Market Analysis and Strategy Formulation for Appalachian Cast Iron

Marketing as a revenue generator for businesses seeks to entice consumers into making a final purchase. How this is achieved varies greatly depending on the size of firm, the goods or services being advertised, distribution channels, and other factors. This manuscript includes the creation of a marketing strategy for a small, online business, Appalachian Cast Iron, through the investigation of current literature, and analyses of the external and internal environments. The results provide strategies for areas in which the firm has opportunities to improve

The effectiveness of content marketing activities in Facebook and Instagram : generating leads and improving sales for a B2C experiential service company

Nowadays a majority of society is using social media, which increased the number of social network sites (SNS) users. Business to consumer (B2C) companies have started to use SNS in order to gain from its close connectivity to customers and to attract new customers. Becoming of most self-interest to master the art of online marketing through SNS for B2C companies. The aim of this thesis is to study the effectiveness of visual user-generated content (UGC) versus own branded content for sales conversions on Facebook. Additionally, the study compares the effectiveness of own branded visual content vs UGC in generating leads on Instagram and Facebook. By analyzing the effectiveness of content marketing activities on SNS, we are contributing to the discussion on strategic marketing decisions for B2C enterprises. Having an interaction effect between the type of social network platform and type of content that is not statistically significant different, we can truthfully reject hypothesis one. The difference between conversion rates indicates that UGC inspires more confidence, achieving higher conversions rates over the five days the campaign occurred. Although the sample size was restricted which can affect the power of detecting meaningful difference and not allowing a statement on significance.Atualmente, a maior parte da nossa sociedade usa redes sociais, o que aumentou o número de usuários de redes sociais. Muitas empresas (B2C) começaram a usar redes sociais para contribuir ao bem do negocio. Tornando-se do maior interesse saber dominar a arte do marketing online através de redes sociais, estas plataformas sendo Facebook e Instagram. O objetivo desta tese é estudar a eficácia do conteúdo visual gerado por usuários (UGC) versus o conteúdo de marca própria para conversões de vendas no Facebook. Além disso, o estudo compara a eficácia do conteúdo visual de marca própria versus o de usuários (UGC) na geração de leads no Instagram e no Facebook. Ao analisar a eficácia das atividades de marketing com o conteúdo das redes sociais contribuindo para a discussão sobre decisões estratégicas de marketing para as empresas (B2C). Resultados revelam um efeito de interação entre o tipo de rede social e o tipo de conteúdo que não é estatisticamente significativo, rejeitando a hipótese 1. A diferença entre as quotas de conversão indica que o conteúdo visual gerado por usuários (UGC) inspira mais confiança, alcançando taxas de conversão mais altas nos cinco dias em que a campanha ocorreu. Embora o tamanho da amostra tenha sido restrito, o que pode afetar o poder de detetar diferenças significativas e não permitindo uma declaração com significância

A Study of digital communications between universities and students

This study examined the digital and social media communication practices of nine urban universities including UMSL and compared those to known corporate best practices. The purpose of this study was to (1) research how these universities are using social/digital communications to engage with students and prospective students; (2) compare the executional tactics of universities to corporate best practices; (3) determine if by applying corporate best practices universities reap the same benefits as corporate in terms of higher engagement rates with their customers; and (4) determine if a correlation exists between a university’s Forbes ranking and its use of social media communications best practices. This research employed a case study and correlational analytical approach. All content on Facebook and Twitter for the nine universities under study was examined for a 4-week evaluation period. Adherence to social and digital media corporate best practices were observed and noted. Metrics were created. These metrics were then correlated with overall engagement rates on the various social media platforms. The results of this study did show that those universities better at applying corporate best practices did see higher engagement rates with statistical significance. This indicates that best practices as determined by corporations for engaging with customers and potential customers also apply for universities in dealing with students. Additionally, this study sought to understand issues that may hinder a university from being able to quickly adopt to the technological needs of students and the platforms they use for communications. This was done via an extensive review of the literature and various industry journals. There were found to be many reasons why a university may be incapable of implementing cutting edge communication platforms quickly including the fact that universities (1) may be slower in adoption of technology (2) must adhere to FERPA rules and regulations (3) have difficulty in operating strategically (4) are known to be very “siloed” or compartmentalized in structure (5) have limited resources that cannot be easily redeployed as needed, and (6) are confused about their customers

Selling rural China: The construction and commodification of rurality in Chinese promotional livestreaming

With promotional livestreaming transforming the digital culture and e-commerce landscape in China, rural streamers take this opportunity to not only harvest economic rewards but also construct rural identities and associated imagery. Employing a digital ethnographic approach, this article closely explored how rural spaces and rural labor activities are constructed and commodified in Chinese promotional livestreaming. I argue that although rural streamers’ creative use of platform-afforded liveness and interactivity enriches Chinese digital culture by making everyday life in rural spaces visible, this constructed rurality is, however, flattened, decontextualized, and romanticized – thus, ready to be commodified and sold to the audience. In addition, agricultural labor is made hyper-visible, generating the possibility for demystifying said labor process, while other forms of labor, mainly affective labor and labor for negotiation with the platforms, are made invisible, undervalued, and exploited, deepening the precarious condition of such platform-dependent labor

Social media marketing strategy for an online italian language school

Social media marketing (SMM) is becoming increasingly relevant for all kinds of businesses; in particular it can be fruitful for small and medium enterprises due to its relative cost-effectiveness and opportunities for organic reach. Besides, brand presence and consistency on social media (SM) can raise brand awareness and increase brand trust. The topic of this project is a nascent brand, Allora School, which is an online Italian language school. This project was developed with the aim of creating a SMM strategy for Allora School as it enters the market. There are plenty of different social media platforms (SMPs), however, due to Generation Z being the target audience (TA) of the brand in question, the author chose Instagram and TikTok. The strategy was developed based on a review of the literature regarding branding, SM, peculiarities of marketing to TA and their learning preferences. In this project, the hierarchy of effects model was adapted to modern day SM and used as a key indicator for SMM design. The exploratory part of the project consisted of observation and benchmarking to gather some insights and nuances to implement in a proposed strategy. The practical part included the overall description of the language school, the innovative platform it uses for storing the materials and conducting interactive lessons for Gen Z learners is provided to give a rationale for the chosen TA, the rationale of the brand name and logo. Finally, there is the explanation of the design of a SMM strategy for Allora School that will serve to increase brand awareness and brand trust, and, consequently, lead to sales.O marketing de redes sociais está se tornando cada vez mais relevante para todos os tipos de negócios, em particular pode ser frutífero para pequenas e médias empresas devido à sua relação custo-benefício e oportunidades de alcance orgânico. Além disso, a presença e a consistência da marca nas redes sociais podem levar a aumentar o reconhecimento da marca e aumentar a confiança na marca. O tema deste projeto é uma marca nascente, Allora School, que é uma escola online de italiano. Este projeto foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de criar uma estratégia de marketing nas redes sociais para a Allora School à medida que entra no mercado. Existem muitas plataformas de mídia social diferentes, no entanto, devido à Geração Z ser o público-alvo da marca em questão, o autor escolheu o Instagram e o TikTok. A estratégia foi desenvolvida com base em uma revisão da literatura sobre branding, redes sociais, peculiaridades do marketing para o público-alvo e suas preferências de aprendizagem. Neste projeto, o modelo de hierarquia de efeitos foi adaptado às redes sociais modernas e usado como um indicador-chave para o design da estratégia de marketing nas redes sociais. A parte exploratória do projeto consistiu em observação e benchmarking para reunir alguns insights e nuances para implementar em uma estratégia proposta. A parte prática incluiu a descrição geral da escola de idiomas, a plataforma inovadora que ela usa para armazenar os materiais e conduzir aulas interativas para alunos da Geração Z é fornecida para fornecer uma justificativa para o público-alvo escolhido, a lógica do nome da marca e do logotipo. Por fim, explica-se o desenho de uma estratégia de SMM para a Allora School que servirá para aumentar a notoriedade e a confiança da marca e, consequentemente, levar a vendas

Advancing Namibian Higher Education: Promoting the Debut of MOOCs in Namibia

This project aided the Teaching and Learning Unit at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), in Windhoek, Namibia, in promoting the launch of two Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) at the university–the first such initiative in Namibia. The team collaborated with student volunteers and NUST staff to develop a promotional strategy consisting of videos, posters, emails, radio advertisements, and face-to-face promotion. This promotional strategy supported the MOOC launch, contributing to a 160% increase in enrolled students. The results indicated that email, digital posters and videos distributed through Facebook were the most effective methods. These methods formed the basis of a refined promotional strategy for future MOOC promotion at NUST

Impact Of Social Media Advertising On High Energy Drink Preferences And Consumption

Despite the surging appropriation of social media by marketers for communicative marketing of brands, what remains under-explored in literature is the capacity of social media platforms to influence student preferences for brands. This research gap is ironic given the growing literature on the potential of self-images shared on social media to influence consumers’ product preferences and purchase intentions. Drawing on Media Richness Theory, agency, extant literature and authors’ personal reflections on social media adoption for brand selection by students, this theoretical study examines how students navigate such platforms to make informed choices about energy drinks. The findings suggest while students exploited social media platforms intermittently to access energy drink brands, their brand preferences and choices were informed by personal agency (especially personal volition, peer influences, convenience and availability of brands) more than social media networks per se. The study contributes a conceptual model that integrate social media appropriation, consumer decision making, brand preferences and purchases. While the model is untested, its methodological strength lays in its reliance on extant literature, proven concepts, anecdotes of student consumption behavior and authors’ knowledge of social media, which are critical to deepening academics and policy makers’ understanding of social media-brand preference relations in real world contexts

Using Social Media Influencers to Promote Qatar as a Tourist Destination

The main objective of this study is to understand the qualities of social media influencers, in the travel and tourism industry, which generate trust in the followers, thereby having an impact on the followers’ intention to visit a destination promoted/recommended by the SMIs. The characteristics identified are Quality of Information provided by SMIs, Attractiveness of their Content on social media platforms, Credibility of SMIs, Authenticity of SMIs and Popularity of SMIs and the Engagement with their followers. Additionally, the study also investigates the effect of Trust on the individual’s intention to visit a destination. The results revealed that out of the five characteristics, Quality of Information was shown to have no impact on the trust generated whereas other factors had a significant positive impact on Trust. Furthermore, Trust had a significant positive impact on the follower’s intention to visit the destination promoted by the SMIs

The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Promoting the Cultural Heritage Tourism: A Case Study of Portugal

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Data Driven Marketing, specialization in Digital Marketing and AnalyticsThis research is the result of an exploratory and descriptive investigation that focuses on analyzing 21 social media profiles of entities related to the cultural and heritage tourism sectors in Portugal. The purpose is to gather concrete data and observe the most successful social media marketing strategies employed by these entities. The research aims to address two main research questions: “How can social media marketing contribute to the building and strengthening of Portuguese Cultural Heritage and Tourism?” and “How can marketers incorporate virtual reality into a marketing strategy in the cultural tourism and heritage sectors and derive value from it?”. Therefore, the intention is to explore how social media platforms can be leveraged to promote and attract visitors to Portuguese cultural heritage sites and tourism destinations. By analyzing the social media profiles of relevant entities, the research seeks to identify effective strategies that contribute to the overall promotion and enhancement of Portugal's cultural heritage and tourism offerings. The research also aims to investigate how virtual reality can be integrated into marketing strategies within the cultural tourism and heritage sectors. Virtual reality has the potential to provide immersive and interactive experiences, allowing potential visitors to engage with cultural and heritage sites virtually. The study seeks to explore how marketers can harness virtual reality technologies to create valuable and engaging content that entices visitors and enhances their overall experience. By examining the social media profiles and activities of these entities, the research aims to provide insights into successful social media marketing practices, as well as explore the potential of virtual reality in marketing strategies for cultural tourism and heritage sectors. The findings of this research can help tourism organizations understand the impact of consumers' behavior and preferences and guide them in making informed decisions about their marketing and promotional efforts

The Dynamics of Influencer Marketing

YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Vimeo, Twitter, etc. have their own logics, dynamics and different audiences. This book analyses how the users of these social networks, especially those of YouTube and Instagram, become content prescribers, opinion leaders and, by extension, people of influence. What influence capacity do they have? Why are intimate or personal aspects shared with unknown people? Who are the big beneficiaries? How much is vanity and how much altruism? What business is behind these social networks? What dangers do they contain? What volume of business can we estimate they generate? How are they transforming cultural industries? What legislation is applied? How does the legislation affect these communications when they are sponsored? Is the privacy of users violated with the data obtained? Who is the owner of the content? Are they to blame for ""fake news""? In this changing, challenging and intriguing environment, The Dynamics of Influencer Marketing discusses all of these questions and more. Considering this complexity from different perspectives: technological, economic, sociological, psychological and legal, the book combines the visions of several experts from the academic world and provides a structured framework with a wide approach to understand the new era of influencing, including the dark sides of it. It will be of direct interest to marketing scholars and researchers while also relevant to many other areas affected by the phenomenon of social media influence