Over the this past semester I have had the chance to learn how to operate a handful of social media accounts on various platforms. Creating and managing my business, All Under One Woof, from a social media standpoint was excellent practice for what I hope to do once I graduate. I will admit that I did struggle with a few social media platforms that in turn caused inner turmoil for myself, however, the good outweighed the bad.
The main platforms that I utilized were Facebook, Twitter, and my blog to post honest and current topics that my target audience would enjoy. The blog postings took a bit of time to plan and write. I am very pleased to see a difference between my first posting and my last; the overall tone stayed similar, but in turn have changed for the better. Using my Twitter account was very enjoyable because I did not have much experience with that particular social media. I liked being able to retweet certain posts from pages I was following because they were news articles or topics that focused on animal shelters, rescues, and certain laws. Finally, Facebook was the easiest to use out of the three main platforms I used. I say this because I use Facebook in my everyday life and have experience managing a business' page. Coming up with content was easy because I could use similar content between Facebook and Twitter. That, to me, is the best part about using any social media. You are able to share the same posts/content between the platforms.
Instagram was another platform that I used. I struggled with this one only because I had issues with the app itself. My account was deleted for a short period of time, but after it was all sorted out I found that Instagram is a viable tool to use as a business. A picture says a thousand words and when it comes to dogs and cats that are in desperate need of a loving home, a picture works better than any blog post. I want to explore more with Instagram and see if I can utilize it at my current place of employment, which happens to be a restaurant. Another social media I used was SoundCloud and creating a podcast. Initially I was weary about creating a podcast because I am not the strongest speaker. However, from a business standpoint I found it to be exciting. Podcasts are an entirely new form of social media that can connect people with similar ideals and interests. I do not think podcasts, however, were the best route for my business. Like I mentioned, a picture is worth more that anything that i can say when it comes to rescues, so a podcast about why you should adopt seemed a little forced. I am sure that if i explored it more I would be able to find a way to make it intertwine with the platforms I was already using.
With what I have learned I would highly recommend that any and all businesses utilized Facebook and Twitter to reach and expand their target audiences. They are easy to use and are accessible on basically every smart phone. Facebook even has a Pages app that allows you to manage any and all business pages you may have without having to use the Facebook app itself. It has a similar interface to when you manage your page on a computer. Twitter is great for a business as well because there are more and more people using Twitter over Facebook. Sometimes you have to follow the trends and stay current, especially with social media, because you have to be able to reach your customers/audience. I do recommend Instagram to any business solely because our society has become so fast-paced that a great picture catches our attention better than a well-written article or post.
I have learned a great deal more about social media and the best ways to use them from a business standpoint. I have already taken a lot of what I have learned and applied to my job at Seasons Tavern where I handle a lot of the social media accounts. As mentioned, it was great practice for when the future after graduation.
The main platforms that I utilized were Facebook, Twitter, and my blog to post honest and current topics that my target audience would enjoy. The blog postings took a bit of time to plan and write. I am very pleased to see a difference between my first posting and my last; the overall tone stayed similar, but in turn have changed for the better. Using my Twitter account was very enjoyable because I did not have much experience with that particular social media. I liked being able to retweet certain posts from pages I was following because they were news articles or topics that focused on animal shelters, rescues, and certain laws. Finally, Facebook was the easiest to use out of the three main platforms I used. I say this because I use Facebook in my everyday life and have experience managing a business' page. Coming up with content was easy because I could use similar content between Facebook and Twitter. That, to me, is the best part about using any social media. You are able to share the same posts/content between the platforms.
Instagram was another platform that I used. I struggled with this one only because I had issues with the app itself. My account was deleted for a short period of time, but after it was all sorted out I found that Instagram is a viable tool to use as a business. A picture says a thousand words and when it comes to dogs and cats that are in desperate need of a loving home, a picture works better than any blog post. I want to explore more with Instagram and see if I can utilize it at my current place of employment, which happens to be a restaurant. Another social media I used was SoundCloud and creating a podcast. Initially I was weary about creating a podcast because I am not the strongest speaker. However, from a business standpoint I found it to be exciting. Podcasts are an entirely new form of social media that can connect people with similar ideals and interests. I do not think podcasts, however, were the best route for my business. Like I mentioned, a picture is worth more that anything that i can say when it comes to rescues, so a podcast about why you should adopt seemed a little forced. I am sure that if i explored it more I would be able to find a way to make it intertwine with the platforms I was already using.
With what I have learned I would highly recommend that any and all businesses utilized Facebook and Twitter to reach and expand their target audiences. They are easy to use and are accessible on basically every smart phone. Facebook even has a Pages app that allows you to manage any and all business pages you may have without having to use the Facebook app itself. It has a similar interface to when you manage your page on a computer. Twitter is great for a business as well because there are more and more people using Twitter over Facebook. Sometimes you have to follow the trends and stay current, especially with social media, because you have to be able to reach your customers/audience. I do recommend Instagram to any business solely because our society has become so fast-paced that a great picture catches our attention better than a well-written article or post.
I have learned a great deal more about social media and the best ways to use them from a business standpoint. I have already taken a lot of what I have learned and applied to my job at Seasons Tavern where I handle a lot of the social media accounts. As mentioned, it was great practice for when the future after graduation.
