The business that I am promoting for the purposes of this class is an on-line horse equipment ("tack") sales business (its actually a link to my Ebay sales listings) called "The Tack Shed". I have decided to see how my competitors are participating on other social media sites besides Facebook. I searched for websites that just sell used tack, but I couldn't find any. Any website that did sell used was a listing service like Ebay, but smaller. I decided to research tack stores that sell new.
The first competitor I chose to follow is a local tack store, Mary's Tack and Feed, that has several physical locations. They also sell tack on-line on their own website AND they sell tack on Ebay.
On Facebook they have 12,906 followers. They post several times a day. Each post gets between 0-100 likes, and comments are in the single digits. On Instagram they have 2,375 followers They post nearly every day, getting almost 100 likes per post. Very rarely do they get comments
On Youtube they have 68 subscribers. They post every few weeks.
The second competitor I'm following is Dressage Extensions. They have a physical store in Moorpark, CA, but have been more of a catalog (and now on-line) sales outfit. I haven't noticed them selling on Ebay, but they do sell from their website. Their Facebook page has 12,081 followers. They post every few day and each post gets between 0-30 likes and between 1-4 comments. On Instagram they have 395 Followers and 66 posts. They get likes in the low 30's per post. On Pinterest they have 895 Followers. They have 10 boards and 68 pins
The third competitor is Bit of Britain. They have traditionally been a catalog sales (now on-line) outfit, although I see they have a physical store now in Pennsylvania. Their Facebook page has 9,800 followers. They post nearly every day. Each post gets between 0-20 likes. Not many posts get comments. On Instagram they have 1113 followers, 131 posts and each gets up to 100 likes.
The fourth competitor is Dover Saddlery. They have physical stores, but for years they were very strong in catalog sales. Now, of course, they are on-line. On Facebook they have 146,400 followers. They post nearly every day. Some posts get up to 500 likes, but only a handful of comments on any one post. On Instagram they have 18,000 followers and 211 posts. They get between 1000-3000 likes per post. Each post gets 1-5 comments.
Each of these stores have a decent number of followers, proportional to the size of their business. Not surprisingly, Dover has the largest number because they are the oldest and most well-known store in the industry. There is not as much interaction on the posts as I expected.
Monday, March 20, 2017
Friday, March 17, 2017
Week 8, Post 1: Visual Media
The business that I am promoting for purposes of this class is called "The Tack Shed". I am helping a friend sell her used horse training equipment (also called "tack") on Ebay, so I decided that my FB business page would promote my Ebay listings. My FB page links to my Ebay item list. Selling on Ebay is a very visual. All items are listed for sale with multiple photos, and buyers examine the photos to compare products. Therefore, social media platforms that allow me to include visuals will be great for promoting my business.
The next question is, which sites appeal to my target market? My target market is women age 15-45 who ride horses in the sports of eventing, dressage or jumpers. From what I have observed through my personal FB friends who fall into my target market, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram are the best social media sites. On Youtube, my target market shares competition and training videos. It would be possible to make videos of the tack that I am selling and also discuss how it can be used. The YouTube videos could then be shared on my business page as well.
Instagram would be a great site to share pictures of new tack listings on Ebay. I plan to start a business Instagram account for this assignment.
The next question is, which sites appeal to my target market? My target market is women age 15-45 who ride horses in the sports of eventing, dressage or jumpers. From what I have observed through my personal FB friends who fall into my target market, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram are the best social media sites. On Youtube, my target market shares competition and training videos. It would be possible to make videos of the tack that I am selling and also discuss how it can be used. The YouTube videos could then be shared on my business page as well.
Instagram would be a great site to share pictures of new tack listings on Ebay. I plan to start a business Instagram account for this assignment.
Monday, March 13, 2017
Week 7, Post 2: Scheduling Posts
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| My scheduled FB posts |
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Week 7 Post One: Pages that my Business Likes
I decided to go in a different direction with my Facebook business. I changed my business name to The Tack Shed. This FB page promotes my Ebay selling page where I am selling items of horse equipment.
My target market will be horse owners who ride English and most likely participate in the sports of dressage, hunters, jumpers or eventing. My target market is mostly women age 15-45 who are looking to save some money in a very expensive sport/hobby. Since my customers are buying on Ebay, they can live anywhere in the U.S. I do not ship international.
I chose 7 organization/business pages to like as my page. All of these businesses and organizations are important to my target market. I started with a several local (Californian) sites. Liking these pages as my business will leverage exposure to my business. I can comment as my business on appropriate posts from these pages. My comments will show up as being made by my business.
Galway Downs: This is a local (Temecula) horse show venue that hosts many horse shows throughout the year. In addition, horses are boarded at the venue for training. All of the people who attend the shows and board their horses at Galway are my potential customers.
Copper Meadows: This is another local (Ramona) horse show venue that hosts horse shows throughout the year and boards my potential customers' horses.
CDS-Juniors: This page is for California's junior riders in the discipline of dressage. These riders might be looking to buy used tack to save money.
Riding Magazine: This is a magazine published in California. It is very popular and contains local advertisements and news about the local show scene in addition to general articles about horse care.
United States Pony Club: A nationwide club for children/teens who ride horses. Pony clubbers often buy used equipment because their parents want to save money.
USEA (United States Eventing Association): National association for the equestrian sport of eventing.
USDF (United States Dressage Federation): National association for the equestrian sport of dressage.
My target market will be horse owners who ride English and most likely participate in the sports of dressage, hunters, jumpers or eventing. My target market is mostly women age 15-45 who are looking to save some money in a very expensive sport/hobby. Since my customers are buying on Ebay, they can live anywhere in the U.S. I do not ship international.
I chose 7 organization/business pages to like as my page. All of these businesses and organizations are important to my target market. I started with a several local (Californian) sites. Liking these pages as my business will leverage exposure to my business. I can comment as my business on appropriate posts from these pages. My comments will show up as being made by my business.
Galway Downs: This is a local (Temecula) horse show venue that hosts many horse shows throughout the year. In addition, horses are boarded at the venue for training. All of the people who attend the shows and board their horses at Galway are my potential customers.
Copper Meadows: This is another local (Ramona) horse show venue that hosts horse shows throughout the year and boards my potential customers' horses.
CDS-Juniors: This page is for California's junior riders in the discipline of dressage. These riders might be looking to buy used tack to save money.
Riding Magazine: This is a magazine published in California. It is very popular and contains local advertisements and news about the local show scene in addition to general articles about horse care.
United States Pony Club: A nationwide club for children/teens who ride horses. Pony clubbers often buy used equipment because their parents want to save money.
USEA (United States Eventing Association): National association for the equestrian sport of eventing.
USDF (United States Dressage Federation): National association for the equestrian sport of dressage.
Monday, March 6, 2017
Week 6 Post 1 Reach vs. Engagement
After consulting Facebook and several blogs, I think I have a basic understanding of reach and engagement. In the simplest terms, reach is the number of people who receive a post in their newsfeed. If they receive the same post multiple times (for example when someone comments on the post and it shows up in the news feed a second time) it still counts as one reach. Engagement is the number of times people have taken an action with a post. The action can be clicks, comments, likes, shares etc.
Knowing the difference is important because just because a post has reached a large number of people, it doesn't mean that a "conversation" has started. People get a lot of material in their newsfeed, if they don't engage with a post, it might mean they are tuning it out. Looking at the number of engagements is important because it gives you an idea of how people are interacting with the material you send out.
In Facebook Insights, a variety of results can occur. For example, it is important to understand that a post can have a low reach, but a high engagement. This means that not many people received a particular post, but the people that did receive it engaged with it. That might tell a company that a certain type of post stimulates people to action. If a post has high reach, but low engagement, that might tell a company that their post was in many people's news feeds, but not many people liked, shared or commented on the post. By studying which posts generate engagement, a company can get an idea of what content gets their potential customers to respond. The company can use that information to craft new posts.
Knowing the difference is important because just because a post has reached a large number of people, it doesn't mean that a "conversation" has started. People get a lot of material in their newsfeed, if they don't engage with a post, it might mean they are tuning it out. Looking at the number of engagements is important because it gives you an idea of how people are interacting with the material you send out.
In Facebook Insights, a variety of results can occur. For example, it is important to understand that a post can have a low reach, but a high engagement. This means that not many people received a particular post, but the people that did receive it engaged with it. That might tell a company that a certain type of post stimulates people to action. If a post has high reach, but low engagement, that might tell a company that their post was in many people's news feeds, but not many people liked, shared or commented on the post. By studying which posts generate engagement, a company can get an idea of what content gets their potential customers to respond. The company can use that information to craft new posts.
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