DIGITAL MEDIA PLANNING GUIDE

COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO

BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEPARTMENT
MA ARTS MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME

NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES

- JUSTIN SINKOVICH

DECEMBER 13TH, 2016

CREATED BY:
ELISSA JIMENEZ, COLIN HERZOG, CHARLESTON PARHAM, JESSE JAMES AUSTIN
M
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PREFACE
Students gain an in-depth understanding of the production, publication, promotion, and
distribution of digital audio, visual, and editorial content. Students conceptualize future tactics to
embrace the convergence of the major media forms being streamed, downloaded, and offered on
all devices including tablets, mobile phones, computers and home theaters.

CONSULTING TEAM (PROFILES)

Melissa Jimenez - Trinidad and Tobago

Consultant in Marketing, Brand Development, Programme Development and
Grant Writing for the past 6 years. She holds a BA Musical Arts, Certificate in
Event Management ,and a Certificate in Music from The University of the
West Indies. She went on to complete an LCCI Diploma in Marketing and is
now pursuing a Masters in Arts Management at Columbia College Chicago as a
recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship.

Colin Herzog - Manitowoc, WI

A second year graduate student in Columbia College Chicago's Arts
Management and teachers assistant and writing teacher for their First Year
Experience program, he holds a dual BA in English and Communications from
St. Norbert College. He has written, consulted, and edited for numerous
publications and institutions, but his passion lies in encouraging and refining
self-expression through the arts and learning about other cultures.

Jesse-James Austin - Brooklyn, NY

A young actor and entrepreneur-in-training. Raised in New York City,
Jesse-James moved to the Midwest in 2013 to study Theatre at Columbia
College Chicago, where he received his BA in Acting. Jesse's currently in his
final year in Columbia College's Business and Entrepreneurship program,
where he will graduate with a Master of Arts Management degree.

Charleston Parham - Newport News, VA

Charleston has an extensive academic background in integrated marketing
campaigns, as well as having completed an intensive media sales institute
program shortly after receiving a B.S. degree in public relations. Charlestons
currently completing a Business and Entrepreneurship Masters in Art
Management program at Columbia College Chicago.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE 1
CONSULTING TEAM (PROFILES) 1

Introduction 4
About the Company 4
Mission 4
Tagline 5
Unique Value Proposition 5
Goals 5

Website Analysis 5
Current Site Layout 5
Is the Site User-Friendly? 6
Ideas for Revision 7

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 9

SEO Suggestions 9
Keywords and Phrases 9
Examples of Keyword Rich Descriptions 10
SEO Resources 10

Gamification 11
Leadership Boards 11
Points 11
Badges/Status Levels 12
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality 12
Resources 13

Influencer Marketing 14
Influencer Strategy 14
Potential Influencers 14

Social Media Strategy 15

Facebook 15
Instagram 15
Twitter 16
Social Media Calendar 17
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Resources 17

A-B Testing 18
SAMPLE BLOG SUMMARY: 19
MASLOW MESSAGES 19

E-Marketing 21
Collecting and Creating an Email List 21
List Maintenance and Updating 21
Audience 21
Schedule 21
Resources 21

Blogging 22
Purpose 22
Content Anchors 22
Platform/Channels 22
Sample Blog Name 22
Sample Blog Post Topics 22

Sample Blog Post 23

Patriotism, The Perfect Hustle 23
Resources 24

APPENDIX 25
Marketing Resources 25

Business Development Resources 26

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Introduction

About the Company

Desirelist was created to help you get the things you most desire for birthdays, weddings,
graduation, road trips or any occasion. Because, when it comes to gifting, knowing what to give
beats guessing every time!

Desirelist is a list making tool and gifting service that allows its users to curate a list of gifts they
desire. In turn, users share their lists with friends and family and encourage them to purchase the
items as gifts.

Mission
Help fulfill your heart's desires and celebrate milestones - get the gifts YOU want.

Tagline
Personal registry to list and share anywhere

Unique Value Proposition

Desirelist is a fun and interactive way to list and share all the things you love so that you, your
friends and your family can give and get exactly what you want for any occasion. Visualize to
materialize (like a virtual vision board) - write it down and put it out there in order to make
dreams come true.

Goals
Audience expansion
Acquisition - referrals coming from blogs, facebook etc..
Behaviour - how much time users are spending on the site.
Conversions
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Website Analysis
Current Site Layout
The site uses minimal text, with the landing page being predominantly visual, using images and
infographics to describe the site and its purpose. It flows smoothly overall and works well for computer,
tablet, and even mobile, and segues quickly to being able to sign up for the site, though there is not an
icon to sign in, only to get started--at least for the mobile version, there is the drop down menu on the
top right corner that, if you touch it, shows a general login screen for returning members.

Once logged in, the site continues to minimize text where it can as it takes the user straight to their
account. On the side, it offers us to invite or search for friends of ours who may be also be on the site,
while listing the Top desirelisters, people who have bought or given the most through using the site (the
number the user has given or bought is right next to their profile picture). As for the items themselves,
there is not a name listed under the pictures, but there is the price in the lower lefthand corner; however,
when the picture is clicked on, the details that the user filled in when they posted it, such as the price,
name, any additional notes, and so on.

Otherwise, in the top right, a user can add a desire, or they can search lists that the site has created
through the Recommended Lists icon or see what the most recent items added to the site are through the
Newsfeed icon, where it organizes the items by when they were posted and states which lists they
belong to, as opposed to the Recommended Lists section, which uses the opposite approach. While
browsing, at the top of the screen, there is a rotating banner ad for lists that desirelist put together to
explore, while at the bottom of the screen of the users homepage or My Lists page, there are suggested
lists to look through, based on interests.
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Is the Site User-Friendly?

Generally speaking, yes: adding items is simple enough, so long as the user has the URL link for it and
the picture-and-price image style is efficient, as is the information box that appears when the user clicks
on it. However, searching is frustrating, as there are not any keywords to help guide browsing and the user
simply has to browse either consistently to stay caught up or to have a lot of time to scroll through others
latest addition which, while entertaining, is not going to help users find items to add to their lists if they
cannot tailor the results to their own interests right away.

Additionally, the does not fully allow deleting items off a list: while it may remove it from the list itself, it
does not get removed from the Newsfeed, which can be frustrating as well, especially if one realized they
had two copies of it already posted or already got it and want to make sure no one else buys it for them by
accident.

Ultimately, the experience can be summed up as being streamlined but rigid: there are clear restrictions as
to what the user can do and where they can browse, but to its credit, so long as the user does not try to
deviate much from the set paths the site has laid out, then the overall process runs smoothly, and most of
what the user would need can be done in a few quick clicks--no more than 2 if the user wants to add an
item, or to look up other friends or what other people have posted, it is but a small few rapid-fire clicks
away.

Ideas for Revision

Changing the domain name to desirelist.gift: not only are non-dot com domain names becoming
increasingly popular (a trend referred to as the not-com revolution), but it helps online users more
quickly identify the site as a professional online gift registry, and makes the url more memorable.

While it may add another layer of complication, the item classifying system needs to be revised:
particularly, there needs to be a way to sort the lists or items into general categories, possibly based off
the handful of interests that are available to be added to ones profile such as Mens Fashion, Games and
Hobbies, or Music. Let the users be able to sift through others lists through a search bar. It can help
streamline the approach and make users more inclined to add further items to the list, given what they
could narrow the list down to what they want, possibly using a hashtag-style of classifying items.

At the moment, the price listed on the site does not adjust to reflect if the price changes on the site its
from. For example, a dvd I would have posted in one of my lists was linked to Amazon. It was priced at
$9.99 when I posted it, but if Amazon lowers the price to $7.99 or increases it to $25.50, the price on
desirelist is not adjusted to reflect the new reality: on desirelist, it will continue to be $9.99, versus the
real price. Likely, this solution has to do with the code of the site and it would require leaving a cookie or
bot of some kind at the shop cite to keep an eye out for price changes.
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Additionally, along the top of the webpage, there should be a distinction made between get started and
welcome back, please sign in--welcome back or simply login would be nice to acknowledge
returning members and void potential confusion regarding which one to click. Also along the top could be
an effective place to have a currency exchange feature, as the product is meant to be able to connect to
many different websites, not the least of which could be where they are importing something by
purchasing it through a foreign site, such as Amazon companies from other countries and to enter the
price, it requires to manually look up the exchange rate, which could also enable foreign members to be
able to post and flesh out their lists.

Add the ability for users to rank items on their lists in order of desirability, which could make it easier for
friends and family to prioritize which items to buy, and give them a bigger boost of points or position on
the leadership board if they purchase a higher ranked item.

Finally, using the site, particularly around holiday times, create a list by teaming up with local charities
and have users purchase the items on the list for the charity and get points for doing so--perhaps the
creation of a new leaderboard set by the website team and acknowledgement could get people more
inspired and we help raise a significant portion of the funds. It helps both desirelist by giving back and
connecting with the community while also getting followers involved in an easier way to help donation.
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Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Desirelist has the option to utilize paid versions of SEO to improve the rankings of the companys website
on search engines and drive traffic to the website. However, with careful planning and understanding of
how SEO can help the business, it is possible to not use paid versions and drive the traffic organically.
Relevant keywords and phrases can be implemented into the sites page titles, navigation links, body of
text, and other links, in order to make it easier for the search engine spiders to detect and rank the site
more quickly and accurately, which puts it higher in the search results.

SEO Suggestions
At the current time, desirelists site is predominately visual, with minimal text, which while useful, also
limits the sites chances of showing up in more general searches. The sites inclusion of a landing page
and about sections with text descriptions of the product are a strong start, but the inclusion of the
following phrases and ideas would be the next step towards a more refined SEO.

In addition to making the URL more descriptive of the service, it also can help increase the sites
SEO, as the domain name is a factor for the search engine spiders look at, so the additional
chance to include the keyword could be taken advantage of.

In the text descriptions, page names, and list names, make sure to incorporate more keywords
with higher rated-search hits (as estimated through research tools such as SERPS) to increase the
likelihood of showing up in more searches.

For example, Desires can be used as a navigation link or a page name. It can also be the
tag on or directing towards the sign up/create an account page , saying start listing
your desires here

Keywords and Phrases

Based on research using SERPS, the following is a list of 15 key combinations that generated the most
attention:

$list: 49,500 hits

Use this, either in the description or the name, for bargain lists-lists with items under
$20--that desirelist creates for users to peruse.

Wedding Registry: 27,100

Wedding-Registry: 22,200

Wish List: 22,200 hits

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Use this spelling; it gets 400 more hits than wish - list and
10,000 more than wish-list. Make sure that it is spelt consistently on the landing page.

All I Want: 12,100

List Maker: 9,900 estimated hits

At almost 10,000 estimated hits a month, keeping the product description general is a
good route, and then referring to holidays separately to get further hits from them

Christmas Wish List: 6,600

Desires: 4,400 hits

Gift Registry: 2,900 hits

Digital Desires: 1,900

Gets the same number of hits with or without the hyphen

Holiday Shopping: 1,600 hits

Birthday List: 1,000 hits

Graduation Registry: 140 hits

Examples of Keyword Rich Descriptions

Desirelist is an online gift registry , that allows users to conveniently inform friends and family of their
desires. The platform is perfect for holiday shopping, and functions similar to a standard

Desirelist is poised to become more than just a place to make wish lists, considering the websites
internet integration and easy access to purchasing channels.

Desirelist is a start up company that offers efficient business solutions for retailers, simplifies the buying
process for consumers, and eliminates the risk of buying someone a bad gift. Desirelist founder and CEO,
Eric Sheinkop along with co-founder and former Coca-Cola (VP) Judith Levey believes that desirelist
will change the way the world gives and receives gifts.

SEO Resources
Below is a list of resources that can be used to search keywords and phrases.

Serps
Google Keyword
Keyword Tool
SEMrush
Wordtracker

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Gamification
The University of Pennsylvania defines gamification as the application of game elements and digital
game design techniques to address non-game problems, such as business and social impact challenges.
Often, gamification takes the form of the integration of leadership boards, the assignment of points, or
introducing the concept of earning badges or titles (and more recently, Augmented and Virtual Reality),
all of which provide intrinsic benefits for your users to utilize your product, such as status, potential
authority, and validation--all of which can go to great lengths to keeping them involved and using your
product, and these general methods have been implemented in many different industries, especially as the
usage of mobile phones has skyrocketed. The following are suggestions as to how Desirelist could
integrate and adopt some of these general game mechanics.

Leadership Boards
Essentially ranking your users, often based on points. It is worth noting that you have already begun to
implement this in the form of your Top Desirelisters list that shows up on the left hand side of the screen;
however, we propose taking it a bit further, if only by distinguishing those that give and those that
receive, since you already keep track of both.

Additional boards to consider:

possibly link with how much youve spent on local businesses versus the major retailers
Number of lists created
Number of followers or views a users lists have gotten
Separate boards for gifts bought and gifts received
Number of items shared via social media
While not a leadership board per se, you should be able to rank your items on the lists in order of
priority or preference, which would in turn grant who buys it for them more points for doing so.

Points
These will fuel both leadership boards and the badges or ranks awarded. You have taken some steps in the
right direction with the tracking of number of gifts bought and received, which can be used to fuel some
of the leadership boards discussed previously.

Additional points:
Points for each item purchased
Possibly users earn more points for buying from local businesses or partners vs. Amazon or major
online retailers
More points for higher listed or ranked items from peoples lists
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Points for each share their item posting gets on Facebook and Twitter
If they have the desirelist app, award points for walking into and checking in at a local partner to
encourage foot traffic and promote local businesses.

Badges/Status Levels
A free status symbol that can go a long way towards furthering usage by users, since it implies authority
and expertise. While you do have Top Desirelisters at the moment, there are other areas to expand
towards that offer more variety and therefore, offer more achievements for users to unlock and be
rewarded for, based on points earned.

These badges would then be placed next to their name and on their profile.
Number of followers of their lists (trendsetter, Expert Shopper, etc)
Number of items purchased (Big Spender, Thoughtful Friend--here, we could try to make a
correlation between gifts purchased and friendship and while it may seem a bit cheesy, it still can
prove effective, since it provides a more competitive atmosphere)
Number of items from local stores (Local Expert, City Expert, or even something cooler, like
Sales Ninja/Sales Spy, City Sage; something more unique to make it stand out)

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

While, given your product, you may not delve too far into virtual reality, there is still a lot of potential that
augmented reality (layering digital or virtual elements over physical environments in the real world),
particularly with the aid of the Desirelist app.

Additionally, on the site, there a can be further gamification integrated by allowing users to customize
their own profile pages or list designs around holiday themes, with prizes given to best design.

A further expansion would be to have a feature where each item on the list shows up in a photo at
the top or bottom of the screen and the user can rearrange the items into the scene and make a
game for their followers or those that look at their lists of finding the items in the picture or
potentially have the user be able to set the items to create a scene or a piece, which could earn
points to further them up the leadership boards or ean a status badge.

Use Instagram to tell a story using the items on your list--if a common target is an occasion or a
holiday, have the users recount it with their photos of the real life event or via their lists.

An AR reader function of the app where you would just take a picture of an item on the shelf with
its price tag and it posts automatically to your selected lists and instagram. Otherwise, hold up
phone to an item and enable the user to see reviews for it posted on Amazon or other mainstream
retail sites, or allow them to see whose lists the item is currently on, so you can
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find out quickly whether its on one of your friends lists or if it is on the list of someone you
follow.

With local partners, have sensor in their store that registers the Desirelist app on users phones,
and by doing so, reads the stored lists and notices any items they have in stock. Afterwards, it
sends a map to the app that directs the consumer to where they are located in the store--plus, it
earns the user points for going to a local partner. While this might a stretch on technological
resources, it does add further incentive and convenience to users to use partner businesses, which
can earn invaluable loyalty in the long run.

Resources
Gioco
Captain Up
OpenBadges by Mozilla
Zurmo
User Infuser
Mambo.IO
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Influencer Marketing
This is the practice of building relationships with people who can build relationships for you. Whether
their audience is small or large, an influencer reaches an audience via blog or social media that your brand
may not be able to.

Influencer Strategy
1. IDENTIFY topics that will interest your customers.
2. VET the influencers to ensure that they are a good fit for your brand. Look at the quality of their
content, number of followers, follower engagement.
3. ENGAGE with your target influencers via email and social media channels. Seek out a
partnership and decide what the value proposition will be.
4. MEASURE which topics and which influencers has promoted your brand the most and increased
customer engagement.
5. REPEAT - once you have identified who and what works best for your brand, you are now able
to build a stronger influencer strategy.

Potential Influencers
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Social Media Strategy

Social media should be used as the primary tool towards increasing user engagement on your website and
enhancing the desirelist brand. By adding variety to your social media content you can widen your
audience and build a community of likeminded shoppers. As of right now, desirelist uses Facebook,
Instagram, and Twitter as its main accounts. Weve analyzed each account and its quality and posting
frequency, as well as tips to get the most use out of each channel.

Facebook
Content:
Self-promotion
Interesting products
Occasional calls to action
Questions
Featured Desirelists
Fashion tips

Posting frequency: We recommend posting 3-4 times per week, twice per day.
Best days to post are on Thursdays - Sundays
Highest user engagement is on Saturdays and Sundays
Best times to post are 9am, 1pm (most shares), 3pm (most clicks)

Suggestions:
Use video directly uploaded to Facebook instead of sharing YouTube posts for higher
engagement
80:20 rule - 80% educational, fun, entertaining content; 20% promotional material
Comment on followers posts or reply directly to their comment
Use Facebook Analytics and Fanpage Karma to track data

Instagram
Content:
Self-promotion
Featured Desirelists
Occasional calls to action

Posting frequency: We recommend posting twice per week, once per day.

Best days to post are Mondays and Thursdays

Sundays have the lowest user engagement
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Best times to post are 2am, 8-9am (most activity), 5pm, 9pm (most video
interactions)
Lowest activity between 3-4pm
Aside from peak times, post content during off-work hours instead of during the work day

Suggestions:
Offer social media exclusive discounts
Behind-the-scenes at Desirelist
Add fan made videos and pictures
Fashion tip and style videos

Twitter
Content:
Self-promotion
Featured Desirelists
Occasional calls to action
Retweets of similar fashion bloggers and members

Posting frequency: We recommend posting 5 times per week, 3 times per day
Best day to post is Wednesday
Best times to post are 12pm, 3pm, 5-6pm
B2B interactions perform better during business hours
B2C interactions perform better on weekends

Suggestions:
Share fan created content
Use testimonials from Desirelist users
Craft #hashtags for followers to use during discussions:
Trending #hashtags - Related to current events and trends
Content #hashtags - Incorporating the #hashtag into the post
Location #hashtags - When posting about specific locations
Lifestyle #hashtags - Relevant to audiences interests, hobbies, or lifestyles
Brand #hashtags - Incorporating desirelist directly into the #hashtag
Use Twitter Analytics to track data and find the best times to tweet
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Social Media Calendar

Resources
Hootsuite
Fanpage Karma
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A-B Testing
When it comes to testing out online content for an audiences consumption, there are several
approaches to take; however, one of the most notable is A-B testing. Essentially, A-B testing is where a
site has two different versions of the same item, whether it be site layout, an ad, or other content and in
order to see which one performs better, they swap them throughout a set period of time and note how
users and visitors interact with them. While some visitors are shown the original (often referred to as the
control group), others are shown the variant and, based on analytics, it provides effective, cost-effective
research. Either through automating or manually, an organization can swap out their designs throughout
the day during peak times or when, based on prior data, specific demographics are likely to be looking at
the site, to make the change and gauge their reactions.

At the current time, most of the plugs on the social media are more general or tied more directly with a
specific event or season. While that format is okay and can be effective, there are alternative, more
targeted ways to frame posts and plugs that can get more traction and resonate more strongly with
followers; particularly by tapping into their desires on a more fundamental level.

For example, we took a blog post and wrote up a description to promote it on social media; however, in
an effort to try and increase user-interest, we decided to apply Maslows Hierarchy of Needs to the
description to try and see which source of motivation would work best. The basic principle of Maslows
work was that humans are motivated by their bodily needs and only be having them fulfilled could they
comfortably move beyond basic Physiological needs such as food, water, and sleep to the Safety needs
like security, resources, and shelter, to the Belonging (family and friends), Self-esteem (confidence,
respect, achievements) and Self-Actualization (morality, creativity, rationality) levels. Only by
understanding where ones audience is at on the scale can one really know how to speak to them.

Therefore, we took the same description of a blog that would be posted with the link on Twitter,
discussing what kitchen tools to use when making Christmas meals, and adapted it to a different level of
need with each. From there, desirelist can gauge how its audience is feeling and how to more effectively
get the message heard by swapping them out throughout a testing period and see their reactions. We did
skip the first level, Physiological needs, as desirelists function does not delve into these areas; however,
the rest had much more potential.
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SAMPLE BLOG SUMMARY:

7 Essential Kitchen Tools You Need This Christmas.

Everyone wants an awesome Christmas, but many dont have the essentials to make the magic
happen. Desirelist has got your back! With a list of our favorite kitchen tools to whip up an EPIC
Christmas Feast even a Grinch would love!

Sample Article Link:

http://crate.us/2g7n4O8

MASLOW MESSAGES
1. SAFETY: Appealing to the need for employment, shelter, security, resources, and
property

a. Keep your food safe and clean this #Christmas with these 7 #essential #kitchen
appliances on #desirelist #dinner http://crate.us/2g7n4O8

b. sick of cutting ur finger? may we suggest a #knifeguard? check out our 7

#essential #Christmas #kitchenutensils for http://crate.us/2g7n4O8

2. LOVE & BELONGING: Appealing to the need for a group, friendship, family,
romance, and sexual intimacy, and possibly nostalgia as well.

a. everyone knows #Grandma is a pro in the #kitchen! Here are 7 #tools Grandma
swears by to make cooking much easier http://crate.us/2g7n4O8

b. Feel like ur #friends & #family dont #love u cause they get u the same #gift?
check out our 7 #christmas #essentials http://crate.us/2g7n4O8

c. Real #men know their way around a #kitchen. Wow your partner with a feast
they deserve, with these 7 #essential tools http://crate.us/2g7n4O8

3. ESTEEM: Appealing to the need for respect for yourself and of others, self-confidence,
and achievements .

a. Tired of being kicked out of the kitchen while the #adults cook? Show them
what you can do with these 7 #essentials http://crate.us/2g7n4O8

b. Be the culinary #hero your holiday needs: #savetheday with these 7 #essential
kitchen #tools http://crate.us/2g7n4O8
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4. SELF-ACTUALIZATION: Appealing to the need for creativity, high level or big

picture focus, and spontaneity

a. Take your #holiday feast to new heights this year: make some new traditions with
these 7 #essential #cooking tools: http://crate.us/2g7n4O8

b. Tired of going through the motions when #cooking? Shake things up: inject new
life with 7 #essential #cooking tools http://crate.us/2g7n4O8

A subtle difference, but the more specific call to action will tap into followers experiences more
and make them more likely to take the extra second click on the link. Naturally, it will take some
experimenting to figure out which particular level of need would be most effective with
desirelists followers and that is where the A-B Testing will come in.

Based off of the social media calendar, we have discussed the peak times when to post on
Facebook and Twitter respectively, and this content will work for both. Take a look at when the
current followers on desirelists pages view--if there are dead time periods, such as early
morning, they can be removed from the time table. It would be suggested to rotate each level
every few hours--say, 3 hours each, and rotate the order that they are posted each day for a week,
possibly two, and gauge the reactions through the social medias respective analytics.

It can be easier to start with a common theme or topic and then build variations for each level
around that.

Possible Themes:

Holidays
Sports events
Awards season for clothing and entertainment home releases
Spring break
Life events (birthdays, weddings, graduations, etc)
School
Outdoor activities (skiing, camping, hiking, lawn maintenance, etc)
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E-Marketing

Collecting and Creating an Email List

Desirelists email list would be collected through the websites users who sign up to make accounts. They
will also have the option to opt in to receive email updates after every transaction made through the site.

List Maintenance and Updating

The email list would be updated through mailing software as well as IT personnel. The software would be
responsible for holding and registering new users on desirelist while actual people will comb through the
email list to keep track of accounts and user interaction. This will ensure that desirelists emails are
received and acted upon by their user base to provide a more personal experience, as opposed to bounced
emails and spam labels.

The Audience
Audience members would include current customers to increase their usage and session times on
desirelist. The idea is to market to members new desirelists and shopping items, as well as gift ideas
and personal suggestions to create a better user-client relationship.

Schedule
Desirelist would schedule its newsletter and curated emails to be a weekly occurrence for users. After
transactions, users would receive an email as well asking for feedback on their shopping experience as
well as any suggested items and maybe promotions to encourage a second visit.

Resources
Mail Chimp
Constant Contact
iContact
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Blogging

Purpose
The desirelist blog would serve as an extension of the desirelist user experience, providing readers with
product reviews, curated shopping lists, and spotlight attention on other desirelist users. It also aims to
increase users, brand awareness and build customer engagement.

Content Anchors
Gift registry
Wishlist
Desires
Themes - (wedding, anniversary, graduation, birthday, housewarming etc)

Platform/Channels
Desirelist blog content will come directly from the company, as well as occasional guest bloggers
who will spotlight or curate themed desirelists
Blog content will be promoted through the email newsletter, social media
(Facebook/Twitter/Instagram)
Blogs will be written on a bi-monthly basis, alternating between staff-generated content and
sponsorships + guest bloggers with a an appropriately themed desirelist
Can utilize the platform Tumblr as the companys official blogging site or create a tab within the
desirelist website.

Sample Blog Name

Live Your Desire:

Sample Blog Post Topics

Perfect Gift
How to Hint at What You Want for Christmas
How to find good deals
What to give someone who has everything
Guest recommendations
 Austin, Herzog, Jimenez, Parham - 22

Sample Blog Post

Patriotism, The Perfect Hustle

The summertime is the

closest thing to christmas
for companies who sale
flags. Memorial Day, Flag
Day (June 14th) and the
Fourth of July are
responsible for sudden
spikes in flag sales during
the summer. This year flag
sales have risen 15% since
last year, impart to 2016
being an election year and
the need for flags at
political events.

Most importantly, we feel theres a rise in patriotism, said Jodi Goglio, Chief Operating Officer at Eder,
a company who has been making flags since 1887.

Flag sales went through the roof following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The flag that was raised at
New Yorks ground zero on Sept. 11, which has since become an iconic photograph, was made by Eder.
Flag sales dropped tremendously during the recession, partially due to the fact that less buildings were
being built and the spending was cut on a variety of levels.

We dont expect a decrease anytime soon. We feel its going to continue, said Goglio in reference to
increasing sales of american flags.

Eder has chosen as a company to refrain from producing controversial flags that are offensive. Eder halted
production of confederate flags following public backlash against the symbol of the confederacy. Goglio
is bothered when she sees someone flying a flag that is no longer in pristine condition. She feels that flags
should be retired with dignity. A

great number of American flags are produced in China, however Eder manufactures their flags in Oak
Creek using American-sourced materials.
 Austin, Herzog, Jimenez, Parham - 23

I feel as if theres a growing demand for domestic-made goods in general. We are very proud to supply a
symbol of the country made in the USA, Goglio said.

AmericanFlags.com is urging consumers to buy American flags as gifts for this upcoming holiday season.
The holiday season is slowly becoming an important date for companies that sale American flags.
American flags are meaningful to a broad audience, and could very well be the perfect gift for someone
you love this holiday season.

If youre feeling patriotic this Holiday season, check out these cool gift ideas.

Written by desirelist.com
Contributions from, CNBC, PrNewsWire

Links
Shopping lists to wishlists
Bucket lists to gift lists
Save and share all your desires from anywhere on the web

Check out what's been added to desire list this week.

_______________

Resources
Unbounce
Wild Fire App
Check This
 Austin, Herzog, Jimenez, Parham - 24

APPENDIX

Marketing Resources
The following is a list of marketing resources that can be utilized by startups that range from freemium to
corporate packages:

Customer Relationship Management iPlotz

Batchbook Sprite Cow
Market Research Skitch
Launch Rock Color Choose
AYTM Community Local Events
Google Insights Eventbrite
Education Index Meetup
Traffic Research BigTent
Quantcast Email Integration
Compete Sengrid
Video Presentations Startup Promotion
Prezi Untorch
Slideshare Ad Promotion
Haiku Deck LinkedIn Ads
Go Animate Facebook Ads
YouTube Google Ads
Design/UI Tools Social Sharing
Balsamiq Facebook likes
Mockingbird AddThis.com
Adobe Photoshop Sharethis.com
 Austin, Herzog, Jimenez, Parham - 25

Business Development Resources

The following is a list of business development resources that can be utilized by startups that range from
freemium to corporate packages:

Personal Storage Task Management

Box Asana
Dropbox Podio
Drive Do.com
Forms/Surveys Development Tools
Wufoo Cloud mine
Google Forms Visual studio
Survey Monkey Aptana
Appointment Calendar Gigster
Calend.ly Chronium
Project Management Tools Google Apps
Pivotal Tracker Get Fire Bug
PBWorks Get Postman
SpringSled Rubular
Ruby Toolbox