JAAMACADDA HORMUUD

‫جــــــــــــامـــعة هــــــــرمـــــــــــــــود‬
HORMUUD UNIVERSITY
Mogadishu - Somalia

Faculty: Engineering
Department: Civil Engineering
Semester: semester three
Class: BCL6
Subject: Communication Skills
Lecturer: Mr. Yonis Abubakar Hassan
Assignment: Digital, social and visual media.
Presented by: Group #2
Academic year: 2020-2021

Date: 27/December/2020

GROUP NAMES

1. Abdirahman Mohamed Halane *

2. Abdisalam Abdullahi Abdi
3. Abdirahman Osman Ahmed
4. Abdirizak Sharif Ahmed
5. Abdirizak Sahal Osman
6. Abdirizak Mohamud Dirie
7. Mohamed Idow ahmed
8. Abdirahman Abdiweli ahmed
9. Abdirahman Aden Mohamed
Introduction
Communication is essential to the human nature and it is basic need for all man
kind to interact each other in order to achieve individual and social interests.
Because of that importance communication skills are developed to cover the
human needs in this modern world. In this session we will discuss digital
media, social media and visual media.

1. Digital media
Digital media is any form of media that uses electronic devices for distribution.
This form of media can be created, viewed, modified and distributed via
electronic devices. Digital media is commonly used software, video games,
videos, websites, social media, and online advertising. Even though digital
media is part of our everyday culture, business owners still find themselves
uncomfortable with replacing their paper advertising with digital marketing
services.

However, with the constant shifts in technology, one cannot deny the influence
that digital media has over our way of life. It changes the way we educate,
entertain, publish and interact with one another on a daily basis. And, as a result
of this influence, digital media pushes the business world out of the industrial
age and into the information age. Business plans are being adjusted to fit
a digital strategy. We’re no longer writing things with pens on paper, but
instead communicating through digital devices.

We can all see the effects of media in our day to day lives. But, how does this
help your business? We’ll discuss three ways. Digital media:
• facilitates social interaction,
• levels the playing field for small businesses, and
• aligns with how consumers shop.

2
Digital Media Facilitates Social Interaction
The digital age connects people in ways that were never possible before.
Special moments share one thing in common: they’re all highly emotional.
While all brands may not have a product or service that naturally lends itself to
this narrative, all businesses can find a way to create a space for themselves
within these special shared moments. The goal is to have your brand shared
with these milestones. This is a good way to slingshot your social media
presence, thus boosting brand recognition.

Digital Media Levels the Playing Field for Small Business

We’ve all seen it happen. A huge company comes into town and wipes out all of
the small specialty shops. The only online equivalent to this is Amazon. It’s
hard to compete with big-name recognition or millions of marketing dollars
spent by larger companies.

Digital media helps small stores, both in physical locations and for online
selling sites. Smaller businesses can actually hold a top-ranking position using
digital media and marketing tactics.

Who’s to know whether the professional-looking website with provocative

pictures and compelling content comes from a three-person operation or multi-
million-dollar company? You could be two blocks away or 2,000 miles away.
You may not want it, as a small business owner, but a global customer base is
there for the taking, with digital media marketing.

Like we mentioned earlier, social media effectiveness boils down to

engagement. This gives the small business owner a leg up on the larger
competition. If a business doesn’t actively engage with its customers, it won’t
have successful social media marketing.

3
The use of digital media platforms to promote a brand helps receive feedback
from customers. And, when managed correctly using preset metrics, using
digital media to promote your business can be an effective and cost-efficient
form of advertising.

Digital Media Aligns With How Consumers Shop

The average American spends over 24 hours a week online. Over 1 trillion
searches are performed online each year, and over 8 billion Facebook video
views occur daily.

Most consumers look for products or services online. Regardless if it’s a friend
sharing a life event (and how your brand made it better), the result of a search
query, or a promotional video, if customers find your business through any of
these, you can thank digital media.

You’ll need an online presence to be relevant to the vast majority of your

customers. This is why digital media marketing is essential to business.

Types of Digital Media

To run a successful online marketing campaign, you’ll need a digital marketing
plan to make sure your content will reach as many customers as possible.

There are 3 types of digital media:

• Owned media
• Paid media
• Earned media
1. Owned Digital Media
Owned media is any online asset that you control. This type of media is
typically unique to your brand. Digital media platforms include your website,
social media channels, blogs, videos, etc.

4
If you optimize your owned media, your business will show when prospective
clients search for topics relevant to what you offer. The more owned digital
media you create, the more visible your business becomes. This gives your
brand authority, thus increasing your ranking on the search engine results page.
Owned digital media gives you the opportunity to control the conversation
surrounding your business. To make the most of owned media, you must
commit to delivering valuable content on a consistent basis.

2. Paid Digital Media

Paid media promotes your online content to improve traffic to your owned
media assets. This form of media typically includes paid search ads, display ads,
and Facebook ads.
Even though paid media is an expense, when used correctly, it exposes your
content and brand to a wider audience. A good marketing agency can use paid
media to direct the right customers to your website. Furthermore, paid digital
media advertising can offer significant and measurable results within your
campaigns, thus supporting your overall marketing strategy.
3. Earned Digital Media
Earned media is advertising generated by your customers. When customers
advocate for your brand via word of mouth, social media, reviews, testimonials,
shares, re-posts, etc. This is the best form of endorsement a business can have.

Earned digital media is an effective way to grow your brand while cutting down
your customer acquisition costs. However, you will have to monitor this
regularly, because unlike owned digital media, you don’t have control over
what’s being said.

Strong organic rankings on search engines and high-quality content are two of
the forces that drive your earned media.

5
Difference Between Digital Media and Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is the act of placing content (Facebook posts, banner ads, paid
search ads, etc) in the right place, at the right time in order to reach the most
valuable customers. Digital media is assets or content. Media refers to the
digital platforms such as your website, emails, social media channels by which
you are able to convey your digital marketing.

Digital marketing refers to getting specific information about products or

services and target audiences so that ads can be placed in the most efficient and
effective way for maximum profitability.

Digital marketing is marketing with the help of digital media platforms and
digital media. The two go hand in hand.

Digital Media Marketing for Business

Because more consumers turn to technology for their shopping needs, as a
business you need to use digital marketing to reach those customers. In order to
thrive, businesses must have a digital presence, whether that be on a website,
using social media platforms, SEO, or ideally, a combination of these.

Using digital marketing, you can reach a larger audience in a way that is both
measurable and cost-effective. Analytics-driven digital media provides the
opportunity to reach more consumers for less money than traditional marketing
methods while getting to know your customer base, thus increasing brand
loyalty.

Most businesses that effectively use digital marketing, increase sales and
revenue which is ultimately what business is all about.

6
With digital media, you can hone your marketing and target your best
consumer. By employing cookies and online tracking tools, we can help you
better understand what your customer wants and get them to begin positively
engaging with your brand. To put it simply, digital media will boost your
current marketing campaign.

2. Social Media
Social media is any digital tool that allows users to quickly create and share
content with the public. Social media encompasses a wide range of websites and
apps. Some, like Twitter, specialize in sharing links and short written messages.
Others, like Instagram and TikTok, are built to optimize the sharing of photos
and videos.

What makes social media unique is that it is both broad and relatively
uncensored. While many social media companies impose some limitations—
such as taking down images that display violence or nudity—there are much
fewer limitations on what someone can share than there with other means of
mass communication like newspapers, radio stations, and television channels.

Anyone with internet access can sign up for a social media account. They can
use that account to share whatever content they choose to, and the content they
share reaches anyone who visits their page or profile.

The use of hashtags on social media groups content together by topic, allowing
users to connect with strangers who are sharing content related to a topic of
interest.

How Social Media Works?

Since social media covers so many different kinds of websites and applications,
the function of these tools also varies. However, most social media sites start
with a user creating a profile, usually by providing a name and an email address.

7
Once a profile has been created, users can create and share content. For
instance, an Instagram user with a new account can take a picture and share it
on their profile with a caption. In addition to creating content for their profile,
social media users can find other users whose content they want to follow or
comment on. Depending on the type of social media, a user may "follow"
another user, add them as a "friend," or they may "subscribe" to another user's
page.

Social media often uses "feeds" that allow users to scroll through content. Social
media companies use algorithms, based on a user's profile data, to determine the
content that appears and the order that it appears in. The feed will include
content from "followed" users, as well as from entities that pay to promote their
content.

Types of Social Media

There are many different types of social media, and many services could fit into
multiple categories. Here are a few of the major types, along with some
examples.

1. Social Networks

Social networks specialize in connecting and exchanging thoughts, ideas, and

content with other users—often with users who share tastes and interests.
Facebook and Twitter are examples of social networks. Though more
professional than others, LinkedIn may be considered a social network, as well.

As opposed to social networks, which specialize in letting users share and

exchange raw thoughts and ideas, media networks specialize in distributing
content like photographs and videos. Instagram and YouTube are examples of
this. A YouTube user, for example, will upload a video they've created, and
other users can "like," "dislike," or comment on the video. If they enjoy the

8
video enough, a user may choose to "subscribe" to the creator, so that new
videos from that creator appear in their feed.

2. Discussion Networks

Discussion networks like Reddit are the ideal outlet for posts that can spark in-
depth discussion among users. Users can leave detailed responses in the
comment section, and other users can respond directly to those comments,
allowing for conversations to grow and develop organically.

Blogging sites like WordPress may also be included in the discussion network
category, though some would consider blogging its own type of social media.

3. Review Networks

Review networks like Yelp and TripAdvisor add social media aspects to user
reviews of products and services. Users can interact directly with those leaving
reviews, as can the businesses being reviewed.

Businesses and Social Media

While any individual can sign up for social media, social media platforms have
become an important part of marketing for businesses of all sizes. The key to
successful social media is to not treat it like an extra appendage but to treat it
with the same care, respect, and attention you do all of your marketing efforts.
Here are some things businesses should keep in mind while using social media.

Social Media Marketing Is Fleeting

By its nature, social media is a short attention span media—you have to catch
their attention as they're quickly scrolling through dozens of posts at a time. Ad
headlines and copy are harder to fit into an attention-grabbing tweet than a
traditional newspaper ad.

9
You Must Be Active on Social Media

One of the biggest mistakes retailers make is to open up accounts on every

social media platform they think is relevant and then leave them alone with no
activity. In fact, social media users may be turned off by the retailer who opens
accounts and does not engage with clients or the public.

It may be better to not have a social media icon on your website if you are not
going to actively engage with it on a daily basis.

Focus on the Customer

Another big mistake retailers make is to use social media to talk about what is
important to them rather than talking about what is important to the
customer. Retailers who use social media, for instance, may think it is great to
spread the word about a sale. In some ways, this would be true, but if that's the
only reason you are getting involved in social media, it won't be beneficial.
Your goal should be to provide content that is relevant to your customer and
engage with them to the point that they want to share your post with others.

If you use social media, you need to engage with your customers, involve them
in a dialogue, and ask them for their opinions. Post a picture of two items you
are considering carrying in your store and ask customers which one they like
best. This creates a dialogue that leads to shared posts and engaged followers.
Plus, if you successfully engage with your customers, it will help you better
identify their tastes and preferences.

10
 3. Visual media

Visual Media is a colloquial expression used to designate things like TV,

movies, photography, painting and so on . But it is highly inexact and
misleading. All the so-called visual media turn out, on closer inspection, to
involve the other senses (especially touch and hearing.)

In today’s extremely cluttered digital environment, online marketers have no

option but to use visual media to stand out from the crowd. Visuals are highly
effective and you can construe their effectiveness from the fact that adding a
photo URL to your tweet can increase retweets by 35 percent.

People have been using visual aids to express their opinions and desires for
centuries now. Human beings have the natural tendency to pay attention to
visuals like graphics and illustration. However, it was not until the last few
decades that the technological revolution reshaped the visual media landscape.

Here are the types of visual media you should use to do effective online
marketing:

1. Images

Images are among the most common types of visual media being used by online
marketers today. To attract maximum views and generate engagement, the
images you use should be compelling enough. According to one study, contents
with compelling images can generate 94 percent more views on an average than
content without images.

The key to use images effectively is to create multiple and customized images
for your different online platforms. For example, there is no guarantee that an
image that did well on Pinterest will do well on Facebook. Moreover, different

11
online platforms have different requirements for image dimensions. For
example, if an oblong image worked well on your website, it will not
necessarily do well on social media.

2. Videos

Videos are very engaging content. Internet users prefer to watch videos because
they want to see what a product can do for them in real life. In simple words,
they want to see real-life demonstration of products before making their buying
decisions.

You can use your smartphone to make a simple behind the scene video of how
your products are made and then dole it out to your followers. Or you can let
your happy customers share their experiences in the form of videos with your
followers.

The importance of video as a visual media can further be corroborated by

the fact that 78 percent of Internet users watch videos every week, and 55
percent people watch videos every day. Major platforms like YouTube have
helped videos become a huge success, and not to forget that almost all social
media platforms (Facebook, Instagram etc.) allow videos.

3. Infographics

Infographics did not exist until the digital revolution started to affect businesses.
Today, people on the Internet want to consume valid data presented in beautiful,
graphical formats. No doubt, everyone loves content that presents data about a
particular topic in an appealing way. This is because we, as humans, have
developed the propensity to save our time by getting straight to the point.
Infographics just do that for us.

12
Infographics are visually attractive and present researched facts in ways that are
very simple to understand. They contain valuable information and narrate
stories in beautiful and straightforward manner. According to a study,
infographics are 30 times more likely to be read than pure text content.

If you seriously want to cut through the clutter in today’s digital world, you
should integrate visual media as the most important component in your content
marketing efforts. Images, videos, and infographics are just three of the most
effective visual aids you can use to market your product or service.

References
1. https://www.digitallogic.co/blog/what-is-digital-media/
2. https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-is-social-media-2890301
3. https://purplecowagency.com/what-are-the-types-of-effective-visual-media/

13