Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with at least a 100-word reply about their Primary Task
Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening. To help you with your
discussion, please consider the following questions:
What did you learn from your classmate's posting?
What additional questions do you have after reading the posting?
What clarification do you need regarding the posting?
What differences or similarities do you see between your posting and other classmates'
Instructor :
Class, of all the head-scratching moves in social media, few have created a greater risk of a bald spot
than the rise of Snapchat. You spend time and money creating unique content for a targeted audience
only to see that content disappear as soon as it's used. It's the exact opposite of the quick burst and
slow burn that a good YouTube video or blog post can achieve.
And yet, companies as big as McDonald's, Acura, and Heineken have all waded in, keen to connect with
the platform's young audience--and scared to be left behind.
The quality of the content has improved over the past couple of years, and it's going to get better. There
are enough good case studies available now for anyone to be able churn out effective Snapchat content
quickly and easily. Now that businesses no longer need to scratch their heads for good ideas, expect
companies with youthful customers to start churning out disposable content
Classmate:
A blog (shortening of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website displaying information in
the reverse chronological order, with the latest posts appearing first. It is a platform where a writer or
even a group of writers share their views on an individual subject.” (Skrba, 2020). Quite frankly, I heard
it through the grapevine that the term “blog”, when I exclaimed that it was the first time I’ve heard of it,
and what exactly was its definition, because it is new to our vernacular as if the word/slang just got
invented, was really an older word used in the United Kingdom. It is their slang for a big and eyecatching poster on the streets, almost like graffiti. The value of this now is still spottily seen on the Web
(as in, it’s still catching-up from the UK), though a lot of sources we’ve been researching through,
references for our citations even – are falling under the format of “blogs” to know which reference to
use for the assignment. So are they common and effective? Or are they less rhetoric like encyclopedia’s
and dictionaries? I think, they ought to be price-comparison widgets that pop-up when you’re shopping,
or ad banners that over-occupy the web page which makes you click on it! Of course, there are the
social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, to post our blogs on, for buyers’ opinion, product
releases, and advance notifications and sales.
Audio or video releases, especially on YouTube, are usually songs in mp3 format, and music videos in
mp4 format instead. If you’ve ever played a song file on your PC, or smartphone, they are usually mp3s,
and these are uploaded to YouTube by owners of the songs (home CD, fans of the singer/band) to share
it with others so that they can listen too! The same goes for mp4s which are usually the songs’ music
videos – like what MTV or VH1 (TV music channels) that deejay’ed for us back in the 80s and 90s! Of
course besides songs and their music videos, are monologues by public speakers, product
demonstrations, lectures and seminars, movies, excerpts and clips from Media, or home-made self-
uploads that promote people at home, or show-off their personal creation, just to get aired on the Web
and get “viral” (over-viewed and hitting the fan). Personally, I like what’s more flashy or entertaining as
a social media tool, but this is more for multimedia though, not e-Commerce. So, if people are buying
and you’re selling, or you’re advertising your venture, this form of Art is too slow, and long to pay
attention to. You have to make like the Billboards do. Or show flash in the packaging, quantity, and
prices; just like making you look on the shelf, or walking by our storefront on the street. This uses the
instinct of impulsiveness, being compelling, or making one resort to caprice; not to have to study us
intellectual… A good idea to use these audio/video capabilities is on our very market creator website
itself, to augment our specific product listings that need user demonstrations, or testimonial speeches
to convince buyers that doubt.
“A press release is a written communication that reports specific but brief information about an event,
circumstance, product launch, or other happening.” … “Issuing a press release doesn't mean the media
will automatically run with it. Media outlets will ask the same questions they always do: Does it interest
their readers? Does it benefit the community in some way?” (Wolfe, 2020). There is News, and there are
Press releases. You see them either on the News itself, or on a TV show that collects them. So they
usually show paparazzi flashing with camera’s, while the photo subject is talking on a microphone, and
he/she is addressing asked questions, or announcing an admission or revelation. Sort of like an expose
(except this is not “A Current Affair” by Maury Povich in the 90s!). I remember shows in the afternoon,
or specific cable TV channels that cater to this obsession like the “E!” channel’s “Talk Soup” show, by
Joan Rivers and daughter Melissa. It is very saucy to catch, because of the “scoop” about cultural
attaches, not just Media personas. Perhaps this is something our CEO should show on instead, not our
products! This could be a manifesto or Christmas celebration, to happily announce our year-end’s
success, and many New Year’s resolutions coming-up to look forward to, if you stay with us for the next
year.
eBay.com I would judge would be one of my top-most competitor, and inspiration for this Business
venture… They are very established when it comes to “market creation”, and I have shopped from them
for a decade, now. Therefore, I know so much as their consumer, what set of digital communication
tools they have used on me! Thus, I have assessed they’re effective communication and dissemination,
from years of buying experience, and how they have compelled me to shop impulsively! If I used to think
they were original in their communicating tool, I eventually saw it on other websites, picking up their
sail. That’s why I picked them, because they seemed to be the first, and the most long-term covering
and spanning. Amazon.com is the next runner up, because they are exactly the smaller version of eBay
stature, but with more exclusive sellers (and that’s why small), but with more certifications and
premium quality. There is a compromise in both, so it is up to you which end of the benefit or advantage
you’d want to take… AliExpress.com is my third and last vote, which is back to as wide as eBay, but even
more globally hooked-up, with constant foreign sellers shipping from the East and the Southern
hemispheres, taking 30 days to arrive at your door with the parcel, with the lowest currency exchanges
of the U.S. Dollar like the Chinese Yuan, that there are exchange fees included with your transaction!
This is worth struggling through, if your desired novelty is truly authentic to have to get imported from a
foreign criteria, or foreign absolute advantage in manufacturing or raw materials.
The most premium communication tool was Amazon’s, but basically the same. So from their example, I
should select as my first tool, their Wish List program. This enables users to save what they want to buy
in the future (but eBay and AlieExpress had this too!), and lock-in the special price, or reserve a quantity
before it gets out of stock, so you can purchase it in your Shopping Cart later, when you have the
money! Second on my qualifications is eBay’s Bidding program, which sells products from the lowest
price (even before profits), then waits for bidders to keep fighting for a higher and higher price to own
the item, until it is sold to the highest bidder on the last day of the bidding – which is set by the seller
(depending on how much it has to wait for the price to get bidded-on higher and higher, for profits.
Which leads us to the third selected tool, of AlieExpress’s Price Comparison banner, that appears at the
bottom right of the web page, which searches it’s larger global sellers to duplicate your product, but
with a lower foreign currency price than U.S. Dollars.
If I put all 3 of these together in my venture market creator, it would be the crystallization of all that I’ve
observed from shopping from those 3 market creators that I told you about! Time will tell, together with
luck in advertising (separate from those tools), if the Karma law of hitting the fan amongst all others, will
work for us… I’m sure if one digs up the bad news about these companies, they have gone through trials
of ups and downs, and have borrowed, almost went bankrupt, and have hit bonanza, through their
years of operation! I know copying their best tools is certainly getting us started on the most aggressive
level, but there is also more connections with business agencies, government bureaus, and of course
each other, to get us to promote our way up the corporate ladder. There is also the elasticity (buyers’
response to prices), that we have to self-adjust to, abreast in the swimming for this Business landscape.
Sometimes, trend is our friend to make us catchy and unanimous to buy from, or sometimes it is our
enemy to turn-off buyers’ moods, when we are outdated, or alternative from the mainstream. But don’t
feel buried in the sandpit when this luck gets you, the trend will sway in our direction again, and buyers
will come back and boost our sales once more. So there are vicissitudes in time, that we have to be
aware of, when it comes to keeping up our Business morale, and maintaining future sustainability. We
should just research some histories of success patterns, and lateral avenues for saving or lending to our
Business, to give us a less precarious path of goal directives, and business initiatives. This way, we won’t
regret making the wrong move, then have sunken costs to turn back around from, much less totally restructure our supply chain, to upgrade our benchmarks to reach that one milestone.
References:
Skrba, A. (2020). What is a Blog? – The Definition of Blog, Blogging, and Blogger. Retrieved from
https://firstsiteguide.com/what-is-blog/
Wolfe, L. (2020 January 7). Press Releases and Their Purpose. Retrieved from
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-is-a-press-release-3515529
Classmate 2:
“The average American uses three social media platforms; young adults use five or more”
(Trappe, 2018). For the business venture, the three examples of social media business tools that
can be applied to the business are Houzz, Instagram, and Twitter. Furthermore, I can discuss
the current and potential future value that blogging, audio/video creations, and press releases
will have on JR Designs business venture. Whether you are a business, or a consumer, let’s be
honest that social media is a jungle, there are so many platforms today with so many apps, and
for developers and businesses the number of integrations available to have your business to be
marketed effectively through mass e-mails, marketing banners on web pages, videos, and more
through various search engine optimization platforms (SEO). “SEO is significant because it
makes your website more visible, and that means more traffic and more opportunities to
convert prospects into customers. Beyond that, it is a valuable tool for brand awareness,
building relationships with prospects, and positioning yourself as an authoritative and
trustworthy expert in your field” (DMI, 2019).
For market coverage, an important vertical is to remain relevant and display JR Designs current
and passed projects on specific platforms like Houzz, which is a place where you display your
content (gallery), interact with people researching interior design specific ideas, collaborate
with other professionals in the industry, and help generate leads for the business. Houzz will be
an important vertical to put our services “on the shelf” for prospective clients to see as it is a
‘micro-internet’ for areas of home decor, design, project work that has search features,
advertising and direct response conversion tactics. Houzz also has a great platform where you
can get your suppliers, contractors, past clients and even fans to leave reviews and testimonials
about the business and the quality of services. It is equally important to have the suppliers
involved to show prospective clients that you have a good network, and the products you use
with your services are reputable and your supplier stands with you should there be any issues
with the quality or performance of the products.
“Instagram is reshaping the $10B business of interior design, and advertising spending on
Instagram is set to hit nearly $7B, up from $3.64B in 2017. Design companies also know they
have a captive audience and have concentrated on growing their follower counts as a play for
direct advertising” (Brown, 2018). Instagram reports that they have over one billion active
monthly users and nearly 500 million daily Instagram stories, which makes it worth the time of
JR Designs to have a strong marketing strategy that incorporates the use of Instagram. JR
Designs can use Instagram to grow our brand awareness, introduce new services and products,
show completion of past projects, connect with both past clients, prospective clients, suppliers,
and reputation building. Using Instagram will promote our brand and its services in a friendly,
authentic way without any hard selling to clients.
Twitter will be a strong social media platform tool that it connects today so many audiences
and this short-form content platform is popular as a key channel that reaches a wide array of
engaged networkers. Forbes reports that with Twitter, “if you’re looking to connect with other
interior designers and follow trends in the industry, Twitter is the place to do it” (Agrawal,
2016). This will be a valuable platform for JR Designs that we can show trends, post tips and
information about the industry, our local market, products, and our services to keep current
with our followers and client base. It is a great tool to continue branding strategy, continue
networking and having access to the latest trends locally, nationally, and globally.
Blogging will be one of the better ways that JR Designs can share the expertise and talent of the
designers staffed at JR Designs, and gives an overall confidence by the prospective client to
read more about JR Design services, sharing of past projects and even providing case studies on
specific projects or return on investment. To keep even prior clients interactive and in touch,
the use of blogging by providing tips on the home or businesses will keep us relevant and in
touch with clients and continues their engagement and communicate changes in trends and
designs.
For audio/video creations strategy, JR Designs, the use of video in the market plan should be a
high-ranking strategy. One major benefit of using video is that they rank high in search engine
results on their own without much effort in optimization. Instead of the use of just posted
photos, the use of video creations will appeal the brand that JR Designs is going for by branding
its portfolio through the use of creative videos, and one goal will be to make an introductory
video which explains JR Designs’ approach and tactics to, interior design and share it on
platforms like YouTube!
Press releases should continue to be a critical part of a marketing strategy and will have a
positive impact on JR Designs. The press release will help make the target audience of JR
Designs to be made aware of new products and services in a way that our business can share it
and market it to the base. Managing the number of press releases, their content, and how they
are shared will be critical as not to overwhelm the clients or prospects, but also to balance it in
a way to show that JR Designs stays up with the trends, growing, and engaging the relationships
to continue with its key stakeholders. The press releases can be utilized by both e-mail
communicating platforms and have a landing page on JR Designs main website so viewers can
see present and past press releases.
Three most readily visible competitors in the market for JR Designs that offers not only design
services but has a large array of product lines, financing, and other services are West Elm, Crate
and Barrel, and IKEA. These three competitors reach various demographics from residential to
commercial, and each competitor has its own element of design and branding on appealing to a
large array of age groups, design ‘taste’, and other elements specific to their brand. The three
competitors in recent years have put a large emphasis on Instagram. As reported in Fast
Company, West Elm has over 1.8M followers, IKEA has 1.7M, and Crate and Barrel 1.3M. “They
all know social media is another lever to pull when it comes to transforming browsers into
buyers, and they’re doing what they can to ratchet up those conversion numbers” (DMI, 2019).
Regardless of the social media platform choice, the biggest strategy is to maintain JR Designs
reputation. The use of Houzz, Instagram and Twitter will have a positive impact and be
successful in the marketing strategy for JR Designs on the ability to reach a wide channel of
prospective clients from a broad set of demographics on the various platforms. There is no
doubt today that the most influential marketing content for any business is created by their
clients/customers, and we do tend to judge a book by its cover looking at online reviews from
prior clients/customers that give their experience and opinions of the business. But this even
goes a step further, it impacts employees, do you want to work someplace that has a lot of bad
client/customer reviews? Reputation is key, and nearly everyone has a smart phone or device
to access the web, and be able to post and read reviews and with the interior design (or any
business) that every project that JR Designs does has lasting impacts on the business reputation
and marketing efforts. Therefore, always making the effort to ensure clients are happy and
encourage them to post good comments on their experiences will even further the digital
marketing strategy and benefit the business. “While there are many marketing channels today,
it remains true that your website is ground zero. Most people who convert into clients will visit
your website and use its content in their evaluation” (Yoder, 2019).
References
Agrawal, A.J. (2016, January 15). Forbes: Social Media Marketing For Interior Designs - - How
To Do It Right. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajagrawal/2016/01/15/social-media-marketing-for-interiordesignershow-to-do-it-right/#72708442652f
Brown, T.M. (2018, December 20). Fast Company: Instagram is reshaping the $10B business of
Interior design. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/90282972/instagram-isreshaping-the-10b-business-of-interior-design
DMI. (2019). Digital Marketing Institute Digest: What is SEO & Why is it Important? Retrieved
From https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en-us/blog/what-is-seo-and-why-is-it-Important
Trappe, C. (2018, December 28). Interior & Sources: How to Build Your Social Media Brand
In the Interior Design World. Retrieved from https://www.interiorsandsources.com/articledetails/articleid/22453/title/build-your-social-media-brand
Yoder, S. (2019, May 26). Marketing360: Interior Design Marketing Tips, Ideas, and Strategies.
Retrieved from https://www.marketing360.com/local-advertising/interior-designs-marketingtips-ideas-and-strategies/
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