3 Things A Business Can Learn From eBay When It Comes to Facebook Marketing

Cater to Your Customers

Sometimes you want to post context that “you” find appealing, or something that “you” think the people would just love, but in all reality, your opinion should probably only make up 15 percent of the equation. As a business owner/social media marketing director, we should listen to our customers and cater our Facebook messages in a way that can generate leads for your company in ways that can get your customers engaged with your content. Of course there will be an initial fee and a trail period where you will have to invest and spend time on researching and learning about what grabs your customer’s attention, but it’s not as hard and as expensive as you think. Facebook has an analytics page connected to your Facebook business page that will calculate and give you valuable statistics about your visitors, all for free!

Create Appealing Content

“Only one of these three things costs more than $100,000: a Corvette, this Tom Brady

        rookie card, or a yacht.”

“This 2008 Bugatti Veyron has been called "a flawless work of art."

“Most people could use a little help organizing their kitchen but don't know where to 

        begin. Tip #1: Cabinets and pots don't mix.”

These are a few examples I pulled off eBay’s Facebook page. All 3 of them were also linked to blogs that eBay creates to help engage customers with products available on their website. Along with the link, email always make sure that the thumbnail picture on their post has strong appealing content that can visually draw the viewers into wanting to learn more. The messages always leave you hanging and wanting to know more about the subject. Your messages must also try to follow the social trends and the top news stories. EBay showed me that they stay on top of their game by having a story on Tom Brady’s rookie card right before the Superbowl where Tom Brady will be fighting for his 4^th Superbowl win.

Never Forget About Making Money

The Facebook page, the blogs, the website, it’s all meant to do one thing, and that’s make you more money. You have to be creative and open-minded when it comes to trying to appeal to your customers or target market. The blogs that the eBay Facebook page redirects you to are design to get you to buy something from their website, and it’s done in a very creative appealing way that is not annoying or misleading. EBay is very good at marketing and advertising their brand and their products and we all can learn something from them. EBay’s Facebook, along with their customized email alerts, keeps eBay users well informed and well entertained, a great recipe for success. 

References

Facebook/eBay. (2014) eBay Facebook page. Retrieved on January 28, 2015. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/eBay

President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union Address for Dummies

The President gave his State of the Union address tonight and there are 4 major areas or proposals that President Obama talked about. Lets take a quick glance and a simplified version of what the president is proposing and his plans for the last two years of his presidency.

2 Year of FREE Community College

President Obama proposed tonight what he is calling “America’s College Promise.” Under this plan the first two years of community college with be completely free to all Americans just as long as you keep a 2.5 GPA. Even though all citizens would benefit from this plan, the so-called non-traditional student will benefit the most ftom this bill. The only problems so far, besides opposition from the do nothing Congress, is that no one really knows where the money will come from to fund the plan. I would suggest that we take the money from our trillion-dollar defense bill but that’s just my opinion. 80 percent of the country would probably disagree with me.

Declaring War On ISIS

To many of you this sounds a little crazy. If you’re like me, you probably thinking that we are already at war with ISIS. Let me remind you that only Congress can authorize war, so yes we are not at war with ISIS, and yes, we are still out there spending millions of dollars a day bombing them back into the stone age. This makes you think, how are we in the Middle East bombing another country, two actually, without following the law and declaring war on those countries? Just like everything else in politics, there are loopholes that allow our government/president to bomb other countries without a declaration of war by using “word magic” terms such as “authorization of force” or “offering military expertise.” I can write 20 blogs just on this subject but lets move on.

Diplomatic Ties With Cuba

As you’ve probably heard by now, President Obama used his executive order power to open up new relations with Cuba. This is a move that was not popular with the Republicans but the president said tonight that the 50-year policy/embargo we have with Cuba has not and will not work. He told the Congress to work on a bill that will end the embargo on Cuba, until than, he will keep on using his executive power to do as much as he can to open up relations with Cuba. Me being an Latin American, this is what I applauded the most, even though I was home alone in my bedroom, I’m sure that the president heard my cheers! lol

Child Care

President Obama spent a great deal of time at the beginning of his address on childcare. He stated that childcare is an economic issue for all Americans. He talked about the fact that families are spending more on childcare than they are on their mortgages, and in half the states of America, childcare cost more than college. President Obama said that his new budget plan would include tax cuts for working families to help with childcare.

Conclusion

The president’s speech can be summed up by the six words that Obama keep on repeating throughout his whole speech. Every time he proposed a new plan he would say that we should do it because “it’s the right thing to do.” I also believe that passing these new proposals is the right thing to do, but just by watching the state of the union address you can clearly see the divide that our country has been stuck in since Obama took his seat as the president of the United States. This is why I think that passing any of these new bills will probably be impossible. Watching tonight’s address was like watching a comedic movie. Every time Obama proposed a new plan only half of the room would stand and applauded, which looked hilarious to me. It’s no surprise that there is a divide between the Republicans and the Democrats in Washington and all across the country, but the one thing that did surprised me was the one thing that everybody stood up and applauded for, and that’s WAR! It seems like both sides and the president are always ready to go to war.

My favorite parts of the speech were, one, the whole 10 seconds Obama spent on talking about, in my opinion, the most important issue of our generation, police brutality against black and brown people around the country. It seems like this issue, once again, is not a priority for either the president, congress, or the senate. This, along with the big standing ovation for war, is what troubles me. Two, there was a moment where Obama said, “I have ran my last campaign” and the Republicans in the crowd actually started clapping for that statement, but Obama, sharp on his toes, hit back with, “I know, because I won both of mine.” The place broke out in laughter, one point for the president. It’s hard to outwit this man, haven’t they learned that already... lol

Ford’s Environmental Policy

The Ford Motor Company has a strong commitment to the environment. Their strong commitment to the environment in last couple years has helped them remain profitable since 2010. One of the highlights of their environmental campaign is what they call “Ford’s electrification strategy.” This strategy addresses the big demand from consumers to produce fuel-efficient cars that are not such a hazard to the environment. The market for electrified vehicles has doubled between 2011-2013, and because of this Ford has six different automobiles on the market that are focused on fuel efficiency through the use of electrical powered engines making these vehicles environmentally sound. (Ford Motor Company, 2014)

Another one of Ford’s initiatives that have been implemented to help the environment is ‘Go Green’ Dealership Sustainability Program. This program is set up to collaborate with dealers to implement cost-effective ways to improve the energy-efficiency of their facilities, which will result in lowering the levels of their dealership’s carbon footprint. (Ford Motor Company, 2014) This strategy along side with their water strategy, which prioritizes actions in water-scarce areas and takes community and ecosystem needs into account, makes Ford Motor Company one of the leaders in social responsibility among the top auto manufactures. (Mulally, 2013)

The Ford Motor Company has taken many steps to ensure that their environmental policies are being met. They have reduced the CO2 emissions by 15 percent since 2007. They have also reduced CO2 emissions from their global operations by 1 percent per vehicle since 2011. Recently Ford introduced their EcoBoost fuel saving technology engines and since 2011 the new engine is now in four of their vehicles. Their highest selling electric vehicle, the Ford Focus Electric is now getting a total of 105 miles per gallon making the most fuel-efficient compact vehicle in the United States. (Ford Motor Company, 2014)

            

Even though the Ford Motor Company has a great environmental record in recent years most of there programs are designed and implemented just here in the United States. Their ‘Go Green’ Dealership Sustainability Program is only available here in the US and even in the US the dealers have a choice weather they want to follow it or not. Their water strategy was designed for countries outside the US that have issues with obtaining clean water. This shows me that they have a commitment to the environment globally but they have not had the time to implement these strategies in different countries. (Ford Motor Company, 2014) Ford’s main focus is to keep up with the demands of the consumers and to be a leader in fuel efficiency. These strategies prove that Ford Motor Company is looking towards the future. The President and CEO of the Ford Motor Company Alan Mulally said, ‘A sustainable business is also a resilient one” (2013)

References

Ford Motor Company. (2014) Climate change and the environment. Retrieved from          http://corporate.ford.com/microsites/sustainability-report-2012-13/environment-climate

Ford Motor Company. (2014) Electrification: a closer look. Retrieved from

            http://corporate.ford.com/microsites/sustainability-report-2012-13/environment-products-

            electrification

Mulally, A. (2013) Letter from Alan Mulally. Retrieved from

            http://corporate.ford.com/microsites/sustainability-report-2012-13/review-letter-mulally

AVON, Leading the Way With Societal Marketing and Social Responsibility

In a world where too often corporations focus on profits, it is refreshing to see a company dedicating their time and money to the advancement of society and the overall well being of the communities they operate in. The company I am talking about is AVON. AVON has been leading the way when it comes to societal marketing and social responsibility since 1992. While most corporations today struggle on whether they should be more responsible when it comes to the social environment, AVON has taken steps to show the world that they really care about their customers and the communities they live in.

In 1992 AVON started a program called The AVON Breast Cancer Crusade where they work very hard to help prevent, treat, and ultimately eradicate breast cancer. Since then AVON has raised a total of $815 million by selling pink ribbons for $2 and donating $1 to breast cancer programs around the world. (AVON Foundation, 2014) The AVON website states that “the crusade's life-saving work supports awareness and education, screening and diagnosis, access to care, support services, and scientific research.” (2014) This is the type of program AVON customers can be really proud of.

After 22 years AVON is still coming up with creative ways to promote their breast cancer crusade. One of their promotional events is called “Walk Around the World” which is actually a series of events that mobilizes over a quarter of a million people each year in more than 50 countries to help raise money. Another one of their promotional events is called “AVON 39 The Walk to End Breast Cancer” where participates walk a total of 39 miles in two days. AVON is a great example for corporations looking to ramp up their social responsibility through societal marketing and hopefully more companies will take the necessary steps to ensure that their customers are the number one priority instead of just profits.

More information for these events is available on their website www.avonfoundation.org.

References

AVON Foundation. (2014) The AVON Breast Cancer Crusade. Retrieved on January 7,   2015. 

             Retrieved from http://www.avonfoundation.org/causes/breast-cancer-crusade/