Jon's CSIT 155 - Spring 2025 Class Blog

Man, we're already here at the end. Has your viewpoint of social media changed? I think, overall, it has not changed that much. Being chronically online has well-established my current beliefs on social media and current business marketing. However, taking this class, I became more informed, which is always a positive thing. I enjoyed a lot of these blog posts and creating graphics and ads for certain assignments. I'm a more design-oriented person rather than the business side of things. I was welcome to learning more about that side, though. Do you have a better understanding of how to use social media successfully to develop a business? I do feel as though I have a slightly better understanding of the tools we learned about. Paying more attention to analytics and numbers has certainly altered my mindset when approaching possible business ventures or new products. It was exciting making a fictional business and channeling what it may be like. I have a solid understanding of wh...

What My Instagram Analytics Taught Me About Broke Witch So I finally sat down and dug through the Instagram analytics for Broke Witch: Brews and Potions , and let me tell you, it was a bit eye-opening to see the numbers behind the scenes. I was a bit inactive for a while so I had to see my activity from "90 days ago" to get a more accurate picture.  Right now, we’ve got a total of 10 views:   80% from followers, 20% from non-followers, which tells me our current reach is mainly folks already in our class. It’s not bad, but it means we’re not pulling in fresh faces just yet. What’s interesting is that our best-performing content isn’t what I expected. A cozy coffee photo and a pint of golden ale, both from March 8 , got the most attention (5 and 4 views), while a fun event menu post from March 31 got zero . That’s wild. It kind of drives home what Hootsuite said in their trends report: "content needs to be native and engaging, not just promotional." People interact...

Running Broke Witch: Brews and Potions means I’ve got to juggle making drinks, D20 rolls, and a growing community. But if no one sees us online, it’s like casting invisibility on the whole operation. That’s where Google Analytics comes in. I spent some time checking out what it offers and found a few features that could really help me level up our online presence. 1. Real-Time Reporting With real-time data, I can see who’s on the website right then,  including  what pages they’re looking at, where they came from, and what device they’re using. Imagine launching a new promo for a full-moon happy hour and being able to watch people jump on the event page the moment it drops. That kind of immediate feedback can help me adjust campaigns on the fly, especially during high-traffic times like weekends or themed events. 2. Audience Demographics & Interests This one is huge. Knowing the age, gender, and interests of our visitors means I can fine-tune our social media content ...

Running social media for Broke Witch: Brews and Potions means juggling a lot, we're a cozy café in the daylight hours, a moody bar at night, and a home base for D&D sessions and tarot pulls in between. I realized that posting consistently across all our platforms while also brewing lattes and slinging cocktails is kinda...impossible. So, I did some digging into social media management tools to see what might help me keep things on track without going broke (pun very intended) . Buffer stood out right away. It has a free plan that lets me schedule posts on up to three platforms — enough for our Instagram, Facebook, and maybe even Twitter (or X or whatever it’s calling itself this week). The $15/month paid plan adds better analytics, which could help figure out what kind of content is actually drawing in the dice-rolling crowd. Later has a similar setup, with one set of social profiles on their free plan, with a drag-and-drop visual planner that’d be great for laying out our...

  Three Ads Here is a snapshot of the Facebook  ad-making process. It was bugging out and not letting me continue to the final step (pricing), which was fine because I didn't plan to spend any money. As far as the process, it seemed pretty straightforward. It first asks how you want to contact people or how you want them to contact you. Asking if you want people to visit your location, a website they can reach you, etc. Pictured is the portion asking for keywords of interest and tags associated with your business. Here is a snapshot of the Instagram ad-making process. It was also very straightforward and was associated with the same company as Facebook (Meta). They have access to the same advertising tools. Asking similar questions for call-to-actions, who you want to see your posts, etc. And they have different rates of how many people can see your ad at different price points. Here is a snapshot of the YouTube ad-making process. I'm not fully eligible for having ads on my ...

  Social Media Ads: The Good, the Bad, and the Algorithmically Ugly Lately, I've been paying more attention to the ads popping up on my social feeds, Facebook, Instagram, or even the occasional YouTube pre-roll. Some are slick, with eye-catching visuals and clear calls to action like “Shop Now” or “Learn More.” Others... not so much. I’ve seen ads that feel completely out of place, like a random product I’ve never searched for. It makes me wonder how these algorithms decide what to show me. From what I’ve gathered, platforms like Facebook and Instagram use complicated algorithms to personalize our feeds. They analyze our interactions, including likes, shares, and comments to predict what content we might engage with. This means that the more I interact with certain types of posts, the more similar content I’ll see. It’s a double-edged sword: while it can make my feed more relevant, it also means I might miss out on discovering new things outside my usual interests. Comparing t...

Here is a summary of a few online business tools I would consider using. Google: As we've discovered earlier this term, Google has taken its own corner of the market of business tools and SEOs. There's a review system that is useful for business owners and customers. They have ways to establish your business location on Google Maps, add media, link to your website, and more. And their search engine has an algorithm that empowers searches by keywords and tags you can associate with your business. Twitch: I've discussed my usage of Twitch a handful of times in these blog posts. I've used Twitch for many years now. Not much in a business capacity, but in my own personal capacity. In becoming familiar with the platform, you can see the tools for viewership analytics and interaction on your channel. Becoming an affiliate gives you access to revenue and advertising tools. At the next level, partner, you are granted more advanced tools. I've heard and seen small businesses...

Generative AI imagery, in marketing or otherwise. I have become familiar with generative AI images within the last few years, before the boom in 2022. I've used a multitude of generators, including Midjourney, ChatGPT's Dalle-3, Ideogram, etc. Each has its own specialty. There are so many generators out there, and the market is oversaturated at this point. I hope to offer some different perspectives on this controversial topic, including positives, negatives, and my personal outlook on it. AI art doesn't take a lot of work to make on its own. Simply write in a prompt, and the engine will generate it for you. However, there is a good amount of computer science and math at play. The tools only get better with time. They can be a great supplemental tool to fuel creativity or give inspiration. I've used them many times to help visualize my ideas when I create my own art. When used creatively and not 1-1 "ripping and shipping," for marketing, it can be a smart tool...

Newsletters for businesses are truly interesting. When it comes down to it, I believe the frequency of the newsletter is proportional to the business size. Obviously isn't the same for every business. However, for most, I believe this example: Large Business: Monthly, Quarterly, Bi-Annual Newsletter - Many minor changes and updates are made across multiple branches, and it is hard to keep the news current for everyone without larger increments of time. Or keep it to more marketable times of the year. Small Business: Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly Newsletter - Changes in a small business are less "minor" and allow the business to communicate more often and on a local level. Reminding the customer of new deals, products, and that you are still active. Prompts: 1. For my fictional business, Broke Witch: Brews & Potions , I believe I would send newsletters weekly, at first. Perhaps as the customer base grew stronger and the business saw more consistency, they would remain wee...