Week 16: Future strategy

Throughout CSIT 165, I had the opportunity to explore the different kinds of social media platforms I haven’t thought about using for my band. I was mainly managing the Instagram account because it has 2,350 followers and it was easier to maintain the following. I made the facebook page a few months ago for the assignment and it was really helpful. More people in my target audience use Facebook than I thought. Although, Instagram is definitely the most beneficial platform for managing a band. People love it, and will constantly scroll through their feed and see our posts. I have to be creative with the posts so that people can engage. The “FREAKS!” Facebook page now has almost 100 likes. I don’t have to do much because the Instagram is linked to the Facebook page. Facebook is great for sharing the events for the upcoming shows. It consumes a lot of time managing social media; however, it’s the best way to promote a band/music.

I am going to invest into buying some Facebook and Instagram ads to help people view our pages. I will look at the analytic charts to help determine who to target and what to use. We finally got a website so I will be running it. Once we have our merch ready, I’m going to put it up on the website. I haven’t had the chance to experiment with the email subscriptions. I will use it once we have more of a following and our EP released on Spotify. Three of us manage the account so at least one of us should be managing it on a daily basis. If we are active, it will help us gain followers.

The plan what I’m aiming towards is to release the EP, plan a few shows, (not too many) gain at least 500 more active followers, be active on the Facebook, promote a lot more, and to build personal connections. I want us to gain at least 10 followers a week. If someone with a bigger following promotes us, that would help a lot. I just quit my band with the bigger following, but I’m in another local alternative band. I will apply the strategies from this class to market us in the most efficient ways. I am going to plan for us to have a promotional photo shoot. Updating daily is crucial, one or two posts a day is a good amount; too many posts will be considered as spam. As long as one of us are active on the account on a daily basis, it will work out well.

Week 15

For my band, I would most likely use google ad words so when people google our website, then it will be the first thing to pop up. Ads will pop up for people within a nearby radius! I can control who I want to reach out to. The good thing is that Instagram and Facebook provide analytics of your follower growth and specific audience. They will come hand and hand to help me select the kind of ad I want to use. I would like to type in a vast amount of keywords so it doesn't have to be too vague when a person is looking us up. I want more people to look us up when we post something new on each social media platform

Week 14

Online advertising

The ads I decided to create are ones to promote upcoming events and pictures of FREAKS! playing shows. An objective is a direct target of where you want to pursue with something. In my case, I just want the audience to come to our shows, listen to music, and to keep updated with us. I want more people to follow us so we can get recognized. The goal is to promote our music on the internet and in person.

The Ads are all boost post/ engagement. I am tired of having ghost followers; the audience should be real. We have 2300 followers and we get an average of 300 likes per post. It’s frustrating because we should be expecting more engagement. The Instagram and Facebook Ads I promoted are promoting Grl Riot Nite and our next show at the Che Cafe.

Facebook

Instagram

week 13: part 2

I have paid for Facebook and Instagram ads to promote my band. I didn't pay a lot for it (I'm a broke college student) but it reached 700 people. It syncs together once I activated it. I narrowed my audience by selecting specific hashtags and accounts related to punk rock music. I paid more for my Instagram because more people use it, plus we have 2,300 followers on the account. It would be a great idea to create another ad when we release our single and EP so people can listen to it that have never even listened. I just used the engagement option for Facebook and selected similar pages, locations, job titles, demographics, education, etc... that people are following. It reaches out to them, but it depends on how much you want to pay. The more pages you select, the higher the price. The ad categories you can choose include: reach, engagement, video views, messages, lead generation. Most of these are specifically for your brand. Lead generation helps you find out information about people that are interested in your business. This is helpful when targeting your audience. If you post a video, video views will sponsor your video and reach out to more people. Engagement and reach are similar; setting a reach means you choose the maximum number of people that see your ad while engagement will get people to see your business on their feed. Choosing the ad type can be tricky because you need to budget your costs. I ask myself, "what will be the most beneficial the band?" And that's what leads me to my choices. 

Week 13: part 1

Bands don't really have advertisements on TV unless if they are well known. It would have to be for something they sell such as merchandise, new music, and ticket sales. I have seen an ad on Youtube for this band called Senses Fail promoting their new music video. It just had a short clip of it. When I watch a music video, there will sometimes be a 5-20 second ad for another music video. Personally, I think it's a great tactic for music to be heard. I frequently see Full Sail University pop up on my Facebook and Instagram feed specifically marketing to people (like me) that are interested in music and interesting in going to music school. This music event called Emo Nite Brooklyn was just sponsored on Facebook. When I clicked, it went to their website's touring date page. Also, 91x's radio music event promotions are is often seen in my feed. 91x is an independent radio station that even plays local bands' music. A lot of times I scroll past it, but sometimes I am interested and click on it. These pages narrowed their audience based off of other peoples (including my own) interests. Sometimes, a concert I want to see is sponsored by Ticketweb impulsively makes me click. I do not like the annoying scamming companies; unfortunately, some exist in the music industry. Music booking companies can be scammers desperately asking any local band they come across to play. Manifest booking is an example. The way they draw attention is by messaging bands to see if they can play a show if they can sell a minimum of 25 tickets, or else they have to pay out of pocket. A band starting off would think that it's so cool that they are being offered a show, but they don't realize that it's a scam. It reminds me of those annoying pop-up ads claiming that you have won a trip to Hawaii if you click on it then suddenly your computer gets a virus.  

I like it when advertisements have interesting titles/ topics. When a company has a nice logo I will look at it longer... especially when it has my favorite colors. 91x has a great logo for its vibe. Darker colors especially attract me. A logo and ad that I can remember in my head are effective. People are misled when they see a company with a bad logo. There has to be a good first impression.

Advertising on social media is easier and less expensive compared to traditional. I can pay $30 a week to target a select audience in promoting my pages. Putting up flyers in public places is not going to be as effective because everyone is paying attention to their phone. Social media is now the way the music industry is promoted. It really depends on the company and what they are trying to market and sell. If it's an independent contractor looking for clients, they can post an ad on craigslist and pass out their business cards. For example, my mom is an accountant that works at home under the name AK accounting services and is working with multiple clients. The way how she got clients was by posting ads on craigslist. She doesn't have any social media platforms for it and it's been successful. 

Week 8: Part 2

Killstar clothing

www.killstar.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/killstarco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/killstar/

Instagram: 8 hours ago              

Facebook: 8 hours ago. Their Instagram and Facebook pages are synced together so the posts will be at the exact same time.

Killstar is a clothing company that sells alternative, punk rock, gothic, hipster clothing. They each make 2-4 posts on a daily basis. They want to keep customers updated with their latest releases and sales.

Dolls Kill clothing

1. www.dollskill.com An alternative and abstract female clothing line.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dollskill/

• Posted: 2 hours ago and makes 4 a day.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DollsKill

• Posted: 2 hours ago, posts 6-8 times a day.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dollskill

• Posted: yesterday. They tweet 3 times a day. It’s active enough to keep the consumers updated.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/dollskill/featured

• Last post: 2 months ago. It’s obviously not as active compared to the rest.

Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/dollskill

• Daily snapchat stories.

Overall, Dolls Kill mainly uses Facebook and Instagram because they are professionally looking social platforms for their business and it appeals their targeted audience.

Blink 182 (professional band)

www.blink182.com/  This top selling pop punk runs itself like a business. They are signed to Geffen Records. Their producers have staff members run their social media and websites.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6FBDaR13swtiWwGhX1WQsP They post all of their tracks, albums, releases, etc. The last time Blink released their album California Deluxe edition.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blink182/ Last posted: 3 days ago. Updates audience with a weekly post

Twitter: https://twitter.com/blink182 Last post was 1 day ago. Makes around 1-3 tweets daily.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blink182 Last posted: February 9th. Makes a weekly post.

Blink-182 is most active on Twitter. The listeners use Spotify (since Spotify is connected to Facebook) to listen to their music unlimitedly.

Vans

https://www.vans.com Shows 5 social media platforms they use.

Facebook: Posted 4 hours ago. They make an average of a daily post.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VANS_66 Posted 9 hours ago. Vans makes around

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/VansShoes66 They posted 3 days ago. Vans uploads around 2-3 youtube videos weekly. The videos are promotions of professional skaters using their products.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vans/ Posted 4 hours ago, same exact posts on Facebook. Their accounts are synced.

Tumblr: http://vans.tumblr.com Last posted 4 hours ago, they make reblogs/ posts a few times a day.

Vans uses their social media platforms almost equally. It helps them market their brand to         customers. It is successful and it keeps the audience interested.

Soma San Diego- music venue

Somasandiego.com Shows 3 social media platforms

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/somasd/ Last posted: 1 hour ago. Makes 3 posts daily about upcoming shows

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SOMAsd Last post: 11 hours ago. Makes around 2-3 posts       almost everyday

Instagram: Instagram.com/somasd Last posted: 3 days ago. Soma makes a random amount of posts but has made 6 posts.

Soma is one of the few all ages mom and pop concert venue. I personally know the staff and owners, and they run the business by themselves. They have to market their business on social media to help grabs people's attention about their upcoming shows. They mainly use Facebook and Twitter based off of the higher amounts of viewers. It is difficult making money at an all age venue because they don’t serve alcohol which helps venues make profits. Also, less younger people attend concerts and a lot of times people over 21 don’t want to go to a venue that doesn’t allow alcohol. Soma has recently got its alcohol license and only serves it during mainstage shows. They just serve the beverages behind side stage.

From doing some researching, each business/ service are on at least 3 social media sites. It’s almost a necessity for them to have out there because so many people are on social media. The main accounts each company uses are on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram due to the popularity of these sites.

However, some people aren’t on social media, so it’s important to have an eye appealing website. Social media basically reposts pictures of what they advertise. It is the modern way of advertising and is taking over old traditional methods. Everything is converting to internet based websites. Shopping online is very popular and is almost as good as physically going into the store and seeing the products in person. On the internet, you can not do that, but it allows you to not leave your house.

The digital age is beneficial for every business because anyone with internet can see a company’s website and social media pages.

Week 12: Part 2

I just made a LinkedIn account the other day and created a decent profile. I am on there to connect with people in the music industry and larger record labels such as Epitaph, Fearless, Hopeless, and Rise Records. I've sent out invitations to the employees working for the larger labels and studios. I also asked to join the drummers and the drummer industry, touring organization, and DAW groups. LinkedIn a great way to connect with people in the industry I want to get into. I sent the successful people a nice note because I really want them to connect with me. 

Our single is almost ready to be released. There are just so many complications in the recording process because it's expensive, hard to plan out, and easy to mess up. We had to re-record most of our songs because we want it to sound as good as possible. Like I said, our EP is going to be uploaded on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Itunes, and Spotify. We will be promoting it all over our other social media platforms to get people to listen to it. At the same time, we want to be paid for our music and the best way is for people to buy it on Itunes. On Bandcamp you can choose to donate money to the artists; Spotify will only give you $.05 per listen. We would also be selling physical CD copies at our merch booths. I believe our music is the most important thing to spread to our audience; that's how we will boost our following and be successful. 

Week 12: part 1

Four additional business tools I believe that would benefit my band FREAKS! would be LinkedIn, Spotify, BandCamp, and Google maps.

As of now, the Instagram and Facebook have been looking sharp. I make daily posts and have gained a lot of followers. I make sure that every post is eye grasping. An interesting way to help us build an audience is by connecting with people on Tinder. They don't even use it for dating or hooking up; it's just for promoting the band. 

For my own benefit, I would like to create a LinkedIn profile so I can connect with other professionals in the music industry. I would like to be in a LinkedIn group with musicians so I could share information about FREAKS! Creating show events and sharing them with the groups would get more people to come see us live. I would also like to be inspired and know additional information the other musicians share. It's also a way to build a good resume.  

As far as Yelp goes, it wouldn't be necessary because we don't really have customers. Feedback regarding our music, posts, etc... will be seen by users comments on any of our social media pages. 

FREAKS! has only been formed since January so we don't have any music out yet. We really need to create a Spotify and Bandcamp profile as soon as our music is released. I want to be able to add a custom search on google maps to locate our shipping location whenever we decide on a specific place for it. Right now, we only sell merchandise at our shows; however, people have messaged us on Instagram wondering if we shipped to other states and countries. It would be cool to customize the name to FREAKS! headquarters. 

Week 11: Post 1

FREAKS! will only be sending out 1 email per month. We don't want to annoy our crowd with emails; we would rather use the social media pages to make announcements. We want it to help us to build relationships with our fans, persuade people to listen to our music and to come to our shows and to acquire more followers. FREAKS! will have:

A welcome letter: This will explain what we have to offer when a person subscribes. 

Announcements: This informs subscribers about Upcoming shows, tours, and released music. 

Products: Will show the latest merchandise posted on our website and social media platforms. 

Week 10: post 2

My goal for my blog is to stick to specific categories including girl bands, punk style, writing about the local music scene, positive messages, and posting things our target audience wants to see. As punks, we are outcasts breaking the norm. Most of us have been through a lot, so the best thing is to have a community of us that can relate. The music we write is about personal experiences, heartbreak, anger, and love. Our goal is to spread joy to the crowds we attract. When we aren't playing live, our social media is expressing our messages and being business minded at the same time. Once our EP and single are released, then we are going to promote it all over social media! The blog will have entries explaining our experiences playing shows, things on our mind, and positive messages. There will be pictures of us playing, merchandise, our music, and personal posts about us. We want to inspire and change peoples' lives! 

I commented on Jesus's, Mark's, and Sujatha's blogs.  

Week 10: Blogging for business

As a serious local band, we want to treat our band like a business, but also be personal friends. It would be boring if we just saw ourselves as only bandmates. We like to be personal over social media, but not all of the time. For bigger bands, people are mainly following a band for their enhancing music. The bigger fans want to get to know about each member's personal life. Social media is the perfect example of demonstrating this type of logic. We apply this rule to our accounts, but don't want to be excessive about it. We've made posts with captions regarding controversial issues, silly pictures of us, etc. We don't want to pose as somebody we're not! It's a business, but there can't only be business minded posts. It also depends on the level of the business's professionalism. However, It would be too unreal if there weren't any social media posts with any personal touch.

Week 9: Twitter part 2

On Twitter, I follow bands, companies, stores, and people similar to our interests. I started off following our friends and people we have met from playing gigs. From there we have built on by following recommended profiles on our side. Half of the time, we already know them so there's a guaranteed follower. I searched "Soma sd" and immediately there were already people tweeting about things we have in common.

The lists I created were "Girl pwr" and "SD local music scene." This help finds our target audience. We are creating a movement to inspire more females to start a band and to get involved in the scene. It can be intimidating for girls from the noticeable gender imbalance. I am more organized from adding similar profiles so we can stay connected and retweet their posts. The goal is to get creative and to self-promote as much as possible, then eventually have others promote us.

Week 9: Twitter

@mainsailband is another San Diego local band. Their cover photo is a picture of their EP's artwork. Their Instagram and Facebook are linked to each other so that they won't have to repeat what they are posting about. They tweet multiple times a day to keep their followers updated. However, they only have 55 followers. My goal is to update my bands twitter more often like they are. We should also have our Instagram and Twitter synced. 

@Themodelyouth has 313 followers and are only following 27 other users. They have connections because the lead singer is a famous YouTuber. They use their Twitter account the same amount as we use ours. Their profile picture is a group photo and the cover photo is a picture of them playing a show. They work on self-promoting so they are doing a great job using social media. We look up to them a lot and would like to have more connections like them. 

@91x is an independent San Diego radio station. Their profile and cover picture is of their logo.They obviously have more followers because they are a popular music station and they put together a lot of shows with bigger artists. They tweet on a daily basis and post on Instagram and Facebook weekly. They are in a different field as us, but making a connection with them would help benefit the band so I am going to aim for marketing like them. They host huge festivals such as Kaboo and Wrex the halls. We just need to build connections and improve our Twitter game! 

@contolledchem is another local band in the San Diego scene. They need to do some work on their social media platforms. Controlled chemistry isn't as active on social media and doesn't post exciting things. Their profile picture is their logo and the cover photo is an unprofessional group shot. They just need to reach out to more sources for help and then it would be better. If they took this class their social media marketing would totally improve. 

Week 7: Blog post 2

I chose to post about how we just finished recording our new single and also in the process of the EP. I also scheduled to announce future upcoming shows tomorrow because we have a lot. There aren't any flyers for any so I am waiting on making specific announcements when the show flyers are completed. I like this feature because you can schedule to post at any given time. A lot of people forget to post at the times where the most people are viewing social media at a given time. From experience, more people are on their phone during the evening. The goal is for us is to have active followers viewing our content. 

Week 7: Blog post

The pages I chose to like are ones that I can possibly collab with. I liked photographers, bands, record labels, and venues pages. I had to choose pages that relate to the band so they can gain our recognition. Also, the successful pages inspire us to update our social media with upcoming news, photos, or events. 


https://www.facebook.com/mainsailband/  (local band)
https://www.facebook.com/AnnikaCimasPhotography/ (concert photographer)
https://www.facebook.com/theaquadolls/ (A signed local band)
https://www.facebook.com/TheRaysJam/ (local band)
https://www.facebook.com/hopelessrecords/ (record label)
https://www.facebook.com/EnterDigitalWitchsWorld/ (local concert photographer)
https://www.facebook.com/ChainReactionCA/  (concert Venue)
https://www.facebook.com/somasd/ (concert venue)

Post engagement and reach

Having a Facebook page for your company, brand, band, small business, restaurant, services, etc... is very important to gain customers. You should have one especially if you do not have a website! Updating your followers with daily or weekly posts are key. Facebook will notify you of post engagements which are the number of people engaging with your page. Active fans will engage more by liking or sharing your material.  You can see the overall data of who likes the posts, the statistics of your audience's age and gender, and page views. You can select the date and time of the results to compare it from time to time. Another feature Facebook has on your page is the post reach. This is the number of times your page appears on peoples newsfeeds' from ads or shares. Organic is the number of times your page appears on one's newsfeed without any payments. And obviously, paid is the opposite. This is where paying for Facebook ads comes in clutch! The more money you spend on an ad, the more people will see your pages ad on their feed. 

Week 6 Alternate Assignment

In comparison to my band's page, I'm going to be analyzing successful Bands's Facebook activity

The band Mainsail has a profile picture of the cover of their latest EP. The cover photo is an edgy punk rock picture of their band. They have a total of 10,400 likes; their Facebook is linked to their Instagram account meaning that whoever is uploading a photo to their instagram, then it will automatically post on Facebook. They make a post once a day during the afternoons through evenings, and have a great cover photo since it suits the band's style. Overal, Mainsail has their social media game going strong. 

https://www.facebook.com/mainsailband/

Neckdeep has a total of 351,420 likes and are using it effectively because they make a few posts per week. Since they are signed, they are currently touring so they have the cover photo set to the touring dates. They have managers helping out with the social media because they must not have time to do all of it themselves. Neckdeep has a great marketing strategy on Facebook for the people already following the page, but I believe that a lot of the likes received were from word of mouth. That's a reason how Neckdeep got discovered and signed to Hopeless Records. Neckdeep has 306,000 Instagram followers, quite a difference from the Facebook page. It proves how both outlets of social media are necessary for the music industry. 

https://www.facebook.com/neckdeepuk/ 

The Aquadolls are probably the most well known local bands in the southern California scene. They have 11k likes on Facebook and 15.1k followers on Instagram. They make a round one post per week regarding shows, information, and just to keep fans updated. The problem is that they seem to onlyc enter the attention around the lead singer because you only see posts of her when there are 3 other members. I personally know them, and they are signed to a contract where the managers control everything they post. It is frustrating for them and that's why they haven't been able to put out new music as well. The cover photo is a picture of Melissa Brooks (the singer) and the profile picture as well. They do a better job running their Instagram account, so if they just put in more effort, the Facebook page will improve. 

https://www.facebook.com/theaquadolls/ 

Green Day is obviously one of the successful punk rock bands today. By looking at their Facebook page, you can see that they make a post about once a week. They aren't as active as you would think. Green Day's profile picture is a drawing of them, and they have a clip of their new music video as the cover video. Since they are highly succesful in all aspects of the music industry, they don't need to worry as much. They have 31 million likes and 194 of my Facebook friends (including myself) liked Green Day's page. On average, their posts get over 20k likes. 

https://www.facebook.com/GreenDay/ 

FIDLAR is another successful modern day garage punk band. They have 173k likes on their Facebook page and 25 of my friends like it. Their last post was on Februrary 25th, they could be more active. It looks like some weeks are better than others because they haven't posted in 11 days. They have their cover photo set to the 'FIDLAR' backdrop they use for concerts and the profile picture is an aesthetic band photo. I first heard of them back in the summer of 2015 when they didn't have as big as a following, and now they are playing Coachella. 

https://www.facebook.com/fidlarLA/

I want to post more to my band's Facebook page because we aren't that active on there. When our EP gets released, I'm going to be promoting it all over social media. At shows, we print out flyers and pass them out with our Facebook and Instagram usernames to get people to follow us. I target the people that are interested into punk rock music. I figure who likes it by meeting people in person and following accounts that are similar. On Facebook, I'm going to share my page more and post the link to the page on our Instagram bio. 

Week 6: FREAKS!'s Facebook page

The FREAKS! Facebook page has been in existence since January 10th, 2018. It so far only has 40 likes. We don't really post on it other than the upcoming shows we are playing. We haven't been a band for awhile so it obviously is going to take a little while. The profile picture is of our logo and the cover photo is a picture of us playing on stage. We should keep it running more often but managing a band DIY style takes a lot of work.

https://www.facebook.com/freakssd/

Week 5 Post 2

The targetted audience members for people to listen to my band and come to shows are teenagers and college students so I would say ages 16-24. The high schoolers already seem to be inspired by us by looking at all of the positive comments. I feel like we are starting a movement because I've seen more girls forming bands! I follow a bunch of similar accounts on Instagram of the most loyal followers. I have an app called IG analyzer to show the statistics of who follows me back, unfollowers, recent followers, most loyal, profile viewers, and ghost followers. I unfollow the inactive ones and the ones not following me back. We use the Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts to promote the upcoming shows. If we have a show at a professional venue, we usually have to go around and sell presales. So we have to do our best and market on social media. The local music scene is mostly a young audience of both genders. Once we release our first EP, we are going to upload it to Spotify and spread the word. I can't wait for all of the possibilities of where the band is going to progress.

Week 5 post 1

I've decided to look at the restaurant pairs since I don't have the need to buy diapers. I love food, so that was a no-brainer to investigate the websites. Chili's is a national Americanized family restaurant. People of all ages can eat there; the target audience would be males and females ages 3-70 years old. It isn't any specific audience. Chili's has a clean looking, user-friendly website. Their red pepper logo colors keep the theme going on there. Teri Cafe is a smaller restaurant chain because they only have 2 locations listed on their website both being in Oceanside. It has an indie design making it differ a lot compared to Chili's. I personally have not heard of Teri Cafe until now. Teri Cafe's website is less organized because there aren't as many things to view, the theme isn't as apparent, and the front page is way too long since they put their menu on it. I would say that Teri Cafe's target audience is less of an all-ages kind of deal because their menu and environment doesn't look as kid-friendly. I'm guessing their targets would be ages 15-60.  It is culturally different since it Japaneseanese ramen restaurant. They want to advertise their services to people interested in their food. They've probably done some online research on social media to see the people nearby interested in Asian cuisine.
Both restaurants' websites have the similar layouts and information posted such as the locations, menu, about, social media, and contact information. This gives the audience the basic idea of their provided culinary service.

Week 4 Part 2

1. Why are they effective? 
2. What specific principles of good design do they include and why?
3. What makes you come back again?
4. What could be improved?

The top 2 websites I always visit are forever21.com and amazon.com 

https://www.forever21.com 

Forever 21 is a successful store and not everyone is willing to drive out to the nearest mall to shop there. Currently they have a flashy header advertising their 80% off sale. It immediately grasped my attention to click on the offers. They show the newest arrivals, best sellers, and sales on the front. On top, it lists the department categories of what you are looking for. 

The web designers made the website eye appealing. They made a gif of the picture of the 80% off sale so it would be easy to look at. The colors match the theme, and the attractive models suit the alternative theme of clothing they sell. I am distracted from doing this assignment looking at the website. There isn't too much going, you will always see the clothes. The fonts match the theme. 

I always shop at Forever 21 online when I have the money. First of all, I like the products. They have good prices and are always having a sale which draws a lot of customers attention. I've been shopping there since middle school and I am 19. Even though some of the clothes' quality isn't the best, you have to evaluate the price and look at the online reviews. 

Most of the website is 100 percent; however, there are some advertisements popping up on the site which can be annoying. Also, not all of their clothes are my style, but I have a very picky taste. If they fixed that I would even more satisfied.

https://www.amazon.com 

Amazon is the top online shopping company. It has excellent deals and mostly has anything you can find. Amazon prime is a blessing! Free 2 day shipping is a miracle. On the home page, it shows items related to your previous orders making it tempting to view. 

First of all, they have an excellent theme, template, and layout. Their blue and yellow theme is perfectly indicated by that. This reveals Amazon's identity so that it is unique and original. They advertise great deals you are interested in. It is the idealistic professional web design they need. It is simple to access, the search bar on top is your best friend!

Like I've said, the related items viewed and deals recommended for you feature pushes you to look at them. The deals are amazing and sometimes even better there compared to an actual store selling a particular item you are looking for. My family and I are on Amazon almost every day. There is usually a package or 2 that comes once a day. It makes shopping a breeze!

I would say there does not need to be improvements on Amazon's website. It is perfect the way it is created. 

I posted on Stacy Brock's Blair Partecelli's, and Chad Mullen's blog.

Aesthetics, Design, and Branding Analysis part 1

The 2 websites that really impressed me and grasped my attention were:

• http://apple.com
•  https://www.toyota.com

Apple had really eye appealing designs showing all of their latest products on the homepage. Their header tabs on the top all listed links to their products. At the very bottom, it has all of the contact, help, account, and educational information. It is designed to have people willing to spend. Their font was eligible to read and the text was perfectly aligned. Obviously, they've hired the top web designers for this. Apple's audience launches pretty much anyone because they sell high-quality, necessary electronics. They've been around for years so the brand logo has been a good hit; anybody can distinguish the logo. 

Toyota has a simple and complex front page showing pictures of their latest designs. It is similarly designed like Apple's site. The pop-down headers are where you are able to find a car you are looking for and special deals. There's also a "find your nearest dealer" tab so you can enter your zip code and find it. When you scroll down to the very bottom, you can see their social media pages, contact and support information, careers, shopping tools, the about page, and help. The colors match the aesthetic of their brand. It is an easy website to access. Toyota has a strong marketing profile since they've been around for awhile. The site and social media pages make it easier for them to expand their targeted audience. 

There were problems with:

• https://www.riversideartcenter.org/classes-events/
• http://jamilin.com

Riverside art center didn't have much of a matching aesthetic with the brand. The font was somewhat difficult for me to read. The web designers made most of the fonts and pictures transparent so you can't see their purpose. Also, you can't see their logo! When you look closely, it has the color orange but at the bottom of the page, the green contrasted with it made it ugly. Overall, their website didn't look professional. 

Looking at Jami Lin's website stressed me out. There was too much going on. I can't tell what she's trying to get across because it is not clear. The top header click-ons were too extra. It looked like a business card. None of the colors matched because there was no apparent targeted audience or theme. 

I've commented on Stacy's, Anabella's, Dustin's, and Sujatha's blogs.

Social media consumer communications part 2

Killstar clothing

www.killstar.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/killstarco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/killstar/

Instagram: 8 hours ago              

Facebook: 8 hours ago. Their Instagram and Facebook pages are synced together so the posts will be at the exact same time.

Killstar is a clothing company that sells alternative, punk rock, gothic, hipster clothing. They each make 2-4 posts on a daily basis. They want to keep customers updated with their latest releases and sales.

Dolls Kill clothing

www.dollskill.com An alternative and abstract female clothing line.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dollskill/

• Posted: 2 hours ago and makes 4 a day.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DollsKill

• Posted: 2 hours ago, posts 6-8 times a day.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dollskill

• Posted: yesterday. They tweet 3 times a day. It’s active enough to keep the consumers updated.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/dollskill/featured

• Last post: 2 months ago. It’s obviously not as active compared to the rest.

Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/dollskill

• Daily snapchat stories.

Overall, Dolls Kill mainly uses Facebook and Instagram because they are professionally looking social platforms for their business and it appeals their targeted audience.

Blink 182 (professional band)

www.blink182.com/  This top selling pop punk runs itself like a business. They are signed to Geffen Records. Their producers have staff members run their social media and websites.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6FBDaR13swtiWwGhX1WQsP They post all of their tracks, albums, releases, etc. The last time Blink released their album California Deluxe edition.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blink182/ Last posted: 3 days ago. Updates audience with a weekly post

Twitter: https://twitter.com/blink182 Last post was 1 day ago. Makes around 1-3 tweets daily.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blink182 Last posted: February 9th. Makes a weekly post.

Blink-182 is most active on Twitter. The listeners use Spotify (since Spotify is connected to Facebook) to listen to their music unlimitedly.

Vans

https://www.vans.com Shows 5 social media platforms they use.

Facebook: Posted 4 hours ago. They make an average of a daily post.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VANS_66 Posted 9 hours ago. Vans makes around

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/VansShoes66 They posted 3 days ago. Vans uploads around 2-3 youtube videos weekly. The videos are promotions of professional skaters using their products.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vans/ Posted 4 hours ago, same exact posts on Facebook. Their accounts are synced.

Tumblr: http://vans.tumblr.com Last posted 4 hours ago, they make reblogs/ posts a few times a day.

Vans uses their social media platforms almost equally. It helps them market their brand to         customers. It is successful and it keeps the audience interested.

Soma San Diego- music venue

Somasandiego.com Shows 3 social media platforms

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/somasd/ Last posted: 1 hour ago. Makes 3 posts daily about upcoming shows

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SOMAsd Last post: 11 hours ago. Makes around 2-3 posts       almost everyday

Instagram: Instagram.com/somasd Last posted: 3 days ago. Soma makes a random amount of posts but has made 6 posts.

Soma is one of the few all ages mom and pop concert venue. I personally know the staff and owners, and they run the business by themselves. They have to market their business on social media to help grabs people's attention about their upcoming shows. They mainly use Facebook and Twitter based off of the higher amounts of viewers. It is difficult making money at an all age venue because they don’t serve alcohol which helps venues make profits. Also, less younger people attend concerts and a lot of times people over 21 don’t want to go to a venue that doesn’t allow alcohol. Soma has recently got its alcohol license and only serves it during mainstage shows. They just serve the beverages behind side stage.

From doing some researching, each business/ service are on at least 3 social media sites. It’s almost a necessity for them to have out there because so many people are on social media. The main accounts each company uses are on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram due to the popularity of these sites.

However, some people aren’t on social media, so it’s important to have an eye appealing website. Social media basically reposts pictures of what they advertise. It is the modern way of advertising and is taking over old traditional methods. Everything is converting to internet based websites. Shopping online is very popular and is almost as good as physically going into the store and seeing the products in person. On the internet, you can not do that, but it allows you to not leave your house.

The digital age is beneficial for every business because anyone with internet can see a company’s website and social media pages.