Technological Adventure!

Over the course of the past 16 weeks I have been jumping through the hoops of a Social Media Marketing course. I have been exposed to many new channels of social media. Throughout the course of the semester we were to act as if we were managing the social media accounts of our own businesses. In the following paragraphs I will share my experiences with each site and how it would fit my business.



The first channel of social media that I used was Blogger, this was used to update my followers with the new things going on with my business. I gave weekly updates on my new business pages that I created throughout the course of the last 16 weeks. It also allowed me to write more lengthy postings, including links to articles, pictures, and even promote some deals that I had throughout the semester. I feel that this was a good option for my business because of the fact that I can write longer messages to my followers and share hunting and fishing successes of my clients.

The next account created was Twitter. This site functions as a microblogging site. It is used to communicate short messages, less than 150 characters. Twitter is used on a daily basis to share quick tips, facts, information, or links to other sites. The benefit of Twitter in a business setting is that you can get your information across quickly, without taking too much of your customers' time. This was a great way for me to get follwers to my main blog postings and Facebook page so my followers would be informed of all of my promotions. This was also a good fit for my business, since my target market is the hard working executives of the world. They don't have much time to look at these things, so the quicker the better. Check out some examples on my page! Twitter 


The third account I used was a Facebook account. This account allowed me to share longer posts and images as well. It also allowed me to connect easier with my clients. I could share photos of successful hunts, and also create photo albums of the hunts and lodges that are available for our clients. I also was able to connect with other outfitters throughout the world so I could offer my clients the most unique experience possible. Facebook was a great way to connect with my clients at Maxon Adventures, check it out! Facebook



I quickly learned that managing these accounts can be very time consuming. That was until I was introduced to hootsuite. This is a site where you can go and manage your social media accounts from one single page. Hootsuite gives you the opportunity to plan out your whole week on a timer. Type what you want to say, create the links, add the pictures, schedule your post, and once that time comes, Hootsuite will post it for you at your chosen time.



Another great site that I was further introduced to was Pinterest. This was a great tool to use for my company because I could show my clients different species that they could hunt. Not only could I show them different species, but I could show them different guns, and even different views from destinations that they could go to hunt.



Next in line was niche sites. Niche sites are great for a business that is trying to get its name out there because all of those users have a common interest, which would make them all in your target market. This is very beneficial because it saves your business alot of advertising time since you can go to a place that already has a pool of individuals that knowingly would be interested in your product or service.

Another tool that we were instructed to use was podcasts. This is a way to verbally communicate with your customers and give them something to listen to. You essentially can talk about whatever you would like, tips, products, anything, and your followers can stop by and listen whenever they want.

The last onne we used was Vine. Vine is an a site where you can post short videos. You can stop and start your video and film it in segments. This will give your customers something to watch in a little snip. For my company I see it best being used throughout the course of a hunt, you could snap a short portion at different times during a hunting or fishing charter, ending with the clients harvest. I feel that using it in that way would be the most impactful to my viewers.



Summary: After completing this course I can see the important role that social media can play in the success of a business. In today's world it is almost essential for any business to have multiple social media accounts. With that being said, it is a very time consuming job to manage all of these accounts and it would be best done if it were the only job you had. If you were a small business owner trying to wear multiple hats, as many small business owners do, it would be a tough task to take on multiple social media accounts on top of the rest of the business functions.