Friday, December 13, 2013
Week 15- Wrap Up
Prior to this course I had attended several social media workshops and short one-day classes. I had a basic grasp on social media but this class has really opened my eyes to new venues and tactics that I had no idea were out there. Before this class I had only really used Facebook for social media advertising. I had a personal twitter account and personal Instagram and Pinterest account but never thought of using either for our business. I had no idea about Google+. I had used You Tube for posting a video we had made several years ago. During the semester I have noticed an impact on our viewers and statics on Facebook by using the analytics. I also learned how to set up future posts which are extremely helpful when managing my time. This is also the first time I used a Blog and now I feel more comfortable blogging. Another social media tool I plan to start using right away is Constant Contact for sending out my newsletters. I gained some wonderful insight for looking at my classmates blogs and some great ideas to increase customer interaction such as using coupons, contests, and other tools to draw people to our program. Thanks for the great semester! I learned such valuable information that I know will help market our program in a new variety of ways.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Week 14 Online Social Strategy
After reviewing all the different types of of social media platforms we learned about the is semester I believe I could integrate all of them in our marketing strategy. The ones I have enjoyed the most are Facebook, Constant Contact, and Instagram. I really also liked many of the Google applications that I was not familiar with such as Google maps, and Google + (hangouts, circles). The ones that would work best on a daily pattern in my business would be Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram due to my audience and who I am trying to reach. The ones I could still use effectively but on a less frequent schedule would probably be Constant Contact and Blogging.
I believe my type of business should spend as much time as possible on social media marketing. Currently I spend only about 1 hour per week. After this class I plan to try to implement at least 3 hours per week if time allows.
Over the next six months I will start a Constant Contact account and try to send a bi-monthly newsletter to my students and a monthly newsletter to our agents. I also plan to set up for future posts on Facebook that I learned to do it this class so I can do a bunch of posts at once and set them to post once a day or week. I plan to work more actively with google+ and twitter because I believe I can engage my current students in the google hangouts and I feel by not using twitter until up to know we have missed a certain market niche.
I also now have a business Instagram account I plan to utilize with my current ELI students and link to our various websites. I would like to start a blog but that currently is going to have to wait a month or two. I am hoping to have some of our current students help with the blog for extra credit.
I believe my type of business should spend as much time as possible on social media marketing. Currently I spend only about 1 hour per week. After this class I plan to try to implement at least 3 hours per week if time allows.
Over the next six months I will start a Constant Contact account and try to send a bi-monthly newsletter to my students and a monthly newsletter to our agents. I also plan to set up for future posts on Facebook that I learned to do it this class so I can do a bunch of posts at once and set them to post once a day or week. I plan to work more actively with google+ and twitter because I believe I can engage my current students in the google hangouts and I feel by not using twitter until up to know we have missed a certain market niche.
I also now have a business Instagram account I plan to utilize with my current ELI students and link to our various websites. I would like to start a blog but that currently is going to have to wait a month or two. I am hoping to have some of our current students help with the blog for extra credit.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Week 13 -Google Analytics
When reading through the Google Analytics website, I never realized just how much data and information you could get from this tool. After thoroughly reading through the website I think there are several features that would be beneficial to our business.
1. Audience Data: Very important to find out who our visitors are, where they came from and how engaged they are on our site.
2. Flow Visualization: I am interested in knowing what pages they visited which one they stayed on the longest and which page they exited from our site.
3. Map Overlay: This is so beneficial to us so we can see what counties, cities, regions people are from who come to our site. This helps us know where we need to market to or maybe where our marketing isn't working.
4. Traffic Sources would help us know the effectiveness our our current marketing budget on rather the keywords we are using are working and if our paid ads are receiving anymore traffic than our organic ads.
5. Real Time Reporting: Would be great to know who is on our page at the moment and what they are looking at.
1. Audience Data: Very important to find out who our visitors are, where they came from and how engaged they are on our site.
2. Flow Visualization: I am interested in knowing what pages they visited which one they stayed on the longest and which page they exited from our site.
3. Map Overlay: This is so beneficial to us so we can see what counties, cities, regions people are from who come to our site. This helps us know where we need to market to or maybe where our marketing isn't working.
4. Traffic Sources would help us know the effectiveness our our current marketing budget on rather the keywords we are using are working and if our paid ads are receiving anymore traffic than our organic ads.
5. Real Time Reporting: Would be great to know who is on our page at the moment and what they are looking at.
My Facebook Analytics
When reviewing my facebook analytics page much has changed this week.
1. My number of "likes" has gone up by 12. I am sure due to the class assignment.
2. My total reach and post reach have both gone down from the previous week and so has my engagement which was down 38%.
3. My page and tab visits spiked up last week.
4. When I post pictures or ad posts I usually reach over 50 people. A few times I have reached over 250.
5. My fans are 65% women and 35% men.
6. Most of my fans are in or from US. The second closest country is Japan and then Mexico.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Week 12 Part 2- Other Social Media Tools
The four other tools I would use would be:
1. Google+ - I could use the CIRCLES to create different circles from past and present ELI students. I would also have a circle for our educational consultants. Communities would also work for our institute to possibly help answer questions for our future students. Lastly, the hangouts would be a great place to hold a study group for our institute to have a pre-departure meeting for new arriving students.
2. Linkedin- This would be a good tool to connect with potential ESL teachers and educational consultants.
3. Yelp- This is a tool I will start using right away with my current ELI students. I will try to get them to Yelp our language school and offer incentives for doing so. (Maybe extra credit or free T-shirt)
4. Google Maps- Just a great idea to get our Institute out there and let people know where to find us!
1. Google+ - I could use the CIRCLES to create different circles from past and present ELI students. I would also have a circle for our educational consultants. Communities would also work for our institute to possibly help answer questions for our future students. Lastly, the hangouts would be a great place to hold a study group for our institute to have a pre-departure meeting for new arriving students.
2. Linkedin- This would be a good tool to connect with potential ESL teachers and educational consultants.
3. Yelp- This is a tool I will start using right away with my current ELI students. I will try to get them to Yelp our language school and offer incentives for doing so. (Maybe extra credit or free T-shirt)
4. Google Maps- Just a great idea to get our Institute out there and let people know where to find us!
Friday, November 22, 2013
Week 12- Coupon Deal
I thought of a couple coupon deals I could develop for our English Language Institute.
1. I would offer a coupon to educational consultants or agents of a $200 referral fee for any student who enrolled in any one of our ELI sessions. This would encourage more agents to advertise our school and hopefully bring more students to our program.
2. I would offer the ELI students a coupon for a $200 discount if they enroll in two sessions and pay in full. Most of our student do attend several sessions but this would encourage them to sign up and pay for two which would ensure retention.
3. I could offer a coupon for a free Institutional TOEFL test to any student who "likes" our facebook page. ($30 value)
4. I could offer a free text book to any student who gives us a rating on Yelp! ($60 value)
1. I would offer a coupon to educational consultants or agents of a $200 referral fee for any student who enrolled in any one of our ELI sessions. This would encourage more agents to advertise our school and hopefully bring more students to our program.
2. I would offer the ELI students a coupon for a $200 discount if they enroll in two sessions and pay in full. Most of our student do attend several sessions but this would encourage them to sign up and pay for two which would ensure retention.
3. I could offer a coupon for a free Institutional TOEFL test to any student who "likes" our facebook page. ($30 value)
4. I could offer a free text book to any student who gives us a rating on Yelp! ($60 value)
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Week 11 part 2
There are so many ways to advertise for free with social media. You can open free business pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. However, much more work needs to be done by the business if you are going to do the advertising yourself and not pay for ads on these sites. Business must post updates, blog, tweet, post pictures, add videos, and engage customer in every way possible if they are going to do it for free.
Here are some screen shots of future Facebook posts to engage my customers.
I added information and invited people to come to a Thanksgiving potluck and added a link you tube video of how to apply for our spring 2014 session at MiraCosta for international students.
Here are some screen shots of future Facebook posts to engage my customers.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Week 11 -Online Advertising
My business could use lots of online advertising. The more the better as we have to reach so many different students in different countries who want to come to the U.S. to learn English. Then we have to stand out from all the other thousands of colleges and universities. I still feel Facebook is our best social media option currently for reaching international students. I have learned from our current students that they are not as familiar with Twitter and Instagram until they come to the US. I really would like to get on some international social media that is not used in the US. For example China is not allowed to use You Tube or Face book so we miss a large part of our target market in this country.
The different kinds of Facebook advertising that is available are:
1. Facebook pages (fan pages, groups)
2. Facebook Ads (sponsored story, sponsored social story, video sponsored story, box ad unit, display ads)
3. Gift sponsorships
I would like to use the ads on Facebook everyday but our budget which is minimal could probably afford to do an ad once or twice a week. Timing is difficult due to our target market being in so many different time zones. I also plan to develop a group page this week and have my current students start posting on it for their class assignment.
I chose these two pictures for my ads as they show many different students from different countries in a group having fun. I would also create a few ads of students in a classroom learning and even a few pictures of our campus or the beach so they can see the community connection. I think they are effective because the pictures are fun and exciting and hopefully students will want to click on them to learn more about our program.
The different kinds of Facebook advertising that is available are:
1. Facebook pages (fan pages, groups)
2. Facebook Ads (sponsored story, sponsored social story, video sponsored story, box ad unit, display ads)
3. Gift sponsorships
I would like to use the ads on Facebook everyday but our budget which is minimal could probably afford to do an ad once or twice a week. Timing is difficult due to our target market being in so many different time zones. I also plan to develop a group page this week and have my current students start posting on it for their class assignment.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Blogs I commented on
So far I have commented on Cameron's and Dee's Blogs about email marketing this week. Will try to find another student who has finished the assignment later in the week. So far these were the only two I could find.
Week 10 -Email Marketing
For the English Language Institute I would send two different newsletters to two different audiences.
My first newsletter would be to current students in our program. This newsletter would be sent bi-weekly or once a month. Topics on this newsletter may include but are not limited to:
1. Class assignments- (due dates, topics, group projects, extra credit)
2. Important dates (TOEFL test, applying for college deadlines, etc)
3. College Events (weekly or monthly campus events)
4. Fun things to do in San Diego- (highlight different places or cultural events of student interest)
5. Idioms or the week or month
6. Pictures- (fun pictures of our classes, activities, or campus events)
7. Instructor Section- (instructor assignments, hobbies, interests)
The next newsletter would be sent to our prospective students and educational consultants or agents who refer students to our program. This newsletter would sent monthly. Topics on this newsletter might include:
1. Pictures- (current students, campus, events, local area, San Diego attractions and highlights)
2. Registration information (dates, times, prices, orientations, requirements)
3. College events
4. Promotions- (referral discounts, student discounts, session length discounts)
5. Local cultural events
6. MiraCosta College information- (statistics, enrollment, types of degrees, transfer, student services)
7. Instructor Bio's
8. Helpful hints - (Driving in USA, travel, food, money, home stay services, apartments, transpotation)
9. Current student section- (quotes, papers, helpful tips for new students, instructor reviews, class details and reviews)
My first newsletter would be to current students in our program. This newsletter would be sent bi-weekly or once a month. Topics on this newsletter may include but are not limited to:
1. Class assignments- (due dates, topics, group projects, extra credit)
2. Important dates (TOEFL test, applying for college deadlines, etc)
3. College Events (weekly or monthly campus events)
4. Fun things to do in San Diego- (highlight different places or cultural events of student interest)
5. Idioms or the week or month
6. Pictures- (fun pictures of our classes, activities, or campus events)
7. Instructor Section- (instructor assignments, hobbies, interests)
The next newsletter would be sent to our prospective students and educational consultants or agents who refer students to our program. This newsletter would sent monthly. Topics on this newsletter might include:
1. Pictures- (current students, campus, events, local area, San Diego attractions and highlights)
2. Registration information (dates, times, prices, orientations, requirements)
3. College events
4. Promotions- (referral discounts, student discounts, session length discounts)
5. Local cultural events
6. MiraCosta College information- (statistics, enrollment, types of degrees, transfer, student services)
7. Instructor Bio's
8. Helpful hints - (Driving in USA, travel, food, money, home stay services, apartments, transpotation)
9. Current student section- (quotes, papers, helpful tips for new students, instructor reviews, class details and reviews)
Friday, November 1, 2013
Week 9 Cont. Categories
Some types of categories I thought about using when I start a blog for my English Language Institute might include:
1. Student Learning and Resources- A blog where students can find resources to different types of online documents, ESL support, teaching materials, online practice materials
2. Teacher Corner- A blog each week from a different instructor.
3. Director's Corner- Blogs about TOEFL tests, student ID cards, events on campus, international student hot topics, visas, counseling, etc.
4. Former ELI Student Blog- Former students blog about what they learned at ELI, tips for new students, teacher recommendations, fun things to do while attending ELI
5. Current Student Blog- talk about upcoming weekly events, homework, study groups, networking, class assignments
I commented on Kyle's blog as of today I was unable to find any others to comment on yet. Many not finished with this assignment yet. Will try back on Sunday when it is due.
1. Student Learning and Resources- A blog where students can find resources to different types of online documents, ESL support, teaching materials, online practice materials
2. Teacher Corner- A blog each week from a different instructor.
3. Director's Corner- Blogs about TOEFL tests, student ID cards, events on campus, international student hot topics, visas, counseling, etc.
4. Former ELI Student Blog- Former students blog about what they learned at ELI, tips for new students, teacher recommendations, fun things to do while attending ELI
5. Current Student Blog- talk about upcoming weekly events, homework, study groups, networking, class assignments
I commented on Kyle's blog as of today I was unable to find any others to comment on yet. Many not finished with this assignment yet. Will try back on Sunday when it is due.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Week 9 Blogging for Business
It is a fine line when it comes to being personal, or too personal
on a blog. For the business I am representing I feel it is natural to be
somewhat personal due to the target age of some of my audience.
There are two factors I have to consider:
Prospective students vs. current students.
For our prospective students I would not
want to be too personal on my blog because I want them to feel the school is
professional. I want to provide information about our school, our
teachers, class content, the campus, life in Oceanside.
Once the students choose our program,
arrive and start to settle in then I feel I can be more personal on my blog by
posting pictures of the students in class learning or out of class participating
in fun activities with other students, or enjoying fun parties, events, etc.
This may not be the best marketing idea
for prospective students whose parents are helping them choose a school and
want the student to be studying for most of the time. Also, a large
portion of the audience is from Asia and from my past 10 years of experience
working with this population they tend to be a bit more reserved and
conservative at first. However, once they get comfortable in our program,
they loosen up and enjoy the many activities we provide besides an excellent
education. I am confident if I wrote a blog addressing the students
before they arrived telling them that every Friday for their English in Action
class they would be doing the following activities: paintball, stand up paddle
boarding, rock climbing, flag football and horseback riding, they might feel
intimated to come or feel nervous if these types of activities were offered.
However, if I wrote this blog after they arrived and met a few friends
then this type of blog information would not scare them. Instead, they
might feel excited to try a new experience.
On our Face book page I tend to be more
personal by posting lots of fun pictures of the students enjoying classes,
activities, and local events. I also post lots of campus information and
fun facts at ELI and MiraCosta College. On our school website we have a
more professional feel with information about the classes, application
processes, school information, visa requirements. We do have a few
personal aspects such as a fun You Tube video about our program and some
recorded student testimonials. If you dig deeper on the website, you will
find some fun pictures of the students interacting in class and at fun events.
In general I feel customers do want some
personal aspects on a blog. They want to know your opinion, thoughts, and
feelings. They want to learn more about your company and being a little personal
gives the customer a better feel of the type of product you are selling or
company you represent from a personal prospective.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Week 8 - Twitter
Using the advanced search tool on Twitter I was able to find several other Intensive Language Schools and colleges in the area that I believe would be beneficial to my business. I was also able to find some networking connections for my business of other professionals in my area. I just used the business or college name and then weeded through all the different accounts in the search until I found the one I was looking for.
This week I also set up my business Twitter page. I plan to start using it as soon as I can figure out how to link it to Facebook without using my personal page or information.
I am having trouble with the extra credit part of this week's assignment. When I try to link Facebook and Twitter accounts I can't get yo my Facebook business account, only my personal account. I had this same problem with trying to set up a You tube account for my business since I already had a personal account it kept saying email address was already used and it would not allow me to create a business account since some of my personal information was store. This was true also with Pinterest. I am going to give it another shot this week.
This week I also set up my business Twitter page. I plan to start using it as soon as I can figure out how to link it to Facebook without using my personal page or information.
I am having trouble with the extra credit part of this week's assignment. When I try to link Facebook and Twitter accounts I can't get yo my Facebook business account, only my personal account. I had this same problem with trying to set up a You tube account for my business since I already had a personal account it kept saying email address was already used and it would not allow me to create a business account since some of my personal information was store. This was true also with Pinterest. I am going to give it another shot this week.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Visual Networks- Week 7
Visual Networks
Yes, I believe visual networks are right for certain aspects
of my business. I currently don’t use
them very much, but after reviewing the lecture and watching the segments on Pinterest,
YouTube , Instagram, and Tumblr. I do feel they would strengthen my marketing plan.
YouTube:
Allows people and businesses to post videos.
Examples, can be “how to” videos for companies, or videos showcasing
products.
Instagram:
Is somewhat flat and more of a “one-way” experience. You can post pictures and now very short
video clips but that is about it and it is not very engaging and is somewhat
contained. It really doesn’t promote
further connections. I believe Instagram is better suited for personal use than
for my type of business, unless I am just wanting to show pictures of our
students having fun!
Pinterest:
Is like a collection of lots of pictures, ideas, quotes, etc. It is like a digital scrapbook. I personally love Pinterest but I am having a
hard time trying to connect it to how I could market my type of business with
it.
Tumblr: Here
is a good description I found about Tumblr.
I was most unfamiliar with this visual network.
“It generates multiple points of
engagement. For one, it supports a variety of digital assets – photos, videos,
links, quotes, and audio. Secondly, it promotes connections and explorations by
building internal Tumblr social relationships, but also sending you out to the
WWW to dig deeper. It’s cross platform – smart and simple on mobile, beautiful
on tablet, and a real time suck on a laptop. And it’s also democratic in
its support of other platforms – Flickr, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and
Spotify to name a few. It’s the part social fluff we love, but can also provide
some real meaning. Tumblr plays into our need to
quickly publish but gives more options than Instagram and can educate, engage
and enable deeper connections. It’s an app that integrates seamlessly with the
open world of web – and synthesizes almost all of our favorite platforms.”
YouTube, Tumblr and Instagram would
best suit my business. I have created videos
and testimonials of students using YouTube.
I have not yet started working with Instagram or Tumblr but in the next
lesson I will be creating a business account for those to visual networks. Let's see how they work!
Friday, October 11, 2013
Screen Shot of Scheduled Facebook posts
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Likes and Featured Likes
I chose to like many other departments, groups, clubs at MiraCosta College. Some of my featured likes include, MCC Home FB page, Community Services FB page, International Student MCC page, Peer Leader MCC page, PIER FB page (Professional International Educators Roundtable) which I use for networking with other ESL professionals.
The reason I liked these pages were connect our English Language Institute to other pages at the college that might interest the students.
One way this feature can help grow our program is by allowing us to use posts from other clubs, and MCC pages to use on our FB page. It takes a lot of work out of taking lots of pictures myself, and allows me to post more things for our students.
For instance today I was able to take pictures from the International student page that showed some of our ELI students participating in their Fall International Student Welcome Party. I was able to use the "share on my page" feature to post these pictures to our ELI page.
The reason I liked these pages were connect our English Language Institute to other pages at the college that might interest the students.
One way this feature can help grow our program is by allowing us to use posts from other clubs, and MCC pages to use on our FB page. It takes a lot of work out of taking lots of pictures myself, and allows me to post more things for our students.
For instance today I was able to take pictures from the International student page that showed some of our ELI students participating in their Fall International Student Welcome Party. I was able to use the "share on my page" feature to post these pictures to our ELI page.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Post Reach and Post Engagement on Facebook
Post Reach and Post Engagement on
Facebook
Post reach
is how many people saw the post or activity on your page…non-fans, check- in’s
and mentions included. You can also analyze who you reached by gender, age,
etc. Post Engagement is how many people
engaged on that post. Meaning if they “liked”
it or posted a comment or responded to a comment.
Under
Facebook insights you can break down the figures or fans vs. non-fans, paid or
organic. You can also find four sets of
breakdowns for engagement:
1. Post Clicks & likes, Comments
& shares
2. Like, comments and shares
3. Post hides, hides of all posts,
reports of spam, and unlikes
4. Engagement rate %
On several
articles about Facebook engagement I found ideas on how to increase your
engagement.
Some mentioned were:
1. Add photos (products, services)
2. Add photos of funny pictures to draw
attention.
3. Involve your customers by asking
questions
4. Offer discounts for fans or people
who comment on your posts
5. Use quotes
6. Do fill in the blank questions
7. Ask for votes about a product or
opinion
8. Add Hash Tags
Business's can use Facebook insights in a variety of ways to determine who is the target market. They can determine what kinds and types of customers they are reaching. (Gender, age, country, language). How many customers they are reaching. What time of day is the best time to reach customers. What types of posts are reaching the most people. How many people shared the post.
d
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)