Blog Post Week 2 Part B

Business Research

Jem'd Sweets-instagram.com/jemd_sweets/?hl=en

This is a very small local business located in Carlsbad, Ca. that specializes in beautiful homemade cakes.

The only Social Media currently being used is Instagram and there is no website for this business.  

Her last post was made 3 days ago, but there are only a total of 10 posts and 18 followers.

I believe this business could do so much more if she just had the time to post all of her creations and took the time to broaden her Social Media a bit more.  I just happen to know that she's incredibly busy with 3 children at home, works, and goes to school, but I know she would love to do this as a more full-time business and I'd like to help her.  She's very talented and ambitious.   

The Crimson Cakes-crimsoncake.com 

The Crimson Cakes is a small local business located in Oceanside, Ca. that specializing in one of a kind, custom-designed cakes.

The Crimson Cakes uses Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/thecrimsoncake/

The last post on Instagram was on September 6, 2020.  It has 1,476 posts and 2,089 followers.

The Crimson Cakes uses Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/The-Crimson-Cake-170358459645359/?ref=page_internal

The last post on Facebook on September 6, 2020.  It has 1,559 followers.

The Crimson Cake is on Yelp-https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-crimson-cake-oceanside-2

It appears that The Crimson Cakes mostly uses Instagram for photos of her product.  I didn't see much interaction on that platform, but her product sells itself and the pictures are beautiful.  There's definitely some interaction with her customers on Facebook.  Plus, it's set up very well.  She has a link on her Facebook page to her website, which is smart.  Once again, she uses this platform to post photos of her products and they are visually stunning.  She replies "thank you" to comments made on the posts she makes, but I'm guessing again, she's very busy and doesn't have the kind of time it takes to interact with people on Social Media very much.  But, it doesn't seem to have hurt her business.

Voluspa Candles-https://www.voluspa.com/

Voluspa is a large, California based but sells internationally luxury, fine fragranced candles. 

Voluspa has a Blog-https://www.voluspa.com/blogs/blog

They last posted on their Blog on June 6, 2020.  

Voluspa uses Twitter-https://twitter.com/voluspacandles 

They have 4,525 tweets and 6,009 followers.  The last Tweet was 10 hours ago (approximately 5am Pacific Coast Time, September 8, 2020).

Voluspa uses Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/Voluspa

They have 32,458 followers, plus a link to their website listed.  Their last post was approximately 5am Pacific Coast Time on September 8, 2020.

Voluspa uses Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/voluspacandles/

They have 128k followers on Instagram. Their last post was 5am on September 8, 2020.  They have 2053 posts on Instagram.

Voluspa uses Pinterest-https://www.pinterest.com/voluspacandles/

They have 2,082 followers and 289.4k monthly views.  Their last post was September 8, 2020.

They are super interactive on all of these platforms, but most of them are posts.  There are a few personal interactions, but they are a very visual company.  One of the things I think they do very well is how they use Pinterest. They have something called, "Daily Inspirations" which is not only full of information but is visually beautiful as well.  They seem to be a big enough company to hire a team to run all of these platforms very well. There is a little personal interaction on Facebook but I'm sure whomever they respond to appreciates the recognition.

See Forever Games-Cybermancy-https://www.seeforevergames.com/products

See Forever Games is a fairly new game developer, specializing in creating games that they want to play that don't exist, yet.  They are international, in that the creators are from Southern California, but they and some of their employees live in Houston, Texas, and Mexico City, Mexico now.  Cybermancy is their first game.  It's a card game that is an absolute labor of love.  It has some similarities to Magic the Gathering but only requires one deck, so it is more affordable, fun, and creative.

See Forever Games uses Twitter- https://twitter.com/seeforevergames  

They have 32 followers, 36 Tweets and they last posted on April 16, 2020. 

See Forever Games uses Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/seeforevergames 

Their last post was on July 21, 2020.  They have 114 followers and a link to their website as well.  

See Forever Games uses Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/seeforevergames/?hl=en  

They have 344 followers and 9 posts.  Their last post was on July 27th, 2020.

I know the creators of this company and I know that they are looking for direction with their Social Media presence.  They are posting and interacting with followers on Facebook, but it's inconsistent and there's a sense that they haven't quite figured out how they want to use these platforms.

Wizards of The Coast-Magic The Gathering-magicthegathering.com

Wizards of The Coast, Magic of The Gathering started in Seattle, Washington back in 1990.  The founder creates a game called, "Magic The Gathering" that debuted in 1995; a card game that is a fantasy, RPG game.  By 2015, Magic The Gathering has 20 million players.  This is a massive company that has 600 employees and 18 offices.  It's internationally known. 

Magic The Gathering uses Twitter-  https://twitter.com/wizards_magic

They have 267.9K followers and their last post was on September 1, 2020.

Magic The Gathering uses Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/MagicTheGathering

They have 1,730,281 followers.  They have a link to their website and their last post was on FB was on September 1, 2020.   

Magic The Gathering uses Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/wizards_magic/?hl=en  

They have 296K followers and 1,564 posts.  Their last post was 10:30am Pacific Coast Time on September 8, 2020.  

Magic The Gathering uses Twitch-https://www.twitch.tv/magic  

They have 369K followers and their last post was on September 7, 2020.  

Magic The Gathering uses YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8ZGymAvfP97qJabgqUkz4A  

They have 472K followers and their last post was a week ago.

This company has a huge following, and they seem to be very good at all the Social Media platforms, but their biggest followings are on YouTube and Twitch.  It seems to be more interactive and for a game like this, I can see why it works.  

Conclusion

I would say that it's clear that the bigger your company is, the more exposure you can have on Social Media.  Smaller companies that are just starting out may not have the time or the experience to utilize these platforms to their advantage.  I think when a company starts out, they don't have a lot of time or resources to develop a Social Media strategy.  It is time-consuming and probably takes a few trial and errors.  However, once a company gets some momentum, they can take a little more time to engage on these platforms or hire someone who can handle that for them to keep them visible and competitive.  

I chose small and large companies in the same fields to compare them on how they operate and promote themselves on Social Media platforms and it's clear that the bigger you are, the more presence and dominance you can have in Social Media platforms.  I think that as a company grows, they can eventually hire experts whose only job in their company is to handle all their Social Media platforms.  They can make sure that they are using the right Social Media to get to the right target market, design it for the company, and handle any and all the posts and replies.  When a company is just starting out, they usually have limited resources and time.  It makes it more difficult to compete with their top competitors.  

Overall, I would say that I found that the two biggest companies I researched used the right Social Media platforms for their product and they used them well.  For Magic The Gathering, it makes sense that they have the majority of their followers on YouTube and Twitch.  It's an interactive game, so they have tutorials on how to play their game.  Most of the game players I know seem to enjoy watching others play the games they like on YouTube or Twitch and they learn a lot from that.  See Forever Games is a new company.  It doesn't have the time or resources to create things like that.  It launched right before the pandemic, so it never got the chance to even get the exposure they had hoped for or broaden their customer base.  They spent most of their resources creating the game but now they are struggling to find the right platform to get launched.  They are highly experienced game developers and players, but not so much with Social Media.  They are a little lost right now, but I hope to help them out, somehow.  They are just as worthy, if not more creative than The Wizards of The Coast, but they just aren't as visible, yet.  They just need a solid Social Media Marketing plan and I think they will take off.  I want to help them do that. They are an amazing company.  

With Voluspa Candles, their largest following is on Facebook and Instagram.  They are more visual, so they are mostly posting beautiful shots of their latest candles. There's no need for a YouTube or a Twitch to show their product.  Their layout is so well designed on those platforms, you almost feel like you can smell the candles through your computer.  They also have added features to hold your attention on a page a little longer with thoughtful quotes or anecdotes.  Their posts create a feeling of calm and serenity, just like I think they want you to think about how you would feel if you had one of their candles in your home. So, I think they have utilized their forums very effectively.  

I chose the cake companies I chose because I know them both very well.  They are both incredible.  One just happens to have had a bit more time to post and focus on her Social Media than the other one did, which is probably why it increased her customer base early on.  The other company is smaller and has had very little time to post at all.  They are both equally good, but when one company has more time to engage on Social Media, That company will usually end up with more customers.  Not necessarily repeat customers, but certainly, more recognition and visibility.  Once again, when a company is just starting out, the lack of resources, time, and know-how to make it hard for them to be able to focus on Social Media or know which platform is the right platform to post on, but it can make all the difference in the world when it comes to competition and success.  If your business is posting on the wrong platform or not often enough, you're likely going to fall behind your competition.  In this era, every business needs a solid Social Media Marketing plan going forward to be successful.