Week 17 - Final Thoughts

Over the semester, I have expanded my use of social media across other platform to include Twitter and Soundcloud.  I realized that using various platforms reach other audiences and are useful for growing a business.  LCF is a different kind of business in a difficult and competitive industry.  Music is an art form and the business side of this isn't easy.  Marketing and social media promotions are important and effective ways to get content out to the public.  The major record companies own most of the industry, so constant posts and interesting content is needed, as is multiple social media platforms and streaming sites to reach the most people.  

Using Facebook ads has increased our followers and engagement with posts with more visibility.  Instagram is still the most popular platform with the most interaction, so LCF will focus on posting and promoting through this tool.  There has been at least 50 more likes on Facebook and Instagram and an increase in post reach percentages.  I'd like to increase the ad budget to paid promotions at least once a month, in order to keep growing our followers.  Once we release a music video on Youtube and begin to promote it, our fan base should continue to grow too. 

I have always thought social media was important for business and especially the music and art scene.  Our culture has shifted with technological progress.  Everything is moving online, which is connecting the world and giving so many people access to a large amount of information.  People are sharing ideas and engaging with each other in digital worlds.  Social media has been a huge part of our digital evolution, and so naturally the business world needs to adapt and use these tools to reach people.  Advertising is now much more personal and targeted, and social media helps to connect with a specific market and form relationships.  

I have learned about how important the algorithms and post times are, something I've always wondered about.  I've learned that Google Ads and other tools will help me in expanding our music's fan base.  The data I can capture from insights and the analytics will make us design better posts to our audience, which in turn will drive up interest for our content.  The tags are also important and will help us define a niche market.  The marketing plan will be largely based off social media and google ads promotions and will help ensure are future growth.  

I like Instagram for personal use, and I also like to post on Soundcloud with my own content, not just from the band.  I also use LinkedIn for personal use but not for business.  I could use YouTube personally to, just to post funny videos or follow and connect with other influencers I like.  I enjoy public speakers and inspirational videos as well, and use social media to find and connect with their content.  I believe much of social media is personal and started out that way.  The business world is slowly creeping in, which makes great business sense, but also might distract from the original purpose of social media, bringing people together.