In my previous post I wrote about the limitations of what online marketing tools can be used for my business. Since we don't sell a product or service, coupon networks wouldn't be useful. I do, however, see the usefulness in experimenting with the different types of social media and online marketing tools to see which produce the biggest benefits, especially if the time/money/energy investment can be kept to a minimum. In doing this assignment, I found that it is still possible to find information and resources that are highly relevant and useful to my job and department. I had been under the false assumption that I had exhausted all possibilities of groups, organizations, and people who could provide a wide array of information pertinent to my work.
The first tool that I decided to explore is Yelp. I found that our main college campus has a Yelp entry, as well as two other departments within the college. My department did not, so I decided to add the listing. As I have noticed with many of these networks, things never work out quite the way they are supposed to. Despite having added my department a few days back, I still cannot view our listing. I attempted to add it again today and still no luck. There is a note that it can take up to 48 hours to be able to view the business, a period which has now lapsed, so I'm hoping it will show up soon. Once it does, I am hopeful that this will be another great way to interact with students and possibly see areas in which we have shortcomings.
I have also set up a Pulse account to be able to pull all the blogs and news related to our field in one area. I'm finding that adding friends and following users on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have been excellent ways to explore all of the information out there, but there is far too much to keep track of especially when they are scattered over various platforms and networks.
Lastly, I created a Google Business and Google+ account. This seems like it will take a little more time to explore, as I have only just created the page and began to add hours, locations, department information, and photos. I was curious to see how much more involved it is, as they are sending a postcard to verify our business. It seems like a great place to explore and add groups and people in circles, as well as reach out to our students and other organizations. Of the three of these, I'm most excited to explore this, and I will be working to combine information that we have across our resources to make sure that we have robust accounts in each area.
As I mentioned before, if exploring these new tools and resources can provide even one new piece of information or insight, it can be well worth it. When exploring groups on Google+, I came across Columbia University's Community College Research Center account, and from there began exploring their website and publications. I now have two books to look into, one which I have placed on hold at a local library, and the other I may buy for my department. Here is an organization who, despite having searched on my various other social media accounts, I am only now discovering. The resources, tools, and information on their site is incredible, and I have had to pull myself away several times to finish this assignment and my other work.
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