interested in product releases and new stories.
Snapchat: Attracts those interested in social life and youth groups. (teenagers)
Youtube: Is great for products and services that need training and have complex explanation.
Facebook: Is the biggest online database filtered by market segments.

For example Polanco Decora create an Instagram advertisement to inform and persuade potential customers and customers about this promotion. This promotion is about obtaining blinds and curtains with 30% and 20% off from the original price. 




Facebook Advertisement


On this Facebook advertisement, the objective is to remind the audience that Polanco Decora is still active in the interior Design market after 40 years. This advertisement is created with the purpose to develop the campaign "Nos pone Feliz Decorar Vidas". (English: "It makes us happy to decorate lives"). The campaign focus in stand out  the slogan of Polanco Decora.





As you can see this Facebook advertisement is very concise. It has the basic information: logo, website, Campaign title and call to action. Facebook does not permit too much text in its ads.  Facebook wants to keep it simple and clear. 

Instagram Advertisement


Hunter Douglas is an international brand of blinds and Curtains that Polanco Decora sells in its store. 





Hunter Douglas invest in social media advertisement to promote and position its brand. Here is an example of  its Instagram advertisement.

In this advertisement, you can notice Hunter Douglas's purpose is to persuade a sale by offering $100 rebate on select purchases. Also there is a "Call of action" having a button to get more information. 




After considering the 3 points mentioned and having created the advertisement, do not forget to measure the results. 

Monday, May 1, 2017

Social Media Advertising | Week 13B



Facebook Advertising


Facebook is the social media platform with more users. For that reason, it is a good opportunity to promote your products, services or even your personal brand. 

Before when a post was made on Facebook, many followers could see the post. Now Facebook have changed the way the posts appear, causing  users  to buy  advertising.

 Facebook has segmented all users depending of  interest, demographics, locations and more. Thus,  Using banners ads is recommended if you want to reach a specific target market on Facebook. Deciding to create a Facebook advertising has the option to choose a target market  and a period of time. 

As a business account, Polanco Decora has used Facebook ads for its campaign. Normally Polanco Decora buys advertising when it exist an interesting sales promotion about blinds and curtains. Hunter Douglas being the world's leading manufacturer of window coverings likes to execute a push strategy to promote its brand.

For Polanco Decora would be ideal to invest in Facebook ads for a week and approximately 20 dls per day.  During   and after the advertisements, it is important to monitor the campaign and measure the results.

Facebook offers this feature: "Statistics". As I have said before : You can't manage what you can't measure.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Social Media Advertising | Interior Design Industry Week 13A







Interior Design Marketing


This week I want to review Interior Design firms  and how they are using social advertising to promote their brand.


Terza


Terza is a leader manufacturer of surfaces in México and Latinoamerica.  Products like carpets, wood floors and laminates floors are manufactured by Terza.

According to the article ¨11 Examples of Facebook ads that Actually Work (and Why)¨, Terza can be an Example of the photo ad.





On Facebook, Terza post photo ads that are visually attractive to the target audience by psychographic. Terza want to engage with its audience by creating an emotion. Spending time with  family and having the value to live in a warm space.


Hunter Douglas


Hunter Douglas, leader manufacturer of windows coverings, use videos for its social advertising posts. Lately, this videos have  creative content and innovation. The video campaign can be found on Youtube, Facebook and Instagram.

Watch some videos




Another Video

Polanco Decora


Polanco Decora, Interior Design firm with 40 years in the mexican market, post local ads, inviting users and readers to visit the location and offices. Polanco Decora uses Photo ads that share in different social media platforms as Facebook, twitter and Instagram. Here are some examples of local ads posted on facebook.







Houzz


Houzz is an Interior Design firm that sells decoration products and consultancy for decorating homes. Houzz is creating advertising with Celebrities. It uses an integrated marketing communication (IMC) and post its advertising in different social media platforms. For example, Mila Cunis renovated her parent´s apartment and you can find the ad through Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and website. 






Conclusion



The social media advertising is taking force and online users can find content ads in different media, platforms and devices. Social media advertising is more often in people'slife compare with traditional advertising. Social media is not replacing traditional advertising, rather they complement each other to create a strong IMC.

The Interior Design industry is using effectively its social advertising through photo and video ads.  The challenge is to differentiate itself from other firms by creating creative and innovative content.


Monday, April 24, 2017

Linked in & Yelp | Week 12B




Linked in




On this post I want to share my experience with "Linked in" as a business.


I started to navigate inside linked in looking for connections on the Interior Design industry. In the search engine I typed the word "Groups". The page showed me the options to find  different categories : Top, People, jobs, companies, Groups and schools.

After I selected "groups" , I wrote the word " Interior Design" and it appeared an amount of results. The first two groups were the groups with general names and with higher number of members. I selected the first two options and requested to join the group. After that, my request remained pending because the person who created the group"Admin user" has to authorize my integration.





The information about these groups was interesting. Because it mentioned that most of the members are designers or related to the industry. For example, in the second group was written in the biography that as a Magazine editor ,they like to feature a variety of creative projects, industry news and the latest new products. 


Yelp


Yelp is a site which purpose is to connect people with great local businesses around the world. This site is active in more than 25 countries. Mexico is included.

I signed in the Polanco Decora account. Any account on this site has to be approved before it appears in the internet. After searching about the Interior Design industry in Veracruz, México. I found that there are few businesses registered and most of them do not have reviews. I notice that most of the reviews are from the food industry. 

Being already registered on the website, it is ideal to tell customers to leave their comments on Yelp site.


Comments on

Abraham Mejia
Ashley Enders
Nicole Blea









Tuesday, April 18, 2017

How to connect with the Online World ? Week 12A




Social Media tools






We are living an online world, where people spend most of their time in the internet. Social media is a network in the internet to communicate between each other.For that reason, you should know all the platforms  you have available.

This week I want to mention what social media platforms I use for Polanco Decora and  other platforms I think could be convenient for the business to develop.

So far Polanco Decora has Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts where it has been active. This platforms are very popular for all industries and have a high amount of audience.

To incorporate new platforms in the business I believe You Tube, Linked in and google maps would work good for the interior design industry. 

 The future of online promotion will be linked to video.


Searching another firms related with Interior Design as Houzz and Decorating Den Interiors; I noticed they are using very well You tube. They are creating videos with celebrities about decorating ambiances of family members.  Thus, it is a good opportunity to start managing this platform. 

Linked : the best business connection.


Polanco Decora does not have an account with linked in. However, this platform is ideal to create professional connections not only with businesses related but also with individuals that work inside the industry.  Quality data is involved in this platform: Ways to find and share  knowledge about your industry with the right target audience.

Google Maps: How People can reach you.


This is the perfect platform for you to let your customers know how to reach you easily. Google maps must be added in to your website and social media accounts. Sharing this information will increase the interaction, visits and sales. Google maps not only contains a location info also contain phone numbers, website, address and open hours.

Here is the link to Polanco Decora google maps.

Creating a social media presence and the IMC plan will give you the best results for your business.