Internship Reflection Week 15

  1. Posted all social media content
  2. Created content for future posts
    1. Researched job data
    2. Researched available jobs
    3. Researched different career development opportunities, including those offered by our company
    4. Researched local workforce-related events
  3. Wrote articles for website
    1. Researched recent news articles relating to workforce
  4. Researched marketing/communications business strategies
    1. Researched ways to ross-promote in order to get our current Twitter followers to follow our other social media outlets
  5. Improved LinkedIn homepage to be more appealing to viewers to hopefully gain more visits and/or followers

 

This week, I learned the importance of cross-promoting our social media pages in order to gain as many followers as possible.  In the past, I have attempted to cross-promote amongst our social media pages by posting flyers (ex: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqv6U7VhQHv/) but it got literally zero response, so we need to find a new way to get our followers from one page to another. Since I just created our Instagram page over the summer, not many people currently know it exists, but would greatly benefit from our posts.  Through research, I have found that one way to spread awareness about other sites is to add social tabs to Facebook pages, so when viewers are browsing around, they can easily access our other forms of social media from there.  Other ways to do so could include adding a link to our Instagram to our website, adding our social media handles to all employee signatures and monthly newsletters, show all of our social media handles in cover photos of each platform, creating a Facebook photo album that highlights each individual social media platform, which will stand out to the viewer, and to share content or refer an audience to content from another site.  I plan on implementing this last approach by the end of the month, so hopefully we will start to see some success in getting our followers from one platform to another.

Internship Reflection Week 14

  1. Posted all social media content
  2. Created content for future posts
    1. Researched job data
    2. Researched available jobs
    3. Researched different career development opportunities, including those offered by our company
    4. Researched local workforce-related events
    5. Researched recent news articles relating to workforce
  3. Wrote articles for website
    1. Researched recent news articles relating to workforce
  4. Researched marketing/communications business strategies

 

This week, I learned that videos can be very useful in effective marketing, largely due to the fact that audiences are increasingly seeking out interactive content.  Videos are also a perfect opportunity to provide information in a more visual way than a paragraph of words, which social media users are likely to just scroll right by.  Videos grab and hold attention, with research showing a significant correlation with the use of a product and the viewing of a video beforehand.  For example, research shows that a third of all time spent on the internet is attributed to people watching videos, 64% of customers are more likely to buy a product after watching a video about it, 87% of marketers are currently using video content in their digital marketing strategies, according to YouTube, mobile video consumption grows by 100% every year, 90% of customers report that videos help them in deciding to buy the product, videos are projected to occupy 80% of all web traffic by 2019, and much more.  Additionally, it has been shown that video content promotes brand recall.  This information is useful because it lets our company know the benefits of posting videos, which we can begin to do in the future in order to begin to see better results.

Internship Reflection Week 13

  1. Posted all social media content
  2. Created content for future posts
    1. Researched job data
    2. Researched available jobs
    3. Researched different career development opportunities, including those offered by our company
    4. Researched local workforce-related events
    5. Researched recent news articles relating to workforce
  3. Wrote articles for website
    1. Researched recent news articles relating to workforce
  4. Analyzed content interactions and why certain content may be generating more interaction than others
  5. Researched new ways to gain more followers

 

This week while researching ways for businesses to gain more followers, I learned the importance of reaching out to and interacting with users.  Particularly, it may be useful to respond to people who are in search of services similar to those of which we offer.  This will not only spread the word about our company’s offerings, but will also likely gain us new followers.  To go about this, this approach goes back to a previous researched strategy of relevant hashtags, which we can search to help us find people that may be interested in our services.  While some companies choose to reach out through means of direct messaging, I think it would be more efficient to respond to a tweet/post.  That way, it is less creepy, and other people viewing the post can see the comment and get word about our company as well, or even respond/retweet the post. This strategy relates a lot to sharing user generated content, as it will have similar effects of creating a relationship and a newfound sense of comfort and trust with the company.  The most important thing to note is to keep interactions relevant and appropriate, as we are striving for this sense of trust rather than a sense of discomfort that can often come when random people reach out.  In a similar manner, it should be kept conversational rather than formal so that it is not seen as spam or an automated form of an advertisement, which will just stray people away from following or exploring our company.

Internship Refleciton Week 12

  1. Posted all social media content
  2. Created content for future posts
    1. Researched job data
    2. Researched available jobs
    3. Researched different career development opportunities, including those offered by our company
      1. Researched what we are doing to further our brand and offered opportunities
    4. Researched local workforce-related events
    5. Researched high priority/in-demand occupations
    6. Researched recent news articles relating to workforce
  3. Wrote articles for website
    1. Researched recent news articles relating to workforce
  4. Analyzed content interactions
    1. Researched why certain content may be generating more interaction than others
  5. Researched new social media content strategies

 

This week, while researching new social media content strategies, I learned that a good strategy is to appeal to audiences’ personal lives in connection to the point you’re trying to get across. For example, some companies will appeal to aspects of families in the promotion of their products.  For us, it may simply look like asking them on a more personal level whether they have experience in a certain area, or have a certain interest (see linked example, which gained more interaction than is  typical. https://twitter.com/SCPAWorks/status/1067641675206533120).  This strategy can result in audiences feeling more connected to and comfortable with a company, knowing that they actually care enough to dive deeper than simple statistics to appeal to them and their lives.  In regards to comfort, personal appeals of audiences can help them feel a sense of belonging and security with the company.  Specifically within our industry, this personal appeal can provide hope for people that are searching for career development, knowing that there are available opportunities for people like them.  Recently, I have been trying to use more personal appeals after gaining this knowledge, but not overuse them so that people who cannot relate feel excluded.

Internship Reflection Week 11

  1. Posted all social media content
  2. Created content for future posts
    1. Researched job data
    2. Researched available jobs
    3. Researched different career development opportunities, including local events
    4. Researched job-seeker strategies
    5. Researched success stories of past clients
    6. Researched high priority occupations
  3. Wrote articles for website
    1. Researched recent news articles relating to workforce
  4. Analyzed content interactions
    1. Researched why certain content may be generating more interaction than others
  5. Researched ways to gain more social media followers
    1. Searched for more pages with similar offerings and goals to follow
  6. Researched new social media content strategies

 

This week, I learned the importance of numbers of post per day, varying by social media platform.  According to studies, tweets begin to lose engagement after the third tweet in one day, and the response per tweet ratio drops drastically after five tweets.  Some professionals suggest tweeting upwards of 15 per day in order to receive the most interaction (since the average lifespan of a tweet is 18 minutes), but most suggest between 1 and 5.  Within our team, we have decided to keep new content posts to two per day, but this information can be useful when determining how much content to retweet/share.  Similarly, studies have shown that posting every other day to once a day on Facebook warrants the best responses, as it has been shown that brands often lose 50% of clicks per post when there was more than one post in one day.  These same studies showed that businesses posting only 1-5 posts per month actually had the best interaction results.  As a company, we have decided to limit our posts to once a week, averaging four per month, which aligns with the suggested number to achieve the best results.  Knowing this, we also know to limit any re-sharing that is done on Facebook, as it may lower our interaction rate.  While Instagram’s interaction rates largely correlate with audience size, smaller businesses such as ours are suggested to limit posts to 1-2 per day, as more than this loses attention.  At the beginning of my internship, I decided to post twice a day every two days, but with this new information, as well as the reality of Twitter and Instagram being our largest platforms, I think I will propose and hopefully begin to post 1-2 every day.  However, I have read that jumping from one set number to another can disengage an audience, so we would have to be careful if we did decide to make this change.  Lastly, research shows that frequency of LinkedIn posts does not matter as much as content (keeping it professional), but at least one and no more than two posts a day is recommended by experts.  At first, I had been posting once a week, but realized that we began to lose engagement the less often we posted.  With this new information, I think I will begin to post a little bit more frequently, probably around two per week to start.

Internship Reflection Week 10

  1. Posted all social media content
  2. Created content for future posts
    1. Researched job data
    2. Researched available jobs
    3. Researched different career development opportunities
    4. Researched programs we offer
  3. Wrote articles for website
    1. Researched recent news articles relating to workforce
  4. Analyzed content interactions
  5. Researched ways to gain more social media followers

 

This week, I learned the importance of sharing user generated content in promoting companies.  Sharing information created by the customer makes the services it offers more real and relatable, allowing audience members to see their benefits from people just like them, likely allowing for an increase in their sense of trust of the company.  It also positions the company as in line with customers, not above them, working with them to reach end results.  Sharing client’s success stories conveys the effectiveness of our services through firsthand accounts, spotlighting both the services and customers in a positive light.  Using personal customer accounts also brings in new members to our audience, page, and offered services, such as people that know the person the shared content would pertain to.  Studies show that UGC draws more interaction and attention, as is evident through our personal sharings of UGC.  For example, one of our Instagram posts about a personal customer experience led to the following tweet https://twitter.com/lsholubec/status/1042771777502494721 which further allowed interaction, a spreading of the word and likely increase in audience members, and evidence of the created relationship amongst customer, provider, and company.  UGC also encourages engagement with the company, showing that we care about our customers and want to hear from them and interact with them regarding their experiences.  It also helps us to get to know our audience better, mostly what they find to be beneficial within our company’s offerings, which can be useful in creating future social media post content.

Internship Reflection Week 9

  1. Posted all social media content
  2. Created content for future posts
    1. Researched job data
    2. Researched available jobs
    3. Researched different career development opportunities
    4. Researched National Apprenticeship Week and events/programs offered
    5. Researched programs we offer
    6. Researched company events
  3. Wrote articles for website
    1. Researched recent news articles relating to workforce
  4. Analyzed content interactions
    1. Researched why certain content may be generating more interaction that others, especially in relation to past research of colors, hashtags, etc.
  5. Researched ways to gain more social media followers
    1. Researched geotags as a way to broaden audience and spread word of our offerings
  6. Created email template for email blast that will be sent to promote a program
    1. Researched program

 

This week I looked into the effects of geotagging locations in Instagram posts.  Using geotags not only allows people to search particular locations and find our events, but also allows people to see our events on a map after viewing the Instagram post.  Clicking on geotags on our posts will also refer users back to other posts that have the same geotag, showing them other offered opportunities and success stories of past clients.  Geotags allow clients or other business to tag locations for related posts to refer them back to us, where viewers of these posts can be directed to our page to see our other offerings.  For example, if a client attends one of our events and shares a photo, they can geotag the location of the event, which will further spread the word about our services and their locations, as well as allow us to interact with those who are posting.  Geotags can also be useful in finding interests of the community, as searching the most popular recently used geotags in the area can offer insight into these interests.  This can be useful for future social media posts that can be catered to these interests, or even hosting events at these popular locations in order to broaden our audiences and further spread the word about our offerings.

Ex: https://www.instagram.com/p/BmJGZmfj6VI/

Internship Reflection Week 8

  1. Posted all social media content
  2. Created content for future posts
    1. Researched job data
    2. Researched available jobs
    3. Researched company offerings/goals/partners
    4. Researched different job opportunities
    5. Researched educational and training services offered by partner companies
  3. Wrote articles for website
  4. Researched company events
  5. Analyzed content interactions
    1. Researched why certain content may be generating more interaction that others
  6. Researched ways to gain more social media followers
    1. Searched for more pages with similar offerings and goals to follow

 

In a world of mass media communication, it is important to stand out, and also find ways to engage your audiences. This week, I learned what emojis can bring to the table in terms of social media content, even for professional businesses. Emojis can not only catch the attention of someone scrolling through hundreds of tweets, but they can also be an effective way of engaging others.  While being conscience of keeping it professional, emojis can promote a more lighthearted, approachable, and relatable aura, inviting people to engage with the content. Research shows that emojis are not used more widely used by younger people, so the use would not prompt only younger audience participation.  I found that, overall, “messages started by a business that contained an emoji were four times more likely to elicit a response from a consumer than those that didn’t.”  Similar studies have found that people engaging in text with emojis are more satisfied than those with plan text.  To keep it professional, emojis should not be overused, choosing only appropriate times to post them when they will enhance the overall effect of the post.

Ex: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp-ig9xBI_V/

Internship Reflection Week 7

  1. Posted all social media content
  2. Created content for future posts
    1. Researched job data
    2. Researched available jobs
    3. Researched company offerings/goals/partners
    4. Researched different job opportunities
    5. Researched educational and training services offered by partner companies
  3. Wrote articles for website
  4. Analyzed content interactions
  5. Continued to correlate with creative director on Careers in 2 Years promotional videos

 

This week, I have learned the importance of avoiding controversial topics. If content, especially in article summaries, reflects something that could be controversial, viewers may avoid reading the post, and possibly even shut down from seeking out future posts. In addition, readers may associate the company with certain sides of the controversy, again, possibly deflecting their interest if they think the company leans one way or the other. For example, I have found articles discussing some recent actions of the Trump Administration relating to education and the economy, but just seeing certain words, such as “Trump,” may spark certain emotions and or assumptions. Although he is simply our President, many people may see an article dedicated to the review of his related actions as supporting him just by acknowledging it, rather than it just being a reality that affects the education and workforce sectors. With news and media being so politically focused and biased in this century, it is difficult to find an excess amount of up-to-date articles that are completely uncontroversial, but we can make an effort to rewrite them and present them in a way that does not limit our potential audience in any way.

Internship Reflection Week 6

  1. Researched and updated company events on website
  2. Met with other intern to get up to speed on company projects
  3. Reached out to partner companies of projects to set up meetings
  4. Created future social media content
    1. Researched job data
    2. Researched available jobs
    3. Researched related news articles
    4. Researched company success stories
    5. Researched different job opportunities, as well as educational and training services offered by partner companies
  5. Posted content on all social media outlets
  6. Wrote articles for website

 

This week, I have learned that the best time to post content on Facebook is noon, while the most content is shared between 1 and 3pm. In addition, the best days of the week to post are Thursdays and Fridays, which see the most traffic. With a younger overall audience, studies show that the best time for companies to post on Instagram is 5pm on Wednesday, while Monday at 7pm and 10pm and Friday at 1am and 8pm are also times of high viewership. Studies show that the best time to post on Twitter is 3pm Monday-Friday, and the best times to post on the more business-oriented platform of LinkedIn are 7:45am, 10:45am, 12:45pm, and 5:45pm. This information is beneficial in reaching the largest audience to get our content across, as well as ensure consistency as previously discussed. We have not been getting great responses to our posts recently, so I have begun an attempt to readjust the schedule in order to ensure the most viewership.

Ex posted at said time, drawing much more attention than is typical:

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