Astute Social Advertising Analysis (CIS-141 Week 10)

This week our assignment was to review the 7 Best Twitter Ads on Astute Solutions Blog and select a favorite Company Ad. The companies selected in their review were as follows: Nationwide, Kikkoman USA, Volkswagen USA, Casper, Gas-X, and "Flo from Progressive." Unfortunately for me, I was not able to find promoted tweets for these businesses. They were just not popping up in my timeline. I had several other businesses pop-up, however, and in turn, I decided to use one of the ads from the other companies. Specifically, I selected Subway.

I’m retweeting this for #LCCC141 because I cannot find prompted ads for the companies suggested. I will be using this in my blog post dropping this afternoon. https://t.co/3tOEz3uQYY

— Мішель Гривня (@mhryvnak) March 28, 2020

As you can see, the photo did not embed from my retweet so I'll include it below:

What Subway did well 

Punchy copy: Not much copy here, the got right to the point with their message "Free Footlong" which immediately attracts your attention, but the "when you buy two" is in smaller type. I feel this advertisement's message is timely with all of the shelter in place, and quarantine lockdown going on amid the novel Coronavirus. Consumers may not have otherwise known that Subway offers takeout/delivery specials.

Attention-grabbing visuals: The sandwich photos play on people's hunger and wish to return to normal life. They attract the consumer to take advantage of the take-out special. (Although, to be completely honest, I've never had a subway sandwich that remotely resembles what you see in their ads)

Compelling to click through: When you click the advertisement, it takes you to a map of local subway restaurants that are offering the takeout special near your location. You can then order right off of the landing page of the restaurant you select.

What you can take away

Many restaurants now are offering specials to attract customers to come back to their restaurants with the social distancing that the CDC is pushing. They are offering takeout as well as delivery specials so that they can continue running their business until life returns to normal. Subway is just another one of these restaurants offering up such specials. You can bet on this continuing for as long as the COVID-19 virus makes it necessary to quarantine. People need to eat and many of us who are working from home are sick of cooking and running out of ideas! Subway helps you with doing the cooking for you and allowing you to get the food without putting yourself or others at risk!

Flavors of Social Media (CIS-141 Week 9)

For week 9, we were to review 4 different social media platforms, create an account on each (or use an existing one), complete a small assignment in each one and then share our assignments with the other students in our class. The social media platforms in question are YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and WHATSAPP! I already have accounts in the first three listed above, but have never used WHATSAPP! and do not plan to set it up or install it. I will list my experiences with YouTube, IG and Pinterest below.

My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/mhryvnak

As you can see, I have a few videos on YouTube. I have several others that are hidden from the general public. It is my plan to create a video for this class for extra credit, I just haven't had a chance to do it yet. I spend a lot of time daily watching YouTubers. Some of my favorites are Binging with Babish, Jenna & Julien and Sam the Cooking Guy, just to name a few.

My Instagram Account: https://www.instagram.com/mhryvnak/

I've been using Instagram for awhile and have a pretty strong following over on that platform though I don't post on it much. I usually only post photos on special occasions or ones that I want to highlight on a trip or experience. I do not follow many (if any) influencer accounts. Just friends and family. Below I will embed the last two photos I added to my account for the purpose of this class. One is my brand logo and the other one is my Spark photo I created for the last week's assignment. I used the hashtag #LCCC141 to follow some of the other students.

View this post on Instagram

This post is for #LCCC141 #AdobeSpark #SweetValley #lilyofthevalley #sunrisephotography #sunrises #mihalishinroad #nepa #snow #birdwatching

A post shared by Michelle Hryvniak (@mhryvnak) on Mar 21, 2020 at 6:48am PDT

View this post on Instagram

This is my personal brand logo I created for #LCCC141. #LilyValleySweet #SweetValley #nepa #nepa570 #logos #brands #lillies #tigerlilly #ditchlilies

A post shared by Michelle Hryvniak (@mhryvnak) on Mar 21, 2020 at 6:51am PDT

My Pinterest Account: https://www.pinterest.com/mhryvnak/
My Pinterest Board for LCCC-141: https://www.pinterest.com/mhryvnak/board-for-lccc-cis-141/

I've been using Pinterest for as long as it's been out. It's a good source for inspirations, vision boards, and recipes! I use it at least once a week if not more to look up recipe ideas (along with YouTube). I am not as active as I once was on it, but I still post every once in a while. A long time ago, I was on a show called ComputerWise TV which is located in the Lehigh Valley area to talk about Pinterest. I'll embed that video down below. Think of Pinterest as your virtual corkboard.




I hope everyone is staying calm, sane and safe during this Coronavirus outbreak and self-isolation. I'll see you back here next week - same bat time, same bat channel!

Life Updates and the Coronavirus (CIS-141 Week 8)

It looks like we're about half-way through the Spring 2020 semester and this course. We haven't been required to write a blog post in a few weeks, so I'll fill in you in with what's been going on. I have actually been enrolled in two programs - this one (OMT) at LCCC and also a Paralegal Associate Degree program at Penn Foster. I put my program learning on hold at Penn Foster to get back into the groove at LCCC. I haven't taken a class at the college since about 2012 and I wasn't sure how much it would affect my lifestyle with working full time. I seem to be handling one class at a time ok, I may try to take 2 over the summer. I did manage to challenge/test out of two LCCC classes this semester which will help me get to my degree sooner. I'm happy about that.

 

Speaking of LCCC, the college has decided to suspend face-to-face classes in favor of online learning in the wake of the novel Coronavirus outbreak. This doesn't affect me as I do most of my classes online. It may at some point become an issue for other students. I know the college is handling it the best it can. My kids, who are in Jr. and Sr. HS at the Lake-Lehman school district have school off at least for 10 days.

I visited Pittsburgh a week ago to see the Pittsburgh Penguins play and visit some other touristy things. My boyfriend and I had a good time and look forward to visiting the city again some day. I was lucky to see my first NHL game before the Coronavirus put an end to the season.

After all of that, I'm ready for some upcoming medical appointments that I have been putting off. I have an MRI next month and some blood work to tackle before that. Next month as well, I'll be back in court getting my name changed after my divorce. I did the research and will be changing it back to the name that my great-grandparents were naturalized with.

As a final update, I'm posting an image that I made using Adobe Spark which was a tool I've never played with before. It allows you to make stunning web graphics to promote your brand. It reminds me ever so slightly of Canva. I also invite you to take my Twitter poll (embedded below). I'm interested to see if the other class members will be continuing on with their blogs? Let me know or leave a comment on my post!

#LCCC141 Poll: Do you plan to continue your class blog after the semester is over? Vote below:

— Мішель Гривня (@mhryvnak) March 15, 2020

Stay safe fellow classmates and readers, be sure to wash your hands and follow the CDC's guidelines for COVID-19.