Connecting Like Never Before!

I would like to dedicate my last blog to everyone who makes a wonderful difference to the economy that generates wealth and prosperity for more Americans who dream the dream and making it a reality. And we love our big economy because it leads to more opportunities for everyone. It’s a great business to be working in America’s workforce today because we have some many available resources that help create and build anything we dream of simply by connecting and communicating across the Horizontal Revolution. We just have to put our minds in the right place.

For me, work is fun because I enjoy talking with people and learning about new products that help my lifestyle choices as a designer, marketer, and a better consumer. In chapter one we read over the social media zones; community, publishing, entertainment, and commerce and how it connects us as marketers with our marketing objectives in ways we want to communicate and engage with our customers. We have the tools necessary to optimize our marketing efforts which can create a promotion for you and your company’s success. We see how to create an increase in awareness of a brand or product by adapting ourselves to consumer habits and knowing the product. Providing the education in whatever you’re business sells links to what people want and people like to talk about the value of what they’re buying and what works and what doesn’t. Reliability, loyalty, and trust are important factors we all want to have when we purchase something. Being able to show the transparency with a company’s brand backed by its product is what consumers will attest to. And learning everything about the company we work for is where the value chain happens and where we see growth and development in the company’s mission statement.

I found so much value in this class to help with what I already know to help bring me further in my desire as a graphic designer and marketer. I think that what information that’s out there is useful to help build a stronger economy and create more jobs and it’s only going to get better.

If you enjoy my blogs please let me know by commenting and please visit my website. Thanks for reading and good luck with all your studies!

Promotional Mixed in Social Media Metrics?

As you all know I work at Leisure Arts as a graphic designer and marketer in the E-Commerce department as an intern. This last chapter of our book was so useful for my working skills. I want to use this blog as my Presentation assignment.

I create campaigns for various categories that are aimed at specific segments, and I try to make it a daily habit of viewing previous days conversion rates after strategically designing and placing promotions and using Google analytics in a big way. Like we did in our last Lab. I am able to measure important and useful data based on aspects of the engagement food chain alone. I also gain insight into communication efforts that consumers go through a sequence called the hierarchy of effect model which takes them from awareness to knowledge. From liking preferences to the conviction of making a purchase. All of these metrics based on unique visitors, page views, the frequency of visits, etc…, is used for timing of promotional mixes. I know that in my market there are crocheters, knitters, etc… I know that it takes time to create and crochet things so our Christmas in July is promoted early so that they have time to gift these treasures for their loved ones at Christmas. Depending if we want to use the word “gifting” creates a specific reach which refers to the number of distinct people exposed to a retailer’s promotion efforts during a specific period. Frequency is the average number of times each person reached is exposed to a retailer’s promotion efforts during a specific period. Time is normally defined as the time of day but it also can be defined with holidays and various opportunities for promotion. As I schedule our campaigns to go out three hours apart sometimes 4, this assures our saturation isn’t over or under killing our company image. We also have Free Pattern Friday to gain new and or repeat customers so they can keep their interest with our company fresh and that we give out freebies because we’re nice. Ok, because it replenishes our email customer base and for incentive purposes. We are in business to make a profit, so we don’t hand out free stuff all the time. Once a week is good and keeps customers in our circle with things they are already enjoying.

The content of objectives brings marketing efforts that focus on the engagement food chain to measure strategic options if something doesn’t work well. Having this information at our disposal should be valuable to many entrepreneurs. Its what creates innovation and skill for future goals. Amazon is at the top of their food chain by listening and learning about their customer. The amount of ease with online shopping is viewed by consumers as a huge convenience to their day. If it were difficult more than likely they won’t return and go elsewhere.

Designing ads are equally as important as measuring ROI. Defining the results of the campaign that is designed to promote should be considered for the next time. Lastly, there is the assessment of costs of the campaign depending on its potential value on the results. Tracking the actual results and using the S.M.A.R.T model are smart ways of measuring the success of your efforts as either designer, marketer or both.

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day! It’s almost Thanksgiving and I’m so grateful for learning what I’ve learned in this class to help me understand more about the marketing scope. Please follow me on Facebook or go to my website for more!

#MARKETINGLOVE #EVERYDAYARTFORLIFE #MAKELIFEGREAT

 

Value Is

Social media networks have changed in so many ways from whence it began. Today, it takes more than the minimum requirements to get optimal results. With fake news spreading like wildfire it’s important to understand how we can help users filter out less spam, and click bait gimmicks. Maintaining a client’s social media network with the use of Google’s quality control practices become valuable assets and priority for marketers in a world where transparency is part of the value chain.

In these last chapters that Dr. Myers covered should be important for marketers and the future of companies who hire them. Most social networks are where news feed-driven experiences unless there is a specific goal in mind, users usually trust that what’s in their feed. I can relate to what I have learned in using social media networks for marketing purposes like how links take users away from Facebook to consume content elsewhere. Using organic reach and visibility — specifically, Facebook. I have nothing against Facebook but I do like my privacy. But looking at Facebook’s updates and how they prioritize friends’ posts over pages to me, is scary. I like Marketing but I feel that where do we draw the line in lines with people’s privacy? I like to communicate with people on Facebook but sometimes I feel the value of our content is being hijacked and no longer becomes our own. I think that we are smart enough to carry on our own conversations without having to be placed strategically within certain boundaries of a branded world to where we shop to death. I would preferably like to see some of the tracking ads go away within Facebook because most of us are there for personal communications and not a shopping experience.

We should become more aware of what we learn and already know about Marketing strategies and what was lost. The condition of our thinking becomes the value of what others see in it. So my word of advice which we all have to give is that work hard and have ethical standards. Be a valuable asset to humanity. We only get one earth, let’s continue to make it better.

Thanks for reading. If you like my post, please comment below and be sure to follow me.

The Big “V”

Like any hard worker makes a life for him or herself, a vacation is appropriate for some breathing room for all that Life has to offer. So as I, wish to take a break from my Marketing blogs and bask in a moment of the most cherished vacation I have had the fortunate luck to always remember, by the fresh airs of France in 2012. What a great opportunity and an experience of a lifetime! I want to share with you.

My best friend Larry, works for Dassault Falcon Jet in Little Rock and was asked to help build Dassault’s BMW corporate jet planes in France and to stay for 3 months and of course, he said “yes!” and I got to tag along. I was very excited as soon as I found out. It was my first time on an International flight and over International waters. Ever. That alone, was exciting for me. Although I didn’t like my flight as much, thanks to the screaming baby in the background and that I had picked the middle seat, my flight went pretty well with the food choice and alcohol they served. There were movies which helped the time pass. I left Littlerock early in the morning and arrived in Paris their time around 9PM destined for Bordeaux arriving at 11PM. I could tell immediately I wasn’t in America anymore. The sounds and smells were different and I couldn’t understand anyone around me. I admit I felt a little anxious, with having to be fully aware of my surroundings and knowing this isn’t my territory nor do I speak the language. So I was happy when I met up with Larry who had arrived a week earlier than I.  He had already rented a car and a Hotel room that were both very nice. The people at the Hotel were bilingual and gracious enough to help us introducing different areas of the Hotel where I could later do my laundry. It was early in the morning and I was jet-lagged, tired, hungry and excited all at the same time, all worth it.

Over the period of the next few days, I discovered 2 castles, a city of wine at St. Emilion, a French pizzeria, a French Japanese restaurant where the Japanese employees spoke French, 4 boulangeries, and several landscapes and toll booths. Each day brought new adventures and we met people from his work that became part of our lives as friends. We ate dinner at 3 different homes including my best friends bosses house where his sweet wife prepared and offered us some wonderful fruit from their fig tree and garden and a variety of stinky but tasty cheeses and fresh fish with fresh bread. They even showed us their wine cellar located underneath their house. Some of the French people have a tradition where families make their own wine bottling at home which would commemorate a child’s birthday or an anniversary, and each bottle was marked with a child’s name and title of the event on it. At Christmas time or any other special time, they would celebrate by opening a bottle and drinking it with the entire family. We drank from their cellar and celebrated the welcoming for us to be in France with a bottle of wine that they bought specially for us. What a nice family tradition I must say!

Over the period of the next few weeks, I had already discovered 8 castles 2 of which were from the medieval time period that had torture chambers with sharp weapons and big fireplaces. Creepy but exciting at the same time. One of them reminded me of the castle from the Wizard of Oz. There was another castle we visited that I loved, called Chateau de La Brede. The home of the famous Philosopher, Montesquieu who would publish his ‘Defence of the Spirit of the Laws’ in 1750 in that castle. You can see a picture of me holding up a key to a door to his study.

Over the remaining part of our 3 months, we became more familiar with routines of traffic, hours of operations and where the best places to go dining and drinking were. Fortunately, Larry’s friend, Christophe who is from Cuba also French-speaking, offered to show us the best local spots in Bordeaux for dinner and dancing, the beach for daytime activities where we went often, called Biscarrose Beach and where I attended my first jet ski competition and was asked to take pictures. They rented a house on the beach for us all where we learned French words, drinking French liquor, and just enjoying ourselves!

From the Pyrenees mountains, we traveled along many beautiful country-sides making our way to Lourdes, France where we were able to visit the Roman Catholic fortified castle on the rock. A tourist spot of about 6 million visitors a year. Known for its pilgrimage and a religious story I won’t go into. I even got a picture with a Monk! Beautiful church needless to say. We stayed overnight and traveled more into Lascaux, France. Famous for the discovery of the famous Lascaux Cave of the Upper Paleolithic period. Wonderful cave paintings! It was awesome!

Our last night was filled with packing and realizing we had to go back home. It was so much fun we wanted to live there. I think we were bitten by the travel bug. Plans to go back are in the near future.

I hope you enjoyed my blog as much as I had fun writing it. Thanks for reading and I will be back again soon.

If you like my blog, please comment below.

Research and Results!

In my last blog, I touched on some ways how Leisure Arts engages with its customers through conflict resolution with its various segments of crafting. What is the overall strategy that they are using? Participation and social responsibility by actively replying to comments or ideas. Engaging with customers about its quality or function is part of establishing and maintaining a retail image.

Encouraging customers to spend more time shopping and converting them from shopping to interaction and engaging with them with the things they are already interested in or they wouldn’t be there in the first place. Sounds a lot like selling to me too. But going about it with the attitude of having solutions for a customer which brings me to the research part of marketing. Researching and defining solutions are where the best part of the excitement and growth is. Now it sounds like entrepreneurship to me! We can measure a lot from research. A market appeal, based on sales and size population. Basically using the global retail development index (GRDI.) Businesses usually conduct their own internal performance research from within in the e-commerce department. Where measurable performances through gap analysis compare its actual performance against its potential performance determining the areas it needs to improve. Minimizing these gaps help build relationships. Consumer insight where you analyze determined consumer information such as sales, cost, and profits by segmentation. We have Crochet, Knit, Quilt, Cross Stitch and more craft which are categorized into demographic segments used in planning our extended business model through email. Seeing the results of happy customers using a product because it helps them, it changes the way they do things or it brings them hope to share with someone that may be less fortunate in learning or doing something is where my heart is. With all of my designs, it’s always personal.

As this is my last marketing class, which I’ll fulfill my minor in marketing, I’m excited about knowing where this area of my studies will help propel me further into something bigger along with my design major skills. I love both studies equally and it probably helps my focus and determination as I create from both disciplines.

In the photo (credit: Shutterstock): Exclamation points!

There is more to come from this blog so stay tuned and always keep informed about the job you are currently in. More importantly, ask specific questions. You can’t know by guessing.

This is all for now.

Please let me know what you think by commenting. I am always eager to help and will answer any questions you have.

I will continue further in my next blog so please return next week. If you enjoy my blogs please let me know by commenting. To know more about me, please visit my website. Thanks for reading.

Doing it Like Jean

In the last blog, I talked about how I was able to utilize both disciplines of my Marketing and Graphic Design studies together. Reflecting a visual communication between a specific audience to a call of action is challenging but as I gain insight from my studies, provides me with the tools and skills I need to develop better compositions.

Relying on information from a client is sometimes unbearable but I found that I have to pro-actively research myself if I want to do my own job, right. Learning about Leisure Arts was fun and getting to know who’s the majority of their customer base wasn’t surprising. I guess it made me feel comfortable knowing that there are older people who appreciate art and in a useful way as much as I do. So I’ll introduce you to a lady named Jean Leinauser who found Leisure Arts in 1971. She worked in needle crafting for 4-5 decades and in 1964 she worked as a Design Director for the Boye Needle Company in Chicago where she put together a knitting program that was used in inner-city high schools and then was asked to create a crochet program. I love that. She actually didn’t know how to crochet! So she spent 4 days at home teaching herself to crochet and came up with a crochet program for Boye. She wrote down all the information for their packaged crochet products and started making leaflets with crochet patterns. During that time, the only crochet patterns that were published were by yarn companies. So, Jean realized how much money Boye was making on the leaflets she was making and started her own company. And that was the beginning of Leisure Arts. Today, Leisure Arts is located in Maumelle, Arkansas and have been acquired by Comcast Corporation as of 2013.

Identifying Leisure Arts’ target market creates a practice of marketing segmentation as a key role in understanding its customers’ needs based on creative solutions. Like Jean Leinauser did. Knowing who the competitors are is just as important. Changing trends as technology advances, bring new practices and challenges that trading areas can’t afford to miss. Research time is valuable to the strength of our marketing strategies. So sometimes it may be necessary to reposition strategic tactics without compromising our brand standards. Quality is key to maintaining their mission. All is a balance. This is all for now.

Please let me know what you think by commenting. I am always eager to help and will answer any questions you have.

I will continue further in my next blog so please return next week. If you enjoy my blogs please let me know by commenting. To know more about me, please visit my website. Thank you for reading.

Using What I’m Learning

In my last blog, I mentioned some strategic ways where Leisure Arts employ their social media presence through communications of which participation was key. Learning that customers like to not only see a how-to version given in the booklets they purchase from us but as well as others showing their work which I utilized a “show-me” campaign made to capture previous and current customers’ participation through their video’s and blogs. Pointing customers in the direction where they can see both a video and read blogs that were made for first-time crafters and offering new ideas for seasoned crafters.

As a Junior student, I am gaining new information as I go further into my studies. What I am able to utilize now as I go deeper into my art major studies that have given me an advantage with my Marketing minor, is a broader understanding of the work I am creating while incorporating important marketing techniques within my designs. For example, in one of my design classes, we were asked to come up with an impossible product that was ridiculous and try to sell it the idea. We all had to start from scratch which was hard. So, I thought about things I regularly do at home and some of the things that I did I wanted to find an easier way of doing it. That was hard too. So one of my favorite things that I love is showering (2x’s a day) because I like to feel clean. Knowing there are millions of people who aren’t as fortunate of that luxury made me think, what if I could make a soap that you could rub on your body without water and will stay on your skin and lasts for up to a month!? I thought of the possibilities and who it could market to and why people would need this in the first place. I muddled over some pro and cons. The advantages obviously outweighing the disadvantages, I continued to ask myself questions. Was my product a strong enough idea to market? Who would buy this? Was it only made for a niche market? I went through all of what I learned in my studies (and honestly shark tank went in there too) applied it in my research and I was happy to introduce an on-the-go product called “Go Shower” (pun intended) “The unsoap that lasts up to a month!”. The photo is part of the campaign of Go Shower. I’m working on a guerilla ad right now. But the feedback was unexpectedly on the high positive side and that people would purchase the product and could see themselves using this as part of their lifestyles. The photo is part of my final project where I used my graphic design skills and marketing skills as a whole. I think that both disciplines work well together well. Using what skills we have to create an interest for others to take part of and participate in is hard to do. I live by these words not sure where I got them from but if I’m not interested in it, neither will my audience. When we love something we capture the beauty of it. We have things to have them. This is all for now.

Please let me know what you think by commenting. I am always eager to help and will answer any questions you have.

I will continue further in my next blog so please return next week. If you enjoy my blogs please let me know by commenting. To know more about me, please visit my website. Thank you for reading. #GOSHOWER

Communication is Key

In my last blog, I touched on some relevant information with marketing strategies that I learned to help broaden my marketing skills through art which I hope you get a good insight from when adopting marketing content with companies and their respective brands. In my previous blog about Metro and the use of their cooking demonstrations, I said that were key in engaging its various stakeholders in the areas of conflict resolutions. The strategy they use being socially responsible works within our lesson from the social community zone 1 as described in chapter 5 of our book as the “relationship zone.” For me, participation and communication have always been something that I am heavily strung over. Maybe it’s because it was something that was never shown to me growing up, and seeing now that this was a majority of where my frustration grew, was in communicating. I won’t go into a rabbit hole but I want to briefly stress that a huge part of my desire of going into the Arts was from the endless accounts of frustrations caused by lousy communications that I learned from my upbringing and later caused me to have unhealthy coping mechanisms I will cherish and carry with me, only to remember to never forget why I stress the importance of responsible communication. We always know we are trying to say but from another perspective, it may be viewed as something different unless we are clear and concise which takes research time. Even if it is about yourself. (The above photo is showing some of my designs that we were assigned to research over covering communications and it’s origin where I chose the letter X.) I connect my graphic design disciplines with the importance of communications. Aesthetically and cognitively.

Communication and engaging to solve a conflict with anything being a brand or product are socially responsible factors we have to consider when recommending solutions. Right now, I work as an intern at Leisure Arts in the e-commerce department as an email specialist, driving a small portion of revenue through email marketing strategies. Before I went for my interview with them I decided to be responsible and see what they were about. Obviously, they did their part. Sure, I had a general idea of their product or I wouldn’t have accepted the job but I was interested in the experience I would gain to strengthen my skills as a marketer. I wanted to look closer at who their target market is, who their competitors are, and how they reply on social media. Questions, I was interested in because I wanted to know their strategy. Maybe I could learn from them.

Leisure Arts practices market segmentation as a key role to understanding it customers’ needs based on creative solutions. They are known for their craft categories such as: crochet, knit, cross stitch, and plastic canvas to name the few. As a leading publisher of lifestyle and instructional craft publications, they work with a team of talented designers to bring the latest trends in all crafting categories. From needle crafting and general crafting how-to books to adult coloring books and accessories. They operate on all major social platforms; Facebook, to help educate and inspire customers in discovering and purchasing new product based on ideas of new or current customers that socially engage about a topic; Twitter, allows their customers to find solutions that point to other creative content such as Facebook and Pinterest; used to curate images of employees and  customers’ favorite hand-crafted projects and for others to view to come back to as DIY projects; and Instagram, based on video and photo sharing, a quick way younger generations interact with each other to show off or inspire their fans fun activities which create interest. Some of the latest marketing trends used include building social networks around various craft categories for new or loyal customers and sharing their stories through testimonials. To persuade potential client in giving them a try.

I will continue further in my next blog so please return next week. If you enjoy my blogs please let me know by commenting. To know more about me, please visit my website. Thank you for reading.

Looking Closely​

In my last blog, I barely touched on major appliance product knowledge from my former employment experiences through Metro. Understanding some of the retail management efforts regarding distribution channel marketing and multi-channel marketing efforts for the company made me think about why all of this was necessary for proper marketing advancements toward their product. It wasn’t all clear to me then. But continuing to learn about marketing and retailing has broadened all of my skills as an artist and marketer.

Successful marketers are like the “surgeons” for today’s social media ecosystem. Product knowledge is specific and moreover part of the value chain that a consumer wishes to benefit from. So it becomes our responsibility as marketers to help enlighten specifics and explain beneficial information that a consumer can benefit long-term and carry a lasting relationship with the product and the company itself. Having specific information about our consumers gives us a better plan of what to offer as well as services which all become valuable assets to a company’s future. Example, knowing which KPI’s (key point indicators) are working through the social media ecosystem and those that are not, both help identify where monetary values are increasing or decreasing so that research processes made by marketing specialists can be more effective with their marketing strategies. Understanding retail chain management and marketing have helped me benefit in many ways with my graphic design compositions. Content is king! To have content is to understand why research is critical in all aspects of the marketing plan.

So as much as I love marketing I too have a great desire for my marketing skills to be useful in my graphic design skills. In my next blog, I will talk more about the details of placing some of the marketing tactics toward various segments of another company that I currently work for as an e-commerce intern. So it will be interesting for those who love marketing as much as I!

If you enjoy my blogs please keep in touch by commenting or by visiting my website for more information. Thank you!

The Power of Marketing

As far as I can remember before having any interests with marketing or graphic design there was no such thing as social media or smartphones. How did I ever manage? I know. I am a digital immigrant. But one who knows the digital world now and how we transitioned into the world where we’ve created the need to need and more of it. How we manage to get things done today, is so much easier. Time is a precious asset and I can see how we better plan our lives and lifestyles to manage our time which increase productivity levels.

Today, everything is about convenience and value especially when it comes to retail. When people shop they expect to be impressed with something new or familiar. So, from a retailer’s perspective, it becomes a priority to keep customers satisfied before and after buying a product. I’ll use my work experience at Metro as an example. Working at the front desk wasn’t always about just answering phones and greeting or paging for sales. It required a 360 scope of the entire business, from the warehouse to the little card you send to a customer thanking them for their most recent purchase. Also, because I wanted to be vested into the ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) that would have a beneficial return after 7 years. I love customer service and I learned that when you want to make an impression on people you have to treat them like you’re glad they’re there and they’ve come to the right place. Well, that sounds easy but if you look at it closer, you will see that investing time with customers for the value of a relationship builds trust and an open connection with that customer for their needs. And this made me a valuable asset not only to the customers but to the company as well.

Word of mouth was a big deal being that our store’s location was at the very north end of town which people would have to go out of their way to get to us. We relied on home builder shows, bridal parties, and of course the relationship with customers. Getting the word out on social media was a bit more challenging for building a new customer base but it grew after we seen the need to have something connecting to that social media link. So we expanded our marketing efforts by reaching out to wider audiences and began to produce commercials on our showroom floor and used real customers. Commercial spots were at the right time of day and on the channel with favorable segments. Product manufacturer representatives of the brands we carried, traveled to our stores to give product demonstrations in our million dollar kitchen. We use that opportunity to also host cooking shows that would feature local chefs. This benefitted the chef’s restaurant and us and the manufacturer. Looking for a washer and dryer, oven or dishwasher, easy! Marketing product value and activating customer relationship management are some of the many great things about Metro.

Keeping art in mind and how I use my marketing skills in my design choices is important. I will talk about that later. Looking at various segments is next. If you enjoy reading my blogs, please let me know by commenting below or by visiting my website.

This photo is one of my marketing designs I made for Metro used for their product demonstrations.