Social Media Independent Study-What I've Learned!

During the last twelve weeks of my social media independent study I have explored many media tools used for strategic communication, as well as conducted a qualitative and quantitative research project for audience research purposes.

A recap of what I’ve learned:

SEO (A search engine optimization) is a computer function that searches data on the Internet by using keywords or phrases.  SEO is about making your site visible within search engines and is very important to the success of websites.

QR codes are square 2-D barcodes that can be scanned by a smart phone’s camera and then directs viewers to a specific display of your choice. Some examples are, a website, portfolio, or custom text.

Twitter is a tool for posting short status updates, comments and/or thoughts. Twitter can be a valuable marketing and PR tool if you take advantage of it. Twitter is a great and easy way to connect with influential people in the media. Make a connection with an influential person on Twitter and you will have a much better chance of going viral!

To go viral on facebook (and other social networking sites) your goal is to get as many shares as possible. To do this you must build a trusting relationship with your fan base and provide them with valuable content. The more followers you have and the more responsive there are, the higher the chance you will go viral.

For Her Campus UCF Magazine, I wanted to find out how many students read magazines, specifically, who reads Her Campus UCF magazine, how often, and how they access magazines. In order to collect this data of the UCF students and their interests regarding magazines I conducted a quantitative and qualitative magazine survey. 

From the collected data and responses from the UCF students, in summary, this is what I have concluded…

Magazines have become too superficial. They are filled with too many pictures and less quality content. Students would like to see less pictures and more good quality content. Hard copy magazines are too expensive. Students would like to purchase them but they are out of their budget to read daily. With that said, it seems that Internet magazines would be doing better, but they are not. I believe the reason for this is accessibility as far as not being able to pull it out of your purse or bag at your convenience, unless you have a smart phone. I also think lack of knowledge that they exist, as well as lack of habit contribute to online magazines not doing so well with students. The Online Magazine audience can be enhanced and can be driven further by marketing online magazines more through social media avenues and by making people aware that reading magazines online is less expensive and less damaging to our environment than reading hard copies. Online Magazines are our future so by making more people aware of online magazines, the next generation will more readily accept electronic versions of magazines.

UCF Magazine Survey Results

UCF Magazine Survey Results

From the UCF Magazine survey results, I have found that out of 72 UCF students surveyed, 84% read magazines and 16% do not. Of the 16%, the most popular reasons for students not reading magazines is due to not having an interest to read magazines (70%) and students not having the time to read magazines (40%).

For the 84% of students who do read magazines, 76% read a hard copy while only 40% of students use the internet as their primary source.  

In general, the time spent on reading magazines is more on a random basis rather than a specific amount of time per week or month. 48% of students randomly read magazines throughout the month versus the 6% of students that read magazines daily.

This pattern is also seen when it comes to time spent reading magazines on the internet. 35% of students randomly read magazines on the internet versus the 6% of students that read magazines on the internet once a week.

When it comes to specifically accessing Her Campus UCF Magazine, 3% of the students access it daily, 13% access it once a week and 63% access it less than once a month.

When asked for general magazine suggestions, 10% recommended to make the content less superficial, 9% would like to see better quality content, and 3% think magazines are too expensive.

Based on the survey, it is apparent that students are not accessing magazines regularly or on a daily basis. It appears that students think that magazines have become too superficial; they would like to see less pictures and more quality content. Furthermore, hard copy magazines are too expensive for students. With that said, it seems that online magazines would be more popular, but they are not. Even though all students surveyed said they have access to magazines I would propose that they do not have access at all times, making it difficult to read the content when they may be interested in doing so. I would also propose that there is a lack of knowledge regarding online magazines and what they have to offer.

My proposal to enhance the online magazine audience would be to utilize social media avenues to market them and to make people aware that online magazines are less expensive and less damaging to our environment than reading hard copies. Online Magazines are the future and by making more people aware of their benefits, the next generation will more readily accept electronic versions of magazines.

UCF Magazine Survey

UCF Magazine Survey

The purpose of this survey is to collect data on UCF students and their interests regarding magazine reading. This survey is anonymous. Your honesty is important to us, as your feedback is used so that we can better improve our services.

1. Do you read magazines and/or journals?

o      Yes

o      No

2. If the answer to Q1 is 'no', tell us why.

o      No access to magazines

o      No time to read magazines

o      No interest to read magazines

o      Other (please specify)

3. What is the primary source used for reading magazines?

o      Hard copy of magazine

o      Internet

o      Other (please specify)

4. How much time do you spend reading magazines?

o      Randomly

o      Daily

o      4-6 times a week

o      Once a week

o      2-3 times a month

o      Once a month

o      Less than once a month

5. How frequent do you use the internet to read a magazine?

o      Randomly

o      Daily

o      4-6 times a week

o      Once a week

o      2-3 times a month

o      Once a month

o      Less than once a month

6. How many times have you accessed Her Campus UCF Magazine in the past month?

o      Once a week

o      4-6 times a week

o      Once a month

o      2-3 times a month

o      Less than once a month

7. What do you look for/enjoy in magazines?

o      Good articles

o      News

o      News analysis and opinions

o      Celebrity news and pictures

o      TV shows and movie dairy

o      Games

8. Are there any suggestions you want to make for magazines in general?

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. Your input is valuable to us as it will help provide more insightful information to the UCF community.

Check out HerCampus UCF Magazine at www.hercampus.com/ucf

Magazine Research

For HerCampusUCF Magazine, I want to find out how many students read magazines, specifically, who reads HerCampus UCF magazine, how often, and how they access magazines. In order to collect this data of the UCF students and their interests regarding magazines, I put together and am conducting a quantitative and qualitative magazine survey. Knowing this information will help me be successful in reaching our audience via social media.

I decided to make the survey in a more general sense for those who have not heard of HerCampus, but it is also important for those who know of HerCampus to take it as well.

There is a specific question regarding HerCampusUCF Magazine, this way we can get a sense of how often students are looking at HerCampus while the other questions will let us know what students are looking for specifically in a magazine. For those who are not aware of HerCampusUCF magazine, they will have become aware after viewing the survey because of the question regarding HerCampus and the link to HerCampus website at the end of the survey. 

Go Viral On Facebook & Other Social Networking Sites!

Your goal is to get as many facebook (or other social networking) shares as possible. To do this you must build a trusting relationship with your fan base. Provide them with valuable content and engage with your followers as often as you can. The more followers you have and the more responsive they are, the higher the chance you will go viral.

You need to have a headline that will attract people and content that will keep people’s attention. Your audience will want to share interesting, valuable or entertaining information that you provide them with.

Post your information on your blog and/or your website. You can ask friends to share your link and/or you can pay for advertising on facebook. To make it easier for your viewers to share your information, have a facebook 'like' button as well as a facebook 'share' button, on your site and/or blog, after your content. You can also add other social media share buttons directly under your content to have a better chance of going viral on other social networking sites as well!  

Go Viral On Twitter!

Twitter is a tool for posting short (140 characters) status updates, comments and/or thoughts. While twitter is an open forum, you can restrict it to the people with whom you are connecting with, or follow. Twitter can be a valuable marketing and PR tool if you take advantage of it.

It is easy to get started. Follow people on twitter and a lot of them will follow you in return. Twitter is a great and easy way to connect with influential people in the media. Make a connection with an influential person on Twitter and you will have a much better chance of going viral!

You can use Twitter to instantly announce events, special offers, and much more to a large audience. You can promote your blog articles or any other content that would be appealing to your audience by posting a link on twitter. Place a retweet button on your blog, this makes it very easy for your viewers to retweet your content.

These are just a few of the ways that you can use twitter as a marketing tool. To learn more ways you can use twitter to go viral visit going viral on twitter!

I Love QR Codes!

A QR code is a square 2-D barcode that can be scanned by a smart phone’s camera and then directs viewers to a specific display of your choice. For example, depending on the type of code it contains, you can direct viewers to a website, to a displayed custom text message, and more.

QR codes can be added to your resume which is a great way to stand out from the crowd. Your QR code can direct the employer to your LinkedIn page, Blog/Portfolio page, or to a creative custom text!

Although QR codes are fairly new and many people reading your resume may not know how to act on the QR code, it will still make you stand out from the crowd as someone who stays up to date on technology trends.

Here is an example of a QR code, which will direct viewers to this blog page!

To learn more about QR codes or to create your own visit QRstuff !