Megan's CSIT 155 - Fall 2022 Class Blog

I think I could use Google Analytics to see how many page views I'm getting, what time of day, how much people interact with my site, etc. I had a chance to look at what my site is doing now, and it was interesting to see how many new users I had and how long they stayed on my site.  From the reading, I was reminded to check out “What’s Trending” in various social media to see what people are talking about. I believe that was also a tip mentioned in the textbook. For example, if parents in San Diego are posting about crowded xmas tree lots, I could write a post on the "Least crowded xmas tree farms" or "Most affordable places to get your xmas tree this year." I also think I could use Google ads to increase my brand presence and target people searching for things to do in San Diego or people who had looked at similar blogs, perhaps.  It's interesting that you can also anticipate future customer actions with Google’s machine learning. That's a really cool ...

After reading a bit about the social media management tools, I would try Sprout Social first probably because it was ranked higher and has a long free trial. I've also had friends use Hootsuite, and it seems helpful because it includes both regular posting and social media ads.   I've used TweetDeck before to do social posts for a website called the Sunday Long Read, and it's a great tool for scheduling tweets. It's also totally free, which makes it super handy. I know it has a lot of other features, but I haven't used the analytics or anything else yet.  I think, with any of the above tools, I would use the scheduling feature and analytics feature for my business. Honestly, I would also probably just use the free versions for now too since I don't have a budget or any other staff besides myself to post. I commented on Amy Mather' s blog and learned that Zoho was the easiest scheduler to try without having to input a lot of credit card info and stuff. I thin...

I created a few potential ads for FB and Instagram above. In my next attempt, I need to figure out how to alter the copy below the image. I tried doing a couple of general ads and then a few that boosted some of my more popular posts.  I've done Twitter ads for a website before and those seemed easy to create/monitor, so in the future, I would definitely try to do some on Twitter for North County Fam.  For social ads, I think my main objective would be to build brand awareness, establish an online presence and engage with people. I'm not selling anything (yet), so I'd just be utilizing the ads to get more people to my social pages and subscribe to my newsletter.

I was pleasantly surprised when actively looking for ads on Facebook and IG. I usually try to ignore them! But as I was scrolling through my feed, I was actually given ads for things I'd like: photoshoots of my kids, tickets to Annie at the Civic Center, and a call for donations to a wildlife fund. They clearly targeted me well!  I would say all used imagery effectively, showcasing beautiful photos of the subjects either as single images or carousel. The CTAs were either "book now" or "donate now." When I clicked, it went to things like Ticketmaster or the nonprofit's donation page. On Instagram, it was pretty similar in what kinds of ads I got (probably because my IG and FB are linked). On Twitter, I was targeted for things like quizzes on places I've been to or links to tabloid magazines. I found the ads on Twitter to be more annoying in their content. I would say traditional advertising can be more effective depending on the audience's demographic...

I first commented on Encinitas Donuts . I thought her idea of a meetup collaboration with a coffee shop was a great idea. Maybe I could do the same with another parenting group or just another parent who wants to share ideas on what to do in N. County. I also loved her idea of going to a convention. I'm sure you get tons of contacts that way! Now Im going to look into parenting group conventions or other events.  From Carlos P's post , I learned you could start a podcast/audio library on Spotify! Maybe I will see what kinds of parenting podcasts are out there and maybe even find one based in SD. From Alexis , I learned about Hivebrite and did a little more of my own research into it.  From Sarah , I learned about LinkedIn courses! I think that could be really helpful for me, especially since I would love to learn more about podcasting and perhaps adding it as an element of my business. I really had no idea they had so many courses. Overall, it's very intere...

Since my business is community and collaboration-based, I found these sites very fun to research.  I first joined a few groups on LinkedIn: Conscious Parenting, Mindful Parenting, and San Diego 411. I'm interested to see how they play out and what messages come up on each group. I'll check back later this week. I also searched for some groups on MeetUp. I used to go to MeetUps in NYC when I had just moved there and was looking for friends. I did meet some nice people, though I also encountered a lot of odd men who just came to the MeetUps to meet women. So with MeetUp now, I would definitely be very selective in which groups I posted on or events I attended. I joined MomsNightOut so far. I didn't see too many parenting groups in there, so that could certainly be a good opportunity for me to create a couple MeetUp events for North County parents! In the same vein, I could try posting things on Eventbrite, since I often use that to find local events. I don't think Google ...

I posted a comment on these blogs: https://csit-155-fa22-kyam.blogspot.com/2022/11/week-11-part-marketing-with-twitter.html?sc=1667511503300#c7981480346906445551 https://amymather1621.blogspot.com/2022/11/week11a-marketing-with-tiktok.html?sc=1667570236784#c8260572848655440990 https://csit155-fa22-garzaa.blogspot.com/2022/11/week-11-part-marketing-with-twitter.html?sc=1667570561503#c8579585184313520250 I think my classmates found similar things to me--and chose similar platforms (Tik Tok and influencers). I also had the same thought as one classmate about Twitter... what's going to happen now that Elon is at the helm. They had a great point about staying on top of negative comments on Twitter. And I hadn't thought of Twitter Chat.   I also agreed with another classmate that a lot of  businesses just put the same content on TikTok that they do on Instagram reels or Facebook. I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing since people probably don't visit both; and even...

I decided to look at social influencers and Tik Tok, since I know the least about both of them. I think social influencers (though I really despise the term and tbh kind of the concept!!) could really help me grow my brand. For example, if I had the woman behind FamDiego sharing some of my content, it might be helpful. She mainly stays in actual San Diego, so I don't think it would be a conflict of interest or competition...but who knows! Anyway, worth a shot. I like the idea of having an influencer write a guest post and then share it on their site. So FamDiego could come to an event with me in North County, say, and then write about our experience together. Or just tag me in her post about the event perhaps? And I could do the same. For Tik Tok, I'm not sure how it would be too different from doing a Reel on instagram or Facebook..but maybe I could just post that content on Tik Tok as well. I know a lot of "mommy blogs" (also dislike that term haha) do little reels ...