From Technophobe to Social Media Madness!

Task 2 is over and the end of our first FDSM module on social media platforms draws near. It really has been a journey of unexpected discovery for me. A technophobe and social media novice at the start of this course, I can't believe how much I have learnt over the past two months. So what have I achieved in this time frame?

Having evaluated many social media platforms, for their relevance and effectiveness in my business Chrissie Designs Jewellery, I decided to focus my attentions on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. To begin with I did not appreciate how these platforms worked in a business context, let alone how to use them as part of a social media marketing strategy. However, even with this confusion I found myself  hooked on the research and development of these three platforms and my new business web site.

The online research for the two course tasks increased my learning curve exponentially. This, linked with the timely launch of my web site spurred me into further action. Suddenly, how to use Facebook clicked. With the help of the analysis found in Facebook Insights I began to write posts that people engaged with; a competition to increase 'likes' and 'shares', engaging photos of unusual jewellery and celebrity jewellery, photos of my latest jewellery designs and video from You Tube on jewellery trends. I even experimented with the new Facebook Timeline movie. All of a sudden I was engaging in some great communications with my followers. It was fun!
  A Google seminar and free one to one analysis of my new web site gave me even more to think about and take action on. Having already set up Google analytics myself my new web site was given the once over and found to be in great shape, according to what Google is looking for. Some advice on SEO and how to create  effective links with other web sites and to all my platforms also helped.

So what have been the tangible achievements of this first module in my foundation degree in social media?

1. The launch of my web site linked to the social media platforms that are right for my business - Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest
2. A Facebook presence that in one week saw my 'Likes' increase by 56%, 'Friends of Fans' up by 72%, My 'Weekly Reach' up by 949% and the 'People Talking About' up by a massive 2,500%
3. A Facebook Timeline video, a poll and a competition to engage people all created by myself
4. Registration and profiles put on several relevant directories
5. Invitations by two other online businesses to guest blog for them about jewellery.
6. Best of all I have had my first online customer!

Not bad for an eight week course! None of it would have been possible though, without the help and support of our tutors Paul and Adam or without the University of Glamorgan leading the UK field and developing this pilot degree course in the first place.

Thanks guys you have been inspirational!.

Reflections on Week 6

Well that was not what I expected. It was so much better! Not being a fan of statistics I was not to bothered that the lecturer had let us down at the last minute. I did feel for Adam though as it is awful when something like that happens and you are the organiser. Still, I know how useful the presentation would have been so hope it can be rearranged for a later date.

In the end the evening proved to be most useful on several fronts. I don't know about the rest of you, but I have been missing the opportunity to talk face to face and get to know my fellow colleagues. By encouraging us to break into small groups and just talk, the evening was a winner! Not only was I learning about social media in my discussions but also getting to know people I had hardly spoken to before.

Building relationships is always easier face to face - well it is for me. Social media is really great but it is very different. Engaging people through asking questions on line means you miss out a vital part of the structure of how we normally communicate. This is the part called pastiming - social chit chat about ourselves, the things that we enjoy, are interested in and that 'feed our souls'. Whilst this can be done to a certain extent through social media, by asking questions and creating competitions to engage others, it is much harder work. Well I find it is! I suppose the difference is that face to face communications are instantaneous. It takes much longer to develop relationships with strangers on line. Note to self - this is obviously a lesson in patience that I need to learn!

So to conclude. My thanks to Adam for allowing us to chat. For me the evening proved most useful in developing my relationships with colleagues, gaining lots of useful social media info, and thanks especially to Emma I came away full of fantastic ideas for my blog and web site. There was a great deal of sharing and I hope my input with colleagues I spoke to was as helpful as Emma's was for me.

Finally, Steve and Emma suggested that we have a social get together over the summer, for some more social nattering. Great idea guys! Count me in.

Reflections on Week 5

Another really interesting session. Barry was a font of knowledge about celebrity sponsored tweets. I have to admit that I had no idea they existed. Also loved his 'Snicker Snail'! Nia's presentation about 'For Luca' showed graphically how social media can spread the word about a cause or a business in an amazing way. I liked the idea of 'Sneaky Peaks' (photos) of something in its stages of production (think this was from Steve's presentation). Note to Self - Use this 'Sneaky Peaks' idea on my Facebook page.

Mike's presentation about GoPro really set me thinking about how much I need/want a new camera - must start saving! Also liked the idea of the social media icons being down the right side of the screen of GoPro's web site. Note to self - try this out and see how it looks on my web site (not sure if it will work for me but liked it) They also run lots of competitions which got me thinking.

Emma's presentation about MLE really highlighted the power of You Tube. Note to self - need to think creatively about what type of videos I can make and put on You Tube. Another good reason for needing a GoPro - I'm very good at convincing myself about spending money!

Loved the way that Nathan demonstrated how Innocent Smoothies engage with children and how they have kept their web presence looking like a small business when they are now owned by Coca Cola - impressive.

The final part of the evening was devoted to a presentation on how Etnies uses social media most effectively. Then we were given a case study. We had to look at how Cardiff Comedy Festival uses social media and what they could do to improve its use. This for me was the most instructive part of the class. I learnt how my approach to using Facebook and Twitter is not engaging people enough. I had followed the lead of what my competitors in the jewellery business are doing and that is mostly telling their contacts about their latest designs and offers. Note to self - look at more jewellery social media sites.

Following the class I spent some time researching more silver jewellery web sites and looking at how they use social media. This was partly to check out if I had missed something when researching for my first presentation and also to find a company to study for my second presentation. The process was very informative. My initial research identified only very large businesses, such as H. Samuel and Fossil, as users of social media. As popular brands they appear not to need to entice engagement from their followers by running competitions, and asking them questions. Most of their postings are of new designs and ideas to which their followers responded, most freely, with their comments .

As a small and new business the case study taught me that I need to change my tactics if I want to increase my followers from the present number of only 30! So I have developed a campaign that will include competitions (with a prizes of a piece of jewellery) to encourage more 'hits' and 'likes', jewellery tips, a quiz on gemstone information, a prize for my 100th follower on Facebook and one for the 50th Follower on my Chrissie Designs Jewellery Blog. Any more ideas would be gratefully received!

A most amazing turn of events has also taken place which I will be writing about, later today, on my Chrissie Designs Blog . Without giving too much away (for the full story read my other blog ) I have been having remarkable success with Pinterest! Within 48 hours of pinning a photo of a bracelet and ring worn by Gwyneth Paltrow I have had 16 likes and 42 re-pins! Not sure how good that really is but I am thrilled with it. A majority of those 58 contacts are on Facebook so I sent them each a message thanking them for their interest and telling them that I will be pinning more soon, including a new board on bridal jewellery. It turns out that many of these young people are brides to be and have wedding pinboards. By following these and any jewellery pinboards I can get a feel for what styles of jewellery they like and are possibly buying. Great business research! All in all a most productive week.