Week 11a: Using other social media tools

Yelp is a must-have for the modern business, regardless of what kind of business it is. Reviews of TGB on Yelp could let people know if our game selection really is that worth the trip, if our food is any good, if we have any proper upkeep of the premises, and most importantly, the ambiance. Yelp is unique among social media platforms, since many people will rely on Yelp to convince them if the place is worth visiting or not, based solely on guest reviews. Unfortunately, like most review websites, a single negative review can stay in a person's mind far more than several highly positive reviews. That's an unfortunate side effect of an otherwise helpful and reliable website.

Flickr might be an odd choice of a social media platform, but having seen what MiraCosta does on Flickr, it could be a great choice, for both attracting fans and for staying organized. Flickr allows users to organize photos in albums. It's a simple interface, but it could be great for showcasing entertaining photos of events held by the business, and since TGB is all about immersion, it could possibly be used to collect pictures of guests in costume.

While I honestly can't see a very substantial TGB presence on Reddit, I do think that the main user demographic (intelligent people 18 - 49) would be a profitable group to advertise to. Reddit tends to share mostly fascinating news from the past and present, interesting personal stories, and clever, funny images relating to whatever "subreddit" you choose to visit. There are subreddits for literally every topic. Perhaps one method to use the popular trends to our advantage could be sharing behind-the-scenes stories from the production of classic games, vintage pictures, and retro gaming news on retro-geared subreddits.

As I've said in the past, TGB isn't a good fit for social media. There's only so many ways an arcade/diner/lounge combination can be marketed as a social experience. Even though it's not a viable option anymore as of earlier this year, Vine is the only remaining social media platform that TGB could do something with. Video game snippets, 80's themed skits, and daily activities in the lounge could all find their way to a Vine format.

Week 9a: Blogging for Business

I'm a big fan of human interest posts. In fact, one of my posts on The Game Boys Facebook page that I scheduled a few weeks ago was human interest (A post honoring our "game technicians" who keep the video games up and running). I like learning little behind-the-scenes tidbits about the people involved in a business. Posts like "(business) wishes our founder a very happy birthday" make me, and I assume others, just feel good.

The great thing about human interest posts is that the content comes from real life. The people who get featured on business' social media pages as part of a human interest story are real people with real experiences. They can be incredibly inspiring, and social media followers get the sense that the business is just as inspired as they are. I speak from experience when I say that when MiraCosta's social media does a feature on a student who overcame obstacles to succeed in school, it just leaves a much nicer feeling than if I heard the story second-hand from some random person.