Week 2 Part B

 Funk Freaks

1. https://funkfreaksboutique.bigcartel.com

2. This is a small business boutique located in Santa Ana, CA. This is a brand that emphasizes and promotes the era of funk music from the 80's. They currently have a record store and a boutique. 

3. This business is very active on Instagram. They have two accounts, one for the record store and one for the boutique. They do not have their social media links on the website. They do have the website link on their social media page. 

        The last post was done on 2/4/23 on the boutique page. On the record store page, they happen to be         more active. They seem to post 2-3 times a day. The last post was 2/4/23.

        They have 22.5K followers on the boutique page. On the record store page, they have 33.5K                    followers.

Reviewing their different pages and I see that on the record store page they have more followers, and they happen to interact more with followers. I see they reply and post pictures of their customers when they tag them on a picture. I noticed the boutique happens to be less active and doesn't interact much with the posts and people commenting. 

Bella Dona

1. https://bella-dona.com

2. This is an apparel and accessories store. Their focus is to empower women to shine through their LA streetwear apparel. They are proactive in promoting selfcare and selflove. 

3. Bella Dona has an Instagram page along with a Facebook page. They do have their social media accounts on their website. 

     On Instagram they have 423K. followers. On Facebook they have 153 followers. 

    

    The last post on Instagram was 2/1/23

    On Facebook it was 10/01/2020

Bella Dona has been active on the Instagram page. Even if they don't post something on their page daily they do post on their story. I notice they do engage with their followers. This is only a online store, but I've seen the popup shops they host crowded with customers. I feel they are doing a great job on engaging and advertising themselves. 

Camp Coffee

1.https://campcoffeeco.square.site

2.Camp Coffee is a small business located in downtown Oceanside. The esthetics are very camp like and make one feel welcomed and cozy. 

3. This coffee shop has both Instagram and Facebook. Their website does have the links to both of their social media accounts. 

    They have 5,060 followers on Instagram and 856 on Facebook

    The last post on Instagram was on 2/5/23 and they last posted on Facebook on 1/32/23

This business is mostly active on Instagram and has a good number of followers. They post pictures of their customers and seem to be very engaged with them. I like how they also embrace their employees and post about them as well. I also noticed they post personal posts about the owner which is awesome. 

Start Fresh Cafe 

1.https://www.startfreshcafeoceanside.com/

2.Start Fresh Cafe is a small family-owned business in the south part of Oceanside. They are opened for breakfast and lunch. 

3. Their website has links to their social media accounts on Yelp and Instagram.

    They last posted on Instagram on 3/20/2020.

    They currently have a total of 777 followers.

This restaurant is amazing, and they have been doing great from what I've seen in person. Every time I go to this restaurant it is packed with customers. I do feel their social media can be definitely improved, they need to be more active and consistent. They were doing great posting about the restaurants different dishes and the customers having a good time. 

Oceanside Sports Bar & Grill

1. http://www.osidesportsbar.com/

2. This is a small business bar in downtown of Oceanside. It is where locals can come and have a great time. Local events are hosted here with a different variety of music and vibes just like Oceanside. 

3. The business website does include both of their social media pages for Instagram and Facebook. 

    The last post on Facebook was on 6/30/2022.

    The last post on Instagram was on 1/27/23.

This bar hosts many different events during the week which I wasn't aware of until I looked in their website. Something else I noticed is that they have food, I know the name itself says & Grill, but to be honest never have I seen anyone eat food from the bar. After going through the site I realized they have a Wing Day Wednesday, like whoa ok. I went back to their social media page and didn't see anything promoting Wing Wednesday. Hmm, okay I feel they could use more postings about the food. I haven't seen one picture of their wings or burgers they have. Now I need to try one. 

I've thought I have come to the conclusion of my problem, well somewhat at least. After the research I have just done I realized that consistency is key. All these three businesses have social media accounts, but it's how they are using them that can actually help their business. I realized that the more engagement you have with your followers the more content you seem to be posting. At least for the Funk Freaks record store Instagram account is what I saw. I noticed they had closed their apparel store they had before which was a big hit. I realized they changed it to the Funk Freaks Boutique, and it is being managed by the spouse of the record store. I noticed the difference in the management changes. The boutique doesn't seem to make much connection or engage much with the followers. Yes, their following is quite big, but the engagement seems to be a big part of the business. The record store page has much more followers and much more posts and comments. I remember following them when they had a couple thousand and now, they are becoming bigger and bigger. 

I also think that not every post has to be about the business but about the owners and or its employees. People like stories, and stories are what sell. An example I saw during my research the owner of Camp Coffee took some time off and went on a camping trip for his birthday and posted a picture with his significant other. I thought that's awesome! Makes sense why he named it Camp Coffee, it gives customers a personal connection to the owner and his vison of the shop. Bella Dona has something similar on their website. A picture of the owners telling their story on what inspired them to start this business. They had a dream to embrace the neighborhood style and neighborhood stories. They promote a lot of selfcare and selflove. I notice that they post lots of quotes on their Instagram page. I see customers asking for a that quote to be printed on a shirt. They are very engaging with their followers replying back to their comments and posts. 

I also noticed that some of the businesses do listen to their customers after all. A great example is Oceanside Sports Bar & Grill. I recall lots of customers requesting to have an 80's funk music day, since then now they have Old-school Saturdays every weekend. Every Saturday you'll see the bar packed with people having a great time and enjoying themselves. Never have I seen a Saturday empty since then. It's only been about 2 months that this has happened and so far, the events keep getting bigger and bigger. This proves that listening to your customers is very important. Just imagine if the owner had pushed back to have such events in his bar. Would it be as successful as it is every Saturday? The amazing thing about this is that the lowrider community has become a part of these weekend events. A classic car or a lowrider is exhibited at the bar for the customers to admire. This is amazing because I see it as the business giving back to the community. Start Fresh Cafe is also listening to what the locals have to say. Oceanside being known for the laid-back chill vibe and classic cars and lowriders parading down on PCH. They have created a breakfast plate in their honor, they named it Lowrider Plate. They had it as a special for breakfast on the menu. 

I noticed that with these 5 businesses that I did research on they all have several things in common. They listen to their customers. Although some might be lacking their presence in social media they are still listening to their community and are involving them into their business. They could all use help in different areas of their social media business but overall, I feel like it comes down to the main thing which is listening and giving back to the community.