Alisa Detwiler

During the past few months, I’ve learned a great deal about how to effectively use social media to build my business.   I definitely prefer some platforms over others but feel they all have something to offer, depending on the type of product or service a business offers. My least favorite social media platform is Twitter.   It could be because I have a preconceived notion that it’s mainly used for political issues.   Regardless, I don’t feel it’s as easy to navigate as other social media platforms and it doesn’t seem to be advantageous in marketing my machine rental business. LinkedIn is a great platform for networking on a professional level.   However, based on what I’ve learned, it is not the right medium for promoting my business.   Setting up and using a blog has been a good learning experience for me.   Although I think it’s an excellent platform to share information, I don’t’ feel it would benefit my business.   There’s only so much one can write about margarita mac

As of December 3, 2019, the Margarita Man San Diego Facebook page has 150 followers and 137 likes.  Prior to this assignment, my page had 133 followers and 135 likes.  There's been an increase of 17 followers and 2 page likes since Monday of last week.  I appreciate that I can see the cities that my visitors live in as well as gender.  I was surprised to see that 77% of my "fans" are women.  I figured there would be more women but did not expect such a significant difference.  I learned that 41% of my "fans" are between the ages of 45 and 54, which was not a surprise.  However, I was surprised to learn that only 10% of my "fans" are between the ages of 55 and 64.  I deal with a lot of people who, I would guess, are in the latter age group.  Perhaps they just aren't "fans" of my site.  Being able to see how my ads and posts performed will be very useful if I apply the data to future posts and ad campaigns. 

Google Analytics is a valuable tool that provides feedback on how your site is performing as well as visitor demographics.  There are many features that I look forward to learning about but the ones that I feel will be most beneficial are the visitors' city, date the site was visited, and conversions.  Since my business serves only local customers, it is important to reach people who live within 45 miles of my business.  Knowing which days of the week my site is visited most will allow me to post ads are days that typically have more traffic.  And, when spending money on ads, knowing the conversion rate will let me know if my money is being well spent. 

This Instagram ad is perfect for late spring.  The goal is for people to be intrigued and want to learn more about how they too can be "refreshed."  The link to my website is the CTA. A high percentage of people who attend KAABOO are part of my target market.  Partnering with Infinium Spirits at KAABOO Del Mar is a great way to draw attention to my business. Click on our blog link to find out where we're headed this week.  Spot us around town, post a pic, and get entered into a drawing for a free margarita machine rental. This would definitely appeal to my target audience.  Many of them are young, successful, and adventurous, so I feel they would be drawn to this ad and want to learn more. 

The implementation of sponsored Facebook ads/posts and boosted posts has opened the doors to small businesses that don't have much of an advertising budget.  Businesses are in control of their marketing budget and schedule.  They can choose to design and implement their ads on their own or hire a person/agency to promote their business. They can also determine the number of days they'd like to run the ad, as well as the maximum they'd like to spend. I've boosted Facebook posts to advertise my business on a number of occasions.  I've noticed that if I put some thought into the design and wording, I tend to see more engagement.  If I just throw something together quickly, I see very little engagement because the ad wasn't well thought out and the design/graphics/photos were lacking appeal. With a previous business, I dabbled in banner ads.  The same amount of thought and creativity should go into a Facebook ad as does a banner ad.  Well, any ad for that matter

1. Following is an analysis of social media used by businesses similar to mine: Margarita Man San Diego Website:   www.sandiegomargaritaman.com Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/margaritamansandiego/ Blog:   https://margmansd.blogspot.com/ Twitter:   https://twitter.com/MargaritaManSD/ Yelp:   28 5-star reviews CTA:   “Make a reservation today” link on website Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/margaritamansd/ I have Facebook and Instagram but no links on the website Margarita Express Website:   www.margaritaexp.com Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/Margaritaezpress/ Blog:   On website - Last post 4/6/16 Twitter:   https://twitter.com/margaritaexpre1 ; Improper grammar and spelling; unprofessional sounding posts make me wonder if the poster was “Tipsy Tweeting.” Yelp:   No reviews CTA:   Website CTA is a button the visitor can click on to call the business.   EZ Pour Drinks Website:   www.ezpourdrinks.com Facebook:   https://www.f