The first month went well. I pretty much conducted a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) on myself and recognized that I had never created a Social Media Plan from scratch, but that I could leverage my courses on Community Management with my experience in Digital Marketing and the data provided by Holiday Jones. I looked for templates online, but ended up finding a course on Social Media Management that gave me the structure I was looking for to begin.
Once the Social Media Plan was done, I set out to execute it. However, I found out that this effort was not going to have an impact in Holiday Jones’ business unless there was a deeper strategy focused on relevant content for their guests and a consistent way to produce the content. As expected, this realization took a couple of weeks of trial and error. In the process there was a feeling of discouragement and demotivation. The Saboteur was back, telling me that I was not capable of fulfilling my role at Holiday Jones.
Once again I looked for outside resources. I secured a pass to Social Media Week Chicago, and pushed myself to find a solution to the riddle of finding a way for Holiday Jones to accomplish their business goals while utilizing available resources. I found the missing piece of the puzzle that month, and set out to create a foundation for Holiday Jones’ marketing efforts by crafting a Content Marketing Strategy and securing partnerships to start creating a community of local businesses that can compliment their accommodation offerings with perks at local shops.