Differentiation

socialOver the years, the widely use of social media within any business marketing mix has become as common as pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving time. Nowadays, being responsible for managing an established presence on at least the big three of social media is normal. Any business that wants to survive the Social Media era must have a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.  

This is even true for local companies in my neck of the woods. Both companies exist in the grocery industry, and utilize social media; but, are they truly taking advantage of what social media can offer them?

lowesLowe’s Supermarkets is a Littlefield, Texas-based company that has been serving families since 1964 (Lowe’s Supermarkets). Since 1964, they have grown to over 140 stores. This is a tremendous growth for the supermarket chain, but how much bigger can they grow if they utilize their social media outlets more. Currently, they manage a Facebook and Twitter account; although, it seems as if they do it spiraling. Their last update to Twitter was on June 6, 2014. They currently have a total of 96 overall tweets and 43 followers. The interesting thing about this was they do tend to update more frequently their Facebook page. They currently have 803 likes on Facebook, which makes you wonder if they would put more engagement into Twitter how many more followers could they gain. Another very interesting observation I made was that they had videos in their Twitter account. Lowe’s could take advantage of social media and create not only a Google+ page but a YouTube page. This would increase their online visibility and move them further along in the utilization of social media to grow their business.

Like Lowe’s Supermarkets, there is another supermarket that is quickly growing at least in my area. Vista Markets/Vista Quality Markets are a chaivistan of grocery stores designed to cater to the tastes of the El Paso community (Vista Markets). This supermarket started in the mid-80’s but have quickly grown into a strong competitor at least in this area. I foresee them expanding within the near future to the bordering states and other cities within Texas. Like their competitor, they don’t do regular updates to their Twitter account. The last update was actually back on May 22. Which makes me question if there is in-house changes going on since before that date there was at least two if not more daily updates. They currently have a total of 1,065 overall tweets and 145 followers. Their Facebook page was updated frequently like their Twitter account, but stopped for some reason on May 22. They currently have 535 likes which seems more about the norm. I think that they could utilize social media more by creating a Google+ page as well and a YouTube channel. This supermarket has the potential and uniqueness to really grow big if they utilize social media the right way.

Both companies can better use social media to differentiate their brand as well as advance their growth and goals. It will be interesting to see if they do change their ways of using Social Media and they grow and change from it.

Lowe’s Supermarkets. (n.d.). About Lowe’s Markets. Retrieved June 25, 2014, from Lowe’s Markets: http://www.lowesmarket.com/?page_id=65
Vista Markets. (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved June 25, 2014, from Vista Markets: http://vistasupermarkets.com/pages/home/about-us-2/

Facebook: A Popular Social Networking Website

Individuals, of all different ages, enjoy meeting and communicating with other internet users. Despite the fact that individuals of likeall ages use the internet to socialize, there are certain groups of individuals that do more than others. Those groups of individuals include students, both high school students and college students. For that reason, it is only fitting that there should be a social networking website that has a focus on these particular individuals. That networking website is known as Facebook.

Facebook may not be as well known as other popular social networking websites, such as Yahoo! 360 or MySpace, but it is still popular. That popularity is mostly among high school students and college students, mostly because Facebook focuses on these individuals in particular. With Facebook, you are required to register for a specific network. That network can either include the high school or college which you attended or are currently attending. Once you have joined the website, you should easily be able to make contact with others who are in the same network.

The network in which you join can be considered an advantage of Facebook, as well as a disadvantage. See, Facebook does not work like most other social networking websites. Instead of being able to communicate with all site members, you are limited to contact with those that are in your particular network, the high school or college you that selected. The creators of Facebook state that this is for your own safety. Although it is safer for your profile and personal information to be viewed by a small number of individuals, you may not necessity want it to be that way.

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Although a large amount of focus is placed on high school students and college students, Facebook has added another popular feature to their website. That feature is workplace networks. By joining a specific workplace network, you will be granted access to other community members who work for the same company as you. This feature is nice, especially since many companies have become large corporations or expanded across the country. You may be able to make contact and become friends with a long-distance coworker that you never knew you had.

Another aspect of Facebook that you may find inconvenient is their lack of available information, before you decide to become a community member. When viewing their online website, which can be found at http://www.facebook.com, it is hard to tell whether or not the site is free to use. Most online social networking sites will make this known right upfront, but Facebook does not. Aside from the price, you should easily be able to obtain additional information on Facebook, before making the decision to become a member. This additional information may include how Facebook works, why you should become a member, how the invite process works, and general rules and restrictions that are in place.

If you are interested in joining the Facebook community, you should do what you should do with all other social networking websites, research. By taking the time to research and examine everything that Facebook has to offer, you should be able to decide whether or not this popular networking community is what you were looking for. There is a good chance that it will be, but if not, do not worry. There are literally an unlimited number of other social networking websites that you can join.

The Job That Actually REQUIRES You To Be On Facebook All Day!

SocialMediaMarketingFor most of us, being on Facebook during work time is something that can get us in big trouble, if not fired. However there is a new and rapidly growing profession that actually requires you to spend all day on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

They are called ‘Social Media Managers‘

These are the people who manage the Facebook, Twitter and YouTube profiles for businesses all over the world. The social media train for businesses is huge right now and Inc magazine estimates that 91% of all businesses are currently using social media.

The most amazing thing about this emerging field of ‘Social Media Managers’ is that because it’s such a new industry and is constantly changing, there is no actual recognized qualification or degree to become one.

Social media management if kind of the ‘Wild West’ of the job market right now, there are millions of businesses looking to hire people for these positions and virtually no university qualified candidates. This has lead to a really interesting situation where the majority of people getting hired for these types of jobs are ordinary people who have never had any prior experience with marketing or social media.

According to Tom from ‘PaidSocialMediaJobs.com’, one of the leading online employment sites for Social Media jobs:

“Over 70% of our new members who join our program and go on to be successful social media managers have never worked in sales, IT or marketing before. They are just ordinary men and women who are outgoing, social and enjoy connecting with people.”

The main tasks that social media managers complete include:

  • Setting up and managing profiles on the big social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and YouTube
  • Interacting with followers and subscribers
  • Helping businesses increase their social media following

According to PayScale.com, the average salary for Social Media managers is currently $67,343, and this is likely to increase because the demand for social media managers is currently far outweighing the supply.

If you think that working in the field of social media could be for you, PaidSocialMediaJobs.com is a great place to find out more about this emerging field and maybe even begin a whole new career. Click Here to visit their website.