Michelle's Class Blog :)

El Caballo Volador Automotive is a recently established automotive repair shop in Oceanside, CA.  This business currently does not have any online presence, so incepting its social media is slightly daunting to launch in the appropriate target market. The demographics for this market would be: A local resident customer base; regardless of age, gender, education, or ethnicity.  The income class would also vary due to the type of vehicle needing repair and repairs needed.  Southern California has a high level of commuting traffic, so there is a demand for reliable and convenient auto repair services. Insurance companies is also a reachable market.  El Caballo Volador Automotive has been contacted by various insurance companies for specialized repair on a variety of vehicles. The psychographics for this market would be: Automobile enthusiasts (lifestyles/interests) :  This small privately-owned business has demonstrated ability to work on rare and colle...

Basic Observations of Target Markets for Armstrong Garden Centers and Myrtle Creek Gardens Armstrong Garden Centers and the Myrtle Creek Botanical Gardens and Nursery websites both serve those interested in flowers, plants, landscaping and horticulture, however, their target market seem to be different based on the website structuring, design and offerings. Armstrong Garden Centers (AGC) seem to be marketing to customers that are interested in purchasing plants and soliciting landscaping services, more of an e-commerce site if you will.  The design is simple and it is easy for the visitor to navigate and quickly find what they may be looking for without spending too much time searching.   Demographic wise, I would say AGC is using their brand that can serve any customer, whether it is purchasing a potted plant/flower to designing a full garden.  To further assume the demographics, I would say the target market is to those purchasing a home and need to landsc...

Two websites I frequently visit are http://www.espn.com/ and https://www.msn.com. https://www.msn.com:  I visit this website daily as my "morning newspaper".   This site offers information in categories, i.e., headline news, entertainment, sports, money, lifestyle, autos, health & fitness, food & drink, travel, photo and video.  There is clarity and consistency of content format and the layout is well organized so that visitors can access and find the content easily and have a consistent experience.  The user of colors for contrast and typography appeal to the ease of use for navigation and reading.  Their headlines have thumbnails attached to the article, so the reader can get a quick picture of what the article will be about. I am a frequent visitor to this site because the content is updated often and is my "one stop" for the latest headlines.  This website is reliable as I rarely come across broken links and server upti...

Two websites with potential problems for its visitors: 1)  http://www.roverp6cars.com/ My first attempt to load this page resulted in an error using the Chrome browser FAILED_DOCUMENT_REQUEST.  Upon refreshing and using an alternate browser, Safari, the landing page loaded successfully.  My first impression was that the home page is quite busy and aesthetically confusing.  I could not discern the hierarchy of the site structure.  There is a good amount of images on the homepage, however, I did not know if the images were hyperlinked to subpages.  While the navigation sidebar is helpful with all the offerings available to the visitor, it requires scrolling and an acute eye to carefully read each link.  While this aligns with the consistency measure, it is difficult to read because the menu images are the same.  To mitigate this, I think a nested submenu navigation bar would be useful.  For example, categorizing the links into "About", ...

Five examples of business websites and their use of social media: 1) Business Name: AFTCO     Website URL: https://aftco.com/     Social Media Used (Date of last post): Instagram (2/6/19) - Great use, actively updated Facebook (2/4/19) - Good use, great pictures YouTube (1/31/19) - Informative videos AFTCO uses their choice of social media tools very well.  The pictures and videos are vivid and they lure (no pun intended) their audience in with inviting content. AFTCO uses each platform equally and keeps their subscribers engaged with current content. 2) Business Name: Parkside Church     Website URL: https://parksidechurch.cc/     Social Media Used (Date of last post): Facebook - Actively updated with fun posts Instagram (2/4/19) - Actively updated Parkside Church uses Facebook and Instagram to keep their followers updated.  They have use informative and fun posts.  As well, the online content makes it conven...

Social media is a powerful tool to communicate with businesses.  As mentioned in the class lecture, "Social media can give customers an opportunity to talk and business to listen." (Faulk n.d.) I have used social media to communicate my praise and disappointment with various businesses, whether "liking" on Facebook or Instagram or leaving a comment on Yelp, these tools made it easier to be acknowledged and heard.  There exists transparency with the company because the feedback is public for all those to view and be influenced by peers.   My experience has been positive when communicating my transaction or experience through social media.  For example, when commenting on a restaurant, I posted a picture of the dish and appended my comments on its deliciousness.  I received a reply from a restaurant employee thanking me for my patronage and inviting me to visit again soon.  That created a "connection" for me as a warm welcome back and a motivator to ...

Hi! I commented on blogs from Group 1: Latasha: https://csit155-sp19-lcross.blogspot.com/2019/01/week-2a-overview-of-social-media.html Cristina: https://cristinacsit155-sp19.blogspot.com/2019/01/week-two.html#more Giuliana:  https://csit155-sp19giulianal.blogspot.com/2019/01/week-2-part-1.html Cheers!