Featured – Page 3 – Alex Piwtoratsky.

Breaking Down IM Apps

April 21, 2019by Alex Piwtoratsky1 Comment

As someone who uses their phone as their device for primary contact, I bounce between seven social media/communication apps daily in order to connect with others. Yup, seven. While that might sound like a lot, each app has its own specific function and are split between personal and professional uses. For purely personal interactions, here are the apps I frequent: Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. On the professional side, you have: LinkedIn, Twitter, and WhatsApp. Altogether, that only adds up to six. The final app is Gmail, which teeters back and forth between professional/personal depending on which account I use.

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My Experience With Personas

April 14, 2019June 9, 2019by Alex PiwtoratskyLeave a comment

As the world revolves around buying and selling, companies have become cutthroat and rather ingenious in their ways to predict how customers will interact with their brand. Through models called “personas,” marketing and design teams can create a cast of characters that make up groups of their customer base. These personas are created through market and user research, giving accurate pictures of what the real customers look like, their needs, and how a person’s business/product/service fits into their day to day lives.

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Psychology’s Influence on User Behavior

March 31, 2019May 29, 2019by Alex Piwtoratsky1 Comment

Streamlined, intuitive, functional, responsive. All of these words have been massively overused to describe websites – but how did they even become the preferred descriptors of “good” web design? As our lives become more entrenched in the digital sphere, the way we interact – and want to interact – with technology changes. In order to let users seamlessly manage their online activity and subliminally guide them through the preferred customer journey, designers implement UX/UI. If you’re familiar with the design space, you’ve probably heard of these two abbreviations before. In case you’re completely new, let’s break it down.

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Constructing A Content Calendar

February 24, 2019March 3, 2019by Alex PiwtoratskyLeave a comment

Before even starting up a social media page, an organization must understand content. In previous blog posts, I’ve talked about how to construct a content strategy and have pulled together a quick guide identifying the differences between content strategy, content marketing, and content creation. In this week’s blog post, I will be walking you through how I created an example content calendar for a local nonprofit organization.

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Nails Prevail on Social

February 17, 2019February 24, 2019by Alex PiwtoratskyLeave a comment

It’s no secret that the beauty industry thrives on social media. Many of the premier makeup and skincare brands have built empires – millions of followers, a horde of influencers, and a brand presence that conveys exactly their standpoint on aesthetics. While the beauty industry has been rather concerned about products that go on one’s face, the nail industry has been booming as well. Influencers like SimplyNailogical, cutepolish, and Nail Career Education have made nail polish exciting again in the past couple of years. Because of the hype from these online influencers, consumers – especially young girls – began to take an interest again with nail polish. This was great for the industry, but for the brands themselves, they needed to make focusing on social media a priority.

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Second Chance For Animals – A Local Non-Profit Analysis

February 10, 2019February 14, 2019by Alex PiwtoratskyLeave a comment

A few years ago, when I was completing my undergraduate degree, I wanted to be able to put some of my free time to good use. With only a few classes left, I figured that volunteering would be a great way to keep my time occupied and help my community. Years prior, I learned of the Franklin Township Animal Shelter and knew that they took on volunteers – however they had to be over 18 years of age. At the time I offered to volunteer I was only 16 and was so saddened to hear that I couldn’t help out. Going back, then as a proud 20-year old, I was excited to get involved. Although my time as a volunteer only lasted around half a year, it was a great learning experience. The amount of time and effort that the volunteers put in is astounding and I applaud every one of them for putting the needs of the animals first.

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The Ethics of Fake News & Clickbait

November 26, 2018November 28, 2018by Alex PiwtoratskyLeave a comment

In this era of digital consumption, pieces of information are being catapulted across the Internet at speeds that defy traditional methods of sharing. Word of mouth, newspapers, and even television have succumbed to mighty online sharing avenues like social media, websites, and apps. Within seconds, information can be published and shared all across the globe – reaching huge, diverse audiences that digest content in a variety of ways. Some audiences are serial sharers that click “retweet” or “share to timeline” without even batting an eye. Other audiences are keen, silent absorbers that thoroughly investigate content that grabs their attention. Whichever audience you may fall into, one thing rings true – it is becoming harder and harder to decipher what is real, honest content and what is faked.

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The Content Tree

November 5, 2018November 6, 2018by Alex Piwtoratsky1 Comment

The other day at work I opened an email containing a marked-up PDF from our legal department. The requests for edits were easy except for one that said “insert FBS on all.” FBS? What the heck was that? I turned to my colleague, who had many more years of experience – and lots of interaction with our legal department – for guidance but even she was at a loss. After a few minutes of futile googling and guessing, a quick call to legal dispelled the mystery around the acronym for “Fair Balance Statement.” The point I am trying to make is that something that may be super obvious in one industry might not be as apparent to those outside of it, or those who are working with a new team. As we have discussed previously, content (and its importance) has recently shot up in the past decade, and because of this, there are still some misunderstandings about areas involving content. In today’s post, I’d like to help clarify some of the most important areas of content and their functions. We will be covering: content strategy, content marketing, and content creation.

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EmberHouse – A Study of Content

November 5, 2018December 14, 2018by Alex PiwtoratskyLeave a comment

To enhance my understanding of content, I conducted a miniature content analysis on an up-and-coming wealth advisory business, EmberHouse. Out of the many websites featured on Awwwards, this one caught my eye because it was unique. During my undergraduate studies, in my Identity class, I had to design a company’s brand off of a fictitious brief. Unluckily for me, I got a wealth advisory/management business to design for. To execute this project, I did a lot of research into the area and saw how many financial and wealth organizations executed their appearance and content. From my perspective, the industry seemed to favor fairly basic and bland (e.i. typically corporate), making it dull to look at and difficult to relate to. This is where EmberHouse makes their departure.

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Constructing Content Strategy

October 28, 2018October 28, 2018by Alex Piwtoratsky4 Comments

Content marketing is on the rise. In fact, nine out of ten companies are now foregoing the traditional sales pitches of yesteryear, and instead, are publishing content that will enhance their brands while simultaneously creating value for its viewers. This new way of attracting and interacting with customers and leads has caused more businesses to understand that content truly is key. But what exactly is “content” and what is the best way to leverage it from a corporate standpoint?

To describe it in a simplistic manner, content is material (usually residing online) that does not explicitly promote a specific product or brand, but instead promotes ideas, solutions, and entertainment to stimulate the audience’s interest in the company’s products or services. This content can take the form of employee-produced blog posts on the corporate website, videos, helpful infographics, an emailed newsletter, or social media posts. This content can be curated from other sources as well. In fact, 95% of marketers worldwide share curated content from other organizations to heighten their presence; with 79% of that curation occurring through social media channels alone. The possibilities are really endless here and the potential for success is extremely high – but you have to know how to play your cards right.

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