Makenzie Alger
Professional Uses of Social Media Spring '18
Introduction
Statement
My name is Makenzie Alger. As a senior at the University of Pittsburgh, I plan to pursue a career in social media and digital marketing upon graduation in April 2018.
In the past, I’ve had the privilege to work as an intern for three different companies in their marketing and editorial departments. I worked with Central Penn Business Journal in Harrisburg, PA, Susquehanna Style Magazine in East Petersburg, PA, and Aspire Ventures in Downtown Lancaster, PA, serving partly as a social media manager in all three positions.
From this baseline experience, I wonder how I can become a better manager and reach a larger audience. I am interested in working for a marketing agency, and thus working with a variety of diverse clients to help them improve their online presence, including that on social media platforms. I wonder how I can tailor my tone of voice for diverse companies within an agency setting.
I expect this class to help guide me in crafting a successful marketing and social media campaign while improving each individual post’s engagement. I also expect to learn how to build a strategy from the ground up, learning to strategically craft each element in a way that tailors to a specific company, as opposed to a best practice plan.
My goal for this semester is to build confidence in the content I produce, allowing me to feel prepared for the real world upon graduation. I want to expand my knowledge and be able to create and implement my own successful social media strategies.
Coming into this class, I was very excited to finally have a course with a sole focus of social media. As the midterm rolls around, I’m just as excited to be enrolled and actively engaging with the material. I want to go into social media management one day, whether in-house or in an agency setting. I believe this class is going to do greatly strengthen what I already know about social media, as well as teach me new skills that can better me in my hopes of reaching my first job in the social media industry.
Since the start, my ideas of social media have changed somewhat. I feel like this class is a lot more hands on than I expected it to be. In all honesty, I thought it would be very one-sided, involving nothing but tweeting and posting on Facebook and observing other people’s social accounts. But I’ve learned thus far that there is a lot more that goes into creating a post, as well as keeping everything mediated.
The process doc is definitely helping me the most. Being able to choose a topic of my own to create a strategy for and work on it hands-on is very beneficial. It helps me apply what we talk about in class and in the readings to a real-life scenario. I think our class discussions are fine the way they are, and too many more of them would feel as though I’m not really learning anything new but just stating what I already know. I like when the professor shares their knowledge with the class because the authority is very trusting.
I think the most challenging thing in this course is not having a right answer. Social media is a subjective thing; it can’t always contain strictly facts. The things that make social media posts engaging are the humor, stylistic choices, and verbiage within them. That can’t be taught, only influenced. I’ve learned to trust my gut and be myself (stick with my brand) because that makes me, me.
I feel connected to the material when we talk about relevant things, such as news or fads. That’s easier for me to relate to and apply my knowledge of social media as opposed to words in a textbook. When we talk about things happening every day, I can learn how to approach this “breaking news” in a way that attracts people. It seems all the more real to me when it’s new and relevant.
I feel more at ease when we talk in group discussion and share with the class (like we did on one of the first few days with the debate). I am less at ease in a large group where not everyone is willing to participate. I tend to feel very intimidated by other’s judgments in this setting and steer to the quieter side. In groups, I feel more comfortable voicing my ideas and opinions.
I would love to see more feedback from you as a professor. I know that it requires a lot of time that you may not have, but even a little note to show me you read it and some initial thoughts you may have would help tremendously going forward.
Overall, I love the class and I can’t wait to keep working on my strategy!
Midterm Reflection
Final Reflection
This website portfolio consists of every piece of work completed this semester towards my final strategy, a social media strategy for my mother Nicole and her new business with Nerium International.
In this portfolio, you will find my exploratory work with social media on Instagram, my reflection halfway through the semester, personal social media audits, and an opinion editorial article I wrote. All of these elements have helped me improve my skills in writing and understanding media and communication of personal ideas.
You will also find my process doc consisting of different analyses from every week of the semester, all leading up to my final strategy. These documents have helped me work through each part of my strategy, finding feedback on how to improve my thought process and final content creation.
I am very excited to present this finalized strategy to my mother Nicole so she can continue to implement my social media strategy and ideas. Throughout the semester, I have been sharing my process documents with her and have continued to use her and her Nerium community to influence the work I put forth towards my finalized strategy. I believe this finalized strategy will allow her to understand why she is doing what she is doing and how she can continue to develop her social media presence on her own.
As Professional Uses of Social Media comes to a close, I am very happy to have had the chance to learn how to create a full-fledged strategy that can help me going forward. I am interested in pursuing a career in social media management and this class has provided me with the experience in creating a creative element to add to my portfolio for future job interviews.