WEEK 8B: VISUAL SOCIAL MEDIA

Visual Media definitely works for my business. My whole business is based on pictures of the tablecloths, gifts and accessories I sell. Most of the pictures are focused on the product itself (close up showing the details) and some are focused on how that product can be used on your home décor. Videos on YouTube will also be very important to show customers how to use and care for each product.

Businesses that are similar to mine:

April Cornell:
April Cornel is very active on her Visual Social Media. Her main platform is Facebook.
Facebook (last post 7hrs ago) – She posts daily pictures of her products and videos; with 27000 followers, her posts average between 40-500 likes (her last post had 340 likes and 28 comments) which is ok comparing the amount of followers she has.
She is also very active on Instagram (last post 10hrs ago) with 1804 followers, her last had 80 likes and 3 comments.

Based on April Cornell’s Visual Social Media I can see that Facebook and Instagram are a must for my kind of business.

Williams Sonoma:
William Sonoma is very active on his Visual Social Media. He uses all kinds of different Social Media Platforms:
- Facebook (last post 10hrs ago) - On Facebook they post at least twice a day; with 781.000 followers, their posts average between 200-500 likes (last post had 262 likes, 71 shares and 4 comments) which is not that much when you compare to the total amount of followers.
- Instagram (last post 12hrs ago) - On Instagram they also post twice a day; with 549000 followers, their posts average between 5000-7000 likes (last post had 5229 likes, 27 comments) which is great for comparing to the amount of likes on Facebook.
- YouTube (last post January 2017) – On YouTube they have very interesting and professionally made videos; with 50000 they have a lot of views.
- Twitter (last post 14hrs ago) - On Twitter they post once to twice a day; with 97000 followers, their posts average between 5-20 likes (last post had 10 likes) which is really low for the amount of followers.
- Google+ (last post 15hrs ago) – On Google+ they post once a day; with 2million followers, their posts average 20-100 likes; definitely not much for the amount of followers.

      

Provence Soleil: This company only uses Facebook as their Visual Social Media. They post almost every day mainly pictures of France not much about their products. They have 239 followers and their posts average 1-2 likes.


Sur la Table: This company uses Facebook, YouTube and Twitter as their visual Social Media.
Facebook (last post 7hrs ago): On Facebook they post once a day; with 300000 followers, their posts average between 50-200 likes (last post had 32 likes, 1 shares and 2 comments) which is not that much when you compare to the total amount of followers.

YouTube (last post 1 month ago): On YouTube they have many videos showing how to use their products; with 13000 followers, they had 7000 views on the last video posted, which is a pretty good rate.

Twitter (last post 10hrs ago): On twitter they have 31000 followers, their posts average between 2 -10 likes which is basically nothing comparing to the amount of followers.

Twitter is definitely not on my top list as Visual Social Media.

Businesses I am following:
April Cornell
William Sonoma
Sur la Table

WEEK 8A: VISUAL SOCIAL MEDIA

My business can definitely benefit from most Social Media Platforms mentioned bellow since it is very visual and diverse. I can use pictures to show the product itself, pictures showing the product as part of a Home Decor, I can also make videos showing how to care for different products, etc. but the main challenge here is to keep up with all of them. So unless you have a person dedicated only to the Social Media marketing of your business, you will have to choose which platform is best suited to your business success.

FACEBOOK: This is definitely my number one choice. It is the most widely used Social Media Platform, it is very user friendly and most of my potential customers are likely to have a Facebook Page. I can post pictures, videos, articles or anything related to France and French products to keep my followers connected.

INSTAGRAM: I always thought Instagram was mostly for personal use but the more I learn about it, the more I find the potential to expand my business through Instagram. It has a huge audience and it can be used instantly from anywhere with just a picture, a short video and a few words, just enough to capture the audience's attention and make them look for more.

GOOGLE+: I am definitely adding a Google+ page to my business. Mostly to help my SEO and to give me a better rank when customers are searching for my products. There are also many tools that Google+ provides that can help me capture my audience in different ways.

YOUTUBE: YouTube is amazing! You can search and find anything on YouTube and it has a great audience. It is a great platform for videos and I plan to add videos about my products, how to care for them, ideas on how to use the products to decorate your home, etc. I am not sure YouTube will be the greatest platform to build more customers, but I think I can add valuable material for the customers I already have.

TWITTER: I don' know much about Twitter, but I'm sure I can promote my business here since it has such a large audience. Since I will be using Instagram, I could just copy the same posts on Twitter and try to reach a different audience.

PINTERST: I don't know much about Pinterest and how it works but I am very curious to learn. I can see that it is very popular, very visual and has extremely interesting content. I am sure my business could benefit greatly from Pinterest since most users are women and that is my main target. I really need to get familiar with this platform to understand the best way to promote my business here.

TUMBLR: So far I don't have any plans to use this platform for my business. I don't know anything about it and I really don't think I will have time to keep up with every single Social Media Platform out there; so unless during this class I find extreme value to have TUMBLR for my business, I won't be using it.

SNAPCHAT: I am also not familiar with this one and I don't see how my business could benefit from posts that after showing them, they disappear. I think it would be hard to keep up with this one.

WEEK 7B: SCHEDULED FACEBOOK POSTS

I think my posts will engage my audience because they are not only focused on the sales of my products but also on different topics about France like: French Recipes, Trips to France, French Songs, French Restaurants, etc.
I believe if I keep my posts interesting, informative and not only about my products it will capture anyone interested in France and French culture, and those are probably my potential customers. Keeping posts diverse will also give people that don’t want to receive sales adds a reason to follow my page and whenever they need some French products to decorate their home, they will remember my company.
My goal on Facebook is also to create events to keep them engaged: games, competitions, etc.
For my scheduled posts I chose the peak time (Between 12pm and 3pm) and peak days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) hoping will have a greater “Reach” and hopefully more followers.

WEEK 7A: 7 BUSINESSES LIKED BY PROVECE DECOR

Businesses liked by Provence Decor:


My target market consists of Interior designers (or any other profession related to Home Decoration) and customers (mostly women - 35 and older) with good financial situation who have interest and means to redecorate their homes with high end European products. 

1- Crudo by Pascal Lorange (https://www.facebook.com/crudobypascallorange/)

2- Fabrison's French Creperie and Cafe (https://www.facebook.com/Fabrisons.Creperie/)

The other businesses are either Interior Design Companies, Interior Design Magazines and Interior Design Blogs.
3- Interior Design Ideas for Home Decor

https://www.facebook.com/InteriorDesign4/

4- Interior Design Magazine
https://www.facebook.com/InteriorDesignMagazine/

5- Diane Designs and Associates
https://www.facebook.com/dianedesignsassociates/

6- Hooked on Houses Blog
https://www.facebook.com/hookedonhousesblog/

7- Sherry Anne Interiors
https://www.facebook.com/Sherry-Anne-Interiors-296802036132/?ref=br_rs

Learning how to use other business Facebook Pages to promote your own is a great marketing strategy.
I believe all those companies I chose to "like", either have customers that might be interested in our products or the company itself might be interested in our products to offer their customers when they decorate their homes. Liking these companies will expose my business to their followers and by engaging on their posts as Provence Decor, I might get some connections as well. 

"Feature Likes" allows me to select the companies I want to show being connected to and also allows me to hide the ones I want to be connected for strategic reasons but don't want my competitors to know about. 

WEEK 6B: POST REACH & POST ENGAGEMENT

This is my first time creating a Business page and exploring Facebook.
I've had a personal page for a while but only to keep in touch with family and friends and I never though Facebook could become so complex and confusing when trying to use it professionally. With so many things to learn (different tools, definitions, performance graphics) it can get overwhelming but also exciting when you discover all the new possibilities available to improve your business.

For this assignment I have read some articles and blogs to understand the difference between Post Reach and Post Engagement, the importance of them and how this information can improve my business.

Post Reach: When you post something on your page, it will reach a certain amount of people and Post Reach will measure how many people have seen your post (how many people have received your post on their Newsfeed).

Post Engagement: When you post something on your page, it will reach a certain amount of people and some of those people will view, click, comment, like or share your post. Post engagement will measure how many people have taken some action on your post.

Knowing the difference is important because you might think that your posts are doing really well when it reaches a lot of people (when your "Reach" number is high) but actually nobody is interested in what you have been posting and they are not engaging (your "Engagement" number is low).
It is important to reach a great amount of people, but it is also important to see if potential customers are interested in what you have been posting because if not many people are engaging, you won't get much business.
If your "Reach" number is high and your "Engagement" number is low, you need to change your approach on your posts or your business won't succeed.

The Insight helps you understand how your page is doing according to what you have been posting by showing results on the "Action on Page", "Page Views", "Page Likes", "Reach" and "Post Engagements". For each post it will also show the amount of people it reached, how many post clicks, reactions, comments and shares it had. With this information you can observe and understand your potential customers likes and dislikes and take some important Marketing decisions to decide what you should focus on and what you should avoid to accomplish your goal and have a successful business.

WEEK 6A: FACEBOOK PAGE FOR PROVENCE DECOR

The URL for Provence Decor Facebook Page is:

https://www.facebook.com/provencedecorUSA/

WEEK 5B: PROVENCE DECOR

Provence Decor is specialized in selling French tablecloths, napkins, runners, dishtowels and unique gifts from all over Europe. With this business we are trying to offer the US market a whole variety of unique, high end and excellent quality European products that can't be easily found in most regular stores.

So far we have been selling directly to the public at Home/Garden Shows and to some wholesale accounts. Last year (as my E-Commerce final project), I created my website: www.provencedecor.com which I am still improving and trying to reach customers on the web.

After many years of selling this product direct to the public, I have learned that my target market consists of Interior designers (or any other profession related to Home Decoration) and customers (mostly women - 35 and older) with good financial situation who have interest and means to redecorate their homes with high end European products. These customers are normally very social, like to entertain, love to change their home decoration on each different season of the year. They are also well educated, most of them have been to Europe and appreciate the history and tradition of those products. Through all those years, I have learned how to look for the right events to sell in areas where my target market is and now I am looking forward to learning how to reach the same market through Social Media.

WEEK 5A: COMPANIES TARGET MARKET

For this assignment I chose Chili's and Teri Cafe. They are both really nice restaurants serving completely different kinds of foods. Chili's is a big chain with locations around the country and Teri's Cafe is a small restaurant with two locations in  Oceanside, San Diego.

Chili's is a Mexican Restaurant with an American touch (with the Burgers, Crispers, Ribs, etc). It tries to reach people of all ages, ethnicity and education. It has an affordable menu so young people and big families can go and enjoy.

Teri's Cafe is an Asian Restaurant with a mix of Teriyaki / Sushi Menu. It tries to reach people that like Asian Cuisine and of course, the Asian crowd. It also has an affordable menu so anyone can enjoy. For this kind of food I think age and ethnicity is restricted.

There is a big difference on their websites, Chili's has a very dynamic website with great videos, professional pictures and lots of contents about their company. It is very engaging and user friendly. Colors are simple and happy, offering great contrast. When you start browsing their MENU the pictures are so perfect that make you want to try everything on it. When you go to "OUR STORY" link, you connect with them through their stories and pictures. They have an awesome approach on their website where they show great value for family and community.

Teri's Cafe has a simple and direct website. It is a nice website and also user friendly but not so engaging as Chili's. It is very straight forward and they don't offer much content about themselves or their company making it hard to connect. They basically use few links to show what they offer and to get you directly to the information you are looking for.

In conclusion, Chili's and Teri's Cafe are very different restaurants with very different approaches. They both reach to people of all income but different age, personality and lifestyle. The food they offer are completely different and since Chili's is trying to reach customers all over the Country and Teri's Cafe is trying to attract local customers, their crossover would be minimum.