Background
In 2016 I decided to undertake Business Management at a BA (Hons) level. The interest of learning more about the business world has always been high. During my studies for my Business Management course I began to know the direction I wanted to concentrate on. With years of knowledge I shifted from Business to Digital Marketing, a more precise area within the business industry. While studying business studies my brand was developing. As my brand started to progress, I started knowing what niche I wanted to focus on and started targeting my audience who are interested within this niche. Although, Business Management does cover Marketing it does not cover the digital side of it. I wanted to learn more about the digital side of marketing as this is linked to my brand online. I started my blog site 3 years ago but my brand on Instagram has been around longer. With the enjoyment of writing reviews on various products and services to help others I grew a stronger passion for this. Eager to knowing more I decided to progress further with my education and learn about Digital Marketing. I am currently studying my MSc Digital Marketing at the University of Salford. While developing more knowledge for digital marketing I am hoping for my brand to grow continuously. While being a social media influencer for 6 years I have managed to build my clientele. I would say my brand started gaining more opportunities 3 years ago. I have worked with Motelrocks, Shein, Hiddenfashion, CantuBeauty, Eylure promoting products and services using a range of social media platforms including Instagram.
Within this time frame I have developed various skills such as:
- Data Analysis: Google Analytics, SEO ROI Reporting
- Daily social media management & execution
- Adobe Photoshop
- Negotiation
- Content Marketing
MSc Digital Marketing: University of Salford (Salford Business School)
During my time studying at the University of Salford I will be covering the below modules:
- Digital Marketing Analytics and Strategy
- Search & Social Media Marketing
- Offline and Online Consumer Behaviour
- Digital Marketing Communications
These modules will help me understand more about how to measure and continue my brand within this competitive industry.
Why is Digital Marketing important?
Digital Marketing have increased tremendously over the years and it will continue to do so throughout for years to come. Technology is increasing which plays a big role in digital marketing. As a social media influencer, I have acknowledged how popular different social media platforms have become and the opportunities they come with. Social media influencers/ bloggers are now able to create content for a brand and get paid. This is the new era of advertising as most brands see this as a win for their company. Digital Marketing have the best ROI and it is more targeted. When you do target your audience, you create an ad that’s highly relevant to your target market. Because it’s so relevant, it connects on a level that more general advertising can’t. This connection gives it the ability to influence decisions. It is so important that now you have the ability of Internet marketing tools to interact with targeted audiences in real time. Engagement in any form is what your customers expect to receive when interacting with your brand or business. There are various areas in digital marketing such as Content Marketing & Social Media Marketing which are linked to my current career. This is designed to grow your online brand and reach any targeted short term/ long term goals. With the growth of online marketing it is vital to have a strong position online as there are so many competitors. Over 77% of UK online buyers reported in 2016 which shows how massive the market is and there are always consumers online who either want to buy a product or receive a service.
What is Social Media Marketing?
Social media itself is very popular and I am sure there is no one who have never heard of social media. When thinking about social media we instantly think about what it is for such as apps and sites that may provide radically different social actions. For example, Twitter is a social site designed to let people share short messages and media links with others. Instagram is a very popular social networking site that allows for sharing updates, photos, video content, a variety of other activities. Search and Social Media both relate together. Social media often feeds into the discovery of new content such as news stories, is a search activity. Social media can also develop links that in turn support into SEO efforts. Many people also accomplish searches on social media sites to find people and content. It is the most dominating era within digital marketing. Apps are being used daily across the globe and users are signing up on different social media platforms daily. There are various benefits to social media marketing as it increase brand awareness and generate leads and boost conversions. This gives brands and businesses the opportunity to grow in sales etc. Social media influencers can market their brand to gain online clientele including paid partnerships with brands that are related to their niche. SMM supports a business to get a direct response from customers (and potential customers) while making the business seem more personable. Social Media give customers the chance to have any queries and feel they are being heard to give any feedback.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a marketing method of creating and dispensing valuable, appropriate and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience with the objective of driving profitable purchaser action. There are various examples of content marketing such as Infographics, webpages, videos etc. Content Marketing is very popular as this is the new way to publish data in a way that audience online can understand and desire. Content Marketing increases awareness and it creates research. As a social media influencer creating content is what I do, and it is very important for my brand. If I do not produce great content for my audience, they will not be interested. For an example a company online could be promoting their clothing wear, but their captions and bio does not match the content, or the content is not outstanding. Marketing is impossible without great content. Any tactics used content marketing should always be a part of the development. Quality content online is made up of social media marketing, SEO, PR etc. Content is the present and future of marketing. Without it there won’t be any online marketing and social media would be pointless.
Gaining an Audience
I know what you are probably saying this part is hard. In fact, it is, and it takes time. In order to master this, you first need to be producing content that is of high quality and matches your brand niche. There are ways into building an online audience.
- Engaging back with audience and other audience who are not following
- Acknowledge what your audience is interested in
- Use dedicated hashtags
- Get creative and be consistent
- Participate in popular conversations online
- Get descriptive with your captions and ensure they match the content published
- Develop your own theme/ style for profile to be presented
Welcome to my journey. I will keep you updated on my module’s progression along with the completion of my MSc in Digital Marketing at the University of Salford. During this progression I am hoping to be a full time Social Media Influencer/ Blogger Freelancer. Creating a bigger brand within the industry and gain higher and more clientele within my desired niche for my brand in the United Kingdom.
I am open for any feedback on this, please feel free to get in touch if you have any inquires.
reallifeunfold.com 