Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Utilizing Social Media to Create Awareness and Drive Traffic: My Storify

The purpose of this storify is to recap my experience in COMI610: Social Media Strategies and Tactics. I will describe how I utilized Twitter, Pinterest and Blogger to drive traffic to my class blog and effectively engage by audience. This report will also summarize key activities and analyze pert

Background

Social Media has transformed the way
consumers as well as businesses effectively manage their day to day activities.
During this explosion, communications between individuals and companies have
become two way rather than one way interruption that used to exist. Long gone
are the days of one way interruption and big billboard advertisements. Social
media has introduced to us how to effectively communicate messages that are two
way and cost effective across multiple platforms. Our course Comi610 required
us to integrate all our social media platforms and utilize them to drive
traffic to our blogger account. This storify will describe my social media
trends, strategies utilized and provide statistical analysis over the semester.

Introduction

My name is Saurav Ghosh and I will
be graduating from Marist College in the summer of 2014. I previously have
completed my Bachelors and Master’s degree in Accounting in 2009. I then proceeded
to attend Pace University and finish a DUAL MBA in Finance and Information
Systems in 2012. I choose to pursue the IMC degree at Marist College as I
wanted to have a holistic view from all business disciplines. I wanted to have
this view in order to ultimately open my own firm. Social Media has been a big
part of my life, as I am constantly on facebook, youtube and other social media
platforms. However, before this course I did not know about the tactics used to
engage audiences and drive traffic to certain sites. While taking this course,
I was able to learn a lot of different skillsets that enabled me to keep
individuals engaged by utilizing certain fonts, spacing, and videos while also utilizing
certain pins from pinterest, tweets from twitter and posts via facebook to
drive traffic to blogger.

Plans
& Policies

When implementing
plans and policies one must consider how social media fits into the overall
communication strategy. This point was a key point in the article we read
titled “The Social Media Handbook for U.S. Navy PAOs” (n.d.). To
see my site policy, please click here.
My communication strategy included
utilizing tweets, pins and facebook posts to drive traffic to my blogger. I
tried to use tweets that linked to my blogger account so audiences knew where
to visit. I pinned different infographics to my Pinterest account in order to
facilitate conversation between classmates while also directing them to my
site. I used my personal facebook page as well as the Marist Group page to facilitate
conversation as well as drive traffic to my blog. By posting updates and
teasers I was able to gain traffic to my blog.

Below is an example of a facebook teaser:
Saurav Ghosh Blog
Hey All, It was a fun week actively participating as Team 6 leader. In our individual blogs we all touched on many aspects of security and privacy. With a plethora of social media sites ( facebook,twitter,pinterest, youtube to name a few, keeping our guard up and being careful of what we post, where we post, what we click and where we click is key.
Saurav Ghosh
In order to drive traffic and activity to my blog, I wanted to create an
environment that is engaging and collaborative. I utilized twitter, pinterest,
facebook and other creative elements in my blog such as pictures,videos, line spacing
to keep users engaged. To maximize views, I posted teasers on twitter as well as links to my blogger. I posted throughout the week on twitter targeting my direct team as well as within the group. I utilized pinterest and pinned relevant info-graphics that built on the topic that was being discussed and directed the conversation over to my blog. I posted info-graphics as well as other relevant material on our facebook homepage that drove traffic to my blog and encouraged active collaborative discussion. In order to make the blog engaging I posted links in my blog as well as videos from youtube that further enhanced the discussion for the week.

First Blog Post via Twitter
Below was my first tweet, which targeted all my followers and guided them to my blog. This tweet linked my blog specifically and allowed my target audience to simply click the link and visit my blog. A weakness in this tweet was that it did not include creative hashtags nor did it include a specific target audience such as Mar610 class group of my teammates but rather a more broader audience, which were my followers
Saurav Ghosh @Sauravghosh1984
WEEK 2 BLOG : COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY http://sauravghosh1984.blogspot.com/2014/02/week-2-blog-communications-strategy.html …
Wed, Feb 05 2014 20:40:55
Reply Retweet Favorite
Second Blog Post via Twitter
After gauging the traffic that was being driven to my blog based on twitter, I decided to target the Marist twitter group directly. Below is a tweet encouraging the class to visit my blog and comment. I again linked the blogger to make it easy for the user to visit my site.
Saurav Ghosh @Sauravghosh1984
@MaristCOM610 come check out my exciting response to our discussion and comment. http://sauravghosh1984.blogspot.com/
Sat, Feb 08 2014 10:44:07
Reply Retweet Favorite
My final blog post via Twitter
This tweet was very successful as I integrated my twitter audience with pinterest. I originally created a pin on my pinterest and then shared it with twitter. This enabled not only my pinterest followers to engage in my blog but also my twitter followers. By integrating multiple social media platforms I was able to effectively drive traffic to my blog.
Saurav Ghosh @Sauravghosh1984
END OF LEADERSHIP POST ON BLOGGER WEEK 6 http://pinterest.com/pin/79657487133469671/ …
Sun, Mar 02 2014 10:38:58
Reply Retweet Favorite
Analysis

Measuring success of a blog is based on the amount of views your page is getting and the amount of collaboration that is occurring on the blogger. I tracked both of these activities using blogger stats and have come up with the following diagram below:
Googleapis
·
Wed, Mar 05 2014 17:24:07
Entry Pageviews

United States 436

France 27

Germany 3

Spain 2

Russia 2
Googleapis
·
Wed, Mar 05 2014 19:24:44
Conclusion

To conclude, I feel my goals for this course were met for the most part. Being a Finance major I did not know what to expect when entering this course. Even though I had been a social media user, I did not really know how to employ social media tactics in order to drive an audience to a destination. However as I progressed in the course and started integrating multiple social media channels such as twitter, pinterest and facebook, I started to realize integrating across multiple different outlets optimizes the amount of collaboration. I do feel however that I could have had more engagement in my blog but utilizing better tweets, hashtags and posting earlier in the week as it seemed the amount of comments had a downward slope towards mid to end of the week.

References:
Scott, D.(2013). The New Rules of Marketing and PR.
Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

END OF DIGITAL LEADERSHIP POST

Hey All,

It was a fun week actively participating as Team 6 leader. In our individual blogs we all touched on many aspects of security and privacy. With a plethora of social media sites ( facebook,twitter,pinterest, youtube to name a few, keeping our guard up and being careful of what we post, where we post, what we click and where we click is key. We must remember that critical information such as date of birth, social security number and location services must be protected and kept intact. Once it is on the world wide web anyone can access or retrieve that data.

Social Media Security Basics:

· Passwords: Make these as complex as possible so hackers cannot compromise them. They should contain letter, numbers, capital and lowercase plus symbols

· Don’t click on Unknown Items: If you don’t know something DO NOT click it. Clicking on items you don’t know can lead to viruses or other spam that can damage your computer

· Security software: Make sure your browser is updated and you have the latest antivirus and antispyware software.

· Content Monitoring: You have the right to your own content, so make sure you check your setting to see who can see what and where.

· Third Party Applications: Beware of third party application or signing up your email for things. Usually this is malware or spyware and they will spam your email with many items.

· Personal Information: Do not put your full name, date of birth, name of family members on social media sites. These types of information are critical information and can lead to identity theft.

How do Firms Protect Data ?

These are more geared toward consumers, however businesses are now actively involved on social media as well. Company data that is confidential must be kept secure and not get into the hands of wrong individuals. Here are ways business are protecting themselves

Know and implement privacy settings. Recheck the policies on a regular basis for changes.
Use an excellent antivirus software. Invest in a full-spectrum product that covers security patches; real-time, dynamic web defense; and, provides a strong firewall.
Scan and decode links to make sure they’re the real thing. Options include BrightCloud and TrueURL.net.
Adopt a strong password policy. Choose complex combinations and create a unique password for each account.

While reviewing for class I found the following video usefull as it covered all the major social media platforms

Reference:

Keller, J. (n.d.). How Businesses Stay Safe and Secure Using Social Media. How Businesses Stay Safe and Secure Using Social Media. Retrieved March 1, 2014, from http://www.webroot.com/us/en/business/resources/articles/social-media/how-businesses-stay-safe-and-secure-using-social-media

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

PLANNING : HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAN HELP YOU IN YOUR JOB SEARCH

Hey Team

This week blog takes a interesting look at social media and how we can utilize it in our job search. Jobs are not easy to come by especially in a dynamic global economy with abundant resources and scarce opportunities. Searching for a job almost becomes a job in itself. It also becomes a stressful task for individuals who are in dire need to support themselves and or there family. Upon reviewing Scott (2013), Ch. 4, Social media and your targeted audience, it is interesting how social media has changed the way we search for jobs as well as how we help potential employers locate us.

Where Do I start the Job Search:

Typically when trying to find a job you would do what everyone knows is the way to find a job, which is to prepare a resume and obsesses over entry entry to make sure it paints your background in the best possible light ( Scott, 2013). Along with this you begin to network and hope that someone in your circle knows someone and hope to find a job. While this approach may work social media allow a new way to interact and meet potential employers. The old rules of job searching required advertising a product, which was typically you, with direct mail. This required you to interrupt people and let them know you were on the market and that you need help ( Scott, 2013).

How has Social Media Transformed Job Search ?

Social media has transformed that through collaboration and two way communication via social networking platforms. Smart employers are now looking into social networking to find "pluged- in people that would fit the classification of a job candidate. To find a job on social media you must stop thinking like an advertiser of a product and start thinking like a publisher of information. By creating information that people want and by becoming a presence people want to consume you are improving your job prospectus. The new rules of finding a job require you to share your knowledge and expertise with a world that is looking to see what you have to offer (Scott, 2013).

Twitter Search

A great example was shared in the chapter of an individual who used social media to get a job. David Murray( @DaveMurr), while doing all the traditional elements of a job search such as updating his resume and calling a bunch of contacts, he realized he had to engage in social media to improve his prospectus. He started to use twitter search to improve his job prospectus and that greatly helped his job hunt. He began inputting things such as " Social Media Jobs", " Hiring Social Media" and began to pull the RSS feeds of these keyword conversations and pull them daily.
( Scott, 2013).

I am used to traditional ways of finding a job and I have recently integrated some social media aspects such as linked in and facebook but Twitter search and the RSS feeds taught me something I learned after reading this chapter. I learned how to utilize key words to help me find trending topics in the related job string. Enjoy watching the video on how to to a twitter search to help with your next Job search.

References:

Scott. (2013). The New Rules of Marketing & PR, 4^th Edition. Hoboken, NJ. John Riley & Sons, Inc.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

WEEK 2 BLOG : COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

     Argenti, Howell, and Beck's (2005) characterize communication as part of an organization's overall strategy. I agree with this philosophy and this has been proven by numerous case studies throughout time. In a time where there is an abundance of communications channels and where message consistency plays a pivotal role in the success of a campaign, communications need to be aligned with a company’s overall strategy for it to have an impact. Companies taking a short-term approach to communicating with key constituencies will definitely be impeding there overall corporate strategy in the long run.
Communications for it to be effective must align with the company’s overall strategy which in turn will enhance its strategic positioning. As the authors state “strategic communications requires an integrated, multilevel approach. Each communication function fulfills specific objectives, is targeted at specific constituencies that are critical to meeting those objectives and is delivered through the channels most appropriate to and effective for those constituencies (Argenti, P., Howell, R. and Beck, K, 2005). Dell is a perfect example of aligning communications to the overall corporate strategy as evidenced by their CEO Kevin Rollins who states “Communications are an essential part of what you have to offer to customers and shareholders. Communications has to be in the center to be optimally effective.” (Argenti, P., Howell, R. and Beck, K, 2005). In terms of Dell this means functional integration which aligns all communications strategies internally and externally.
     Another great example is FED Ex, as evidenced by their CEO who says “Communication is at the center of everything. You can’t execute strategy if you can’t communicate about it (Argenti, P., Howell, R. and Beck, K, 2005). This characterization applies to marketing, advertising, and other elements of IMC and social media as in this highly integrated global market consistent clear communication is the key to a company’s success. Messaging needs to be clear and consistent across all mediums which include social media. Social Media can play a role in organizations overall strategy as it is a medium for two way communication between companies and consumers. With the social media boom of facebook, twitter, pinterest and others, we are continuously seeing these platforms be the home for effective two way communication.
     To align each of the IMC's elements and many social media channels “all communications to all constituencies through all channels must be customized to a given objective, yet consistent both with one another and the corporate strategy” (Argenti, P., Howell, R. and Beck, K, 2005). This however shouldn’t be the only thing that needs to take place as any type of strategy needs to be measured and monitored in order to be successful. Currently tools such as Google Analytics helps companies adhere to these objectives.

References:

Argenti, P., Howell, R. and Beck, K. 2005. The Strategic Communication Imperative. Retrieved on February 3, 2014, from: MIT Sloan Management Review: https://www.dartmouth.edu/~opa/communicators/fall08/reading/Sloan_MIT_Strat_Comm_Imp.pdf

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Super Bowl

Hey Readers,

The big day is almost here. Looking forward to the superbowl. I am rooting for the seahawks as I really want Russell Wilson to prove his doubters wrong. I wish the Jets and or the Giants were in the Superbowl as this is the first time the metropolitan area is hosting the superbowl. Lets see how the game turns out. Readers whats your bet?

Saurav Ghosh Blog

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Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Utilizing Social Media to Create Awareness and Drive Traffic: My Storify

Utilizing Social Media to Create Awareness and Drive Traffic: My Storify