Social Survey Says…

In this week’s episode of graduate school I have been asked to create a survey and distribute it on the Internet. I decided to create a survey based on my inspiration for going back to school and getting my Master’s degree: television and social media convergence. I think it is extremely important for television networks to have a social strategy to stay relevant but what does their audience think? I plan to use my friends on Facebook and people in Google+ communities as guinea pigs for this topic.

Ultimately I hope to establish whether or not social integrations on television are effective ways to reach audiences. I think of two television “news” shows I watch on a regular basis: The Today Show and E News. Both of these shows incorporate social media into their programming regularly. The Today Show has “the orange room” aka the social media room (pictured below) dedicated to what’s trending on Twitter complete with a big screen TV for the anchor to utilize during their social update. E News runs a Twitter crawl on a regular basis during E programming and has the hosts address celebrity social media posts, tweets, ect. I’ve never seen a rundown for these shows but I estimate a good 10-15 minutes of the programming (in the television world that is an eternity) is dedicated to some sort of social mention! There are aspects of these strategies that I enjoy but I am not sure if this is because social media fascinates me.

By asking questions about how often people are exposed to social media on television, whether or not they enjoy it, and what incentives would get them to participate in television network social media campaigns I will help find my answer. Personally I want to see social media integrated into television programming, especially news. In my opinion news stations tend to be very biased and by having social media present I think it could help steer the conversation back to what the consumer is focused on. Regardless, social media has the ability to take television programming to the next level and I hope to find out if others think so too!

So, take a minute. Think about your opinion on these mediums merging and then take this quick seven question survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GTYWR6S

Running around the web

As some of you may know I am an avid runner. Much of my “spare time” is spent doing this activity. A lot of my friends will ask me questions about they can become a better runner and I often tell them to start with their shoes. If you don’t have a good pair of running shoes you are doing yourself a disservice! I always recommend my favorite brand…Brooks! 

Brooks shoes are great because they have a shoe that fits every running need. Whether you need a racing shoe, guidance shoe, stability shoe, or just a pair of good, comfortable running shoes Brooks has it! This is where my Google search started for Brooks…

1) Running shoes- 15th result on the first page of Google search

2) Guidance shoes-Brooks website appeared as the first result.

3) Stability shoes-Brooks website was the last result on the first page

4) Racing shoes-Brooks website was the first result on the second page

5) Running- Second page of Google search

6) Athletic shoes-Not on the first five pages.

• Brooks does not classify their product as “athletic” shoes. While this is fine for their branding many of their competitors like Nike and UnderArmor are prevalent in this search. This maybe something Brooks considers in their SEO strategy.

7) Running gear-Last result on first page

8) Fitness apparel- Did not appear in first 10 pages.

•  This could be big area of opportunity for Brooks because while they did not appear in this result neither big competitors, like Nike.

9) Best shoes for distance running-Did not appear in first 10 pages.

• This could also be another are of opportunity for Brooks because, again many of their competitors did not appear in this search. Brooks has shoes that are great for distance running and could capitalize on this!

10) Run Happy-First result on the first page.

• This is Brooks mantra so I was happy to see it as the first results!

Overall I believe Brooks has done an adequate job of implementing high SEO techniques. Aside from appearing in the “fitness apparel” and “best shoes for distance running” searches here are some other ways to improve SEO:

Do a better job of including keywords in their coding. For instance, while browsing their running apparel many codes contain links like:

To optimize visibility on Google Brooks could include words like running apparel or running shirt in these links.

From my perspective Brooks does a great job of appealing to runners. I know what types of running shoes are available, but beginner runners or those not as versed in running shoes may not know to search for “guidance shoes” or to find the right shoe. Brooks has “shoe advisor” on their website. I would love to see this feature appear higher in the search results when searching for specific shoes.

Back to School, Back to School

Well, here goes nothing. Spring semester as officially begun! Get ready to read all about my social media assignments and new goals for the next couple of months! And as always…Go Gators!