Wk17: Wrapping It Up

      I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed this class despite the hiccups I had with my personal life affecting how and when I was able to complete the lessons. Claudia was a fantastic teacher and made the lessons very easily understood and workable. I doubt I would have learned as much or succeeded as I did with another teacher. The lessons were well thought out and written and each had a specific purpose in the class to help us create and build new skills as we move forward in our social media usage. 

     My use of social media has changed quite a bit over the semester. I am much more aware of when and how I publish my posts and ensure that my Instagram posts have included hashtags to expand my audience. I feel a lot more confident running my businesses now than I did before as I only had personal use knowledge of social media which is quite different. 

     I have seen a lot of growth on my Whatwolf pages through this class, less so on Power Gamers though that is understandable as it was not my main content focus. I'm seeing around 2-3x the amount of engagement, especially on Instagram, and it makes me very hopeful moving forward that I can continue this trend of spreading my art through the world. 

     That being said, I do intend to focus my eye a little more on Power Gamers to help push that forward. I have been having issues with our Twitch chatbot as it is supposed to run certain commands on a timer, two of which have our social media links included. Once I figure out that issue or swap to a different bot, which seems like the better choice, I'm hoping that the social media links through our Twitch, especially during our Among Us Mondays, we will begin seeing growth there as well.

     All in all, I can't say enough how much I gained from this class. I was always very unsure and uneasy about being a 'social media manager' for my projects as I had no experience outside of personal use but I'm now feeling a bit more confident in my position. I'm very excited to continue my learning of how Social Media works and can benefit me as I watch my businesses grow!

Wk16: Social Media Management Tools

      I have been using Hootesuite for a few years now to help manage my online content creation. As my businesses are quite small and do not use many media outlets I am able to get by with the limited Free plan which allows you to connect two social media accounts, schedule up to 5 messages, and have one user logged in at a time. I am quite happy the Facebook has updated their Instagram integration since I began using Hootesuite (you used to be able to have 3 accounts under the free tier, I had Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) as it has made the limited Free account much easier to use. 

     As I had mentioned Hootesuite does have a Free option but they also have 4 tiers of business options for subscription. The first is their Professional tier which allows you 1 user, 10 social media accounts, unlimited scheduled posts, and access to all inbox messages in one space, this tier costs $49 per month and includes a 30-day free trial. Next will be the Team tier which allows 3 users, 20 social accounts, unlimited scheduled posts, access to all inbox messages in one space, manage your team access and roles, and manually assign posts or comments to specific users, this tier costs $129 per month and includes a 30-day free trial. Following that we have the Business tier which allows 5+ users, 35 social accounts, unlimited scheduled posts, access to all inbox messages in one space, manage your team access and roles, manually assign posts or comments to specific users, review posts before they are published, extended functionality with some apps, and 24/7 support access, this tier costs $599 per month and includes a 30-day free trial. Finally, we have the Enterprise tier which allows unlimited users, 50 social accounts, unlimited scheduled posts, access to all inbox messages in one space, manage your team access and roles, automatically assign posts or comments to specific users, review posts before they are published, extended functionality with some apps, 24/7 support access, a quarterly business review, unlimited post promotions, reports on team performance, and custom solutions, this tier requires you to contact Hootesuite with an upgrade request.

     I can honestly and easily say I can see myself remaining with Hootesuite for the foreseeable future for its ease of use and the features I have access to in the free tier. As my businesses grow I think it would be a fantastic investment to grow my Hootesuite subscription alongside it to keep a good control over my social media accounts in one place. 

Wk15-B: Building Out Your Strategy

 Whatwolf

• Current content in production - 24 (ish) dnd portraits for practice/fun
• Current plan with these - post 4 a week, twice if I have enough finished.
• Check Facebook/Instagram Insights to see what time and weekday I published the first batch to see if that worked or I need to experiment with a more optimal time.
• Create and upload art inspired by Power Gamers campaign for merchandising
• Content in the wings: Animal Pun Stickers for Honey Inkwell, Power Gamer stickers and sticker sheets to be distributed to Honey Inkwell for production and sales, Whatwolf stickers and sticker sheets to be distributed to Honey Inkwell for production and sales, updated mosh Animaze/Facerig/Vtuber model for streaming and content recording (I have a webcam program that allows me to be mosh when I stream).

Due to a lack of available backlogged content, I am a little limited in what I can currently plan with Whatwolf. I am taking the summer semester off to focus on myself/my ventures before completing my degree so I intend to create a small backlog to ensure I have more consistency in my postings. 

 Power Gamers

• Current content in production - 
• Monday Nights from 7-9pm PST community game night for Among Us to build audience & rapport with current viewers.
• Alternating Fridays from 7-9:30pm PST The Auror's Academy- A Harry Potter Based/Inspired D&D campaign
• Saturdays from 7:15-9:30pm PST The Legends of Lyria: Adventures of Clan Omerta - A low fantasy adventure D&D campaign
• Current Ideas for future content -
• Fan art (when it is made) posted to Twitter/Facebook
• New emotes and merch art (to be done this summer)
• A potential newsletter summing up the first 2 chapters and then released monthly or bi-monthly with episode synopses (in discussion with the group about logistics etc)

Wk15-A: Developing Your Marketing Strategy

      For Whatwolf my strategy moving forward will be to continue engaging mostly on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to continue to grow my audience while using Twitch to supplement it. These platforms will allow me to stay under the guise of my persona mosh and keep the brand fluid with itself. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the best choices for Whatwolf in my opinion as they have a focus on media posts and I can keep people abreast of art and life updates swiftly and I can use Twitch alongside them to continue to grow my audience by finding new people with similar interests. 

     For Power Gamers, much of the above is valid except for Instagram as we do not usually do media-style posts outside of stock images or gifs with session announcements. We have a community game night every Monday from 7-9pm pst where we chat and play Among Us with viewers and we have used that to steadily grow and expand our audience.

     I really enjoyed learning the various social media platforms during this course, it gave me much more insight into how algorithms and advertising works and gave me a better idea of how to market myself. I think that my businesses should primarily focus on social media marketing outside of content creation as I continue to build my name and audiences. 

Wk14-B: What we Learn from FaceBook Analytics

      Facebook has a wide range of important analytical information that you can access once you have reached 100 page likes at minimum. This information can help you plan when the best times to schedule posts or new information releases to ensure you get optimal engagement. Over the last month, I have been toying with post upload times and days of the week to get a wide spread of information to further help me figure out my page audience's trends.

     Despite my low health recently I have been making moves to keep up with semi-regular posts on my Whatwolf page to show off the new art I have finished and begin to drop hints towards accepting commissions soon. It has really shown in my analytics that I am posting rather sporadically and I am having varying results currently because of that. 

     For instance, let's take a look at my Post Reach and Post Engagement numbers. They are both currently in the red as you can see in the following screenshot. Now, this comes as a surprise to me as I legitimately thought I had been experiencing much more engagement and reach than the page was used to. Now, while that is technically true if you look at other analyses from the page with the views, likes, and follows being positive the engagement and reach have gone lower. This is telling me that I need to change how I present the posts, maybe try a new style of captioning, find ways to directly engage the audience despite not actively engaging via comments initially. 

     I am also seeing that my shares are not getting the attention that I had hoped they would. I was trying to use them to expand my audience into other areas that I am interested in but I am unsure if I will continue with this plan as a 'main' thought as it isn't giving my page the boost in views or engagement that I had hoped it would. On one hand, it's fantastic, knowing that my audience would prefer to interact with my creations versus the ones that I share from other pages but on the other, I was truly hoping for some small audience boosts via these posts.

   In conclusion, there are a lot of handy insights you can access through Facebook and Instagram analytics. Use them to your advantage to find the best times and days to post your content and learn how and when your audience is most likely to engage and your business page will succeed!

Wk14-A: What we Learn from Google Analytics

      I think that for my own pages the best analytics to focus on initially would be users/new users and the average engagement time. With an art page, the longer people spend on the website the longer they are looking at the work and potentially purchasing the work. Eventually, engagement when I have more interactivity involved, i.e. contact forms/buttons, merchandise page hits etc. 

Wk13-B: Developing Online Advertising

 

     I built these ads to reflect what I know catches my eye. In the 3rd screenshot, you can see the audience interests that I input to help target my audience on Instagram and Facebook. I think that they would work well, at the very least better than the last ad campaign I ran! I tried to choose the most eye-catching images I've uploaded recently as well as a wide range of styles of art I do. 

Wk13-A: Online Advertising - Analysis of the Marketplace

      Due to using Facebook extensively in my personal life I see a lot of advertising and sponsored posts coming through my feed. Videos of their product in use usually catch my eye the quickest or posts that I don't initially realize are ads due to their casual nature. I tend to read or watch posts that use a lot of colors or no audio if they have an auto-playing video. I tend to find most auto-playing videos annoying as I'm usually listening to music or watching/listening to youtube while I browse and I find videos pause what I'm listening to and it can be rather jarring. Often when I click on the ads I am brought to the item in question through along convoluted URL making it difficult to share with others. 

     I am, unfortunately, extremely susceptible to advertising practices -- I see new shiny and I want new shiny; chicken nugget commercial? I need nuggies -- and do my best to keep aware of advertisements I interact with and why. Radio, TV, billboard, and magazine ads are my biggest trouble in life as I am less easily able to ignore that 'need' tugging at the back of my mind versus scrolling by a post or image and not paying attention to or hearing it. 

Wk12-B: Business Specific Tools

 

     As I've said, I utilize Twitch extensively between Whatwolf and Power Gamers. It is a great place to find people with similar interests and build or join a community. In the two years that I have been streaming, I have made a handful of friends from different walks of life and even other countries. I'm fortunate in that it has become a source of money for me; I've received one payout so far from Twitch on Whatwolf and I can't explain the joy I feel knowing I was able to be productive and make money while just playing games. As mentioned previously I am also aiming to look into Tik Tok for art videos once I feel more settled into my space. 

Wk12-A: Business Specific Online Tools

 

     With Whatwolf and Power Gamers I'm a little limited in what is applicable to them when it comes to online business tools. Things like Linked In, Yelp, and Google Business or Maps would, I believe, require much more information than necessary for them as they aren't 'businesses' in the truest sense of the word. That being said, with Power Gamers we can eventually utilize Spotify and other similar podcast hosting companies and both Power Gamers and Whatwolf use Twitch extensively. I'm considering branching into Tik Tok with Whatwolf when I have my art studio back together and make painting videos.

Wk11: Marketing with Twitter, LinkedIn, Social Influencers

     For this post, we will be focusing on Whatwolf. My personal Twitter transformed into my public persona Twitter when I decided to connect my various 'brands' across sites with my art freelancing. I don't use Twitter as often as other people, I feel, it tends to be a little overwhelming to me but most Twitch streamers I interact with use it extensively. Due to this, my Twitter goes into periods of inactivity when I'm not actively streaming or otherwise putting on my persona. 

     That being said when I do use Twitter I find that it meets a range of needs for me. I had my previous streaming program set up to automatically tweet out a link to my stream when I would go live with a message I could customize. I would also use it to interact with other streamers or my audience through my 'mosh' persona. I've found that Twitter did a lot to help grow my community and channel towards the beginning of my streaming career. 

     I don't use Linked In for Whatwolf, I haven't looked into it as a viable option for Whatwolf though I do have one for my own personal job history and searching. I tried to keep my Whatwolf things separated from my real identity for a really long time as I began a lot of the work on it as a minor and worried about personal safety. It feels weird to me to lay claim to my personal endeavors in a more 'professional' manner after keeping them apart for so long.

     With regards to Social Influencers, I do believe that they could boost Whatwolf quite heavily. I'm currently working with a friend and her small business to make physical merchandise for Whatwolf and Power Gamers. Once they are completed I plan to place a small order of each product to reach out to other streamers I know to see if they would be interested in advertising my product in exchange for me advertising theirs. It's a long shot but it could open some good conversations.

     In the end, however, I think it would do more for mosh/me to be an influencer in some capacity. I already have two partnership deals with local distilleries Henebery and Misadventure to have what we will call 'Industry' streams where I sit and talk to the owners about the companies, what they do for the community, and more while having a drink with them and playing games with the community like Jackbox. I hope to raise more awareness for community issues and other small businesses to help get their name out and thrive.

Wk10-B: Developing an ENewsletter

We have a newsletter now! 

     Check this cool as heck stuff out!!

*have not posted on other blogs at this time

Wk10-A: Researching Email Marketing

 

     I think that both of my businesses could do well with a newsletter, honestly. For Whatwolf I could utilize it every few months to give updates on what art pieces I've put out, new products, and other announcements. With Power Gamers, we could perhaps send out a newsletter monthly with a written update of the past few adventures to help catch people up and keep them caught up if they are unable to watch every Saturday night. 

     Unfortunately, with Whatwolf, until I am creating things/products reliably I'm quite stuck in how much visual and informational contact I can have with that audience. Power Gamers has a rather active presence but I don't have the time currently to keep an active record of each session and then edit it for readability. That being said, I'm really going to consider these ideas moving forward. 

Whatwolf Newsletter Content Ideas

• Art Updates - Thumbnails/links to Instagram or Facebook posts, themed series thumbnails, 'sneak peeks'.
• Merchandise Updates - Between Redbubble and my new distributor, Honey Inkwell, I have a lot of merchandise I am getting ready to start listing for sale.
• Life Updates - Due to health issues, etc, a newsletter would allow me to quickly update my audience on my absences. 
• Coupons/Specials - I could perhaps include coupon codes or commission specials within the newsletter as a bonus to those subscribed. 

Power Gamers Newsletter Content Ideas

• Art Updates - Thumbnails/links to Facebook or Twitter posts, 'sneak peeks', silly session doodles, etc. 
• Merchandise Updates - Between Redbubble and my new distributor, Honey Inkwell, I have a lot of merchandise I am getting ready to start updating and listing for sale.
• Written Synopsis - A written overview of the past sessions between newsletters to keep the audience caught up with the party's adventures.

Wk9-B: Using Categories + Analytics

 

     Due to being quite sick recently, I haven't made as much content as I would like. For my two scheduled posts for this assignment, I used the duplicate option on two of my favorite artworks I've shared on my page. I added to the captions and put a note that included the original captions and scheduled them for two times I know I tend to have decent traffic. 

     For my whatwolf page, I plan to begin doing 'paint or draw with me' videos, either live via discord or twitch or pre-recorded and posted to my Facebook and maybe a youtube account if I go that route. Essentially they're just real-time videos or streams of a person painting or drawing, either on personal work or commissions they owe and chatting about their life or telling stories and interacting with the audience in the case of streaming. 

    My primary categories for my whatwolf business are art and video games, so those will be my main focus to enhance my audience. Twitch has a growing art scene that I can start working into and look forward to branching out into the world of art videos. 

Wk9-A: Blogs, Vlogs, Podcasts & Webinars

 

     Currently, I don't use any blogging, vlogging, podcasting, or webinar services with either of my businesses. Due to an assorted mix of circumstances, I'm not able to devote as much energy to marketing them/myself as I would like. That being said I have some plans for moving forward that I intend to implement once I am graduated and have the time. 

     As a consumer, I am much more likely to purchase products from smaller sellers if I can see a customer's testimony. I feel that having this tangible evidence that the company's offerings are legitimate gives me more confidence in making that purchase or associating with that business.

     I believe in some cases that adding a personal touch to posts is the best option. That being said the main business I run is more of a persona/internet presence than a business so that does sway how my posts are written. I tend to put a personal spin on my announcements, posts, and shares from other businesses as all posts under 'whatwolf' are done by 'mosh' versus by Emilie. The only time I make posts without personal touches is when I am making an official announcement like a pricing guide or a new product launch. 

     The effectiveness of personal touches in posts will vary greatly on content and on the business's audience. I feel like the only businesses that can really utilize this style of outreach are smaller/personal businesses as it feels disingenuous to have 'personal' posts from a corporation or chain name. Often when chain or corporate stores attempt to use a personal outreach style it backfires as even though there is a persona behind the social media accounts, the thoughts posted aren't necessarily 'personal thoughts. 

Wk8-B: My Instagram Hashtag Use

     Over this week I was able to get some artwork posted to my Whatwolf Instagram and Facebook accounts. I tried to use more hashtags than I do usually to start getting my work more exposure. For each post, I used a different set of hashtags that I will list further below. I didn't see many differences depending on the timing of the posts in all honesty. I didn't use any hashtags specific to my business, but going forward I will be using #whatwolf with all of my posts for a more cohesive tagging experience. 

Hashtags used: #eureekascastle#magellan #magelly #paramountplus #nickelodeon #nickjr

WiP Set of Lothiriel Painting | Hashtags used: #dnd #dndcharacter #dnd5e #dndart #halfelf #halfelfbard #givemethatbardicinspiration #thebardest #journeyquest #procreate #ipad

Hashtags used: #dnd #dndcharacter #dndcharacterart #dnd5e #dndart #halfelf #halfelfbard #givemethatbardicinspiration #thebardest #journeyquest #procreate #ipad

Hashtags used: #malfoyloverofplants #snek #snake #procreate #ipad #doodle #fanart #giftart

Wk8-A: How to Expand Your Reach on Instagram by Using Hashtags

 

      Between my two businesses, Whatwolf works best with the visual support that Instagram can provide. I do my best to spread my posts through relevant hashtags when I can remember; it was much more difficult, in my opinion, before Facebook updated their Business Suite to include differing descriptions between the two platforms. With casual freelancing being my current goal using hashtags is an extremely effective way to get my art and my name out with little effort on my part. Studying how other people use hashtags on Instagram has been extremely helpful to me to know some of my target keywords on certain posts. The following are a few of the more recent businesses I've had my eye on in terms of what to do to successfully market myself on Instagram.

Mud N Glass

     I recently discovered Mud N Glass through a Facebook group focused on introducing local artisans and buyers to help support small businesses in your town. I followed a handful of businesses in a link exchange in the group and began to watch for their posts in my feeds to see how an established business uses Instagram to push local and artisan products. One thing that stood out to me with Mud N Glass's hashtag use was they used their business name as a hashtag. I'm not sure why that had never occurred to me but that would help centralize my art if people are looking through posts via tags.

CR Mommy Designs

     CR Mommy Designs uses a lot more hashtags to spread their designs than I usually do. With that I see pros and cons, on one hand, that opens you to more opportunities for growth but on the other, it also opens you up to large amounts of spam or unwanted comments. That being said as CR Mommy Designs is a local-focused business I see that they tag the surrounding cities that they live in as well as relevant phrases to their designs. I.E. on one shirt design they have a quote that says "Just don't give up on yourself" and one of the hashtags used is #youareenough. The use of common verbiage and turns of phrase could be very helpful in reaching product posts further than they may go otherwise.

Fin and Rae

     Fin and Rae make gorgeous handmade macrame wall hangs, planter hangers, and more. They don't use many hashtags but the ones that they do use seem to be quite effective.  Fin and Rae has a focus on macrame-related and hand-made-related hashtags that they use consistently, as macrame is a rather niche market I would assume having a range of macrame hashtags would spread your work further than a generic wall hang or planter holder hashtag.

Lilac and Lace

   Lilac and Lace is an event planning and services business that is locally owned and operated. They make picnic set-ups, weddings, birthday parties, and more. As their business is more far-reaching they use a very wide range of hashtags on each post that covers the range of their services. Using a wall of hashtags can seem overwhelming when seen on the post, unfortunately, but I think in some cases for advertisement that detriment can eventually be used to your advantage by finding customers where you otherwise may not have looked. 

Wk7-B: How Other Class Businesses Use Instagram

 

     The Instagrams I visited for this assignment are as follows:

• claresdigitalmarketing
  
• _sydneysapothecary_
  
• flowersannettegomez
  
• thealibibrewingco
  
• wulv_media
  
• tridentpacificconsulting
  

Wk7A: Get Visual with Instagram

     The internet is chock full of a number of social media platforms and ways to engage with your audiences. With proper utilization of each platform tailored to your business and an eye for your analytics, you can help create a pattern of steady and consistent growth for your company. With various ways to connect and cross-post content from one site to another, it's no wonder that you can get good results using the platforms correctly. 

     For my own businesses, I use a lot of the same social media platforms to try and find my audiences with some exceptions. With Whatwolf I utilize Twitch, Discord, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter while for Power Gamers I use Twitch, Discord, Facebook, and Twitter. As Power Gamers doesn't have visuals focused content base at the moment I will be focusing just on Whatwolf for this assignment. 

     The Instagram I have set up for my Whatwolf projects is whatwolfart. I have been running this as my main art Instagram since Dec 30, 2016, and have made 58 posts in the last 4-5 years and I am up to 78 followers as of this post. I don't post in it nearly as much as I should, in all honesty, but it's because I haven't been creating much. Due to recent circumstances, however, I am looking to be able to keep a steady flow of content hitting my accounts in the near future.

    However, despite not using the platform correctly and having a beginner's understanding at best of hashtags I have grown my audience organically a few times over the years after making a post or two. I am feeling much more confident with the ease of Facebook/Instagram's new post publishing options that I will be able to be much more consistent in posting my work and being able to space it out to create more engagement opportunities for my audience. 

     I try to follow similar business/service provides to myself, and any of my friend's art or craft Instagrams as well. My current follow amount is 39 which I am always looking to increase for more inspiration and artists to support and learn from. Another thing I'm beginning to keep an eye out for is what hashtags other people are using for their posts. As of late I have mostly been posting my character 'Mosh' and a few hashtags I use for her are #manedwolf, #princess, #floatingcrown, and #twitchaffiliate as she is my 'VTube' character for streaming.

Wk6-B: Creating and Scheduling FaceBook Posts

Cleopatra's Closet

WHATWOLF

Scheduled Posts : 

     I believe that these posts will begin to kickstart and engage my audience after the tease of new similar pieces. Using the various 'throwback' terms I have set a buffer to the weekend when I intend to have my new art finished and posted.

POWER GAMERS D&D

Scheduled Posts : 

     I believe that these posts will help to engage my audience by asking them questions and trying to get them to interact with me. I also tagged another page in the first post as I am quite interested in one of their products for our games on Power Gamers. 

Group Pages Visited:

Clare's Digital Marketing, Sydney's Apothecary, Flowers~Annette Gomez, Alibi Brewing Company, Cleopatra's Closet, Trident Pacific Consulting

Wk6-A: Engaging your Customers

 

     Liking and following businesses similar to your own can help you curate a timeline that is catered to the same or a similar audience as your page. In doing so you can get a better idea of how better to market your goods and create your posts following current trends in the industry. 

WHATWOLF

     On my Whatwolf page I have newly liked the following business pages:

1. Minty Deer - An art and commissions page run by my dearest friend, Amy. I find her work to always be very inspiring and pleasing to look at. She is one of my biggest fans and supporters, always pushing me to do what she knows I am capable of. Having her posts come up on my feed will remind me that I am loved and capable of more than I think.
   
2. Teresa Joy's Art - I really enjoy Teresa's art style and how she branches out into new mediums. I look forward to seeing and being inspired by what she creates!
   
3. Simple Daily Drawing - As any artist knows, staring at a blank page or canvas is one of the most daunting things. By liking Simple Daily Drawing I will have drawing prompts right on my timeline whenever I need them!
   
4. Chillhop Music - I love chillhop as a genre and this is the page for one of my favorite creators/curators of chillhop music. I often listen to them when I am drawing or painting so I thought it would be apt to like their page from my own to have quicker access to share any mixes I like with my followers.
   
5. Castillo Studios - My late uncle and now my aunt are professional artists. Seeing Sammy's work is always jaw-dropping and inspiring. 
   
6. Cindy Avelino - As stated in my Week5-A post I adore Cindy Avelino's work and social media usage. Being able t easily see and share her work is an exciting prospect. 
   
7. A wolf's lair. - Similarly to Cindy Avelino, I decided to like A wolf's lair. from my business page as well to further curate my timeline for Whatwolf.
   

POWER GAMERS D&D

     On the Power Gamers D&D page I have newly liked the following business pages:

1. Dungeons & Dragons - Keeping up with updates from the creators of the game standard we use to play is very important so having them on the curated newsfeed will be fantastic.
2. Critical Role - Critical Role is a group of one of the most well-known streaming D&D groups. They run many fundraisers and help the communities they are involved in. Keeping up with them will be important in keeping up with applicable hashtags and trends. 
   
3. Wyrmwood - Wyrmwood is a well-known and high-quality provider of gaming trays, tables, dice, and more. As I personally use Wyrmood products when I play outside of the Power Gamers campaign I thought it would be a good idea to like their page from our business page.
4. Cantrip Candles - Cantrip Candles is a small, local business from LA that makes D&D themed scented candles with a map drawn on the lid of each one for use in your game should you choose. When we can gather safely again I'm hoping to get a few of these candles to help with the feeling and environment of our Power Gamers sessions. 
   
5. JourneyQuest - JourneyQuest is a D&D-themed series of movies that I was introduced to by two members of Power Gamers. It is a hilarious watch and I think that we would do well to start trying to connect with them.
   
6. Francis Roberts // Old Man Wizard - Francis is actually an old friend of mine who I met when he was in a band at the local renaissance faire. His newer work is a genre called 'dungeonsynth' which is very fitting for D&D. Old Man Wizard is his current band/project as well. 
   
7. Cindy Avelino - Similarly to my Whatwolf page I decided to like Cindy Avelino's page on Power Gamers as well. Her bases as in part intended for Dungeons and Dragons characters. 
   

Wk5-B: Learning about FaceBook Data Collecting

 

     Facebook (and general) analytics are a great asset when gauging what content your audience enjoys. Post Reach allows you to get an idea of how much of your audience is seeing your content or advertisements and Post Engagement gives you an idea of how many people interact with and enjoy your content. These sets of data are helpful in curating your content to maximize your potential on social media. 

     There are three main types of post reach -- organic, viral, and paid. Reach of all types will show you how many people have seen your content on their Facebook feeds, whether they have Liked or Followed your page or not (including if you are running paid advertisements) as when your fans interact with your content it will appear on their friends feeds as well giving you a wider reach. Post Reach can be a good benchmarker as well, showing you when your fans are most active, thus giving you a better idea of when to post curated content for maximum view and engagement.

     With Post Engagement you see an increase in post reach when, as mentioned above, fans interact with or share your content. Post Engagement is an important metric, in my opinion, as it can help pinpoint more accurately what kind of content your audience enjoys seeing. Taking the extra step to react, comment, and especially share is so beneficial to businesses that rely on social media to be successful. As your Post Engagement increases you can curate your content more accurately alongside the Post Reach data to better maximize your view and engagement.

List of Pages Commented On : Teresa Joy's Art, Manley's Dragons And Exotics Pet Breeder (arachnid warning!), Dun Central Independent Game Studio

Wk5: Alternate Assignment

 

     I have been running my Whatwolf page since October 17, 2017. I currently have 153 likes and 157 follows. I haven't been using it often as of recently as I have not been producing much art or other applicable content.

     I created the Power Gamers D&D Facebook page on August 14, 2020 and we have 27 likes and 32 follows. I usually use it to repost D&D memes and try to post our session reminders to it when I'm able to. 

Cindy Avelino - Cindy Avelino also uses her Facebook to advertise and sell her artwork, her Facebook sort of crosses over both of my businesses as she has some TTRPG focused artwork. I feel she uses Facebook very effectively, as I found her via advertisement campaigns she ran on Facebook, and she uses it to show her own personal work as well as advertising her things for sale on Gumroad. She usually posts multiple times a week, either showing new content or reminders of sales on her Gumroad bases. I think her cover photo and calls to action are very well done. I can't think of any way she could be using Facebook more effectively but I can absolutely take a few pages from her book to better my own social media use.

A Wolf's Lair - Volkyrax uses their Facebook to share their artwork and commissions as well as freelance and offer their services. They don't post very often, every few weeks with a few smaller time gaps here and there.  I really like the art they used for their cover photo but I think their calls to action could be better set up. Overall I think that they have room for improvement in their use of Facebook. I think that I could improve my own use by paying more attention to hashtags.

A Cup of Conure - A Cup of Conure is run by a long-time friend of mine, Cassidy, she saw significant growth over the 2020 year due to proper usage of social media. She uses the page to advertise and show art, share videos and pictures of her pet birds, and use her platform for local bird disaster fundraising.  She posts fairly consistently every week, sometimes more, and her choice of cover photo and calls to action are well done. I can (and do!) learn a lot watching how Cassidy manages her social media presence. 

Wk4-B: Defining MY target markets

    

     Defining your target market is an important step in beginning to market yourself. Knowing your target market will make defining audiences for ad campaigns much simpler and allow you a higher chance of reaching people that will find an interest in your business versus not limiting your market and allowing your advertisement to run too broadly could result in a waste of funds with little to no return. 

     For Whatwolf I have two target markets to define, one for the freelancing end and one for the streaming/gaming end. For the freelancing end, I have a few options as far as market choice goes, I can swing broad with my watercolor and acrylic illustrations and attempt to reach people 18-65+ with an interest in nature, art, and home decor or I could choose a niche within my art style and choose, say, people 18-35+ with an interest in art, animals, and commission work to find people within certain art communities online. On the streaming end I tend to aim for a limited audience, people 18-30+ with an interest in simulation, roleplaying, and occasional variety games and with the added rise in 'VTubers' I could utilize that to my advantage as I have been using a streaming avatar for over a year. 

     For Power Gamers D&D I have fewer options as far as my target market goes as it is a much more niche subject. For the most part I would say the audience we are aiming for varies slightly between the two campaigns, for the Legends of Lyria campaign I would go for people 18-35+ with an interest in horror, adventure, and storytelling and for our Auror Academy I would look for people 18-35+ with an interest in Harry Potter, magic, and storytelling. 

Wk4-A: Defining Target Markets

 

     Target markets are an extremely important thing to consider when working on your marketing plans. Proper usage of target markets can send your product trending upwards. 

Subway vs. Hungry Bear

    While similar in targeted audiences there are some clear differences in the marketing used and the designs of the websites chosen. With both companies being sandwich based their offerings are mildly similar but you can see quickly that one company (Subway) has access to front and back end web developers to give their customers a more in-depth and visually stimulating view of their offerings while the other (Hungry Bear) has a simpler design that may have been set up by a third-party with limited access to update information. 

      Subway has a clear focus on informing their audience about their ethical, sustainable, and community efforts as well as current Covid information and their offerings of remote pick up. Their information is delivered in light, springish colors and large images of some of their offerings.  Personally, I find the information and large blocks overwhelming though they do get the point across. On their about and history pages you can find their call to action and the history of the company's growth. 

   Hungry Bear on the other hand is extremely basic in its offerings, also utilizing the large block-style layouts though in a bold red with green accents. Information on the menus and catering are quickly and easily accessed. The about page, unfortunately, does not convey much information regarding the life and history of the deli and I was unable to find any clear call to action on the website.

     Overall while having similar target audiences they are able to convey similar information in similar ways while still being distinctly different from one another. I do wish that the Hungry Bear website had more information accessible but I also know that front and back end web design isn't always the easiest beast to master.     

Wk3-B: Developing a Brand

 Power Gamers

     The creation of Power Gamers was started largely by a friend of mine, DJ, I was brought on late in the project to help organize things and assist with art/graphics. DJ composed our current logo and I'm currently working with a friend of mine to make an easier-to-use vector logo. Our color scheme is green and purple which was chosen by DJ. While they are difficult colors to combine I do my best to utilize them in a pleasing way. At the moment our marketing material is not as cohesive as I would like but I am working on an overhaul of our logo, graphics, and social media profiles to fit a more singular brand. 

Whatwolf

     On the other hand, I have my personal brand, Whatwolf. I create almost all of the art, graphics, and products for this brand, and use it as a catch-all for my art and streaming content. I have a logo and a character that I play, complete with webcam overlay, who is a large Maned Wolf named Mosh. I use a specific font that I created for all of my Whatwolf graphics that is actually my handwriting to give it more of a homemade feel. I use this branding consistently over Facebook and Twitch, but I use my Twitter for personal things as well making it is less streamlined to the brand. 

  

     Developing and building a brand is very difficult without prior knowledge or research to back up your actions. Best practices are very important to find and follow to ensure that you are maximizing your use and benefits from various social media sites. Making sure that your brand fits the niche you're looking to inhabit is an important thing to consider when planning and building your project.

     With online-only brands, it is extremely important to utilize the social media use of your audience. Engagement via Facebook or Twitter can help cement your brand and/or character for people and assist in recall when they think of your brand. The camaraderie with other brands that can be achieved via these mediums can also help you push yourself to the forefront as your name flickers across feeds they otherwise may not.

     Overall, building a brand takes a lot of work and study for you to be successful. Keep up on current trends across similar brands on your social media sites to ensure that you are staying relevant and avoiding any current 'hot button' issues. Remaining consistent in your use and graphics can help you propel your brand.

Wk3-A: Aesthetics, Design, and Branding

 

A Look at Designs

     Design is an important way to retain an interest in the information your website or posts are conveying. Visual language is at times an overlooked medium of communication and, unfortunately, that can cost a company in the long run. Effective and mindful design and branding can make your product or project go future. 

     The following two websites, I felt, were lacking in one area or another and will further explain that below. No ill intent is meant towards the creators and designers of these works, these are just my observations and opinions built upon those. 

Penny Juice

     Right upfront, the color choices for this website threw me off. While coherent they are oversaturated with little contrast, causing difficulty while I tried to read the information. When you hover over the red buttons on the pages they flip to a pure green; as this color is used nowhere else in the layout it is jarring to see suddenly. Also, despite having a Twitter they did not include it in the social media links in the top left of their footer with the Facebook emblem.

     While I do think this website was professionally done they may have followed the customer's lead more than was advisable for a visually appealing website. I think that finding a more coherent color palette would fix the issues pointed out besides adding the Twitter icon alongside the Facebook icon. For the most part, the site was easily navigable and user friendly. 

Gates N Fences

     Upon opening up Gates N Fences I was given more information at once than a home page should have. The various links strewn through the text make navigation difficult and the wall of buttons to the left are overwhelming at minimum. Only some of the images on the site have a copyright overlay on mouse hover giving it a very disjointed feeling.

     Overall, I think this website was made by a novice designer, they have the basics there but the execution is lacking. If they could change the navigation buttons to be dropdown or hover reacted lists that would help reduce how long the list of red is. A concise home page would be better as well; keeping the images and explanations where they are relevant would clean up the overall feeling from the website.

    Alternately, I chose the following two websites based on their strengths. Their modernism is something to watch to ensure that you are following any necessary trends in your industry. Aesthetic in design can change quickly. Keep an eye on competitors to make sure you are keeping up!

Apple

     I feel like no list of who's who in design can be complete sans Apple. Their sleek design with an eye for minimalism covers phone and website alike. Navigation is simple and easy to access, while images softly balance out large blocks of information. Color is well balanced over the site and draws the viewer's eye. 

     This website seems professionally done and expensive to boot. More difficult coding is used to have the navigation track as a header as you scroll down. Viewing this site reinforces the visual flaws of the previous two. A lot of things can be learned by studying Apple's design work.

Toyota

     In a similar vein to the Apple website, the Toyota website is clean and precise. The limited color palette extends over the entire site giving it a sense of cohesion. Navigation is simple and easy to access. At the bottom, they have neatly categorized articles spanning sales to maintenance and more to help their customers find what they need.

     I have no doubt that this website was professionally done. The Toyota website does a great job of sharing information cleanly. It is well put together with the car carousel navigation and ways to filter those. The bold image squares feel at home in the negative space. 

     Overall each website had more positives or negatives than I could condense into one blog post. Almost every website will have an aspect someone doesn't like; the challenge is properly utilizing and balancing the most loved things. Get used to the balance and your design will flourish!