Does social media marketing work? Article review

https://www.convertwithcontent.com/does-social-media-marketing-work-for-small-business/
Author; Jason Clegg

The brief outline of this article argues that social media can really benefit a business as it manipulates the consumerism market we live in as a society, it states that 'as a business owner or entrepreneur, your sole goal is to grow your business by acquiring leads and turning those leads into which will buy from you' which in itself is an interesting to state as it could be argued that if you have a product or business you are selling then the sole purpose of a business owner could be to better someone's life with their item, not just to collect a large number of sellers.

 The article states that naturally, all businesses should go where their customers are and so if their customers are on social media why shouldn't businesses advertisements be? This seems like common sense but it almost seems like the article is alluding that all businesses must be on social media to progress further, some simply don't have enough content to constantly be posting new activity and depending on the typical market of a certain brand...they won't reach their target audience! Take for example of the middle age category, facebook statistics released in January 2017 suggest that there is only 4.1 mill of uses both male and female using Facebook in the age range of 55-64 in comparison to the 10.1 mill of users both male and female in the age range of 25-34 years of age. This information alone counteracts the argument of this article that all businesses should have a social media page, as this may not reach an audience they want to.

The article further goes on to say the modern forms of media we use today shape customers lives and play a major role in not only how they spend their daily time but also how they as customers make purchasing decisions, one the top objectives as a business owner should be playing the part in that influential process. Social media marketing allows business to become part of that influence many consumers buy into, so why shouldn't all business owners become apart of that and push their success? Overall I feel like this article is very persuasive in pushing all business owners to create social media marketing strategies and from the counter-argument I provided above, social media marketing may not always be a solution to branching out. This is good to know in terms of my marketing research, maybe including some social media marketing will be a good way to promote my app in a way that will reach a new audience more far and wide than traditional forms of marketing. The article alludes to the idea of social media marketing in a patronising way, something I find particularly odd as the article is well informed, however, it clearly favours social media marketing in a way that makes every other form such as print-based marketing obsolete.

Reflective Blog on typography re do.

On reflection I am glad that we were given the opportunity to re do the typography project on display boards, our first attempt was poor, inconsistent and did not truly reflect our skill level as finale year students. I believe our first step in the right direction was a larger push in communication with the other members of the class to ensure we were all doing a similar method, grouping together ensuring each of us vocalised their ideas and questions also really helped us so that we had a similar visualisation of the project. Another great part about us coming together each lesson and communicating what our intentions were for that day really helped to move things along to be productive, especially when it came to collecting the materials and budgeting for our progression onto actually making the display. Another good part about the project I found on the reflection was changing the quote we would work with from 'It doesnt easier you just get better' to 'Dont stop until you are proud' I think that allowing us to have the creative freedom into changing the quote really benefited the group and pushed us forward as we were given all creative control. However, some of the negatives of project seemed to be that the project drew out a lot and left me rather unmotivated some times, also on the reflection I feel like the feedback from our previous attempt was rather tough, the words all gave a different interpretation of us creatively and although it wasn't consistent,  it represented us as a class!

Here is our first attempt;

Here is our finale attempt;

Secondary research for typography

For my secondary research I created multiple mood boards to visually express ideas I have for the display boards, once I have created these the class will rejoin as a group and collaborate to create on finale idea.

Here is my first mood board working with the neon lights, I feel like something like this will be very slick and also add a relaxing atmosphere to the class room without the need of the generic yellow class room lighting. 

One thing we would need to consider about the neon lighting is where we would source the lighting from and how we could shape and mould the piping of the lights into a specific font, so if we were to go forward with the idea of using lighting, then we would need to use a simple font which I will keep in mind when creating my mood board on my font idea. Although I didn't chose it in this mood board, my intention is to use white neon lighting as I feel like it wont clash with other colours used in the class room. 

My next idea is to up cycle pallets made from wood into all the different letters we would need to make the quote 'It doesn't get easier, you just get better.' Which will take a lot of work as the letters will need to be cut out individually, then individual holes created to push fairy lights through, as you can tell I like the idea of using lighting. I feel like this project idea is do able but will need a lot of time, I will see what the class feedback is. 

After solidifying my finale, two main ideas I decided at look into my ideal font. I decided on Arial as it seems like the most simple font to create, if needed at all as spoken about earlier. I really like Arial, as it is it a statement font that it easy to red. Another reason I chose this font is due to the fact that as you can see from my mood board, a lot of neon lighting use the font which suggests it might be easier to create the lettering using it, if nothing else the arial font in neon lighting show an example of what the work could look like. 

Finally, I created a coloured mood board of which theme we could go for. I feel like the earthy tones could look really good in contrast to the white neon lighting that we could possibly chose to use, another i like the idea of earth tones is because it could compliment the wooden letter idea really well, keeping the overall theme natural and subtile.  

Progression Blog on Typography (pt2)

Week one of progression went well, we created visual mood board's to express our concepts for what the re vamp of our previous ideas could look like, as you can see i would work a lot with neon lighting to create a 3D effect and allow the display to be Visually captivating, especially with the quote we have been told to use 'It doesn't get easier, you just get better.'






Week Two was about organising ourselves in our groups to really build upon our ideas, Amy and I really wanted to push forward with the neon lighting idea and suggest it to the rest of the class as our final idea. So far I am really happy with how things about are going, to pitch our idea we proceeded to create another mood board focusing in on our neon light theme. Here is the finished outcome of what we would like our neon lights to look like;




Week Three has been more collaborative based between all the groups within the class, at the beginning of our session we joined together to pitch our ideas to one another and agree on a design we all liked we could all collaborate on together. We pitched all of our ideas together and created a mind map to see visually what we could create through all of our ideas;





Week Four has been the week that creating began, we collected wooden pallets and began to smash them up so that we could place them onto the wall once removing previous fixtures. This took the majority of the lesson as it took time to rip the would apart, we also began to research price lists of other materials we would need such as neon lights, batteries and screws to keep the display together. From this picture you can see how we visualised our project begin displayed, unfortunately I forgot to take a before and after image before adding on the neon lights, therefore here is an image of our display before it was developed and changed to look more consistent.

Week five was more or less the same as the previous, we continued to sand down our pallets and any other necessary treatments to the wood that would be needed before adding in our text and neon lights, some of our deliveries had arrived and some hadn't therefore we were restricted and what to do next.

Week Six has arrived, this is our finale week on the project and things were very productive. Wire and the neon lights had arrived in perfect timing to add them into the display and finish up in time, our one set back was fighting with the wire and sticking it to the neon lights with cable ties but we managed it! We were given the opportunity to change the quote that was suggested to us and so we did, each member of our class suggested a new quote, my was 'Not all those who wander are lost' however the quote chosen overall was 'Dont stop until you are proud' which I think is a great quote that reflects the work ethic of our Media course.

Marketing promo for Lj's new website and logo

The five p's of marketing are; Product, Price, Place Promotion and People.

The product that needs to be marketed is the new website and logo of Lj Hugs, although it is not technically a product to promote I would like to promote Lj's and its new look. It will give the business a new leap in a positive direction and hopefully attract some customers to the business. The price of this development should not take too much of a dig out of the businesses profits, small things will need to be paid for. For example; the price of promotional leaflets may most Lewis around £30, small other changes will need to be paid as well such as he changing in their tent adverting above their cook facilities. Another price will be the change in uniform that will need to occur if Lewis decides to change his logo. Promotion will happen mainly through the leaflets that are intended to given out whilst customers order and eat at Lj's, Lj's will also promote its new style through their social medias, constant promotion and plugging the new website will bring in enough page views to get the new website off the ground, place, like spoken about before will happen at Lj's shack as well as on social medias. As for people, I am mainly want to attract a new audience of any demographic to Lj's website although if repeating customers want to check out the website, that would be great!

Promo for Lj Hug's

For my promo of the new website and logo I have decided that gifting leaflets when customers receive their receipt will be a great way to get feedback as offering a 10% discount on food next time will both bring back customers and allow Lj's to received feedback on how to improve on their new website. I create two designs, for Lewis to look at and favourite. I decided on designing the leaflets to be A5 sized as it will fit in a customers pocket.

 I also looked at potential online printing for the leaflets, to see how  much of a budget Lewis would need to pay for printing.

LJ hugs logo design

For my logo designs, I created two very different logos to compliment the new website to then make my finale choice and only chose one. The two logos were;

As you can see, the two logos I created are very different from one another. On reflection I feel like the logo on the left is may be too dissimilar from Lj's original logo and so I have decided to go with the one on the right, its simplicity really appeals to me as well as the fact it is still vibrate and looks positive to the brand. 

Here is a comparison between Lj's current logo and the new Design I have decided to market to Lewis;

LJ Hugs Secondary Research

As for my secondary research, I mainly used the social media's of LJ Hugs to see how they interacted with customers, what their social media currently looked like and how they market themselves currently. From what I can tell; the website is not currently updated with new images or exciting news, it has stayed the same since the last time I check which is unfortunate because as a food stall, Lj's needs to be active on all of its online profiles in order to stand out and not fade into the saturated market of restaurants. Although their website could do with some more activity, it is still informative. It gives information on where it is, what they have on offer and prices which is all a basic website truly needs. I did, however, notice something very disappointing when we spoke to Lewis, owner of LJ's he was very passionate about the fact the LJ'S was fun and vibrant. I understand that the black and white theme he has chosen currently is slick and minimalistic but I feel like it takes some of the fun away from his current aesthetic, therefore I feel like I may look into maybe redesigning his logo and website to inject some of the fun into his branding.

Another observation I made was on LJ's Instagram, to me personally the theme of its uploads were not very consistent nor did they flow together very nicely which makes me think that however is running it, expectedly Lewis does not know what is doing with it enough to really be promoting his business through the site, also the page does not seem to have a lot of followers which isn't great if he is wanting the promote the business through instagram, I would like to see someone take over the page and really promote, work with bloggers who can put word out his food and instise others to take the walk down to southgate and try his food out. The images used on his Instagram seem to be low quality and don't do the food justice therefore if we could get some high-quality images taken that could really take the business in a new direction.

After doing this research, I started to brainstorm a couple of ideas that could be potential paths to take in order to push LJ's to the next level, Lewis stated that his social media, in general, were a big weakness to him so I feel like a rebrand of the website and logo could be a strong suggestion to go with, another idea I have is to branch out and suggest the idea of an app of LJ's that interactive where you can order food directly from them to pick up, videos of Lewis cooking at home with his spices and other recipe ideas, as he also stated in his interview that is ques are long. So why not cut the queuing time down?

LJ Hugs Primary Research

As part of our primary research, we invited Lewis; owner of LJ's to come down so we could interview him about his current audience, where he intends to take his business in the future and anything in his business he would like to improve on which we could take on a potential role to develop the business further. The interview can be found here;                                                                Overall, I found the interview really successful and I think I am an idea, somewhat of how I can develop his business further.

Another part of my primary research I intend to do is to, is to create a survey and head down to the Lj's shack to see what their current audience would like to see developed for LJ's at their prime time of around 1-2 PM. For the results of this I will create an Infographic, but for now please find the questionnaire I intend to give out my audience;

LJ Hugs

Lj Hugs was created in 2013 after a discussion Lewis, the owner, had with his family about the power of great tasting food with the right people, or so the website states. Since starting in 2013, based in Southgate, Bath, the business has only grown in momentum with Lewis having plans for three more pop up restaurants in and around the south-west. LJ's aim to is to deliver 'We aim to do this by delivering a unique experience through our tasty food, excellent customer service and welcoming atmosphere from the moment you meet us. Whether you’re looking for great food or just a lively atmosphere for the family, LJ Hugs is the place to be. The word ‘HUGS’ represents the comforting embrace that family and food together can give to each of us.' - This quote was taken from the Lj's website. Currently, I believe that Lj's has a target audience of families, young adults and those in the age range of 20-30. I believe that Lj's has a target audience of families as he runs events during Bath Rugby to supply food during the matches, I believe Lewis wants to keep his business family orientated as the importance of the values lie very strongly within this such as loyalty, another reason I believe he wants to market to families is due to the fact that he is a spiritual believer, celebrating his beliefs with his family. As food, family and celebration of religion go hand and hand with celebrations such as Christmas being huge in the UK, I can understand why Lewis would like to practise this in his business. Another point that I believe adds to this, is the 'LJ'S' stands for Lord Jesus. Another audience I believe LJ is trying to attract is those of the younger age group within the 16-30 age bracket, as a witness to his food stand and the audience he gets, the plays current pop music blasting and his easy go lucky attitude I believe that this age group really represents what his brand is all about, another reason I believe LJ is trying to reach this younger audience his through his stance with the local universities which he supplies food to during the weekends on late nights, perfect for those on the way home from the night out. 

Through the week, I have also seen a lot of office and retail workers pop down during the need. This suggests to me he must be quite popular with those of 21+ who work 9-5 jobs during the week, but I find this out properly once doing a survey with those waiting in the ques of LJS. 

Harvard Referencing

When doing a research project, Havard referencing should be used otherwise plagiarism accusations can be thrown your way which is the accusation of copying someone else's work, it is also a really good way of showing you have genuinely researched through your topic instead of using the first generic information site that is suggested to you online.  Havard referencing can also be great to give evidence of genuine facts and data as without the proof of information then all data stated can be argued as a matter of opinion, it is made of two main elements which are referencing and citations. In your work, it is known as referencing. All the references you use must be put into a bibliography, containing a list of where the references were found and how you can find them for yourself.

Referencing in website formats: Author Surname, Initial. (year of publication) Web page title. Publisher [online]. Available at URL [Accessed : date].

Referencing in book formats: Author Surname, Initial. (year of publication) Title: subtitle. Edition if not 1st. City/ town of publication: Publisher.