Thursday, October 31, 2013
Being Personal on Blogs
Trying to be personal on blog posts is a decision based on the profile of your blog. It means that one should only get personal when the experience being shared expressly and impliedly affects the business you are promoting. If there is no link between the business and the personal experience being shared, the blog will not get the most hits. For example to write a more friendly blog on Tia's Bakery, I should be focused on sharing experience based on gluten free items which could be tracked or searched and are google Ad-sense friendly.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
The Use of Twitter in Finding new Customers
Twitter which is one of the most popular social network these days can also be used for finding new customers, leads and people who are interested in the products either you produce or are related in some way to that. Twitter also helps in identification of competitors in your particular area and is therefore an important tool to keep into view the products being launched by your competitor and the strategies being followed.
For the Tia's Bakery I tried to follow people who are either related to the company in the gluten free products and produce them to sell to various customers. The use of hashtags of #Gluten resulted in three of the competitors currently being followed. This can now be used to benchmark quality of their products, customer reviews and their website quality. Also a constant eye on the accounts will result in knowing what the customer has launched new and to gain more ideas.
Another search in the current following of these competitors resulted in a result of America's Pharmacist who shall be a speaker in the Gluten Summit on November 11-17 in an online event. This could also be helpful in identifying and meeting many new customers and if offered a chance Tia's bakery could also advertise its products in order to gain more customer acceptance.
For the Tia's Bakery I tried to follow people who are either related to the company in the gluten free products and produce them to sell to various customers. The use of hashtags of #Gluten resulted in three of the competitors currently being followed. This can now be used to benchmark quality of their products, customer reviews and their website quality. Also a constant eye on the accounts will result in knowing what the customer has launched new and to gain more ideas.
Another search in the current following of these competitors resulted in a result of America's Pharmacist who shall be a speaker in the Gluten Summit on November 11-17 in an online event. This could also be helpful in identifying and meeting many new customers and if offered a chance Tia's bakery could also advertise its products in order to gain more customer acceptance.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Visuals In Business
Rudi's Bakery which is one of the related business mainly uses Facebook as its visual platform through asking the visitor to create and share their Toast Masterpiece on Facebook. This provides an excellent opportunity of creativity to the user and therefore more users are attracted towards the website once the link is shared on the world's fastest growing social media network.
Rudi's have used a lot of animated content instead of text content mainly to attract kids of small age and as the saying goes "A picture is worth a thousand words", now it seems that it really is the story of every branded website. Gluten-free products specialized for a specific group makes Rudi's niche target market and therefore Facebook is the best platform to share the availability of such products.
Visit http://www.rudisbakery.com/ to review the visual effects on the webpage
Another website using visual and social media content related to the food business is Pamela's Products. It uses Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter in order to gain social media access but their links for the social media are far below the page which makes these ineffective as compared to the Rudi's. Although there are many pictures therein which makes a visitor to recommend web page to another person but there is difficulty in finding how that should be done.
Visit http://pamelasproducts.com/ and compare the differences in the visual effects and use of social media platforms.
Rudi's have used a lot of animated content instead of text content mainly to attract kids of small age and as the saying goes "A picture is worth a thousand words", now it seems that it really is the story of every branded website. Gluten-free products specialized for a specific group makes Rudi's niche target market and therefore Facebook is the best platform to share the availability of such products.
Visit http://www.rudisbakery.com/ to review the visual effects on the webpage
Another website using visual and social media content related to the food business is Pamela's Products. It uses Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter in order to gain social media access but their links for the social media are far below the page which makes these ineffective as compared to the Rudi's. Although there are many pictures therein which makes a visitor to recommend web page to another person but there is difficulty in finding how that should be done.
Visit http://pamelasproducts.com/ and compare the differences in the visual effects and use of social media platforms.
Friday, October 11, 2013
The Facebook pages that I chose to "Like" as those which have a direct impact on our business sales or are business which are likely to attract consumers who would also be interested in the products which we offer.
Consumers who visit those pages are most likely seeking gluten free foods. These are our target market and we hope to build brand recognition by aligning our company with more well established gluten free brands.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Our Target Market
The target market for Tia's Bakery is customers seeking gluten free dessert options. All of our products are created without the use of wheat, barley or rye.
Customers living with celiac disease, gluten allergies or gluten intolerance make up our primary target market having two different segments which are individuals who are suffering from this allergy and corporate suppliers like superstores etc which can help achieve high volume of sales through their marketing strategies also.
But anyone can enjoy our delicious, all-natural, individually sized cakes. With four flavors currently on market shelves and six more available beginning December 2013, customers seeking great tasting desserts are in for a treat.
The demographic locations where the market is targeted is currently in the region of California State but we are planning to increase the operations in other States nearby also.
Once we find our customers, the products provided are so special that it will easily create customer loyalty which will definitely increase sale volume of Tia's Bakery.
Customers living with celiac disease, gluten allergies or gluten intolerance make up our primary target market having two different segments which are individuals who are suffering from this allergy and corporate suppliers like superstores etc which can help achieve high volume of sales through their marketing strategies also.
But anyone can enjoy our delicious, all-natural, individually sized cakes. With four flavors currently on market shelves and six more available beginning December 2013, customers seeking great tasting desserts are in for a treat.
The demographic locations where the market is targeted is currently in the region of California State but we are planning to increase the operations in other States nearby also.
Once we find our customers, the products provided are so special that it will easily create customer loyalty which will definitely increase sale volume of Tia's Bakery.
Visit us at www.tiasbakery.com
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/tiasbakerygf
Friday, September 20, 2013
Week Three Aesthetics, Design & Branding
I visited the most interesting website today, www.richsoil.com/raising-chickens.jsp and I have say that it was not at all what I thought it would be. The site is about....chickens.....No, uh.....farming!? No, that's not right either. Well, it's about lawn care, flea control, framing, electricity and - look, you'll just have to visit the site yourself.
But there are a couple of things about the site I do not care for. An example is the really, really long pages. I mean you can scroll for about 17 hours on the first page and still not hit the bottom; and you get lost in the volumes of text and images. On the one page there are about 25 different topic headings, almost 40 images and at least 6 videos. I think that by adding more pages which would allow the visitor to decide what is most interesting to them, would be a better way to go.
I did however very much enjoy the content of this site. I spent almost 45 mins. reading different article before I realized that, I don't want to know about how to clean a chicken coop. But they made the reading interesting and captivating. The owners of the site seem to not give a wit about branding or site aesthetics. I guess they feel that if the information is of value, who care how it come wrapped. The look and "feel" of the site gives me the impression of "homemade."
But hey, if you want to know how to use a chicken tractor, well this site is for you.
But there are a couple of things about the site I do not care for. An example is the really, really long pages. I mean you can scroll for about 17 hours on the first page and still not hit the bottom; and you get lost in the volumes of text and images. On the one page there are about 25 different topic headings, almost 40 images and at least 6 videos. I think that by adding more pages which would allow the visitor to decide what is most interesting to them, would be a better way to go.
I did however very much enjoy the content of this site. I spent almost 45 mins. reading different article before I realized that, I don't want to know about how to clean a chicken coop. But they made the reading interesting and captivating. The owners of the site seem to not give a wit about branding or site aesthetics. I guess they feel that if the information is of value, who care how it come wrapped. The look and "feel" of the site gives me the impression of "homemade."
But hey, if you want to know how to use a chicken tractor, well this site is for you.
**********************************************************************************
OK, let's discuss the second site I chose to review: http://www.swagelok.com/
If you ever, ever and I mean EVER, need a valve, tube fitting, tubing or gauges - these are the folks to talk to. And brother, they mean business.
You can tell that Swagelok is a high performing, professional organization the moment the first page loads. (Can you really tell all of that from a web page? Naw, but you can sure get that impression with a page done right!) I really tried to find something about this website that I did not like. All I cam up with was the company logo, which I detest. But, I'm not sure that actually counts because I'd hate the logo on a T-shirt as much as I do on the website. Soooooo... Let's just move on, shall we?
What could be improved on this website and why? Choose two and identify what they have done right. How does design, aesthetics and branding impact your reaction to the websites?
The design of the site are impressive. Flowing, high quality graphics, clear easy to read navigation tools. The bright colorful, the professionally done photographs coupled with easy to use, interactive buttons left me with the impression of a company that is a leader in their industry.
Heck, they even have a warehouse that would put Indiana Jones to shame. I mean, just look.
GO SWAGELOK!
Sunday, September 15, 2013
A Past Experience Dealing With Customer Service of A Large Corporation
When my family and I relocated to Oceanside from Toronto Canada, we had to establish telephone service in our new home. because our oldest son was still living in Canada at the time, international calling was a must have feature for any service package we'd choose. So we contacted AT&T and processed our order for a service contract.
The service order was placed over the phone and a customer service representative took my order, repeated it back to me to insure that I would receive a service plan right for me.
The problem began with the first bill. There were over $900 in charges for international calls to Toronto, Canada. With the service plan I ordered, these charges should have been a maximum of $45.00. So began my customer service nightmare.
It took 8 calls, each lasting an average of 50+ minutes. On every single call, I was transferred no less than four time. And, on every call, I was disconnected at least once. I was provide misleading and in a few instances, false information by customer service reps. It was very frustrating.
Do I believe that by utilizing social media I could have achieved a quicker more satisfying customer service experience. Or at the very least, have made my problems and dissatisfaction known to the company on a deeper level?
I thank that the answer to that question is a resounding 'Yes." I could have written a description of the experience on Yelp. I could have Tweeted about the problems with AT&T and invited others to share their experiences of poor customer service. And even notified others about a blog I could have started with content all about how much AT&T frustrates their customers. I've even heard of others starting Facebook pages dedicated to voicing an opinion about a company.
I could have spoken with a voice, amplified by the power of social media, powerful enough to make my individual frustration known to a multinational behemoth.
The service order was placed over the phone and a customer service representative took my order, repeated it back to me to insure that I would receive a service plan right for me.
The problem began with the first bill. There were over $900 in charges for international calls to Toronto, Canada. With the service plan I ordered, these charges should have been a maximum of $45.00. So began my customer service nightmare.
It took 8 calls, each lasting an average of 50+ minutes. On every single call, I was transferred no less than four time. And, on every call, I was disconnected at least once. I was provide misleading and in a few instances, false information by customer service reps. It was very frustrating.
Do I believe that by utilizing social media I could have achieved a quicker more satisfying customer service experience. Or at the very least, have made my problems and dissatisfaction known to the company on a deeper level?
I thank that the answer to that question is a resounding 'Yes." I could have written a description of the experience on Yelp. I could have Tweeted about the problems with AT&T and invited others to share their experiences of poor customer service. And even notified others about a blog I could have started with content all about how much AT&T frustrates their customers. I've even heard of others starting Facebook pages dedicated to voicing an opinion about a company.
I could have spoken with a voice, amplified by the power of social media, powerful enough to make my individual frustration known to a multinational behemoth.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)