My past couple of days working in Coast Digital have opened my mind up to so many different techniques of digital media and how these are used to promote and market a range of companies.
I have learnt so much about the different aspects of digital marketing which has helped me to gain an insight into certain processes which I have never really thought about before. It is amazing to see the range of clients Coast Digital deals with and how each approach is unique and very reflective of each company’s background.
After shadowing a range of staff in different areas, I have gained a rounded knowledge of many procedures used to digitally promote and market clients. There was one area in particular which I found predominantly interesting, social media. I have always been interested in social media as I feel that over the last decade social media has begun to emerge and we have seen how influential social media platforms have become as a source of information and news.
Facebook being a very predominant social networking site was one which I found very interesting to look at from a digital marketing perspective. I learnt about several Facebook campaigns, company profiles and how businesses use Facebook to boost the amount of likes they get on their page in accordance to the content they produce. I also was able to see the benefits of the timeline format for Facebook business pages and how having the cover photo has helped to add more visual appeal to the page and draw in more attention.
I interviewed Liam Shepherd about his social media position in the company and found out some interesting facts as about his role and how social networking has been a learning curve involving a variety of processes and techniques used to socially network for business purposes.
Firstly I asked whether a job in the social media sector has influenced the way you use your own personal social accounts. Liam’s response was:
“Yes definitely, it has made me look at things completely differently and I now have a habit of analysing content I see friends share in a lot more depth, especially on Facebook. It is really interesting to see how people are sharing content on their Facebook Page and what content naturally generates more interactions and engagement”.
I then asked about how crucial the role of social media is today in terms of promoting businesses and services.
“It is becoming more important as social media integrates into nearly every avenue of marketing, from search to television it is something that no business can ignore nowadays. It is essential for businesses to have a presence where their customers congregate, to both monitor and engage.”
The next thing I wanted to know was which social networking site seems to be the most popular especially for marketing and promotion purposes. I predicted that Facebook would be the answer, an opinion shared by Liam:
“It would have to be Facebook. I think this is due to the fact that on Facebook you can essentially share your whole life through words, photos and videos. Which is different to platforms such as Twitter which is predominantly text-based compared to Facebook. The statistics back it up too with one in seven people on the planet having a Facebook account which demonstrates just how many people use Facebook and how massive the potential is for companies trying to market themselves”.
The next thing I wanted to know was what inspired Liam to get into social media as a career.
“Before joining Coast Digital I was working in a SEO role. While working in this position social media really began to lift off and this made me think about social networking in terms of marketing. I then started to experiment with different techniques using social media for marketing and when a specific social media role became available I applied. My previous role in SEO helped me look at social media with a more technical and analytical approach.”
Lastly, I finished up the interview by asking Liam about any interesting discoveries he has made throughout his work here at Coast Digital.
“What has been really interesting for me is getting an in depth understanding of the Facebook algorithm EdgeRank and how it can be used to manipulate content in your favour and use it to promote and market brands effectively.”
Interviewing Liam has proved to be very interesting and I have been able to see just how effective his role is within digital marketing in our modern era. It is amazing to see how much impact social media has today within society and how it is not just there so people can communicate and keep in touch with their family and friends. Social networking can be used for a variety of purposes such as building strong bonds with business clients and being a part of this active social community, by engaging with a variety of posts. It is growing more and more each day, with lots of new social platforms emerging.