#like my content is hyper specific for a demographic of people like ME
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if you don’t think that your comments in the reblogs mean anything, i just want you guys to know that i still go back and read through them even now, months after you wrote those comments.
so please reblog and leave comments, i promise it means more to the writer than you realise.
#they still mean a lot to me#to know that people enjoy my writing#even though i rarely write anymore besides random thirsts#likes don’t mean much on tumblr lol#this app is built on reblogs#like ok u saw my posts#but did u enjoy it tho??#like i don’t even care that much about reblogging so more people can see#like my content is hyper specific for a demographic of people like ME#if u wanted to read my content you would have to search for it#what i want is to know your thoughts on it#reblogging and being able leaving your comments in the tags is my favourite feature of any social media app ever#that’s why my tags are all like this#i want to know how reading what i write made you feel#that’s all#just some thoughts i had recently
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Welcome New Followers Post xiv
gonna make this bullet points of Things to Know because deadlines, but hi! welcome!
-this is not a jewish identity or a jumblr blog. i am a jewish person and a holocaust historian, so my content often overlaps with those realms of tumblr
-this is first and foremost a public history blog. public history and public historians do history for the public. we're passionate about transmitting complex historical topics from the academe to the people, and we're in constant (one-sided lmao) conversation with entities such as: film writers and producers, textbook writers, government bodies, journalists, etc regarding the construction of public memory, and the responsibilities that entails
-you don't have to ask if something is ok to reblog. I appreciate the thought, but unless I turn off reblogs or specifically ask people not to engage in certain ways, you're fine, that said:
-I do see and read all tags, replies, and rbs. I consider them public, and I often respond to them as new posts. If you want to engage with me and don't want others to see, then send me an ask which includes the words "please respond privately"
-You can should disagree with me and tell me when you think I'm wrong! Now, I won't lie, years of existing as a young-appearing hyper feminine (i like skirts and bows and sparkly shoes it is what it is) female, Jewish historian have made me defensive and bitey af, and I often misread neutral tones as "coming for me" tones and respond in kind. I apologize for when/if that happens to you, and I assure that, once I realize you're not coming at me in bad faith, I will feel horribly guilty.
-There is a learning curve here. I don't have any desire to gatekeep my blog (it's the opposite tbh), but I do use high level terms which can have multiple meanings in different contexts. I actively try to avoid using impenetrable academic jargon in this space, but sometimes that jargon is the only appropriate phrasing available. In those cases, I urge you to do some research and poke around and then, if you still don't understand what I mean, DM me.
-I am a white, American woman. I am actively anti-racist, and anti-bigotry in general, but there will be times when I do or say something clueless or privileged. If you see that and you have the energy, please tell me! I want this blog to be a welcome place for all,* and I appreciate call-outs as an opportunity for (un)learning.
-Building on that, this is an anti-bigotry space which I'd like people of all demographics and identities to feel comfortable engaging with.* That said, I don't play nice when some random corner of tumblr rolls up in here and barfs their shit all over my posts.
-I am a cringe millennial. I started this blog in 2011, when I was 21, had just finished college, before I'd heard back from any graduate schools, and before I had much resembling a career. I am currently 34. It's fine. But a lot of you are in your teens and 20s and are just starting on your careers, so like, please don't negatively compare yourselves to me or get self-deprecating when/if you want to contact me. We all learn and achieve at different paces and that's ok.
-My book, The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto, will be released in Fall 2025. Trust me I will be screaming from the rooftops and you will not miss the announcements lmao.
-If I don't reply to an ask or a DM, it's not because I hate you. There are 800 reasons why I may not reply, and none of them are personal.
and finally
-I am not your Good Leftist Anti-Zionist Jew. I am not here as a rhetorical cudgel for left-wing anti-Semites who seek out Jews with politics similar to mine to then use as a weapon against other Jewish folks. Don't fucking do it.
*That does not mean that everything I post here will make you feel comfortable. History isn't supposed to make you feel comfortable. Sometimes, it can and should make you feel actively uncomfortable, because that discomfort/cognitive dissonance means you're learning (keep your cognitive dissonance temper tantrums tf away from me, tho). It does mean that I, as an individual, want you all to feel that this is a space where you are welcome to learn and ask questions.
i tried to use bullet points to keep this short, and i failed miserably. on brand.
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Unveiling the Power of Local SEO: How an SEO Agency Near Me Can Identify and Leverage Local Trends for Your Business
In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for the success of any business. One of the most effective strategies to achieve this is by harnessing the power of local search engine optimization (SEO). For businesses looking to enhance their online visibility and connect with local customers, partnering with an SEO agency near me is not just a choice but a strategic move towards growth.
Local SEO: A Brief Overview
Local SEO is a specialized branch of search engine optimization that focuses on optimizing a business's online presence to attract local customers. With the majority of consumers relying on search engines to find products and services in their vicinity, local SEO becomes a game-changer for businesses aiming to thrive in their local markets.
The Role of an SEO Agency Near Me
Collaborating with an SEO agency near me offers several advantages, particularly in understanding and leveraging local trends. Here's how such an agency can identify and capitalize on these trends to propel your business forward:
Proximity to Local Dynamics
An SEO agency near you inherently understands the local dynamics, culture, and trends that shape your business environment. This proximity enables them to create targeted strategies that resonate with your local audience, ensuring that your business is aligned with the specific needs and preferences of your community.
Keyword Optimization for Local Searches
Localized keywords play a pivotal role in enhancing your business's visibility in local search results. An SEO agency near me possesses the knowledge to identify and leverage the most relevant local keywords for your business. This includes incorporating location-specific terms that potential customers are likely to use when searching for products or services in your area.
Google My Business Optimization
For businesses aiming to thrive locally, optimizing their Google My Business (GMB) listing is paramount. An SEO agency near me can ensure that your GMB profile is not only complete and accurate but also optimized for local searches. This includes managing customer reviews, updating business information, and utilizing GMB features to engage with your local audience effectively.
Content Localization Strategies
Local trends are often reflected in the way people consume content. An SEO agency near you can tailor your content to align with the interests and preferences of your local audience. Whether it's creating blog posts, social media updates, or other content types, a local SEO expert can craft materials that resonate with your community, fostering a stronger connection with potential customers.
Mobile Optimization for Local Searches
As mobile devices become increasingly integral to the way people search for local businesses, optimizing your website for mobile is crucial. An SEO agency near me can ensure that your website is not only mobile-friendly but also optimized for local searches, providing a seamless experience for users searching for products or services on the go.
Hyperlocal Targeting
Understanding the nuances of different neighborhoods within your local area is vital for effective hyperlocal targeting. An SEO agency near you can delve deep into the specifics of your community, identifying trends and preferences that may vary from one neighborhood to another. This insight allows for the creation of hyper-targeted campaigns that resonate with specific local demographics.
Community Engagement Strategies
Local trends are often shaped by community events, activities, and discussions. An SEO agency near me can develop strategies that involve active participation in local community engagement, whether through partnerships, sponsorships, or online forums. By becoming an integral part of the local community, your business can enhance its reputation and visibility.
Conclusion
In the dynamic world of digital marketing, leveraging local SEO trends is indispensable for businesses seeking to establish a strong online presence within their communities. Collaborating with an SEO agency near you is a strategic decision that goes beyond mere geographical proximity. It opens the door to a wealth of localized insights, ensuring that your business is well-positioned to capitalize on the unique trends and opportunities in your area. Embrace the power of local SEO, and let an SEO agency near me guide your business towards sustained growth in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
#seo#digitalmarketing#marketing#socialmediamarketing#socialmedia#webdesign#branding#business#onlinemarketing#contentmarketing#website#marketingdigital#searchengineoptimization#surajmahawar#ecommerce#webdevelopment#digitalmarketingagency#marketingstrategy#instagram#advertising#entrepreneur#marketingtips#design#wordpress#digital#graphicdesign#websitedesign#smallbusiness#smm#emailmarketing
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How Internet Marketing Helps Dental Clinics Gain Patients?
Word of mouth isn’t enough for dental clinics to thrive in today's digital age. A glowing recommendation from a happy patient is gold, but how do you spread that word to a broader audience? Enter internet marketing for dental clinics—your golden ticket to reaching more patients, building trust, and filling up those appointment slots. Let’s explore how leveraging the power of online marketing can turn your clinic into a thriving practice.
Building an Online Presence That Sparkles
Imagine a potential patient searching for a new dentist. Where do they go? The internet! With most people glued to their smartphones, online presence is no longer optional. It’s essential. Internet marketing for dental clinics starts with a strong website that showcases your services, team, and values.
But that’s just the beginning. Beyond a well-designed website, there’s the power of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). SEO ensures that when someone searches “best dental clinic near me,” your clinic ranks at the top of the search results. A high-ranking website is like having a prime billboard on a busy street—it drives attention and boosts credibility.
Attracting Patients Through Social Media
Social media is more than just a place to share cute cat videos; it’s a powerful tool for engaging with current and future patients. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow dental clinics to showcase before-and-after photos, educate patients about dental hygiene, and promote special offers.
Social media also builds trust. By regularly posting updates, sharing patient success stories, and interacting with your audience, you create a sense of community. The more familiar your clinic feels to potential patients, the more likely they are to pick up the phone and schedule an appointment. digital marketing for dental clinics thrives on social media engagement.
Targeting the Right Audience with Paid Ads
Sometimes, organic reach isn’t enough. This is where paid online advertising comes in. Whether it’s Google Ads or Facebook Ads, these platforms allow you to target specific demographics—like people in your area actively searching for dental services.
With targeted ads, your clinic appears precisely where and when it matters most. For example, a mother looking for a pediatric dentist or someone seeking cosmetic dental work could be served an ad highlighting your clinic's expertise. This hyper-targeted approach is one of the most effective aspects of internet marketing for dental clinics.
Building Trust with Patient Reviews
People trust other people. Before booking a dental appointment, many potential patients will read online reviews. Positive reviews can be a game-changer for your clinic, especially on platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, or social media. Encouraging satisfied patients to leave glowing reviews will help build your clinic’s reputation and trustworthiness.
And don’t forget that responding to positive or negative reviews shows that you care about your patients' feedback. This level of engagement reinforces trust and makes your clinic stand out from the competition.
Educational Content That Converts
Patients want to feel informed before committing to a dental procedure. By creating educational content like blogs, videos, or infographics, you position your clinic as a trustworthy authority in dental health. Writing blogs on “How to Prevent Cavities” or “What to Expect During a Root Canal” can answer common patient concerns and drive traffic to your website.
Plus, content creation is an excellent way to incorporate keywords like internet marketing for dental clinics, helping your clinic rank higher in search engine results. Not only does this drive more traffic to your website, but it also helps potential patients make informed decisions—leading them straight to your door.
Email Marketing: A Personal Touch
Email marketing is another fantastic tool in your online marketing toolkit. Sending personalised emails to existing patients reminding them of their appointments or promoting new services can keep your clinic at the forefront of your mind.
You can also create email campaigns targeting potential patients who have visited your website but haven’t yet booked an appointment. A friendly follow-up email offering a discount on their first visit might just be the nudge they need.
Conclusion: It's Time to Embrace the Digital World
The benefits of internet marketing for dental clinics are clear—it helps you reach more patients, build lasting relationships, and grow your practice. From SEO and social media to paid ads and educational content, endless opportunities exist to make your clinic stand out in an increasingly competitive market.
Source By - https://tinyurl.com/4xzfebc8
#digital marketing agency for dentists#digital marketing for dental clinic#dental website marketing#dental digital marketing company#dental digital marketing
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Dear Youtube. Who is people in "people also watched"? That statement at minimum implies some correlation to stuff I watched previously. And let me tell you it has non.
Literally being spammed with at best misogyny to nazi pipeline entry level videos by reason bros or hyper conservative gamer "tradwives" with "bisexual" lighting but not really, over ragebait gamer channels crying about the latest wokeTM outrage, to people quite literally preaching that people like me and who I care very deeply about should not be allowed to exist, either in very eloquent, dog whistle filled, psydo intellectual speech or outright slur slinging.
What exactly made you think I was inclined to watch that? Some of the content is quite literally illegal in my country; in a way that the law technically assumes juristiction over the rest of the world when it comes to that specific thing. (not the you actually care about the report button unless it's someone talking about queer kids' suicide risk, of course. Can't have an ad under that, can we?)
Please for the love of all that you hold dear, give me the ability to veto the algorithm's reasoning on that post. Or better yet, show it to me.
Literally 80% of the creators I watch are queer or women. Yes even the gaming ones.
I only interact with fantasy and Warhammer stuff via people that squarely fall under the descriptor "wokehammer"
I click not interested and don't recommend channel literal hundreds of times a day
What else am I supposed to do???
But don't worry. We all know what it is. You are actively profiteering off that pipeline. Your algorithm grasps for every straw to find a reason to shit that crap in people's recoms. And you allow people to target us with this shit.
And this is why I will never uninstall ublock and why I will keep giving money to creators directly instead. Let the people who pay Enlo so their dumbass opinions float to the top on Twitter fund this shit.
On a side not. If I see an ad for your product on YouTube on my phone, it quite literally guarantees I will never use your product or play your shitty ass mobile game. I know I'm old and part of the least marketable demographic. But still.
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hey, so… like, it’s genuinely so frustrating and painful, as an ace person, watching the way trans people are being treated right now and the way that issue is bubbling out into the rest of the community and harming a ton of people, both trans and not. Like, divorce the issue from your opinions on Being Trans: those are people who are deserving of respect, and they are not getting it, and that is leading to a lot of other people also deserving of respect Also not getting it, because people are people, and harm to one kind of people inevitably leads to harm of people in general. I have noticed an infuriating uptick in pornbots and other hyper-sexual posts across this site that are tagged ‘trans’ when they don’t show trans people, or picture trans people and tagged specifically to bring those posts to demographics who do not want to see them. (Asexual, Aromantic, Sfw, etc) Not because they’re transphobic, but because they’re ace and uninterested in seeing barely-clothed or naked sex workers on their feeds. Further than that, I’ve noticed that whenever I block and report those bots/accounts, I quickly receive notifications thanking me for reporting the ones that had trans people in them, but I literally never get notifs for any of the other, often significantly more vulgar and pornographic, posts. This makes me genuinely nauseous. I have no interest in seeing sex workers in my feed, regardless of orientation or gender. Further than that, the behavior of deliberately tagging posts to send them to people who don’t want to see them, either to force that content onto people who don’t want to see it or to try to sow discord between demographics (after a long string of literal porn posts on my dash, all labeled like this, without even thinking, I rather angrily considered blocking the ‘trans’ tags from my account entirely. I’m willing to bet that’s probably some people’s motivation for doing this) is completely unacceptable and disgusting. Block and report people who do that crud. Further than THAT, the fact that this issue isn’t being handled on the part of the staff when they have demonstrated, to me at least, that they are more than capable of handling reports of misconduct when it pertains to a specific demographic they have been proven to dislike in the past is completely unacceptable and deeply disturbing.
If you’re a trans person on this site, hello! I hope your having a good day and you’re drinking plenty of water. As you are a person just like everyone else on this cursed hellsite, I expect you are tagging your posts like we all are, with relevant information pertaining to the subject and concerns of your posts. I’ve no intention of blocking you for any reason I wouldn’t block anyone else. To everyone: Curate your internet experience. Do no harm and take no shit. Have a good day, and drink water.
#I got three hours of sleep last night and I woke up to two ‘thanks for helping us out’ notifications#The frankly disgusting things I’ve seen that Haven’t involved trans ppl have of course gone completely unnoticed#I’m filled with wrath and caffeine and I’m about to shoot something with lightning from my eyeballs actually#Hhhhhhhhdjfjhghfjjjlkgh
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Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Week 1)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was released to a very small audience in 2010, mostly due to a marketing push that seemed to advertise directly to it's demographic, video games, anime and comics that the films aesthetic harkened from. The mainstream audience it desperately needed to be successful was left by the wayside. Simon Abrams for Slant Magazine said in 2010, "the sad thing about Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is that people assumed that because it embraced its niche-oriented demographic's interests, in its ad campaign and in its content, that it was destined for cult status and nothing more." Cult status it was destined for, and cult status it certainly has now. The film has aged remarkably well, with critics citing it as "one of the best films of 2010" and being considered a top tier Edgar Wright picture alongside "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz". It's easily his most "in your face" stylistically with its combo counters, slo-mo fights, video game sound effects and enemies turning into coins upon being defeated in single combat.
I know part of this essay is discussing how we remember things, but honestly nothing has really changed in my opinion over the years. Scott is still an idiot and the movie doesn't do as good of a job condemning his actions as the comic does. I love how every character is hyper specific to the point where every character is somebody's favorite one. Even if they lack depth, it's only because they're are so many and so little time. I love that the film is praised for it's outsized, macro moments but I also love it always has time for sight gags and allusions to character history throughout the many fights to further entrench you in the world. I love how this is a movies star flashpoint movie where many of it's stars are just on the cusp of becoming the signature movie stars we know today(I.E. Chris Evans, Brie Larson and Aubrey Plaza to name a few).
However, I do think that documentary and memory is vastly different. Memory, although the emotions attached to one could be more prevalent, is extremely fragile. It can age, change without warning, dilapidate in precision and exist outside of linear chronology. Documentary is far more precise, the images are linear, clear and cold in it's point of view. I think it's extremely important to do analysis like this though. Me and my relationship to Scott Pilgrim certainly isn't a good example but they're are certainly others. I mean we have all had different thoughts about different things as time goes by. Decisions we would've/could've/should've made and all that. This is great experiment, especially since nostalgia can be incredibly damaging. Especially in a time where mainstream movies are made to cater to our inner child and movies for adults have been largely phased out as it's not a guaranteed market for execs to invest in(2023 seeming to be a start out this cycle for movies at least). I think it's important to question everything, even ourselves.
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another thing that i've been thinking about while i'm still fixated on this topic; another reason as to why i wish i didn't have to label myself is the way social media algorithms work.
so obviously social media algorithms work by categorizing people into demographics. they then go on to cultivate content to show to these demographics. this is of course an invention of the dark engine of capitalism and i hate it, but i also can't help but notice that algorithms often get confused about what demographic i lean towards.
sure, algorithms understand that i'm queer, leftist, some flavor of neurodivergence, and have a pornography addiction, but the content i receive on places like tiktok is usually extremely broad beyond and really just encompasses the scope of "horny auDHD queer leftist who also likes vtubers and anime and video games sometimes."
on tiktok, i receive those transfem slideshows that use bridget's theme as the sound, i receive content targeted towards trans men, towards lesbians, towards gay men, and occasionally content towards specific flavors on nonbinary people, aroaces, bisexuals, and those ultra hyper-specific microlabels that fall under the MOGAI umbrella (no hate to MOGAI, of course, but it's an umbrella that i don't really see myself under), regardless of if and how i interact with all this content. usually i don't really do much more that like videos, which is the lowest form of engagement.
in short, while i appreciate how broad all the content i receive is - i love exposing myself to experiences that are not my own - if social media is supposed to show us content that caters to us and can be marketed to us, then it feels noticeable that algorithms don't know how to market to me. it's almost funny. but it also leaves me feeling alienated in my experience and wishing that i didn't have to fit into a demographic.
Thank you for sharing your introspection on this post (for those who missed it): https://at.tumblr.com/marvellovelacevt/707838783056461824/8o6fu1lv0bbf
I found this very intriguing! So, do you feel like there's a lack of more precise labels to cover your experiences and identity? Or is it a lack of representation of your experiences and identity? If that made sense. As in, is it hard for you to find people who speak of experiences and identities that *match* yours?
"Is using catch-all labels like 'non-binary' or 'queer' hampering my ability to understand who I am as a person?"
—I thought this was really interesting. In cultural anthropology (I only took a beginner course, so I'm not speaking as an expert), there's discourse of whether language determines a group's culture or if culture determines a group's language. What you just said makes me think of that very thing, as it sounds like language is shaping the "culture" (though in this case, I'd say your "understanding") of your identity, whereas your identity should be shaping the language.
i'm glad it interested you!
so, my relationship with my gender, sexuality, and self-image is really really complicated. it's less that i want a precise label for my identities and more that i don't want to have to use a label at all while still having control of how my identity is perceived. my identity is really hard for me to put into words sometimes even when they should feel concrete!
the term nonbinary can spark a lot of speculation about an identity when you lack a precise label. nonbinary is an umbrella, after all. there's a belief held by a lot of people that nonbinary is "diet woman", when that's demonstrably untrue as a whole and especially for me. if i'm thinking as my identity as a set of sliders, the slider for my internal identity skews very slightly masculine of center. but then, my outward appearance doesn't reflect that, and i don't want it to. presentation-wise, i skew more feminine. naturally, people are going to see me as "diet woman", and for that, i can't fault them. but they're objectively incorrect about their assumptions!
my gender is quite possibly the most difficult thing about myself to truly define because when i look at more precise labels, none of them reflect how i feel, because when i think of gender, i break it down into several parts; the internal, the presentation, and the performance. the performance aspect of my gender is the most unknown to me because i don't really register how i act at all. i am a blind spot for my perception. it doesn't help that because of One Very Specific Mental Illness I Have But Will Not Disclose, i tend towards being a social chameleon.
my sexuality is easier for me to place, but it's still very messy to define. in short, i guess that, on paper, i am biromantic and demisexual. i resonate with those experiences the most. but also... i don't? not entirely.
it's less an attraction to specific genders that i feel and more an attraction to queerness in every aspect. i consider myself t4t as long as i've gotten to know someone. especially in regards to other nonbinary or gender non-conforming people. when i think of the possibility of dating someone who is cisgender or when a cisgender person takes an interest in me, i feel like something hits a panic button inside of me and i feel like i have to leave the situation immediately. this happens most often with cisgender and heterosexual men, but it happens regardless of whether it's a cis man or woman and regardless of sexual or romantic orientation. it mostly ends up being a circumstance of cishet men being very common to encounter and them seeing queer, vaguely feminine people as something interesting and fun.
and so that's why i say i'm queer and not biromantic demisexual. but then, that also feels like a cop-out?
i have a lot of thoughts and feelings about my identity and i wish i had a better word for it for convenience. a label is convenient. but i also wish i didn't have to want a label for that convenience and that i could exist using broader labels without feeling like my identity is speculated about or doubted, you know? like personally i think "unlabeled" as a term/label fucks hard but then it also has a reputation of celebrities using it to foster speculation and parasocial relationships with their fanbases and then feeling it gives them a free pass to comment on queer issues or queer media in a way that makes them look really close-minded (not naming names. if you know you know.)
so, i guess my introspection is more about exploring why i feel like i have to need labels in the first place.
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(1/2) Hi! I just came here from SLAOS to say that your story is so, so awesome and I saw that part of your trouble with continuing is the association with VLD. Have you ever thought about turning it into something original? It might sound daunting if you've never done that before, but it's not that bad - it's something I've done a few times (though I've never written anything as good as SLAOS!). I could even help you, if you have an outline or something?
Hey!! Thank you for this Ask--it’s always a little startling but so nice to get these occasional reminders people still read (and reread) and enjoy SLAOS. The enthusiasm for this fic has always bowled me over and even years on continues to do so.
In answer to your actual question...I’m afraid my answer might get a little complicated, so forgive me for that, but it opens the door for a lot of things I have previously and continue to think about in regards to SLAOS, and in such a direct context I can’t help but address them.
This might get a little lengthy, so for sanity’s sake, I’ve put it under a cut.
I’ve certainly thought in the past about reworking SLAOS into something original. And writing original work on its face isn’t necessarily something I’m concerned about. I’m an MFA in Writing student. I do that.
I do have concerns regarding SLAOS specifically, though, that make me very hesitant to ever consider adapting it to an original work without significant changes. These are very separate from my original problems with VLD and its fandom nightmares. It’s true that the main, original, reason I stopped working on SLAOS is because of VLD. However, since then, my reasons for not finishing this fic have changed somewhat. I’ve had enough time away from VLD that I think I am capable of going “fuck canon, my city now,” and finishing this fic purely out of love for it, my characters, and the dedicated fans it has. As I’ve always said, the utter love people have for this fic has always moved me--it has helped me heal in many ways I cannot begin to explain and further encouraged me to pursue my dreams of being an original novelist.
So, my main issue here is not about VLD and its bullshit. There’s a number of other factors influencing my considerations on finishing this fic, such as time and what fics I should prioritize, but I wouldn’t say even any of these are a deciding factor on finishing SLAOS.
For me, it’s a question on whether it is a smart, prudent, or even ethical decision to make in finishing SLAOS.
Let me say this: I love SLAOS. I love it with my whole heart. Lance and his family kept me company in very dark times, and a lot of it came from very personal places about my own gender struggles, family conflicts, and struggles to find places I belonged.
But I often question as to whether I should have ever written SLAOS.
Certainly, as a 21yr old, I do not think it is a fic I would start now. But I was 17 at the time, and my perspectives and the amount of forethought I put into my work have changed.
When I started SLAOS, I had very little plans going in. I loved Lance, I loved angst, I have a known propensity in my work for family drama and death, and I wanted to write Lance the kind of complex, perhaps sometimes tragic backstory I felt he deserved as much as, say, Keith or Pidge, who got that in canon. So, I crafted a tale about a youngest child raised largely by his sister, who is gender nonconforming and free spirited, and who then loses his sister and must learn to live in a world without her--and without his childhood innocence. He grows up, he learns when he must conform to achieve his goals and when he will stand his ground, he learns about the complications in his own family he didn’t see when he was younger, he forms new relationships and tries to work through a grief that never leaves him.
On the surface, I don’t think any of this is bad. In fact, it sounds like a pretty good story to read or to write. Continuing on, though, the complications form.
I’m not cuban or cuban-american, and I’m not latinx, and Lance and his family are. I am nonbinary, queer, half-jewish, and the child of immigrants, and all of that absolutely influenced the writing of SLAOS when digging into my personal and family history (even Lance being a youngest child raised primarily by an older sister was inspired by my own grandfather--who was the youngest of 10 children and was raised by his sister)--as too did my childhood in a largely-latinx area of Southern California, and the latinx friends I had and have, influence the story. A lot of it came from very real places experienced, felt, and seen--and what was pure fiction was just that. Innocent fiction written out of improvisation and love for that character.
However, in making Lance and his family less economically-stable, and similar things in the story, I perhaps inevitably wrote into stereotypes about latinx families I’m now more cognizant of. These may be stereotypes that come from many realities, and from many people I have known, but that doesn’t deny they’re stereotypes. Writing a stereotype is not inherently a bad thing, of course, but it does become more sticky when you’re not of that exact minority demographic. I didn’t write into that stereotype intentionally--my logic as best as I can remember was “I want Lance to have a complex backstory. Lance’s family is canonically big. I love big families who are emotionally close--they should all live in one house. Hm, they maybe have financial struggles”--but that doesn’t make it any less there.
I can point to other flaws in the work. The other perhaps questionable improv decision to make Lance’s father a gambler and then kill him off, even if that was pretty much just done on the logic of “oh god I don’t want to write about fathers. I have a shit relationship to my father. Fuck. Shit. I’ll kill him off there” is another sticky issue for me. Ritzie’s introduction scene has...issues, to say the least, as well. These may be scenes and plot points people don’t find issue with, haven’t considered in that light before, or even find me silly for worrying over now, but I am famously hyper-critical of my own work. I can’t help but worry and think often on how to be the best writer I can be, and with the most empathy.
There’s a lot of recent and ongoing discussion about who is allowed to write what stories. Certainly, I don’t subscribe to every opinion just because it’s been argued by someone or other--for example, I’m semi-critical of the concept that one can only write narrators and main characters of their own exact identities, particularly and especially if your work is removed from a plot or major content that deals with that identity. But being critical of some opinions does not mean that the overall thinking on “am I a good person to write this kind of story” is bad.
I don’t question that I was the only person who could have created the McClains exactly as they are in my story. They are mine, my characters, and that is intrinsic to me and who I am as a writer. But, I do question whether I was the best person to write that exact narrative, and whether I should have at least made different choices about some of the McClain’s circumstances and their world. SLAOS isn’t a story about race or wealth, but I cannot deny that those factors are present in the story, perhaps more heavily than others I have written.
In short, if I was a novelist conceptualizing this story now as an original piece of work, I do not think I would feel comfortable writing it. I would be concerned about the optics and the potential harm I could cause, to say the least. So, the only original adaption of SLAOS I can see myself ever writing would likely have to be different in many ways.
As it is, I am cautious of any original adaption or thoughts of adaption of SLAOS, at least at the moment--even if it was only released online and never published in any official manner.
As for finishing the fanfic.. I still have remaining concerns. It is one thing to say I wrote this fic in good faith at 17, it is another to say I made the conscious decision to finish it at 21. Even if my concerns are seen as hyperbolic, I never know what the future will bring, and I don’t need the heat and I don’t need discourse. It’s in the past now. If I finish it, I make it my present.
This isn’t me saying hands-down I will never finish SLAOS. I certainly know what I wanted to do with the rest of the fic, and I loved the ending I had planned (literally line by line planned. it was a killer ending). The readers and their pure love for this fic have always moved me and made me want to finish this story, if only for them. I’ve heard testimonials on how much this fic has helped people through dark spaces, and that means the goddamn world to me. It’s all I’ve ever wanted as a writer.
But--again momentarily setting aside my real ethical concerns about finishing this--I also have to consider what’s best for me, my career, and my own sanity. I would worry to death about the potential consequences of finishing this fic--who it may hurt, and how it could hurt me. I do not see a world where I finish this fic without modifications to several scenes, and disclaimers in my notes concerning my current adult thoughts on this story and its problems in regards to things that are too rooted in the fic to change, like Lance’s family’s economic situation. And, as of now, I just do not have the time or energy to do that.
So. SLAOS. I love it, I hate it, I worry about it intensely. I don’t want to let anyone down. I don’t want to hurt anyone. Will I finish it--do I want to finish it? I have no goddamn idea. It’s complicated. that’s the TLDR of this post. it’s really complicated.
Some of you may be completely boggled by my concerns addressed above, some of you may even find them silly. Some of you, for the first time, might look back on this story and see it in a less glowing light. I don’t know. You’re welcome to send me your thoughts and questions. But this is something I have been thinking about for a while and I had to get it off my chest.
Idk. Please try to understand where I’m coming from, even if you don’t agree with my concerns or the opinions being discussed among writers I’ve talked about. For me, these are incredibly real concerns, issues, and fears.
That’s it. Loraine loves you. Stan Mavis. Peace out.
#*throws up hands*#boy when I tell you I've thought about this a lot you have no idea#guys dear god i know this is long#but if you're a reader of SLAOS interested in its future#pls read#SLAOS talk#Anonymous#asks#questions for Nik
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Role of social media in the Fashion Industry
Acknowledgment
It is always a pleasure to thank all who have been a part of my capstone project journey. This project was a part of my specialization course which gave me a wonderful opportunity to interact with the people of the fashion industry and other experts.
Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to my parents who always encouraged me to take risks in life and are the pillars of my strength. Without their encouragement I may not have been able to complete this project.
Secondly, I would like to convey my deepest thanks to Bennett University and my mentor Prof. Sumita Vaid Dixit for providing invaluable guidance, suggestions throughout the project, and by helping me in putting this project together.
Thirdly, a big thank you to fashion experts Mr.Rahul Toppo from Chennai, Ms. Kriti Chawla fashion stylist from Popexo, NIFT graduate Prof Pratik Kumar Singh, Prof. Neelam and Kashish from Ranchi who is an aspiring fashion designer. Their opinions and insights helped me get a better perspective of the fashion industry.
In the end, I would like to thank all those who I have not been able to name in the acknowledgement but they have played an important role in my project. Personally, the opportunity to write this capstone project is a big milestone in my career development. I hope I'm able to get another opportunity to interact with all of you again.
Sincerely,
Rishika Singh
LA17MC061
Introduction
India's fashion industry is currently estimated at $70 billion, of which up to $9 billion is already digitally influenced, as in, shoppers are searching, browsing, and buying stuff online. Globally, and in India, fashion is the third most-followed topic among Instagram users after (movies and music).
Kashish from Ranchi who is aspiring in Fashion designing has said that being in the fashion industry and neglecting social media can be a great loss for anyone's career. "Social media plays a very important role, helps in learning the new trends, and motivates us to create good content, " she said.
Over the past few years, social media and digital media have drastically changed how people consume the content or any sort of news, especially in the fashion industry. Both fashion blogs and social media have recently made an elitist industry more available and relatable to regular customers. Social media has created an open channel of communication between organizations and citizens. Nowadays, content is expended online and individuals are not only reading content, but they are giving their inputs through comments and social media. Numerous sorts of fashion blogs overseen by regular people are giving customers an interior look into what utilized to be an elite, fashion-experts-only industry.
Rahul Toppo, a fashion designer from Chennai said, “Social media platforms play an important role in fashion today, we can showcase our collection, content, designs and we can connect and reach to many people”. Some of the young designers like Amit Aggarwal, Dhruv Kapoor, and many more are tapping on social media mainly active on Instagram.
CHAPTER 1
Why are the fashion designers tapping in the world of social media?
In 2012, Facebook spent $1 billion to acquire what was then just a photo-sharing app. Over the years, however, Instagram has not only added a slew of features that attracts more users but also become a marketing and selling platform for business.
Everyone has been obsessing over the old designers like Manish Malhotra, Sanjay Garg, Rohit Bal, and Sabya Sacchi for forever now. Even though they’re evergreen designers in India who all the people in the country wish to wear and admire. The designs and work of these legendaries have always inspired others to work more and more and know the audience wants. The Indian customers are now becoming modernized and more open to the labels from such upcoming Indian fashion designers.
Preeti Verma, founder of an Indie label Runaway Bicycle, managed to go courtesy Instagram. Verna says keeping her Instagram buzzy and updated is more work than managing the website of fashion.“We put a great deal of thinking into our Instagram feed. We have a writer and an art director who manage the quality of content. We shoot our products specifically for the app. We push out one post every day, and it certainly is a more live medium to maintain, unlike our website,” she said.
Pratik Kumar, a professor of Fashion Designing has stated, “I’m in this fashion industry for around 10 years now and can say that in the early time, designers lacked the internet, the age of information technology but now everything is digitized and even the industry is turning into robotics.”
Manish Malhotra talks of fashion in the age of Instagram, “Brand experience today is just a click away. Digital media has revolutionized a hyper form of window shopping. Earlier, the only people privy to what I was showcasing were those who attended the show or came across it in the newspapers the next day. Today, everyone has a front-row seat to my shows via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Livestream.”
Caption: The instagram account of Manish Malhotra (Source: Instagram)
What advantages do Social media have?
Fashion brands on social media, it is a modern platform for interaction between brand and customer. Before the arrival of the internet, all the programs for launching any design or any clothes or any brands were done through glossy magazines, TV, etc. And social media is ruling many facets of businesses and their impact on their lives is enormous.
It gives low to zero overhead cost
There’ll be no need for expensive expenditures any more in the digital area. Creating and implementing top social media campaigns and strategies are free and cost-effective. Signing up and making a profile on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc is completely free.
It increases customer engagement and loyalty
People spend a lot of time on social media, it's not a tough task to attract new consumers through social media. Social media allows us to interact with recent customers and old customers, but what keeps them loyal? It is the content that the user posts on their social media platforms.
It reinforces brand awareness and credibility
Social media is the best platform to showcase the fashion studio and it acts as the best medium for brand recognition. Enhance the brand’s awareness and increase the following in all social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest by presenting all the designer collections.
Social networks impact buying decisions
The vast majority of the individuals look for designing trends and latest fashions and are aware of them through social networks only. It acts as a word of mouth so any matter can spread in no time. The business pages' preferences, shares, remarks, and so forth will impact and be an immense effect on the clients' buying choices.
Demographic targeting
Millennia is the targeted customer for the fashion industry and social media could be a customized stage where fashion retailers can target the audience demographics wise such as sex, age, area, hashtags, etc. Other than, it is exceptionally simple to track client behavior patterns online.
It is an effective marketing tool
Whether anyone wants to get high traffic, brand loyalty; provide better customer service; increase sales volume, social media acts as a marketing tool for the fashion and apparel industry.
In the survey of 110 consumers, 82.7% agree that social media is the biggest medium from which they get influenced.
Kashish from Ranchi who is aspiring in Fashion designing stated, “I have just started my journey and Instagram is really helpful because it helps me in reaching more and more people and I can create a good gallery by posting pictures and videos. I am also learning from other designers as well as knowing the latest trends.”
Caption: Kashish trying to engage with the audience by posting her designs on Instagram (source: Instagram)
The best media to target people for promoting various designs and labels on this Pratik Kumar has mentioned, “We can use any media whether its Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or twitter but it all depends on the targeted consumers. For example, if we target the age group of 15-25 then they’ll be mostly on Instagram but if we target the age group of 35- 50 they’ll be mostly on Facebook. So the use of media depends on the targeted consumer. ”
Neelam Patel from Ghaziabad who is a client in fashion designing and also a professor. She says, “I won’t prefer to promote as I am not a designer but being a client I would prefer Pinterest as they cater a large segment under one roof. I don’t have to like and follow the pages for what I want but by just one keyword I will type and find lots of options related.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDNaZgCYzkM&feature=youtu.be
Caption: Kriti Chawla currently working in Popexo as Fashion stylist has expressed her views on the importance of social media in Fashion industry.
Social media has transformed the shopping process. From research to brand interaction to promoting the designs to actual purchasing processes, the entire situation has seen significant changes.
CHAPTER 2
The Impact of fashion industry on people and on market
Success story of Kresha Bajaj Zaverias a famous fashion designer
Kresha Bajaj Zaveri, an Indian Fashion designer was born in Mumbai, India on March 7, 1988. Kresha has studied fashion from London College of Fashion, Parsons New York, Parsons Paris, FIDM Los Angeles, and now try to bring all that knowledge to the streets of India. Fashion designer, influencer, and hairess whose clothing line Koesch and Haute taste have won her commercial success and a huge following on social media. She has over 168,000 followers on Instagram, and her stories on Instagram and her posts encouraged and gathered the attention of fashion publications like Elle Magazine. Her designs have been showcased in the Lakme Fashion Week 2014.
Koesch originally started as a website in 2013 and specializes in bespoke western and bridal women wear. She’s famous for what is called her “LOVE STORY LEHENGAS” where they map out the couple’s journey on the garment bringing alive their love story.
Caption: Kresha Bajaj Zaveri (source: Instagram)
In her blog, Kresha has shared her experience with social media for her career and she thinks that luxury and social don’t go hand in hand. “Social media platforms, and in my case Instagram specifically, being an extremely visual platform is the perfect tool to create an online presence for Krésha Bajaj, the brand”, says Kresha. Kresha believes to post the original content, ensuring that it is attractive enough for people to gush over it.
On social media, the feel, the look, the textures of the fabric will be missing. Not only on social media but no online shopping websites or apps can give that feel or the emotion of the fabric or the material of the cloth which is given in the stores or the showroom of these clothes. As Kresha’s store is only in Mumbai and she says, “it is important for us to help an online viewer feel that they are in actual space while browsing through our online posts.”
Kresha wants her consumer to believe in their imaginary world of dresses of their choices and on this she said, “For us, we want to use Instagram as a look book of a wonderland that people enter through their phone, but feel the need to come to explore in person. ”
Only posting good content, and promoting designs are not enough. According to Kresha, to gain more and more consumers and their attention the important thing is to engage with the audience, answering their questions and giving them as much information as necessary. Having a beautiful page is irrelevant if it doesn’t garner the right kind of attention and encourages conversation.
Caption: Kresha Bajaj promoting her brand by posting her designs and modals on social media (source: Instagram)
Marketing of fashion in the market in this decade
In this modern era of cut-throat competition, it is important to take care of every aspect related to marketing in the fashion world. The word media indicates the meaning of the main source of communication, these can be in the form of writing, images, visuals with narrations, or clips. Now, talking about the media there are many mediums from which the message of the designer or any influencer can be sent to their consumers and can attract more and more audiences.
Mediums like radio, television, newspaper, banners, billboards, websites, magazines, social media, or fashion show events like these. In this passage of time fashion has made its place in the culture, slowly and steadily people are accepting and following the latest trends and want to know the updates and latest upcoming fashion which is mostly provided by various mediums.
Television has a wide influence on its viewers.it affects not only, the knowledge of the audience but also the attitude towards many things. For example, the desire for the products and their brand preferences have been changed. In general, TV has higher credibility than newspapers, People are most likely to believe in what they see, not what they read. TV as a medium influences the dressing of youths. Audience members tended to make changes in their appearances, value, attitudes, and other characteristics to become more like the admired celebrities.
This data suggests, most of the consumers find their latest trends of fashion which is going on the market from social media then comes to fashion blogs and friends' families and then goes on.
In magazines, more than any other medium, advertisements and editorial content flows together to create an experience.
Magazines, being the media that attracts the most specialized audience can have a powerful impact on its niche audiences. Vogue, Lucky, W and many more are the most readable fashion magazines. Women are the most targeted for this medium of fashion. For women especially, reading magazines is related to the internalization of societal ideals and self-objectification.
Caption: Priyanka Chopra being featured for the cover page of Vogue India Magazine (Source: Pinterest)
In the Fashion show, in the first era of the fashion industry, designers had to show their new designs to the client through sketches. At that time, fashion designers used fashion dolls which are also known as dummy; this was the only medium to illustrate the new upcoming designs. In the second era of the fashion industry, the fashion dolls or the dummies were replaced by the living mannequin and then the models gave an entry in the fashion industry.
Captions: Soha Ali Khan walking gracefully on the rampwalk (source: pinterest)
Celebrity has backed the fashion industry
Taking cues from international celebrities, Indian film actors and cricketers are increasingly launching their own clothing and accessories brands to cash in on a category that industry executives and analytics believe has remained untapped so far in the country. Social media like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and more all the inextricable parts of being famous in today’s world.
In the survey of 110 consumers, 85.5% believed that the consumers are influenced by their favorite celebrity. In this survey, most of the consumers were attracted towards lead actors like Shahid Kapoor, Hritik Roshan, Sonam Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and many more.
Chapter 3
Future of the fashion industry
The year ahead is likely to be challenging. Winds of change are sweeping the fashion industry, and many markets are set to see slower growth and declines in consumer confidence. Indian consumers and their apparel preferences are gradually changing, which in turn is altering the shape and size of the apparel business.
Indian customers and their apparel choices are gradually changing, which in turn is altering the shape and size of the apparel business. The changing demographics and psychographic profile of he Indian customers is today, supported by the apparel market which is moving away from tailor-made clothes to ready-made clothing. In India, people are shifting from rural to urban areas in search of jobs and some to find better education at a continually increasing rate. By 2025, the middle class consumers which will form 48.5 percent of the total targetable consumer base will contribute about 55-60 percent share of the apparel market size.
The increasing access to digital devices and internet is enabling the masses to have online shopping experience irrespective of whether they are living in urban or rural areas. The market growth and continuous shift towards brands will support new ventures, given the strength of the product and a clear growth strategy based on real consumer insights.
How do the fashion industry is coping with COVID-19 pandemic?
Several apparel makers and fast-moving consumer goods companies had stepped up to produce medical-grade masks as philanthropic acts when Covid-19 struck but now it is apparent that the pandemic is set to alter lifestyles at least some time to come.
“Masks are expected to become a habit over the next few months. We are also working on neem and tulsi treated fabrics for Peter England for a greater degree of wellness,” said Vishak Kumar, CEO of Madura Fashion & Lifestyle. The covid-19 pandemic has created a crisis across all the business barring those of essential commodities. India’s largest fashion body, theFashion Design Council of India (FDCI) cancelled its bi-annual ready to wear fashion week in early March 2020.
Shopaholics, on their part, are keeping their shopping carts ready for delivery once the lockdown for Covid-19 gets over.
Delhi-based fashion designer Manish Tripathi designs khadi face masks to fight with this covid-19 pandemic.“I am preparing these masks for the people who can’t afford to buy masks. Then I will try selling them online and whatever amount is collected will be contributed to the PM-CARES Fund to fight the coronavirus,” he said. In his social media (twitter) account he promoted his idea and social work.
Caption: Manish Tripathi contributing in this covid-19 pandemic (source: Twitter)
“Make your social media more creative. This is the perfect opportunity to redesign your Instagram or declutter your desktop. Tidy up your photo gallery and, most importantly, unburden your Whatsapp media”, says Fashion designer Abhishek Dutta.
Popular fashion designer Manish Malhotra is known to share his eccentric work across social media platforms and this time he used his social media account to engage his fan following by showing them a throwback of one of the famous fashion shows. In this amid Covid-19 lockdown, the ace fashion designer has shared an unseen picture from his early days in the industry which has taken social media by storm.
In Instagram, he posted a throwback picture of back in the days when he was a model. He also dropped the sweetest picture featuring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the fashion show and is setting friendship goals.
Caption: Manish Malhotra with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the fashion show #throwback (Source: Instagram)
Since India went into lockdown on 24 March, it seems more and more of the people are turning to social media to consume news and communicate with their friends or to see what is trending whether it is fashion or any other source of entertainment.The first week of the lockdown saw citizens spend more than four hours a day on social media — an 87 percent increase compared to the previous week, as per a poll conducted by Hammerkopf Consumer Survey.he poll conducted on 28 March with 1,300 respondents in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai found that 75 percent of people spent more time on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter compared to the previous week, largely to consume news and remain in touch, and that social media usage jumped from 150 minutes per day prior to the lockdown to 280 minutes a day during that first week.
“As everyone knows due to COVID -19 most of the businesses are in the worst situation. The fashion industry is one of those. Stores are closed and all agreements are stopped”, says Rahul Toppo a fashion designer. He also stated, “It will take time to recover But there is a good advantage for social media as due to lockdown everyone is spending more time in social media like Instagram, Facebook & YouTube, many brand and designer are connected to their followers they are using this time to promote their present & previous work, as we are also connected to our followers showing illustration, design process all behind the scenes and promoting previous work”.
Conclusion of the project
The world is becoming digital and with the advent of information technology, the ways of communication and work have been revolutionized completely. over the last decade, social media has become an effective marketing tool, it has not only created a new dimension of marketing but also provided many opportunities to the marketers to create brand awareness among consumers.
Social media is a compilation of online platforms and communication channels that are used to share information, profiles, promotion of any sort of event or designs, or any exhibition.
The fashion industry will get great help through social media to reach a height and can attract more and more consumers.
Bibliography
This project has been written with the help of multiple articles that have been proven as a credible source. And with the help of survey of 110 consumers which was conducted by the writer.
Chapter 1
Livemint
https://www.livemint.com/Industry/jtjpWRTMUqKRvtT72sX1PJ/Digital-footprint-in-Indias-fashion-market-more-than-double.html
Economic Times
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/how-instagram-is-driving-fashion-business/articleshow/62771925.cms?from=mdr
Chapter 2
Lukebox
https://www.luxebook.in/fashion-designer-kresha-bajaj-shares-the-secret-behind-her-brands-massive-social-media-following/
Livemint
https://www.livemint.com/Consumer/uhBCZvMWKcE4vjs6c8ztHL/Celebrities-association-with-fashion-labels-see-a-surge-in-I.html
Chapter 3
Indiaretailing
https://www.indiaretailing.com/2017/06/18/fashion/5-trends-will-define-future-indian-apparel-industry/
Economic times
https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/apparel-fashion/apparel/covid-19-impact-stylish-face-mask-is-the-new-focal-accessory-of-indias-top-fashion-brands/75639614)
Firstpost
https://www.firstpost.com/health/media-usage-during-covid-19-lockdown-indian-users-flock-to-fb-and-whatsapp-general-news-sites-see-numbers-rise-8242811.html
#fashion#nift#social media#instagram#pinterest#social media marketing#manish malhotra#covidー19#fashion industry
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Critical Analysis on Campaign
I have chosen to write about the advertisement campaign for the expansion of Primark into the United States. Primark is a fast-fashion retailer, initially based in the UK and Ireland. Recently, two Primark stores opened in New York City. To promote this expansion, the company decided to advertise their clothing and new stores by taking pictures of their customers wearing the merchandise, instead of professional models. This campaign only consists of 5 official photos; however, other images from the campaign photoshoot were shared to their Instagram page to promote their campaign further.
This campaign is trying to cater to customers from all walks of life, specifically in Brooklyn. Since the models in the photos are diverse people who the consumers can identify with, this campaign is effective appeals to many different types of people, not a specific demographic. The slogan of this ad campaign is "My Brooklyn. My Primark." I think that this slogan is only somewhat effective. It mentions the fact that Primark has something to do with Brooklyn, but it doesn't give much insight into what the ad is marketing. If I had not done research into this campaign, I would not have been able to guess what this ad was trying to promote. This ad clearly does not lack representation as they have done an excellent job of finding many different types of people to relate to. However, I do believe that it is missing clarity. As I mentioned previously, these ad photos do not give much insight into what the ads are about. Nevertheless, this ad has still gotten the attention of many due to the fact that it picked up the media's attention, which spread the message that the ads were supposed to cover by themselves. This ad does not clearly enforce gender norms and features a wide variety of people. However, with further inspection, it can be seen that this ad does not feature any gender non-conforming people, only people who are wearing the clothes that a person of their gender is "supposed" to wear. The campaign also features models who are wearing hyper-feminine or hyper-masculine outfits. Whether this was the choice of the model or the brand is unknown. Still, it would have been nice to see people of varying femininity and masculinity expression. Despite all of this, the effort that this brand put into using models of all sizes, races, and genders make huge strides towards diversity and inclusivity in the fashion industry.
Overall, I think that the campaign Primark ran was a successful one, picking up the attention of the media and many consumers. The amount of thought and effort put into these ads was admirable, and I wish that more fashion retailers would take note to use in their ads. If all ads were made this way, we would be able to live in a more inclusive and confident society. I believe that Primark is starting what will eventually be "the norm" in fashion and beauty marketing. One ad that particularly stood out to me in this campaign was the picture of an older black man who was wearing a simple yet put together outfit. It was evident that he was confident and content in what he was wearing even though the boldest part of the outfit was an orange t-shirt. I hope that in the future, more brands start using their customers as models. I found it very refreshing to see models who seemed excited and happy with what they were wearing. I also liked the fact that the photo shoot for this campaign was done in various parts of New York instead of in a studio. It stood out to me because it was an ingenious way to engaging the New York-based audience. They are appealing to an audience who feels like they are "in" the photoshoots because they live or have been to an area close to the photo shoot location. I think that this is an excellent way of making sure that the demographic for this campaign feels recognized and like they are intimate with the campaign, rather than it being thrown in their faces hoping that it will be well received.
(This essay is over 2 pages long when double-spaced but the website does not allow this type of formatting.)
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Digital Discourse Analysis Essay
Digital Discourse Analysis Essay
Sarah Rogers
In a world dominated by images, our social media has become less of a text based platform, but a society of visuals. Pinterest is the most dominate image-only social media website that specifically creates a board of ideas that inspire people to create and achieve. Pinterest demographics are interesting as they are diverse, mostly women users, between the ages of 18-49, Pinterest is able to cater to many age types due to its easy availability and plethora of categories to cater to any type of interest. The animal community across all social media platforms is huge, especially on Pinterest, but there are few actual Pinterest accounts solely dedicated to animals alone. Because of this, I decided to create a Pinterest account of my dog, a cavapoo spaniel, and see what the outcome would be, and the kind of audience I attract.
It is common to see on Instagram and Twitter dog accounts with millions of followers, but since Pinterest has few original content users, I wanted to create something uncommon and see where it took me with the communities response. I found that original content creators must produce extremely edited, visually appealing, unique images in order to be seen, and that Pinterest, even with its laid-back features, requires original content posters to compete heavily within an app that has millions of appealing images. The more edited my posts became, the more unique I made my captions, the more followers and attention my page received.
Pinterest is a community that values visuals, new trends, and anything that inspires the user to go out and obtain whatever they are seeing, whether it be a hiking destination, an article of clothing, or, like my account tried to accomplish, the perfect dog. There is a huge expectation for Pinterest that I never realized as a user before. The images are so fluent and forever coming, your feed is constantly being refreshed with visuals, and unlike instagram and twitter, the captions are not visible until investing into clicking onto an image if you really like it that much to see it up close. The value Pinterest holds is high quality, aesthetically pleasing or hyper-visuals that elicit an emotional response of therefore need or desire. I found that I needed to make my images highly edited and “trendy” in order to appeal to users and get a following.
A very fluent fact about Pinterest is that it draws in a lot of income for a small scale, simple social media platform. Pinterest has a value of $5 billion, and the average user, according to the Sprout Social article “15 Pinterest Statistics Every Marketer Must Know in 2018”, has a household income of $100,000. Thus, Pinterest has a huge ability to draw in money for its users, a lot of images when clicked on will redirect you to the website in which it is sold at. With more spending power from its users, Pinterest is able to help brands get recognized, and make a huge amount in income. If you find a cute top, the perfect decor item for your house, or even a car that interests you, there is a link to the website that is selling that item. In my case, I found that many of the animal pictures found on Pinterest will either direct you to the official instagram account of that animal, it’s business website to be used in forms of media (movies, commercials, photoshoots), and most interestingly, breeding websites that sell the animal. For owners that are looking to sell their animal in some way, Pinterest is an ideal social media marketing tool. For instance, I found my dog breeder on Pinterest, as I was looking up pictures of Cavapoos. The group of Pinterest functions more as a mass visual marketing tool more than it may appear. When closely examining my life, I have bought many of my clothes, homewear, and other items after seeing them first on Pinterest.
Pinterest has a heavy mode of persuasion. With its carefully edited pictures usually pinned at the very top of your page, your standards while using the app are incredibly high. Their pictures create an emotional response of want and desire, just like instagram, we are seeing images of perfect lives and sparkly objects, just this time, it's more focused on the product rather than the people. The article, “Why Pinterest makes no money but is now worth 3.8 billion”, makes the point, “Pinterest is perfectly positioned for high value, targeted online and mobile advertising. After all, it's a site where people go to pin pictures of what they want to buy, wear, decorate, visit, eat. That can be served up on a platter to advertisers -- they can market straight to the consumers they know want them. Furthermore, they'll be doing the marketing while the consumers are imagining life with similar products.” The ecommerce aspect of Pinterest is what attracts these big brands to produce and therefore take over with miteciosuly edited pictures of items that everyone will want. In the animal world, its deception of being a harmless pleasure of looking at cute cats and dogs works perfectly. Interest inspired me to get my dog and if I were not to have been scrolling through pictures of highly edited cavapoos last year, I wouldnt have a pet. Pinterest is a purchasing planning app in every single way, all of my Pinterest saves are of items, getaway’s, and even food I wish to obtain at some point in my life.
There is no way to really interact on Pinterest, so some users feel as if it solely for marketing, and that they are breaking the bank while using it. There is no direct messaging, however there is commenting featured, it's hard to see and only available when you solely want to see the comments, is such a process that the whole entire app is simply used mainly to see and repin. Pinterest is very much so a personal social media, it is not interactive like other platforms are based largely on, therefore that can cause good and bad responses. A lot of users feel almost bored scrolling endlessly through a feed of products/ things to buy, it's like an extensive online shopping experience, which can become draining. The reason that Pinterest remains so small and a “background” app, is because of its solitary confinement, its non interactive approach. Humans crave affection and interaction with other humans, seeing what your friends are up to on instagram or reading what your family members have to say about the world on Facebook is much more appealing to social media members, thus Pinterest remains an app that struggles with growth, with 250 million active members, compared to twitters 320 million, instagrams 1 billion, and facebook’s 1.7 billion user leading record.
The goals of Pinterest remain fair and realistic, CEO Ben Silbermann does not charge brands to market their goods on Pinterest, but they do for promoted pins. Promoted Pins will be featured on feeds that are frequently interested in whatever specific brand that might be, it will be featured on their feed even if they don't follow the brand. Pinterest has therefore created revenue mainly from brands that use the app as a marketing tool, thus Pinterest will grow into basically a huge online shopping platform, with more interactions for buying and selling than ever before. Most recently, Pinterest has launched a “shop the look” tool that enables users to see different versions of the item they want to buy, from different sellers, “A Pinterest user can tap a blue circle on an element within a Shop the Look pin to pull up recommendations for similar items she can buy from a brand. For instance, if a pin features a model wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt, she can click on the jeans or the T-shirt.” states Digital Commerce 360 article, “Pinterest Dives Deeper into E commerce”. Pinterests goal for expansion incorporates all elements of modern online shopping. Customers do not want to go on a particular website and try to navigate through what they want, in this consumer America, with short attention spans and large spending habits, many do not know what they want to shop for, they just know they want to shop. Pinterest allows users to feel as if they NEED something they didn't know they needed all along, with its feeds that consist of different items, styles, and vibes. The overall goal of Pinterest is to become the most sought after app for brands to sell their products, thus making revenue by charging for featured pins that are spotlighted on every feed across its user base.
I found that my comments on my posts were very buyer-based. With comments such as “where can I buy this dog?” or “what breed is this dog? I have to have it!”, if I were actually using my page to promote my cavapoo in some way, whether it be stardom for movie appearances, sponsorship for pet gear/ clothing, or breeding, I would be drawing in revenue. I had the opportunity to generate an income through simply posting pictures of my dog, which automatically turned him into a product. My pet became a point of interest, he became something sellable. This theme of consumerism within social media reveals a lot about our society and its values. No matter how wholesome we make our accounts, no matter our intent, we will be marketed to or have the opportunity to market. Social media is the future of marketing, it is what will be the main source of sales for companies. Originally, social media was created to connect with friends and family, now, we see adds everytime we scroll through our feeds. Pinterest capitalized on that theme of social media, and made a business from it. Pinterest is just one giant platform of ads, and it is interesting to see how much time, money, and thought we contribute to it. I evaluated my time on Pinterest through the settings app on my iphone, and I found that I spend roughly an hour and thirty everyday scrolling through Pinterest.
It is uncanny how our society is so drawn to marketing and easily influenced by things, the trends in our time are constant, fast paced, and ever changing. Pinterest is so attractive and still standing because it underlyingly mimics societies values. I found through doing research for this paper that everything that I did on Pinterest was to inspire other people to have what I have (my cavapoo). I was unknowingly selling my dog, inspiring people to become pet owners, much like what happened in my case.
After learning about Pinterest's goals, everything made sense, the comments, the followings from dog clothing companies, and the following from other pet pages. Pinterest is a brand based social media, and its values heavily highlight what our society values, too. I felt as if I had to appeal more to my followers with every post, I started caring about they way I edited and talked in my captions. I unknowingly turned my account into a more marketable page for my dog, without even realizing that Pinterest is essentially used for marketing. This explains a lot on how we use any other form of social media, are you posting for yourself, or to get recognition from others for some sort of gain?
Bibliography:
Chen, Jenn. “15 Pinterest Statistics Every Marketer Should Know in 2018.” Sprout Social, Sprout Social, 29 Aug. 2018, sproutsocial.com/insights/pinterest-statistics/.
Stambor, Zak, and Stephanie Crets. “Pinterest Dives Deeper into Ecommerce.” Digital Commerce 360, Digital Commerce 360 | Internet Retailer, 8 Feb. 2019, www.digitalcommerce360.com/2019/02/08/pinterest-dives-deeper-into-ecommerce/.
DeAmicis, Carmel. “Why Pinterest Makes No Money but Is Now Worth $3.8 Billion.” Pando, Pando Media, 23 Oct. 2013, pando.com/2013/10/23/why-pinterest-makes-no-money-but-its-now-worth-3-8-billion/.
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Manga and Women: Buying Manga for School Libraries in the #MeToo Era
When I talk to other school librarians about manga and anime, many of them voice a similar concern: the manga they see has horrible treatment of women. These are not invalid concerns, especially as school librarians are working to make their collections more inclusive and affirming. And when students are requesting series that depict sexual harassment and assault as comedic occurrences (I'm looking at you, Seven Deadly Sins), or at the very least, series which treat women solely as sexual or romantic beings, I can't blame my colleagues for their hesitation.
That said, there's a lot to unpack with this debate. There are elements of Japanese society that are inherently different from American society. Many school librarians also know nothing of the distinctions between genres of manga, or have only heard of what's most popular among their patrons. Manga is often seen as the way to get boys reading, and so masculine titles tend to be extremely popular for purchasing. What I'm going to do is try to unpack these things, piece by piece, to try and provide some context- and maybe show my peers that the stereotypes of shōnen manga are not all there is out there to purchase.
Societal Differences in the Perception of Gender
If we all work from the supposition that gender is a social construct, then perhaps it might be easier to understand that Japan's constructs are similar and different to Western constructs. Japanese media can come across as being both freer and stricter with gender roles. Here are a few things you need to understand about Japan in relation to women:
Japan is ranked 110 out of 144 countries on the World Economic Forum's annual report on gender equality.
There is only one female member of the Japanese Cabinet.
As of 2017, only 3.4% of executives in Japan were women.
The ratio of female-to-male physicians in Japan is 21%.
Japan has been trying to improve the standing of women in society, but it's been difficult.
Japan has a long history of having a traditional gender balance of labor wherein women are expected to raise children and take care of housekeeping, while men are expected to work. Japanese society generally has a very heavy line down the center in this division, much more so than there currently is in the West. Since 1986, the Equal Employment Opportunity Law has been in place to try and provide more gender equity in the workplace in Japan, but it's been a struggle. Part of the problem is that there was no penalty for employers who did not adhere to the changes.
Japan, also, has a serious problem with the way it handles and reports sexual harassment and assault. Certain occurrences which Western women consider assault are not necessarily seen as such by Japanese women. In her article, "Shifting attitudes toward sexual violence in Japan", Masami Ito describes her experiences:
When I was in junior high school, a young man who lived in the same apartment building flashed me in an elevator, blocking the entrance as he did so.
When I was in college, a middle-aged man cornered me in the box seat on a train and masturbated in front of me.
When I was in my mid-20s, a man pressed himself against me in the aisle of a convenience store and then followed me home. I had to call my father for help that time.
And, of course, I have been groped on trains many, many times.
Until recently, I never considered these incidents to be sexual assaults, nor did I ever view myself as a victim. I told myself that such things happened all the time and I was never physically hurt. I compared my experiences to those of other women and I considered myself lucky.
In Japan, there's even a word for men who grope women on crowded trains: chikan. Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department reported 1,750 cases of groping on the trains. (I attempted to find figures on this particular crime in NYC from the same year, but was unable to find any exact report of figures.) It's such a common occurrence, it's often a plot point in manga. In My Love Story!! the protagonist meets his future girlfriend by stopping a man from groping her.
I want to be clear, and maybe the panels of My Love Story!! do something to show this, that the problems of sexual harassment in Japan are seen as problems by people in the country. There are Japanese feminists and citizens who want things to change. Last year, the BBC released a documentary titled Japan's Secret Shame, which went into the experiences of three different women who were raped in Japan. It's not available at the moment, but if you can find a way to see it, it may give insight into the issue if you want to know more.
Shōnen, Shōjo, and So Much More
The complaints I hear the most are in relation to what is known as shōnen manga. Shōnen is geared toward boys between ages 12 and 18. There's a reason this stuff flies off the shelf with our male-identifying patrons: it's literally made for them. The longest running series in Japan are shōnen manga, and are household names here in the West (you've probably heard of Dragonball Z, I presume). Typically, these are high-action, hyper-masculine stories. And while there are exceptions, such as My Hero Academia, there's a large history of "fan service" in shōnen. There's also some pretty big issues with some of the creators of shōnen titles.
For example, the author of Rurouni Kenshin was found with an enormous backlog of child pornography DVDs. Not only did he have this material, he admitted his attraction to young girls. His manga is currently still in publication, after he paid a fine of only ¥200,000 (about $1,800 USD). No, I am not joking.
I don't want you to come away from this thinking shōnen manga is evil, by the way. What I want is for fellow school librarians to know that what they're seeing is just a fraction of what manga has to offer. Some shōnen has female protagonists (Yotsuba&! features a mostly female cast with little to no fan service, as its main character is a child). And a lot of women and girls read shōnen.
Shōjo manga is the counterpart to shōnen: manga written for girls between the ages of 12 and 18. Honestly, shōjo can have its own issues. Some titles feature girls whose identities revolve solely around romance or a desire to get married and make babies. Kidnapping and threats of sexual assault can be normal (the idea being that these girls need to be saved by their boyfriends, who frequently are much older than them). There's a whole slew of manga revolving around schoolgirls having romantic relationships with their teachers. So, I also don't want you to think that being labeled shōjo makes the content automatically appropriate for students.
I recently reread a manga I loved as a teen, Ayashi no Ceres. It featured multiple rather explicit sex scenes and the main character dropping out of school to have a baby. It was an easy decision to select other series over that one, although I still consider it a classic. I leave it to students to select series with those sort of themes at their own pace through alternate pathways such as the public library, bookstores, or manga apps.
However, I do want to point out that shōjo manga is a category in which feminine fantasy and identity is often at the forefront. And while this is the case, there are many shōjo manga which widely appeal to boys. Titles which spring to mind are Escaflowne and Magic Knight Rayearth.
There are other categories as well: seinan (for adult men), josei (for adult women), kodomo (for children), and gekiga (for adults, with a more "artistic" and "literary" reputation). The differentiation between adults and teens has more to do with the difficulty of the Japanese than the content or target demographic. Gekiga is probably the most "different", because it strives to be taken more seriously. (I have a plan to talk more in-depth about each category in their own posts).
Look For Women
When purchasing, if you are looking to move away from the pure moe that is popular among certain titles, I'd suggest looking for women who are mangaka. The likelihood that problematic behavior will be present is lower, and honestly, women creators can always use the boost. Series that are beloved by boys are written by women: Fullmetal Alchemist, Inu-Yasha, and Ranma 1/2 are examples (admittedly, the latter two were both written by Takahashi Rumiko).
Note: I kept this fairly pared down, so if you'd like to know more or have any questions, please don't hesitate to comment. If you would like me to go more in depth on any topic, please let me know, and I will do an expansion in a future blog. I have some deeper dives planned, but if I know of a direction people specifically want me to go, I’ll tackle it.
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How to Make the Best of Facebook Ad Targeting, According to HubSpot's Paid Ad Specialist
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How to Make the Best of Facebook Ad Targeting, According to HubSpot's Paid Ad Specialist
With a potential advertising reach of 1.9 billion users, Facebook is undeniably one of the most powerful platforms to market your products or services.
As an avid online shopper, I know the power of Facebook advertising firsthand. Consider, for instance, the ad I saw on my Facebook feed a few hours after completing a purchase on Free People’s website:
Despite my recent Free People purchase (and dwindling clothing budget … ) I couldn’t help but click. I’d just been on their website, but I hadn’t seen these clothes yet.
Which leads me to my point: the power of targeted advertising.
With over 7 million advertisers on Facebook, it can be difficult for brands to stand out on Facebook amidst the masses.
Here, we’ll dive into the various Facebook ad targeting options you might consider to get the highest ROI on your campaigns — plus, Facebook advertising tips from HubSpot’s Paid Ads specialist, Nicole Ondracek.
Facebook Ad Targeting Options
It’s important to note, you’ll find all these ad targeting options within your Facebook Ads Manager. Once you begin creating a new ad campaign, you’ll have the option to “Create New Audience” or “Use Saved Audience”.
If you opt to create a new audience, you’ll see a field for “Custom Audiences” at the top (in which you can add a custom or lookalike audience, both of which are described below), a section for demographics (including Location, Age, Gender, and Languages), and sections for more detailed targeting or connections.
1. Demographic
Demographic Facebook ad targeting options include the opportunity to segment your audience(s) based on age, location, language, work, education, and more. If you sell a product or service that pertains primarily to a certain demographic, this is a good ad targeting option for you.
For instance, maybe your audience is primarily millennial females, people who work in the medical industry, or anyone who lives in Spain — all of these factors can help you hyper-target to ensure you’re reaching the prospects who are most willing to buy your product or service based on an ad they see on Facebook.
2. Interests
Consider how much you’re able to learn about someone from their Facebook activity.
For instance, in the last six months I’ve Liked pages of various restaurants in Boston, MA; I’ve watched yoga videos via Facebook Live; and I’ve shopped for clothing on Facebook Marketplace.
All of these activities suggest the types of hobbies I’m interested in, and, tangentially, what types of products or services I’d be interested in purchasing.
Perhaps you sell a product or service that doesn’t pertain to an audience’s demographic as much as it pertains to an audiences’ interests.
A good example of this? Workout gear. Sure, you can guess that your audience is primarily 20 to 30-year-old women, for instance, but a more powerful opportunity for targeting would simply be to target anyone who’s Liked fitness pages, or engaged with fitness videos, over the last couple months.
3. Behavior
There are plenty of user behaviors you’d want to keep track of before sending a Facebook ad their way — for instance, consider my example earlier, in which I’d shopped on Free People’s website before receiving a Free People ad on Facebook.
Additionally, it’s often most effective to target prospects who’ve already shown interest in your brand. For instance, you might find your Facebook ads perform better with audiences who’ve already read some of your blog posts or followed you on social media.
Ultimately, “behavior” can help you target audiences who’ve consumed certain types of content, visited certain websites, used certain browsers or devices, or even donated to certain charities.
This is a particularly good targeting option for ecommerce re-engagement ads, in which you display ads to users who’ve added items to their check-out cart on your website. Alternatively, you might consider serving ads to users who’ve visited a certain landing page on your website.
4. Connections
If you have a specific page, app, or event listed on Facebook that attracts visitors to whom you’d like to serve ads, you’re in luck. With “Connections”, you can do exactly that.
For instance, let’s say you recently held a networking event and added 300+ users to the event-specific Facebook page — after-the-fact, you might consider sending specific ads towards those users, who are now more aware of your brand and likely interested in your offerings.
Additionally, you can expand your ad’s potential by sending the ad to friends of people who’ve attended your event, as well.
5. Custom Audiences
If you already have a good list of leads in your database and want to reach them on Facebook, you could simply create a Custom Audience to attract and convert those leads.
A Custom Audience enables you to provide specific information you’ve gathered about your leads, such as a phone number or email, and then target those leads with ads.
This is a good targeting option if your goal is to up-sell to existing customers. For instance, perhaps you have a database of customers who currently use your product, but you’ve recently released new features in a Professional version.
One of the best opportunities to attract and convert existing customers is to use Custom Audiences to serve your Professional-product Facebook ads to those customers already in your database.
6. Lookalike Audiences
Lookalike Audiences is a fantastic opportunity to perform cold outreach towards prospects who look similar to your existing prospects and customers. As the name implies, Lookalike Audiences allows you to target ads towards users who match similar characteristics to people who’ve shown interest in your brand.
To further understand what it means for an audience to “look” like your existing database, consider the following example: let’s say you upload your email subscriber list to Facebook as a custom audience.
Facebook then identifies the following consistent features about your list: users are primarily in their mid-to-late thirties, they live in the United States, they work in banking, and they’ve shown an interest in travel.
Facebook could then find users on Facebook who match all of these qualifications, since users with those criteria seem most interested in what your brand has to offer.
Similar to Custom Audiences, you’ll need to upload a custom audience for Lookalike Audiences to work — for instance, perhaps you upload a list of email subscribers, event attendees, or website visitors.
Facebook Ad Targeting Tips
1. Repurpose your highest-performing content as a Facebook ad.
If you have a few high-performing pieces of content that already attract and convert leads, why not put some paid ad spend behind it?
We’ve seen success with this strategy at HubSpot. For instance, each quarter I send a list of top-performing and high-converting content to the paid ad team, and they reformat it into an advertisement for Facebook.
Ondracek adds, “This can apply to different goals throughout a customer’s lifecycle. For example, if our goal is to drive more brand awareness to our site, we’ll test a blog post that generates a large amount of site traffic. On the other hand, if our goal is more focused on generating leads and submissions, we’ll instead test a high-converting content offer, since we care more about conversions than traffic.”
Ondracek told me, “It’s all about finding the right content that matches up to your campaign objective.”
Of course, not every piece of content that performs well organically will perform well as a social ad, which is why you want to be highly selective and pay attention to metrics like social media views when choosing posts.
But, nonetheless, choosing these high-performers is a good starting point and ensures you’re providing new audiences with content that already delights your existing audience.
2. Retarget ads to prospects most likely to convert.
With Facebook advertising, you’re able to target prospects who’ve already shown interest in your content, which could be more effective than cold-targeting Facebook users who haven’t shown any interest in your brand.
With retargeting, you can send ads towards prospects who’ve already watched a product demo, interacted with a blog post, or downloaded an ebook — which are all signs they’re intrigued by your brand and could be interested in learning more.
For instance, let’s say you work in the ecommerce industry and sell athletic apparel. You might consider creating a gated video on fitness tips from top health experts. Once you’ve collected an email list of users who’ve downloaded that video, you can target a follow-up “Top Workout Routines” Facebook to those same video viewers.
Ondracek says, “Retargeting is a really powerful approach, and we’ve found it works best when used to go after an audience similar to the seed list. For example, we’ve seen success retargeting visitors who have previously visited our pricing page with direct response product ads since they’re already in that consideration stage and more likely to buy.
She adds, “On the flip side, when we tried retargeting awareness video ad viewers with these types of down funnel ads, we saw worse performance since these two audiences have completely different behaviors.”
Of course, it’s vital to note, you’ll want to retarget ads that align well with your products or services. If people have shown interest in content that isn’t high-converting and doesn’t align with your product, you likely don’t want to retarget those viewers, since there’s no evidence they’ll turn into qualified leads.
3. Leverage existing fans of your business.
Similar to the tip above, it’s often more worthwhile to target users who’ve demonstrated their appreciation for your brand by liking your Facebook’s business Page. Consider how you might convert those users by retargeting ads towards them.
For instance, Facebook Ads expert Jon Loomer found his ads ROI increased dramatically when he targeted fans, rather than non-fans. In fact, his fan-targeted ads returned 129 conversions and resulted in $9,481.50 in revenue — 45.9X ROI. When he targeted non-fans, he didn’t convert at all.
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Ultimately, it’s much less obtrusive to target ads towards people who want to see content from your brand and have demonstrated an interest in your company. Save time and money by targeting your brand’s fans first.
Additionally, Ondracek told me, “You can also get creative and try layering on some criteria here. For example, you could try targeting fans of your page who haven’t purchased a product to try and influence some buying power. Or on the other hand, you could try targeting fans who have previously purchased a product if you sell something that can be purchased multiple times —like clothing in the FreePeople ad.”
4. Take advantage of custom audiences to up-sell and build loyalty with existing customers.
Targeting Facebook ads isn’t just effective for attracting new prospects to your business — it’s also a good strategy for retaining and up-selling your existing customers.
And, considering it’s 5-25X more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain an existing one, it makes sense to leverage the customers in your database already rather than only sending ads to brand-new prospects.
To up-sell via Facebook ads, think about your existing customers who might benefit from an additional feature, product, or service that you can offer them. For instance, perhaps you’ve just released new features on a Pro version of your product. More than likely, users of your free or beginner product would be interested in learning about those features, particularly if they’re enjoying your product and considering an upgrade.
Alternatively, maybe you simply want to target helpful content towards existing customers to increase brand loyalty. You might consider creating a Custom Audience list of customers who’ve read your social media blog posts, for instance, and then serve ads on your upcoming social media webinar to that audience.
5. Create lookalikes of top-performing audiences to keep improving upon what works best.
Ondracek suggests that, once you find an audience that works well following the tips above, you can always create a lookalike of the same audience.
She says, “If, for example, you find targeting people who like your page works best, you can create a Lookalike of this same audience to test. This new audience allows you to expand your reach to new prospects and might even perform better.”
Additionally, Ondracek told me, “At HubSpot, we tend to see the most positive results and improvements when testing with Lookalike Audiences. As digital platforms become more and more automated, you’ll find yourself having to put more faith into the algorithms.”
“And what’s pretty cool is that these algorithms tend to work! When you upload a list of customers to Facebook and create a lookalike from them, Facebook’s algorithm is going to do its best to target your ads to people most similar to your existing customers.”
Ondracek adds that you’ll want to make sure you have some conversion tracking setup on your campaigns, so that Facebook will be able to tell who’s actually converting and optimize to find more people similar to those users.
Of course, if you don’t have enough data or conversions for the system to optimize, it’s going to be harder for this approach to work — which is why you’ll want to aim to run an audience test for at least two weeks, so there’s enough data to work with.
Additionally, Ondracek says, “What’s also great about Lookalikes is that if you find a Lookalike audience performing well, you can increase the size of it to test if a larger audience performs better or worse than a smaller one. In the Facebook interface, you have the option to test between 1-10% Lookalike audiences. The smaller the size, the more similar the audience is supposed to be to your seed list.”
6. Keep an eye out for frequency.
Finally, when targeting your ads, you’ll want to keep an eye on the frequency metric to make sure someone isn’t seeing your ad too often.
Ondracek advises, “If the frequency is too high, you risk hurting your brand perception. We can all name that one brand we see way too many ads for. On the other hand, it can be beneficial for someone to see your ad more than once to increase your brand awareness. You’ll have to play around with a sweet spot that works best for your company, but aiming for a frequency of 3-4 can be a good place to start.”
Ondracek adds, “If you do start to see the frequency increase, there are a few ways to solve for this. First, you can create a larger-sized lookalike audience as mentioned above, which will expand your reach. Second, you can create new custom audiences to add to your campaign. And, finally, you can add in interest or behavioral targeting since those are large pools of audiences to begin with.”
“Additionally, you can swap out with new creative so the same audience is at least seeing some new fresher content.”
“One of the most exciting parts of paid advertising is being able to continuously test and find what works best. There are so many different options and ways to target, so if you find an audience not working, don’t be afraid to try a new one.”
Undoubtedly, there are endless opportunities for increasing customer lifetime value by retargeting Facebook ads in an effort to demonstrate your brand’s empathy and commitment to helping customers with all their various needs.
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HOW TO DO TARGET AUDIENCE IDENTIFICATION (TO GUARANTEE ONLINE SUCCESS!)
Want target audience identification tips? This video will show you how to do target audience analysis and all of the best target audience marketing tips. If you’re looking for target audience advertising examples or a target audience definition, and your current target audience advertising isn’t cutting it, this video will show you everything you need to know to nail your target audience and do target audience research.
Next time you’re researching your target audience for instagram or your target audience on facebook, you’ll be set up with the best tips to define target audience marketing and carry out methods for your target audience in advertising.
Click here to watch the video on YouTube.
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If you want to identify your target audience for your online presence, then you're in for a treat because in today's video, I'm going to teach you how to pick a niche for your blog that will allow you to create the the content needed to succeed. Speaking of being successful, if you want more advice on that, then make sure you subscribe to this channel and hit the little bell next to the subscribe button so you can get notified every Wednesday when I post a new video. A very controversial topic I found in the blogging world is do you a need a niche as a blogger or is that even something that you should focus on?
Well, by the end of this video you'll know two things, exactly what you want to create content about and exactly who you want to target. I successfully get over 100,000 page views on my blog every single month and it's because I used this strategy when I was first starting out and now it's your turn. Now first of all, I want to give you an example, an analogy so you can understand where I'm coming from on this subject. Let's say we have blog A and blog B. Blog A talks about loads of different topics. They talk about travel, food, self-development. They're all over the place. This blog is talking about topics that don't really fit well together in a coherent way.
They're just topics that are of interest to the blog author. Blog B only blogs about veganism. They're talking about how to be a vegan, vegan research, vegan recipes. It's all about veganism. Let's say that your friend sees this article on Pinterest or discovers this article through Google and wants to click on it and go to the website. The article is called 10 Vegan Breakfast Ideas and she thinks it sounds like a really interesting article. If this person goes to blog A, she might first think, "Wow. This blog post is super helpful."
Now, because our friend wants to become a vegan, she thinks, "Okay. I'm going to browse the rest of blog A's website because I think there's going to be a lot more content that's as valuable as this." But then she finds a blog post about music and a blog post about this person's recent holiday and she asks herself, "What is this blog even about?" Our friend is likely to say, "I loved your first post. It was great, but nothing else was relevant to me. That's that, so see you later." Instead, if she goes to blog B, then blog B has a new fan. She's going to go to that blog post and think, "Wow. This is super helpful," the same reaction she had when she first visited blog A.
She loves the post and again she decides to browse around to see if there's any more content that's as valuable as this. Again, she loves the post and she decides to browse around to see if there's any other similar familiar content just like this article. There is and she's so excited about all the amazing content that's directly related to veganism. She's likely to subscribe to this blog and share it with her friends who are already vegan and also share it with her friends who are wanting to become vegan. She's also now a potential customer because you have shown her that you have some authority on the subject of veganism.
She starts to trust you. She reads all your blog posts, and she opens all of your emails. Blog B has a new fan. Here's the point of that story. At their core, every content creator should be aiming to solve a problem. Not 20 million problems. Just one problem. If you are blogging about lots of different topics, you're trying to target too many different people, or you don't know how to describe your blog or what it's even about, it's going to become much harder for you to try and make money from your blog in the future. It's also going to become harder for you to standout as an authority online.
Instead, let's say you blog about one topic or a couple of topics that relate to each other and you speak to a specific type of person. Well, people are going to start to recognize you as a leader on that subject. FYI, you do not have to be an expert to be a leader. When you narrow your focus, you give yourself the opportunity to create content that your entire audience loves rather than content that feels mostly irrelevant. Because what is the point of creating such amazing content when half of your audience doesn't even want to read it?
This also eventually allows you to sell products and services in the future because you are becoming that leader and you are standing out as an authority online. Would you rather become the go-to leader in your niche or someone who struggles to grow their tribe and their income? You have that choice to make and you can choose to blog about a bunch of different topics. That's completely fine. I recommend not more if you want blogging to be your hobby. But if you are trying to turn your blog into a business, it is essential that you pick a niche. I want to hear from you. Are you a hobby blogger or a business blogger? Let me know by putting either hobby or business in the comments below.
Here are a few more benefits of picking a niche. One, you make it easier for the right people to fall in love with your content. You are attracting those people to your website, but then your aim is to keep those people on your website and get them to subscribe to your email list. Audience growth also happens way faster. Take myself as an example. I started off with a lifestyle blog and I blogged about a bunch of different topics. I try to target too many people. Now, I did see some growth here and there, but it was a very small amount of growth. I wasn't really seeing new audience members, and I felt really stuck about how my blog was growing.
Over time I saw a couple of topics that I really started to enjoy talking about and that a lot of my readers seem to enjoy reading about. I decided to hone in on these topics, which is the topics I talk about today on my blog. When I started talking about those specific topics, I noticed three things that happened. There was a major significant spike in my traffic and my email list, and people who are sharing my content also started to tell more of their friends and family about my blog. A lot of this happened because I decided to hone in on a specific niche rather than being all over the place.
Now, people know what to expect of me and they know exactly how to share my content with others in the online world. Audience growth happens a lot faster when you decide to pick a niche. It also becomes easier for you to create consistent useful content for your target audience. How do you find your perfect niche? Well, there are two types. One is a topic niche where you only blog about a certain topic. For example, a topic niche could be clear skin tips and on that blog you are only talking about clear skin. This could be for anyone out there, any gender, any age, any race, any interest. The other type of niche is a demographic niche.
This type of blog blogs about multiple topics, but they are hyper focused on a specific audience. Instead of clear skin tips, your demographic could be ethical beauty lovers between the ages of 20 and 39. For this type of niche you can talk about DIY beauty products, ethical beauty standards, that sort of thing. For a demographic niche, you often have a lot of different topics that you talk about on your blog that are all related to one specific type of person. Now, most of you out there will have demographic niches. Some of you will have a topic niche where you are talking about one specific topic.
My blog is more of a demographic niche because I blog about a lot of different topics, but they all relate to the same type of people, which are passionate bloggers and business owners. Now, I want to give you a note that you have to be careful with demographic niches. You want to make sure that the topics that you choose are relevant to one type of person. Don't think you can create a lifestyle blog where you talk about all these different things and then you say, "Well, it's okay because my target audience is people like me," because it just doesn't work that way. You want to be really specific about your audience.
Why are they reading these topics and how do these topics intersect together to form this niche? They should all connect together in some way so they feel relevant to one type of person. Your niche formula. Your niche formula should combine your passion and your skill with what your people need. Maybe you've noticed that your audience has many questions about a specific topic or maybe they just have a need that you could fulfill for them. Look for the place where your passion, your skill and your audience's needs intersect because that is your niche formula. I also want you to consider this, who is your target market?
You need to know who you are creating content for in order to actually create that content. Think of your target market as one specific person, not an audience of people. We are creating content for one specific person in mind. I want you to really dig deep and just take a moment right now to think about who that person is. Why do they go to your website and what do they get out of it? Think about one specific person every time you create a piece of content. Then when it comes around to you actually creating a piece of content, you can just ask yourself, would my person find this useful? Would they find it relevant?
If you answer no to that question, well, then you know you need to go back to the drawing board because you know that it does not meet your niche and it is not helpful to your audience. But if you can say yes, well, then you know that you're definitely on the right track. Now you know exactly how to identify your target audience and pick a niche, but how do you put all this into action? How do you start creating content that they actually want to read? I've got a Boss Traffic Flow Checklist to make sure you've got the basic foundations in place to get a consistent flow of traffic to your website no matter what niche you're in. The link to that is below this video.
Also, if you want to join a community of bloggers and business owners just like you, I have a secret society where I share the most up to date online marketing advice and the strategies I've used to get to where I am today. If you like this video, then let me know by liking it below. Subscribe and share it with your fellow blogging bosses and comment below with helpful if you found this video helpful in any way. Thank you so much for watching. I really appreciate it. You just bossed it.
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