Social Media in a Nutshell

New Media Communications was a very interactive course in which we explored various social media platforms and the most effective ways to utilize them for an individual business.  Each class was spent discussing a specific platform, and the benefits it provides to its users.  On the surface, it seems as if these platforms aren’t too complex, however, as you dig deeper, you learn more about analytics, appropriate content, and how to grab an audience’s attention.

One of the most important things that I learned throughout this class is that not just anyone can run a company’s social media sites.  It is very important to take into account all of the research and development that goes along with creating a successful social media presence.  It is very easy for people to claim that they have a social media presence, but if you’re not constantly keeping up with new trends, it is easy to fall behind.  I thought that my social media presence was fairly good, but from this class, I learned there is lots more I can do to advance my social media skills.  Although I am a fashion major, social media is something I would be interested in pursuing as a career.

Personally, my favorite social media platform is Instagram (probably because I have the most followers on that platform.)  I think that the content on Instagram, for me, is more appealing.  I enjoy seeing pictures and videos rather than long Facebook rants.  I also think that it is easier to create a following using this platform, whereas other platforms limit me in my creative expression.

I really enjoyed this class, and I thought it was interesting to learn about the “behind the scenes” aspect to all of the creative content posted on various social media platforms.  It is definitely a cool career, and something I would consider.  I know I can better improve my personal social media sites, and have a stronger social media presence.  

Expert Advice: How Essie’s Social Media Stays As Fierce As Their Products

Recently I had the pleasure of getting an interview with a professional in the communications and social media industry, Jaclyn Buccellato, Vice President of Global Integrated Communications for essie at L’Oreal. Essie is one of the most popular nail polish brands and I am personally a huge fan, so how could I possibly pass up the opportunity to get to learn more about what makes them so successful?! Pinterest’s most popular nail polish color is essie’s Topless and Barefoot (amazing). So what’s behind their market’s obsession and love for the products? A fantastic social media team and great PR of course. In today’s society and competitive world of social media, it is so important to stand out and make sure your content is reflective of your brand!

As I formulated these questions, I was really interested in her input on how social media is effecting the way a company (essie in particular), runs their business.

 Which do you think are the most effective social media platforms for essie and why?
For our brand, many social platforms are effective ways of introducing new products and creating one-on-one relationships with consumers. What’s most effective is really knowing your audience on each platform and speaking to them with the right content and voice on each. On Instagram she wants to be inspired and see nail looks she may recreate herself. Here we introduce new colors, reimagine classics and share back looks our fans tag us in. On Pinterest, she’s planning – whether it’s a shopping trip to Target or her upcoming (or not yet happening) wedding. essie is the #1 pinned nail brand in the world – so keeping content fresh on Pinterest is a priority for our brand (2017’s most popular color on the platform is essie’s topless & barefoot). We focus our how-tos and launch videos on YouTube.

As technology and social media become more evident in businesses today, what do you do to keep up with all the new platforms?
I’m lucky enough to be in an innovative and forward thinking company where new platforms are always being explored and presented. There’s a fine balance between jumping in and pioneering these new platforms, and really having a strong strategy and support in place before launching a brand channel. Consumers expect a lot from brands, so you need to be mindful that a brand is authentic in joining them on some of these platforms. It’s also always amazing for a brand to bring new technologies and experiences to their consumers that entertain or play a functional role in their lives.

 What is the best way to handle a crisis situation via social media?
The responsibility with being on social channels as a brand comes with addressing both the positive and negative comments and reactions to the content you’re putting out there. Having a team and strategy in place – who writes statements, who approves, etc. helps a brand to react quickly and responsibly in times of crisis situations. Most importantly, they expect you to respond – and if you address the crisis many of your most loyal will forgive you. Gone are the days of burying your head in the sand.

What advice would you give students or anyone who is looking to get into the communications and PR industry?

Network. Do your research (spell their names right!) and be willing to impress. Most of the time you’ll find that professionals in the industry are willing to lend an ear or answer your questions. Look up alumni from your college on LinkedIn, or even someone who was a member of your sorority or fraternity. You’d be amazed at the common ground that could be your foot in the door. I also feel strongly that in a day and age where social media and technology rule our lives and the way we do business, a personal handwritten note to thank someone for their time goes a long way.

Jaclyn gives us some great tips and advice on how to make your brand stand out and create the best and most effective content for your customers and followers! Thank you so much to Jaclyn and essie for all of your fantastic work, innovative content and amazing products!

Social Media During a Crisis

Social media has become a great way to stay up to date on the news, celebrities and other on the go information. One thing that social media has come in handy for is finding out information  as it is happening, socially in a crisis. Now this can be difficult because you can never really be sure what information is correct and that makes things harder because in a crisis you really need to know what is going on, especially if you could be in harms way. It is very important for some one from the company that is having the crisis or someone that can correctly give information,  is running their social media accounts, so followers are accurately given information as it comes in.

The bombing in Brussels in a prime example of how social media can be a vital source of information in a time of a crisis. Most people will say that twitter has become the source for crisis communication, companies live tweet all the information they know which can be good and can sometimes be bad. This article from Simplifying.com has done a fantastic job talking about how each company handled this crisis. Each account or company that was relatively involved in the brussels bombing did a really good job of keeping on top of things and staying clear of miscommunication. The first few tweets were form Eurocontrol and the Brussels Airport, giving little information but letting the public know there was a crisis and the airport had been shut down until further notice.

After that, a few airlines were tweet and retweeting things from Eurocontrol and the airport. The airport’s twitter account was giving steady updates the entire time the crisis was happening. Facebook also played a big role because people were able to mark themselves safe so their friends and family knew they were okay.

The strategies they used were effective because they were constantly updating the public on what was happening, narrowing the window for miscommunication. The CEO of Brussels Airline also took to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to express concern and how he was working on the problem. This is important because people want to know someone of that importance hasn’t just disappeared in a time of need.

 

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Social media campaigns have become the new way to reach your audience effectively and for the most part, for free! So a lot of companies have decided to use social media campaigns to get their point across, gain new customers and help a good cause! A wonderful and wildly popular example is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge which grew through each platform of social media it entered. ALS is a disease and the challenge was simple. Nominate 3 people to take the challenge (dump a bucket of ice cold water on your head) or donate to the ALS association . Well this reached millions of people. 17 million people uploaded their video of their Ice Bucket Challenge, the videos were watched by 440 million people and watched over 10 billion times (ALS Association)!! WOW.

People that accepted the challenge donated too because, its going to a good cause so why not?? So after the phenomenon that was this challenge, it raised $115 million. After some research I found that they spent about 47 million raised on 5 different research areas; gene discovery, disease model development, identification of biomarkers, click trials and drug development (Money.com). So it is obvious that this campaign was overwhelming successful considering in the year 2013 they only brought in $23.5 million.

I think there are a few reasons this was so popular, one being that the challenge is easy and fun. This is something that can be funny for the person doing it and the people watching, making it something that everyone wants to participate in. It was shared on multiple social media platforms, and it went to such a good cause, it was hard to pass up the feeling of doing good by participating and donating!

Taco Bout A Great Marketing Strategy

In the world of today, when everyone turns to Twitter and Facebook for their news, who needs the the media to help them get the word out? For the most part, companies don’t rely on others to make sure they get the word out about their new campaign or their new product, they do it themselves! And there are some companies that do a really good job with it. One in particular that seems to stand out to me is none other than… Taco Bell. Yes, Taco Bell the fast food restaurant that campaigned for A TACO AN EMOJI!!! They sure did put their social media skills to the test when they released an electronic petition for followers, and fans of the taco to sign and sure enough it was wildly successful. But they didn’t stop there, they took it a step further to create the #TacoEmojiEngine! You use that hashtag, the newly created taco emoji and an emoji of your choice, and it literally creates a new, personalized taco emoji!!! WOW. Check this out!

Taco Bell has as killer social media game and they aren’t afraid to use that to their advantage. They are great with customer service too.  My roommate who is a huge fan of Taco Bell (and thats an understatement),  received a subpar taco from them and tweeted this picture and tagged the company. Sure enough, they were quick to respond and SENT HER A GIFT CARD!! 

Same day and everything, now that is effective!! They are great at getting back to customers and keeping them coming back, even if their taco doesn’t look so hot.

They are also great at keeping their content funny, short, and interesting. And speaking of that, they also have a new, slightly outrageous (but in a good way) campaign and contest. If you haven’t heard, Taco Bell is running a contest in which the winning couple gets a wedding in Las Vegas at Taco Bell. Oh yes. Couples can enter through either Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #loveandtacos and #contest and tagged @tacobell of course.

I mean Taco Bell really has a way of engaging customers. Recently more and more people have fallen in love with Taco Bell because of their social media and the things that their fans and followers have shared about them on social media. So cheers to Taco Bell, their awesome social media and steady stream of delicious taco pictures on Instagram, we wouldn’t want it any other way!

 

Instagram vs Snapchat: Who Took A Better Picture?

Social media is booming today and there is no better way to go viral and get recognized than on social media. Each platform has its own way of grabbing their audience and keeps them coming back for more. New filters on Snapchat, new pages on Instagram. OMG when will it end?? I can’t even keep up with all the updates and new features on every form of social media, let alone learn how to use them before they change it again!! But focusing primarily Instagram and Snapchat in this blog, I want to touch on a few important points and my experience with each of these.

Okay so Snapchat and Instagram are a little different from each other and I’d say Instagram is my favorite, maybe because I have the most followers out of all of my social media sites on Instagram and thats why I like it so much but I also really appreciate a good “artsy” picture, (I mean who doesn’t??).

Instagram has a special place in my heart because I introduced this platform to an interior design and staging company called Refining Design. I know them personally (my aunt and uncle) so I was able to get them started and give them some tips on using hashtags, who to follow, and what type of content they should post. I mean this is literally the PERFECT platform for them to promote on!! Well fast forward a few months and they’ve got almost 400 followers and they have been getting likes from the photographer from Architectural Digests that did the cover story on the Obamas White House living quarters! WOW, I know!!! I love getting updates and reading the comments that talk about how much people love their page! I put a link to their Instagram page so feel free to check it out! They have a variety of gorgeous landscapes, rich art, detailed staging, and decor!

While my Instagram page is not purely business, it is a personal page but I do use it to show my style and outfits a lot of the time. Being a fashion major (and social media enthusiast) I love, love, love to capture my style in pictures. I’ve even tagged a company I’ve gotten a shirt from and they reposted my picture on their Instagram page! Although that is pretty much the extent of my “instafame”, I like to think it is possible that some day I will, but I know my hopes are high.

Moving on to Snapchat, which I would say, users have a very different intention when using snapchat, I don’t really send snapchats directly to people as much as I put Snapchats on my story. Now of course since the content goes away after you open it, or on your story, after 24 hours, you can imagine what a college student’s snapchat story looks like. Being in a sorority, we do have rules about what is appropriate to put on Snapchat and let me tell you it is for the best! But I do not know anyone that uses snapchat for business reasons other than brands, as opposed to the many people on Instagram that have a personal account and a professional account. Although there have been quite a few “nobody’s” that have gone viral because of a snapchat, thats right I’m talking about the”Damn Daniel” series of snapchats that went totally viral and landed these two high school kids ON ELLEN DEGENERES. But that doesn’t happen too often.

From a business standpoint, I really don’t think Snapchat is a great way to reach your audience on a daily basis unless you are a celebrity, just because I can almost guarantee that if the audience you are trying to reach has a snapchat, they definitely have an Instagram and they can see your content there longer than they can on snapchat. Snapchat is ideal for events when you want to document and keep followers updated. This is best for awards shows, a big project and other big anticipated events like those.

There is LITERALLY so much to say about these two platforms and honestly I could write for hours comparing the two and talking about all the things I love and hate about each, who has gone viral, and which celebrities have the best accounts but that could take me days so I am ending my rant here, catch me on Instagram and Snapchat later!

Twitter Takeover

Twitter rose to fame back in the early 2000s when social media was on the verge of becoming the next big thing. But did anyone know how big Twitter would become? I definitely had no idea. I use it to tag friends in silly memes and tweet at celebrities that will never give me the time of day but it has become so much more than that. It seems like each minute, a new news article is featured somewhere on social media, long before a newspaper or magazine even has time to put something together. Twitter has basically become the best place to get your news nowadays and ABC News agrees.

ABC News describes how twitter is making its way to becoming the most sought after way to get daily news in their article; Is Twitter the News Outlet of the 21st Century? They talk about how twitter beats prime time news and breaking news to get their content on twitter first. Even celebrities and other famous people can use this as a chance to bypass the media and connect directly with their fans. Businesses have a more direct way of connect with their customers as well.

Everything from celebrity breakups to terrorist attacks to viral dances become breaking news on twitter. I know if I hear about something, the first place I go is either Twitter or Facebook to see if I can find information about it and more than likely, it is all over my news feed. Its being shared by everyone and coming from every broadcasting company out there. NBC, ABC, CNN, FOX and all of the news stations have twitter accounts that are always up to date and keeping you filled in on all the latest news.

So yes, I agree that this has been the go to for all of my news and updates and more and more people join twitter just so they can get a faster more convenient way of getting top stories and breaking news. Even my dad, (who just 2 months ago traded his Blackberry, yes thats right a Blackberry, for an iPhone) made a twitter account for all of those reasons above. It is time we accept the fact that Twitter is still growing and it might be time to switch to social media for your news if you haven’t already!

Facebook’s Battle with Fake News

Facebook is a platform for everyone. People young and old, all across the world use this site to connect, update, share pictures, news, and much more. But one thing that has become more relevant now more than ever is the presence of “fake news”. Now what is fake news? Well it can be a lot of things, it can be an article from a site that isn’t credible which is for one thing, probably where most of its problems are coming from. Or it can be something as simple as a headline;”Bill Cosby has Passed Away” which, (true story) my mother believed and made an entire post about it (very awkward and slightly embarrassing), sorry mom. The New York Times wrote an article called: Facebook Mounts Effort to Limit Tide of Fake News, discussing the matters of fake news and how Facebook plans to handle it over the course of the next few months.

As the problem progresses, Facebook has tried to take a stand, considering they are taking the heat for it. But with that comes so many issues, Facebook is a company where you are free to voice your opinions so by censoring what its users see, can be slightly contradicting in a way. But while the company is under scrutiny for the issue, people are now claiming that Facebook could have swayed the results of the election (what!?). Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook says that is basically outrageous that people think the content of Facebook influenced election results. But this is not the only type of fake content happening in the world of Facebook.

“Click bait” is another widely used term by the site’s users which in broader terms, is basically a link or article that has a title that draws you in and has little to nothing to do with the content of the article. Let me tell you, I have fallen victim to this many times and still do, it’s very disappointing when you see a juicy headline and it is LITERALLY nothing about what it said it was. But now, they have made it easier for users to report fake news. As of right now, people are given an option to report or flag something they see but it there is no option to call it fake news or attach a reason to why they “don’t want to see it on their Facebook” anymore. Facebook is in the process of having flagged articles and content fact-checked to make sure more real news is staying up, and less fake news is. Another initiative they are taking are ranking articles that are just “read”over “shared”.The articles that are only read will have a lower ranking, making it less likely to show up on your friend’s newsfeed as a suggested article.

Although Facebook is in the early stages of experimenting with the new ways of coping with the fake news that spreads around Facebook, I think they are doing a good job of trying to minimize it. I know I hate when I see things that aren’t real or have a deceiving headline so as a user I completely understand and really agree that it needs to be dealt with. But until then, I guess I will continue to read about more celebrity deaths that aren’t real and political nonsense that people believe and share all over.

My Thoughts On Social Media

Social media is something that everyone in this day and age at least knows about. I am a huge fan of social media, it is a platform to make friends, see what celebrities are up to, sell yourself to the world and much more. It something you can use to connect with someone across the world and it is truly amazing. Growing up I had it all, yes that includes Myspace. Although Myspace isn’t quite trendy anymore, when I was in middle school I was on myspace everyday after school checking my notifications, updating my top friends and posting new selfies with a duck face and the peace sign. As I grew up, so did social media, along came Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Linkedin (just to name a few of the big ones) and you know I have every single one of those. But as I got older, I realized this wasn’t just a place for me to post silly pictures and write sad teenage statuses about hating my life, it was a place for me to promote myself and build my brand.

Now don’t get me wrong, everyone is always telling me to “watch what you put on Facebook/social media” and I hear you loud and clear but it did not hit me until very recently that these aren’t just for me, they are for my future employers as well. I quickly (tried) to change my ways and post only appropriate things, I started blogging for a fashion website and I started posting my outfits on Instagram (as I am a fashion major and I would love to get into the social media/PR side of the industry). Social media is something that I have found not only to be just for your entertainment but like I said before a place to sell yourself and promote all you can do!

From taking this course, I really hope to build my social media skills, not only would this benefit me in my own personal way, but in this generation, technological skills and being able to know your way around every social media platform is a HUGE plus for me as I enter the work force in the next few months, this is so important and I am already on social media almost 24/7 so why not take the time to get even better?!