Implementation & Reflection
Although my client has a good grasp on social media already, there will be challenges they face when implementing my recommendations. I think the first challenge that companies, including my client, face when implementing new strategies is accepting and trusting change. When my client already has an established social media presence that is working for them, it is hard to change from something that they are already comfortable with and trust that implementing these new practices will actually make a difference. Once they can accept and commit to the new recommendations, I believe they will do exceptionally well. Another piece of my recommendations that might arise as a challenge to my client is finding the right influencers and brand advocates who’s interests, and values align with my client and who are willing to dedicate time and energy in promoting my client. This might be a challenge because of the location of my client and their accessibility to the right kind of brand promoters. It also might act as a challenge to them because that means that my client must be able to trust these advocates with the reputation of their own brand, which can be hard to do.
This course has been completely eye-opening for me. Before taking this course, I didn’t realize, or even understand, concepts such as online audiences and communities. I didn’t realize that popular Instagram pages did a lot more than take cool pictures to gain a large following. Now, I can’t even scroll through social media without analyzing what the account is doing to establish their brand, engage their community, attract their audience, and collaborate with others who have similar goals. I see each poster’s posts as a business strategy and implement similar tactics into my own pages. In fact, I used what I learned from this course and implemented it into my own social media accounts and found that it increased my following and engagement tremendously. Before, I was just posting with no goal, aesthetic, or audience in mind. Now I use my social media strategy to keep my page align with my own values and mission. This has been one of my favorite and most useful courses I’ve ever taken at Central Michigan University.















