Week 5 post 2

Commented on:
Andrew Stark Week 5 Post 2
M. Fanghella  Week 5 Post 2

Within my yoga business I address a board range of target markets with specific classes and services.

I have chosen to address the target market, or ‘Who Should Attend’ of a specific event offering.

The event is called “Lavender Fields Yoga, Meditation and Sound Healing Day Retreat “ and is a day of rejuvenation and self-care at a local, certified organic lavender farm.

The event listing is as follows:

“Join us for a day of rejuvenation and self-care at beautiful Keys Creek Lavender Farm in Valley Center.  We’ll start our day with a luxurious slow flow yoga practice graced by the farms scented breezes and the sounds of nature.  A healthy, leisurely lunch will be prepared by our own private chef and enjoyed on the beautiful patio.  The afternoon is yours to explore the farm, relax by the salt water pool or partake of an open air thai massage.  We’ll gather in the afternoon for a live music mediation experience with Musical Medicine Woman, Kerem Brule.”

These are my two ideas for addressing and defining my target audience for this event.  The second option has more of a call to action vibe.

This retreat is perfect for you if you

- want to take time for yourself to recharge and re-inspire in nature

-desire a break from the urban environment, the office and device screens

- are looking for the time and space to stop and smell the flowers, read that book, sketch

-love the healing benefits of supportive yoga, massage and sound mediation

This retreat is perfect for you!

- Take time for yourself to recharge and re-inspire in nature

- break from the urban environment, the office and device screens

- Take the time and space to stop and smell the flowers, read that book, sketch.

- Enjoy the healing benefits of supportive yoga, massage and sound mediation.

-Support local organic farms and small businesses!

‘Sign me up!’  Link to be added to website following the call to action to the target market.

Knowing more about my perfect customer will help me more efficiently market to the right audience.  Hopefully it will help me find the best avenues to market to that audience.

Week 5 Post 1

Try to identify any differences in each company's target market. Write down the basic observations you make about the demographics and/or psychographics of this each website's target market.

Are there any obvious differences between the two websites that stand out right away? Are there any that are subtle? Do you think there is any crossover between the two types of customers? What conclusions can you draw about their audience by their website design, calls to action, or overall tone and message?

I first looked at  http://www.justcheapdiapers.com/, I immediately noticed that they provide self proclaimed 'high quality', 'cheap' diapers for the newborn through toddler sizes.  In the 'About' section the seller makes it clear she is a mother to 4 children and can relate to other mothers need for a large quantity of reliable diapers at affordable prices.    The tone of this website seems to be targeting mothers in need of diapers, perhaps who are busy and do not have a great deal of time.   There is a link to resellers and there is no simple, immediate way for the mothers or resellers to order.  This company could also be marketing to resellers to purchase their diapers in bulk for resale.  The company is based in the Philippines and does offer contact information.

Econobum, http://www.econobum.com/aboutus.php, while also targeting budget conscious parents, has narrowed their target market down specifically to capture the environmentally conscious parents in the diaper market with reusable diapers. Econobum further carves out their niche by being a philanthropic company which goes into great detail about their ethical practices and mission driven giving.

While each website tells a story, Econobum tells a full length story to engage the budget conscious and environmentally and socially aware parent that wants their spending to have a social and environmental impact.

A more subtle difference between the two websites is the impact of the graphic design.  The Just Cheap Diaper's site is brightly colored while Econobum's is more subdued which makes it seem more soothing and natural.  The call to action is better on the Econobum's site since they provide a list of mostly live retailers carrying their advertised product unlike Just Cheap Diapers.

There is crossover in that they are both marketing to parents, and even more specifically mothers in need of diapers for very young children.  Both companies include links to social media on their sites.

Blog Week Four Post Two

Blog Week Four Post Two: Add the url of two websites you use or visit frequently.

Discuss: 

1.      Why are they effective? 

2.      What specific principles of good design do they include and why?

3.      What makes you come back again?

4.      What could be improved?

https://www.amazon.com/

 The search bar right at the top that auto defaults to searching all categories is very effective.  If the search needs to be narrowed to a specific category that is very simply down with the left sided drop down menu.  The browsing history immediately under the category drop down menu is a useful feature, it allows you to quickly go back to an item after taking detours and shopping around or mulling over the decision to purchase.  The ‘buy it again’ feature on the right side makes it very easy to reorder household items and foodstuffs without having to search at all.  The amazon website makes shopping very convenient and easy, a couple of clicks and shopping is done.  Everything is very clearly laid out, addresses from all previous orders and orders themselves are saved making it very easy to purchase and send gifts for birthdays and holidays and to double check and make sure gifts are not duplicated.

 Amazon has exemplary “ease of use” and “navigation”.  They have a great use of contrast in their design with the white background and clear black and blue writing with judicious use of red for item prices.  Their branding is simple and easy to identify, they also make good use of contrast in their logo.

I think Amazon is pretty perfect and don’t see any gratuitous improvement needs.  They send out notices if something on the wish list goes down in price! 

http://updog-yoga.com/

I look at my own website frequently to make sure that the links are live and to update special events on the homepage and in the workshops.  It is very clear that it is a yoga website providing several special events.  There is good repetition with the navigation bar across all the pages and the social media links are consistent throughout.  The navigation is clearly visible and the website name is in the top left across all pages.  Since the branding is largely me and the yoga services I provide, an improvement could be to add my name, Laura McIntire, to the upper left corner right below the website name, including myself more in the branding.  The logo I had designed and use on my business cards does not feature on the website at all and should be part of it to make the branding consistent across all platforms.

I think there is good use of contrast and variation in picture size.  I think there is some confusion with the hierarchy on the home page since the right-side movie style pictures are for the Cats on Mats event that is listed below the Lavender Fields Yoga and Sound Healing Day Retreat, then the water picture on the left likely doesn't make any sense at all other than to be a pretty picture, it actually goes with the Mount Desert Island, Maine Summer Yoga Retreat.  The alignment and hierarchy can be improved to enhance the user experience.  This is easier said than accomplished by me.

Another improvement could be to add a ‘back to top’ link at the bottom of the pages.  The schedule page in particular needs a complete redesign, it is full of content that requires a thorough read and it does not have ‘ease of use’ although the alignment in current configuration is good.  Good alignment doesn't matter so much if the content isn't user friendly.

Week 4 Post One

Commented on:
Irene Vasquez
Michael Fanghella
Shawn Kaufman 

Choose two of the following websites and identify at least three potential problems for visitors.

I chose to first look at the Toyota website since we are car shopping.  I first looked at their website from my phone and quickly got frustrated and gave up. I wanted to see a visual menu of cars and their price ranges right off the bat.   Their website has a shifting image of different models right at the top of their page, the page requires me to dive deeper in to find the information I need.  On the mobile device I do not like the shifting car images but it does work on the full screen where I can also immediately see the menu that reads " Explore all Vehicles", with vehicle categories clearly listed.  As a shopper I do not want to spend much time clicking on car models to find out if the vehicle is even within our budget, Toyota provides a 'Shopping Tools' link right in their top navigation bar which seems great until you click it.  There are three subcategories within this link and each category has 3 to 4 link options, the closest category for the budgetary constraints I would like to set to speed up my search process is labeled 'Build and Price', this does not actually get me to the information I would like and instead wants me to put in my zip code and take me down the rabbit hole of directing me to local dealerships which is more commitment than I want.  As a consumer I want to see the price range anonymously and anonymously see if Toyota even offers a car model within my budget that I might then be interested in deciding to explore.

The second website I chose to look at was roverp6cars.com.  My first response was
"Yikes".  Toyota's website is wonderful in comparison.  First off, I do not know what the name of the company actually is, is it MGBD Parts and Service or Rover P6 Parts?  Both headlines are large and red, the MGBD is listed first and larger but the Rover P6 Parts is sort of in the website name and while listed second it is underlined.  I am confused immediately.  There is overuse of capital bold red letters in the left hand navigation bar.  There are far too many left red links!

For me, Toyota could make it much easier to search within budget parameters.  I would like to see a link that offers several search ranges, for example 18k-24k, 24k-32K, 32k-100K.  Alternatively I would like to type in my budget parameters and have the car model selection options returned.
For Rover6,  I would suggest creating a much shorter, simpler navigation bar with their other links deeper in.  I would change the navigation bar color, I would clarify the name and simply the headings to make reading their site easier and less chaotic.

 Choose two of the following websites and identify what they have done right.
 How does design, aesthetics and branding impact your reaction to the websites?

I looked at Riverside Art Center.  I love the art at the top of the page.  To be fair, I looked at their website on my phone as I did with Toyota.  Their art heading shifts on the computer screen which works, on the mobile device the art heading is static until you click the advance arrow.  That small difference makes a big difference for me.  I also like the way the navigation bar moves with the user as you scroll down the website.  Their website design is quite pleasing and it makes it a pleasant experience to peruse.

I looked at Stone Brewing and their graphics really stand out.  It is obvious they have put a great deal of attention into the graphic design, it is bold, their branding and aesthetic is clear.  Their customers will recognize their images.  They use contrast well, the brightness of the products standout well against the dark background.

 

Week 3 Part 2

1.  Business Name:  InnerYoga

2.  http://www.dinaamsterdam.com/

3.  Social Media Links:

blog link

http://www.dinaamsterdam.com/inspiration/

link says “coming soon”

none, no blog posts yet, no other social media links

The website is clean, clear and well organized.  The website seems to be the extent of social media being passively used.  While there is a blog menu link it appears to have never been used.  My analysis is that the website is a nice resource if you find it.   The only option for engagement is the contact link which provides an email address.

1.  Business Name:  Ecology Center

2.  http://ecologycenter.org/about/

3.  Social Media Links:

blog, FB, Twitter, RSS

blog posts, several times a month 2/1/17

FB posts regular and frequent 2/2/17

Twitter, daily, sometimes multiple times a day 2/6/17

RSS (Really simple syndication) seems to be a catalog of basic links to all of their blog posts minus the images and templates 2/1/17

This business seems to be very active on social media and I would say they are using it well to engage their audience.  Once I Googled and understood what the RSS feed was doing it does seem like a clean, organized way to catalog and make their blog posts available to search without having to scroll through pages of material.

1.  Business Name:  The Ecology Center

2.  https://www.theecologycenter.org/

3.  Social Media Links:

Instagram daily @1x a day 2/6/17

FB, daily about 1x a day 2/6/17

Twitter 12/15/16, sporadic not even 1x a month

YouTube, 1 year ago, 1 “about” video

This business uses Instagram and FB evenly, rarely using twitter and their YouTube channel hasn’t been added to in a year.

This business is active on Instagram and Facebook, it looks like the majority of their audience sees their posts on Instagram.  They have a fairly large number of followers on Twitter, 2Kplus but given their infrequent posts I don’t think they are engaging that audience.  The YouTube video is a nice introduction to the business.

1.  Business Name:  Chaa Creek

2.   https://www.chaacreek.com/

3.  Social Media Links:

FB frequently[lm1]  have multiple posts daily 19,430 followers, last post 2/6/17

Twitter, multiple posts daily, 7Kplus followers last post 2/6/17

Google plus, 28 followers posts are not dated, appear similar to FB and twitter posts

Instagram 1,561 followers, posts are less frequent than FB and twitter but are regular, daily or every couple of days 2/6/17

Pineterest, website pics have a Pinterest icon.

This business seems to have their largest audience on FB but posts most frequently on twitter.  It is easy to see audience engagement over FB and Instagram but as a viewer I cannot see the ‘likes’ on their twitter feed.  I would assume since they use Twitter so heavily that they have stronger engagement with their clientele through this social media modality.  I’m not sure if the Pinterest icon is something that the business enables or if it is a webwide function available for images.  I went back and checked some of the other website’s images and the Pinterest icon does not show up.  I imagine that saving pictures in Pinterest helps people when they are planning vacations and can refer back to the Lodge at Chaa Creek to plan their trip; it’s good long term marketing strategy to have their pictures saved in many Pinterest albums.

1.  Business Name:  Jenna Pacelli

2.  http://www.jennapacelli.com/

3.  Social Media Links:

Instagram 1,610 followers averages about 3 posts a week, average engagement is 53.5 per post last post was 2/4/17

YouTube last post 1 year ago

Google Plus 70 followers, only 3 posts total, no dates

FB posts appear to have very low engagement over FB, last post 2/4/17

Pineterest 424 Followers, looks like a prolific board creator can’t tell last post date.  This business’s use of Pinterest may be a good way to target market specific events.  Regular Instagram offerings seem to be their primary mode of audience engagement.  

From the 5 business exploration, I learned that businesses use Pinterest, RSS and GooglePlus as social media engagement tools. 

It did not appear to me that Google Plus added much engagement but perhaps it does for those that follow.  From the text book it sounds like Google Plus is and can be used to create a live video for a small group and that video can be saved and shared.  I did not notice any videos in the Google Plus feeds, the posts looked static and identical to the posts shared across other social media forums.

The frequency of twitter posts and engagement of Chaa Creek surprised me.  Their frequent tweets seem to serve them well based on the larger number of followers they have.

Based on this exploration, I immediately took the time to try and add Instagram, Facebook and Twitter icon links to all of the pages across my website: http://updog-yoga.com/index.html .  During this exercise, several things became evident; first I realized that the icons on the websites I had explored and others I continued to explore blended with their sites and had a more customized appearance both with size and color than I was able to obtain; placement on the page needs to be taken into consideration along with consistency across all pages; ease of locating and linking the appropriate icon.  I was not able to find a good description of what I needed to do to place and link the Facebook icon.  Also worth noting is the amount of time attending to social media can take.

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 [lm1]