Important Takeaways

SWOT analysis, SMART goals, and creating a social media posting schedule are a few important skills I will take away from this class. Since I am getting my associates degree in graphic design, social media marketing will be very useful to me! Whether it be promoting my own freelance design work or helping a business gain more exposure, graphic design and social media will blend perfectly! 

A SWOT analysis is a great place to start when first assessing a business. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and threats. Areas where a business does well and assets that make it stand out from the rest are strengths. Recognizing these strengths can build confidence in a brand a reminder to keep up the good work in these areas. Personally, in the future, I hope to be strong in my customer service when creating designs for clients. A weakness is a section of a business that could use an improvement, especially if competitors are strong in the area. Becoming aware of weaknesses and creating a SMART goal to improve will produce great results. When I asses my weaknesses in the future, I will create a SMART goal to overcome them. Opportunities represent potential strengths that may have not reached full potential due to a weakness or threat. These are great because a business can see what they are missing out on. As of right now, my opportunity could be to create a social media presence for my freelance designs. Threats represent the negative outcomes from weaknesses. Threats become more dangerous when a competition’s strength is your weakness. For example, if two restaurants were the same and the only weakness of one was the customer service, the threat would be customers choosing one restaurant over the other because of better customer service. In the future fi my weakness is not being present on social media, my potential threat would be competitors that are active on social media. Overall, a SWOT analysis is a great place to start when assessing a business. When these four categories are thought through, a business can successfully create a SMART goal.  

“SWOT Analysis is a simple tool that can help you to analyze what your company does best right now, and to devise a successful strategy for the future.” 

MindTools.com

A SMART goal is an acronym that stands for Significant, Measurable, Actionable, realistic, and Time-Based. Breaking down a goal into these sections is an excellent way to plan a goal inside and out. Composing a significant goal means that it is relevant to the business. For example, if a t shirt shop was posting every day on their social media and exponentially increasing followers, they would not need a goal in that area as much as others. To find a goal that would be significant, look to the weaknesses or threats from the SWOT analysis. The best part of creating a goal is the ability to see how far you have come! That is the importance of creating a goal that is measurable. A measurable goal could be; Gaining 100 new followers by the end of this month. The next part of a SMART goal is Actionable. This includes deciding who will be doing what to ensure this goal gets met. Making these steps clear and controlled will aid in a smooth process. When designing this goal, don’t be too impractical. Keeping it within your reach and realistic is the next step. There is no need to cause stress when working toward a goal. Keeping it simple- if you only post twice a week and your goal is to most more to increase follower engagement, start small. No need to try to post every day right away! Just try an extra day or two and measure the results. Lastly, create a time frame for your goal. A smart goal with no end date is like a race with no finish line! Stay motivated to reach you r goal by making it time based. Anyone can take advantage of the smart acronym to reach meaningful goals in their business and personal life. 

If a business is present on social media (and they all should be) creating a posting schedule will save so much stress and help posing run so smoothly. When I create a social media account for my business, I will also create a posting schedule. Posting three times a week will be realistic for me, as well as setting time aside to respond to comments or questions from followers. Designing the posts, a week in advance will also m=be a goal of mine to prevent last minute posting. If I give myself ample time to thoughtfully create the post, it will generate positive results. Overall, any business on social media can benefit from creating a posting schedule. 

SWOT analysis, SMART goals, and creating a social media posting schedule are great tools for any business to use. I will use them in my future to create a strong graphic design and branding business. What are important aspects you would include when creating a business? 

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm

https://www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com/smart-goals-complete-guide-for-coaches-with-pdf/