Week 5 Post 2

Target Marketing

In my business “Williams and Sons Trucking” the focus is on moving freight. Our line of business is B2B where we move the freight of distributors and retailers and get their products from their warehouses to their customers shelves and out to the consumer safely, legally and on-time. We are looking to have more of a presence in the online market and to utilize social media to reach these companies so we can gain their business and continue to build our brand as a premiere freight carrier in the west.

Collecting demographic information is vital in target marketing for a business, but in the business that I am starting which is Business 2 Business there would be some additional demographic information we would need to collect such as where certain businesses are located, how many locations they have, what is their annual revenue, number of employees they have, what type of industry they are in and how long have they been in business.

Psychographics information is vital as well when doing your target market analysis. In the case of my business it would be valuable to understand my customers core values or mission statement. How they wished to be viewed by their customers or even how their competitors view them would give us a good insight into that organization and how they operate.

There are a lot of carriers out there and the competition is fierce, but with the use of target marketing and having a better understanding of what our customers needs are and how to reach them we can be a key competitor in the freight moving industry.  

Week 5 Post 1

Defining Your Target Market

The two businesses I have selected for this week’s blog is Armstrong Garden Centers and Myrtle Creek Gardens. Although they both center on gardening I quickly identified that they are two very distinctive businesses.

Armstrong Garden Centers is geared more towards helping property owners with the installation and maintenance of landscaping. They have a variety of services available where they can have a consultant visit your location and make recommendations on landscaping ideas such as what type of plants would work best on your property.

Or how to select plants that will help with water conservation. They also have several locations available where consumers visit their nursery and purchase items needed for their yards or take classes on how to maintain their landscaping.

It reminds me of the garden centers inside a Home Depot or Lowe's.

I think their target market is geared more toward home owners, landscaping contractors and businesses that are looking for ways to make their property more appealing.

The second business I reviewed was Myrtle Creek Botanical Gardens & Nursery which is geared more towards a place for people to visit and experience their gardens, plants and trees. It is a place with a rich history dating back to 1895 and they have tours of the grounds available for their patrons as well as a gift shop, restaurant, picnic area.

They also feature a Wild Bird sanctuary and nursery that their patrons can visit. They also have a Happy Goat Mountain Rescue on site, this would be great for children to be able to interact with the animals and take in nature.

I think that their target groups would be tourists, families and couples, people visiting the area looking for a place to spend the day and take in the sites and beauty that Myrtle Creek has to offer.  

The crossover points that I noticed between the two businesses is gardening pointers and tips although Armstrong Garden Centers is much more extensive in this area.

Week 4: Post two

Week 4: Post two


https://www.facebook.com/
They do a very good job of keeping families and friends connected. I personally have reconnected with long lost friends and family members through the use of their site. The site is very user friendly, easy to navigate and does a very good job of holding the interest of the subscribers and it’s free.

What makes me comeback is the ability to keep in touch with family and friends and I also get good references on things like good places to go and eat in my area, good feedback on places to go on vacation. Special events that may be going on in my area. I can also follow different businesses that may be having special sales going on that I may be interested in.

https://twitter.com/login
Twitter is another site that I frequent on a regular basis much for the same reasons I like Facebook. It does a great job of connecting you with family, friends, celebrities even the president of the united states. It’s very user friendly. I also follow businesses that have a twitter page that may have valuable information regardless of what I may be looking for.


What they both can improve on is to verify some of the information that is being presented on their site. Some of it is fake news and they should do a better job of screening this information especially if it is interfering with our democratic process in this country.

Week 4: Post One

http://jamilin.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

I found the jamilin.com website to be very poorly done. For one thing it is not eye catching, the page seems to be overly populated with phrases and pictures that don’t make sense to the average person who may be reading it. I reviewed the page several times and I still am not sure what the product or services she is trying to convey.

The message needs to be clearer, she could trim down some of the content and spread it over more than one page. There were also too many pull downs. Overall this is the type of add I would probably skip over and not read at all just because of the initial appearance of the page.

http://www.roverp6cars.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

I found MGBD Parts & Services webpage to be a bit overwhelming. It looks like they have a lot to offer but the way it is arranged on the webpage is a bit much. When you click the link that takes you to their shop there is a lot of text and it is very small. This makes it difficult for the reader to read and with so much text more than likely the reader is not going to read it all.

http://www.headhunterhairstyling.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

I found Head Hunter Hair Styling to be a very well done. It was clean, very appealing to the eye. The video of the person styling hair was a nice touch. The logo was simple but it stands out and is strategically placed at the top of each page. I also liked that they give you the background of each of their stylist and their experience. Overall the entire site is very appealing, easy to read and to identify what services might work best for you.

http://apple.com (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

The Apple website is very well done. It has a very professional look to it. It lures you in to wanting to see more and it is easy to navigate to different pages with the use of the pulldowns. Apple does a very good job of marketing their brand.   

Week 3 Part 2

Walmart:

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/Walmart

Date of latest post: 09/09/18

Twitter- https://twitter.com/Walmart

Date of latest post: 09/09/18

Followers-926.8K

Pinterest- https://www.pinterest.com/walmart/

Date of latest post: None. No boards created yet.

Followers: 185,616

YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/user/Walmart

Date of latest post: 2 years ago.

Subscribers 242,663

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/walmart/

Date of latest post: 09/09/18

Followers 1.3m

Google+- https://plus.google.com/111852759168797891317

Date of latest post: 02/16/16

Followers 91,902

Analysis:

Walmart appears to have their finger on the pulse of their customers. Their Social media sites are well designed and seem very active. When customers posted questions about particular products or issues they were having related to management at a particular store they were quick to respond to the complaints in helping the customer resolve their issue.

Tesla:

Twitter-https://twitter.com/tesla

Date of latest post: 09/08/18

Followers: 2.91M

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/electriceverywhere/

Date of latest post: 09/10/18

Followers: 133,000

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/teslamotors/

Date of latest post: 09/09/18

Followers: 4.8M

YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/user/TeslaMotors

Date of latest post: This channel hasn’t posted yet.

Subscribers 562,272

LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/tesla-motors

Date of latest post: 09/10/18

Followers: 2,169,645

Analysis:

Tesla probably has the most impressive use of social media I have viewed so far. They appear to do very well when it comes to using social media to promote their brand and do it efficiently while remaining low cost in doing so. I read an article in Social Media Today called” Tesla’s Successful Marketing Strategy Shows that it’s Time for CEO’s to Get Social.” written by Richard Sunley where he goes into detail on how Tesla utilizes social media and is in the top 3 of all automakers which I found to be very impressive.

Target:

Pinterest- https://www.pinterest.com/target/

Date of latest post: Target hasn’t created any boards yet.

Followers 704,868

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/target

Date of latest post: 09/10/18

Followers 23M

Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/target/

Date of latest post: 09/05/18

Followers: 3.1 M

Twitter-https://twitter.com/Target

Date of latest post: 09/07/18

Followers: 1.91M

YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/user/Target

Date of latest post: 09/09/18

Subscribers: 275,374

Analysis:

Target seems to have an effective utilization of social media similar to Walmart to keep in touch with how they are doing based on how their customers are responding. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram appear to be the most effective for them.

Yamaha:

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/YamahaMusicUSA

Date of latest post: 09/10/18

Followers: 476K

Twitter-https://twitter.com/yamahamusicusa

Date of latest post: 09/10/18

Followers: 43.7K

Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/yamahamusicusa/

Date of latest post: 09/08/18

72.4K

YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/c/yamahamusicusa

Date of latest post: This channel hasn’t posted yet.

Subscribers: Not listed

Analysis:

Yamaha like many other businesses is utilizing social media very well in order to stay connected with their customers. I was a little surprised at the number of followers they have. Like most companies it seems that Facebook and Twitter are the two that customers respond to the best.

Whirlpool:

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/whirlpoolusa

Date of latest post: 08/16/18

Followers: 261,826

Twitter-https://twitter.com/whirlpoolusa

Date of latest post: 05/15/18

Followers: 24.2K

YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/user/whirlpoolusa

Date of latest post: This channel hasn’t posted yet.

Subscribers: 11,322

Pinterest-https://www.pinterest.com/whirlpoolusa/

Date of latest post: 09/09/18

Followers: 3,059

Analysis:

Whirlpool does use social media like other companies but doesn’t seem to have the following that other companies do. I was a little surprised at the low number of followers they have however like other companies it seems they do best with Facebook and Twitter.  


My overall assessment after reviewing how these businesses utilize social media to keep themselves connected to their customer base is an incredible resource. Any business out there that is not using this strategy is probably leaving a lot of customers out there. I'm a true believer in using all the tools you have at your disposal if it's going to help you grow your business.

I think I was most impressed with companies like the Walmart Facebook page where I saw customer who had posted a complaint at a particular store where he was having a problem with one of the managers. The post sounded more like the customer was just venting, I bet he was shocked to see how quickly a Walmart representative saw his post and immediately responded to him and was doing everything he could to help him resolve his issue. That's what I call customer service.

I am not a business owner (yet) but when I do become one customer service is going to be at the top of my list of core values that I will instill in all of my associates. It is so critical to your success. 



WEEK 3 Comments:
This week I commented on blogs by
Vicki Mowery
Christina Castaneda
Jonathan Edzant 

Week 3: Communication - Business & Consumer

·         Have you ever experienced difficulty communicating with a business?

Yes, I have. Recently I was in the process of refinancing my home and one of the requirements was I had to have my home fumigated for termites. I utilized a local company in the area, they had a very reasonable price and a 3 year guarantee on their product. However when trying to schedule the process it was a little difficult communicating with them.

When I called them with questions they rarely answered the phone and when I left voice messages it sometimes took them a day or two to respond back to me. I also utilized emails but the response time was about the same. They apologized for getting back to me so late but the issue continued to happen.

Overall they did a great job in completing the project but one piece of advice I would give them is to do a better job when it comes to communicating with your customers. You may have a great service or product to offer but if you leave a bad taste in your customers mouth by not responding to calls or messages in a timely manner that can make the difference on whether that customer will use you or not.

·         Does social media make it easier to get noticed or get your problem solved?

I think that social media is a great way to get noticed however it can be a double edged sword. It depends on how you use it and what type of notice you are looking for. If you are reaching out to a business to get a resolution to a problem you are having with either their service or product then this is a great way to get the attention of that company and a resolution.

 Most companies have social media pages setup and if they are worth their salt they’ll be paying attention to the feedback they are getting from customers on their page and will respond accordingly.

  

·         Have you ever had a positive experience communicating with a business through social media?

I have had many positive experiences communication through social media. Most companies out there want to hear feedback from their customers (positive or negative) this helps them understand what things they are doing well in their business and what things they need to work on improving. I would say I’ve have come across more positive experiences than negative ones.

·         If it was your own business on social media, how would you respond to positive or negative comments?

I would respond to both positive and negative feedback. If it was positive I would reach out to that customer and thank them for their feedback and offer them an opportunity to tell us what we can do to make their experience even better in the future.

 I would also share this feedback with my associates to make them aware of how our business is performing per our customers.

I would also respond to the negative responses to find out what it was about our product or service that they were dissatisfied about and ask for suggestions from them on how we can make their experience a better one in the future. 

Week 2: Blogs I commented on.

This week I commented on blogs by Amanda Gonzalez, Chade Montgomery and Karla Putts.
Great job!

Week 2: Overview of Social Media

·         Which social media platforms seem geared towards personal use? Why do you think so?

I find that the social media platforms that are geared more towards personal use would be Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. These platforms are more in line for the individual user. The person who is trying to stay connected with family and friends. All three are great ways to communicate, view photos and videos without having to pick up a telephone and call.

Personally speaking for myself, I am not a phone person. I rarely speak to family and friends on the phone just to talk. I have to have a specific reason to be calling before I will do it. Since the creation of social media such as Facebook and Twitter I can communicate with family and friends and keep up with what is going on in their lives without having to spend a lot of time on the phone.

Also with the use of Instagram I can view photos and videos that are posted by family and friends and be in the loop of what’s going on in their lives such as birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, vacations etc… and this can all be done from the convenience of my computer or device.

           

·         Which ones seem to work better for business? What makes them seem more suitable to business use?

I find that social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Pinterest and Foursquare seem to work best for business use. LinkedIn is a platform for professionals who are looking for employment or for employers looking to fill positions in their business. This is a great way for an individual to post a resumes for employers to view who may have a position available that they are looking to fill.

 This is also a way for an employer to post a job opportunity out to the masses at a very low advertising cost to them. They can review candidates at their leisure and only select the ones who they feel will be a good fit for their organization. This is an efficient way to get quality candidates without spending a lot of time interviewing so many.

One of the best ways to find employment is through networking. LinkedIn is a great way to get that word of mouth out there to potential opportunities that are out there that you wouldn’t normally find in the classified section of your newspaper. I feel that these are great platforms to find opportunities as well as for businesses to identify potential customers to grow their customer base.

·         Do any seem to work well for both? How are they used differently?

I think that platforms such as Facebook and Twitter work well for doing both. They can be used for social communication with family and friends but they can also be used as a way to locate businesses, for example a contractor for home repairs or renovations.

By utilizing reviews from friends you have on Facebook or Twitter who may have used that contractor or business before and were satisfied with the service they provided.

 As a business owner by creating a Facebook or Twitter page you can identify potential customers that may be interested in your business or provide reviews on the services you provide and in return receive vital feedback on what you can do to improve your services or product to make it better for the consumer.