Hootsuite Basics

Successful social media, as mentioned by Professor Todd Kelsey, is dependent on content. This is why it is important for social media marketers to produce content that will attract, engage, and retain their target market. While a tool like Hootsuite cannot automatically curate meaningful content, it can effectively manage it. Hootsuite is a social media management platform. It allows users or companies to integrate up to 35 social media accounts into a single space. This allows for ease and efficiency when utilizing various networks. The dashboard allows for scheduling, content curation, monitoring, and analytics. HootSuite has products that amplify or boost follower counts, provide insight into current audiences, and prove ROI impact of social media efforts.

Hootsuite is also helpful when attempting social listening. Social listening involves figuring out what others are thinking and saying about a company and its social media. You can use a feature called GEOFILTER to see what Twitter users nearby are saying about a company, within a 50-mile radius, for instance. The tool essentially uses keywords to search for tweets then filters out anyone farther than the stated distance. Another similar feature is the location stream option. This allows users to see who is posting what content within a specific location, like in the corporate building or international store. The location stream and geofilter are beneficial because they allow companies to assess what people in closest proximity feel and express about the company.

Often companies will initially post regularly, especially during important product launches or events, then slowly quiet down. The scheduler feature is probably the most helpful management tool on the platform. The Bulk Composer feature allows up to 350 posts to be prematurely created then published on a predetermined day. The Hootlet Chrome extension allows you to post short content instantly and without directly accessing the Hootsuite dashboard. All posts can be read through calendar view, which provides a visual to ensure proper dates will have postings. Ultimately, the schedule feature enables users to create content ahead of time, especially for days like Women's Day or Holidays like Christmas. This organizes postings, ensures uniformity across accounts, and inhibits gaps in social media activity.

Overall, Hootsuite is an established company that provides a unique service. While a single user or a small company may not find massive benefit in a platform like this, a large company with a greater reach and more social media accounts will find Hootsuite and companies like it indispensable.

AI Today

Chapter 3 from Surfing the Tsunami by Dr. Kelsey, covers the numerous ways artificial intelligence has proliferated into current business and consumer life. Here are some common AI advancements that affect daily life:

• Self-driving cars
• Companies like Google and Tesla have already produced largely self-driving cars. These cars have the ability to brake when objects are detected or adjust speed to outside traffic conditions. While these cars are not yet perfect, they are getting more advanced every day. Ultimately, they seek to reduce traffic, texting, and drunk driving accidents. According to NHTSA 94% of accidents are because of human error. AI is beneficial because it removes the majority of all human error.
• Ride-Sharing Apps
• Apps like Uber and Lyfe use algorithms that automatically adjust pricing and minimize wait time.
• Airplane AutoPilot
• Majority of airplanes flown today, especially Boeing built planes, primarily fly through autopilot. The average human steering is 7 minutes during a Boeing flight and typically from takeoff and landing.
• Computer Assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google.
• Use advanced voice recognition to connect to data stored on a cloud. These products are used to answer questions or obey commands. Although these too are not perfect, as they learn they are getting more and more accurate.
• SmartPhones
• Smartphones involve various types of AI technology. Face recognition, location-based suggestion, and predictive texting are some ways AI has crept into daily life. The picture below from BusinessInsider.com displays additional ways machine learning is used through smartphones:

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

The word artificial intelligence has been rampant recently; is it the future or just another buzzword? Broadly speaking, AI is programming that gives machines the ability to analyze data and solve problems the way a human could, but faster and possibly more accurately. This article on Deloitte.com sums artificial intelligence perfectly stating, " AI is concerned with getting computers to do tasks that would normally require human intelligence".  Before machines were largely responsible for automating tasks like bottling soda or sewing a shirt. Today, machines are attaining higher levels of sophistication that allow them to automate not only tasks but entire processes. AI entails machine learning which involves algorithms that allow computers to continuously improve or "learn" as it gathers more data. Examples of AI include advancements like Siri or self-driving cars. Smart machines, another form of AI, are robots with the ability to act independently from human input or intervention. This development of intellectually autonomous machines is already in progress.The science fiction movies are now moving away from being fiction and becoming a reality. Although a machine-dependent world is still far in the making, recent advancements in AI technology have proven that AI will quickly dominate moving forward.


According to Stanford's 100 Year Study on Artifical Intelligence, "Global revenues from AI for enterprise applications is projected to grow from $1.62B in 2018 to $31.2B in 2025 attaining a 52.59% CAGR in the forecast period." This projection proves the massive growth of AI and the effect it will have on the economy.  Robot imports into North America have increased by 150% percent over the past 15 years. In addition, from 2013 to 2015, the share of jobs requiring AI skills has increased by 4.5 times. AI research and investments for AI have increased immensely in the past few years. Although AI is sure to put many people out of jobs it will also boost the economy and eventually create jobs, particularly in the data and computer science fields. It is important to stay up-to-date on AI advancements and highly consider investing time into learning skills like coding and deep learning in order to stay relevant. 


Below is a useful infographic from innovec.com on the current dominant abilities of  AI and examples of how they are currently being used in our daily lives:

Facebook Ads

Facebook ads are helpful in reaching different markets. It is important to understand all types of ads in order to gain optimal exposure. Here are the primary types of ads:

Link Click Ads: These ads are by far the most common and are effective in gaining likes. They typically contain a headline, 90 character ad copy text, and an image. Link click ads, like the name suggests, point to a landing page on a website or blog. These ads have the farthest reach including the right column, Instagram, mobile, and desktop newsfeed platforms.
Video Ads: These ads are essentially like link click ads except they feature a video. These videos can be continuously looping. The best performing ads, however, are typically short at 15-20 seconds long.
Boosted Page Posts: All posts made on a Facebook page can be boosted for around $5. Posts can have unlimited ad copy texts and will read "sponsored" at the top when they appear in users feeds. This is a newer go-to-method because target markets and bidding amounts can be customized.

Carousel Ads: This type of ad displays rotating images (up to 10) and an ad copy text of 90 characters. This ad is super helpful when trying to promote multiple products at one time. For instance, a new line of summer clothing can be advertised perfectly with this method.
Dynamic Product Ads: These ads essentially focus on remarketing. They heavily target users based on previous websites visited and actions. These ads require a product catalog and Facebook does the remarketing automatically.
Lead Ads:  Allow users to download an ebook or sign up for an email without leaving Facebook. This is perfect for gaining and attracting new users.
Collection Ads: These ads allow for quick, immersive mobile shopping experience because they directly display products/ apparel from a website. These ads are very limited in characters and only visible on mobile devices.

For more ads types and information on Facebook marketing, I highly recommend checking out this guide: https://adespresso.com/guides/facebook-ads-beginner/

Facebook Pages

According to Facebook's 2017-Quarter 4 report, there are currently 2.13 billion active Facebook users worldwide. Naturally, this means that Facebook is the perfect place for business to gain traction. Today, Facebook pages are typical for companies, non-profits, and events. These pages are essentially like free, internal websites for any topic. Now, Facebook "Boosts" allow for paid exposure, which is essentially another way  to market content. As stated in Introduction to Social Media Marketing, "focus on content and not the channel". This recommendation is important because no matter the medium that is used, success ultimately boils down to adequately understanding the audience and providing them with relevant, engaging content.

Here are some tried tips for a successful Facebook page:

• When making a page, be sure to edit the URL so that it is simple and memorable. To do this go to settings --> page info --> change the Facebook Web Address. This lets people easily find and remember the page. 
• Create milestones. These appear in the status update box and allow companies to show off accomplishments, product launches, or growth goals. This provides a sense of legitimacy and positive reactions with onlookers. 
• Link Instagram and Facebook in order to provide higher quality visual content to a larger audience. Photos speak louder than words. Therefore, adding quality photos to posts will enhance engagement.  Adding an infographic or flyer is far more effective than a lump of words. 
• Interact with followers. This can be done through polls. Adding polls and receiving feedback can aid in decision making by letting you know your target market's preferences. For instance, before launching a soap collection, a poll can be made for people to pick their favorite scents. A poll like this can determine which scents will sell successfully while increasing customer engagement and loyalty. 
• Test posts during different times in the day to see when the most traction occurs. Companies with older target markets may see more tracking during the afternoon, and target markets with younger audiences may see traction at night. This tactic requires trial and error and can effectively lead to a wider reach.

Here's a brief, helpful Facebook infographic from 99designs:

Introduction to Social Media Marketing

According to the Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research, 77% of Millenials purchase something online or in-store after seeing it on Facebook. This statistic exemplifies the power of social media marketing. Product and brand exposure is built through promotion to social media users. This is essentially the role of digital marketing: to create awareness of products or services through consumer engagement. Companies use advertisements, contests, social/news reactions, videos and spotlights to grab attention. The goal is to create or post content that will be the most interesting and relevant to your target audience. Different tools can be used to access differing markets, for instance, Instagram is great for targeting travelers or foodies, while LinkedIn is vital for connecting with other businesses.

One sound piece of information from the book Introduction to Social Media Marketing is that the digital age is ever-shifting. What is relevant today, may not be relevant tomorrow. However, understanding the basics of certain solid platforms like Youtube or Twitter is an important baseline. Newer technology and spaces will inevitably emerge. It is always beneficial to approach social media with a learning attitude in order to constantly improve and stay up-to-date. For example, according to the Data and Marketing Association, Snapchat is now the fourth most used social media platform for brands, overtaking even Twitter. Facebook, however, is currently still number one!

Social media interaction has inevitably led to qualitative improvement for companies. However, the DMA has noted that "measuring ROI from social media marketing was ranked as the top challenge that marketers faced in 2016".  While this may be a current challenge, there are a growing number of internal and third-party tools that can help gauge quantitative success. For instance, HootSuite, Google Analytics, and Buffer are a few that are becoming more widely utilized.

https://thedma.org/marketing-insights/marketing-statistics/social-media-marketing-statistics/

Social Media

Today, social media has been revolutionary in shifting the way people view the world. The world has become a smaller place with trends, ideas, products, movements, and news being constantly exchanged effortlessly through the world. For the business world, this platform is an incredible way to connect to and access all stakeholders. Social media is powerful to companies because at its core is relationship building. People can now have genuine interactions with brands that they are personally interested in. When companies respond to user outreach, it shows that a consumer's voice is not only being heard but also being listened to. 

Of course, social media has plenty of other perks. At a baseline, it is a free tool that can be utilized to whatever strength required. Social media drives traffic to sites, creates brand recognition, builds brand loyalty, and ultimately increases sales. Sites like Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram are leading the industry. It is vital that any company that would like to stay relevant and connect with their target audience understand social media and how to market through it. Here is a new infographic from Hootsuite with some 2017 statistics.