Promotional+Material

__**Promotional Material:**__

1) //Affilate Marketing//

One of the various types of promotion we created is having an animated gifs on affiliate websites to draw users to our website. By having an interactive link to the VCCA website will hopefully engage others from outside of the program and the university to a more diverse audience that will showcase the program on a broader scale. Additionally, by enabling this user-click feature into a banner advertisement it will help track who is clicking the link and from where. The leaderboard banner can go across the top of a blog, where its contents are related to visual culture. Its content is related to finding information about the school and program. While, the rectangle banner can be placed on the side of a blog or website with other related programs and companies due to its small size and information is related to social media content.

2) //Website Integration// In order to create a main space for VCCA to communicate with its members we will create a website that can house all of the important information about the association while also being updated regularly with new content and blog posts. The website will allow the VCCA to create their own custom tailored space while also acting as a home page for all of the other social media endeavors. For example, a tweet could look something like the image below and be used to draw all of the followers on twitter back to the main VCCA website. A well functioning and well-designed website is integral for the success of a social media campaign because you are very limited in what you can say on a social media site, especially one like Twitter.

Below is the proposed website design:



3) //Memes// Create a viral campaign to help get the program out there and amongst the art and design industry. As well as, use meme generator to play upon cultural codes.

4) //Social Media// To cultivate a community that adds and shares in the same interests as VCCA to further promote the program and bring people together.



[|http://www.facebook.com/#!/vcca.utm] [|https://twitter.com/#!/VCCassociation]

5) //Video Contest// VCCA will attempt to gain its initial members by promoting an online video contest for VCC students to showcase their works. The contestants will create a short video of themselves displaying their portfolio of design work, entitle the video “VCCA Video Contest: //Student Name//”, and finally posting the video on YouTube and various social networking websites to encourage voting, liking, retweeting, etc. A link to the video will also be posted on the VCCA website and the judges will score each contestant based on the number of the various social networking voting categories, as well as the overall quality of the work, and presentation of the contestant. There will be small prizes for first, second, and third placed contestants, as well as, a place on the reserved recognition page on the VCCA website at the end of the contest. The contest will take place over two weeks, encouraging the contestants to share their videos as much as possible in a short amount of time.This will spread awareness of VCCA and improve Search Engine Optimization for the website since it will allocate links to the VCCA page and create social networking importance through the various voting categories on websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

6) //Video Interviews// VCCA will go beyond a member profile page on the website by also including a short video of each member explaining what they think of the VCC program and what they hope to accomplish with the skills they acquire through the program. This will promote the idea of VCCA and their credibility, while at the same time benefit its members since site visitors can get a better sense of each of the members’ personalities as opposed to a simple written profile. VCCA hopes to promote its brand while also promoting its members.

7) //Reciprocal Linking// VCCA will attempt to contact the people who run certain websites such as the top Google PageRanked graphic design blogs including: Design Observer and Smashing Magazine who receive a great degree more visitors than the VCCA website and let them know that we would be willing to place multiple links throughout our website to their respective websites in exchange for one link to our website placed on their own. This will build upon the VCCA website search engine optimization as well as spread our brand to the leaders of the graphic design blog realm. VCCA also hopes that in the future, article swaps between VCCA and the various other websites will become a reality which will create in context links for the VCCA website.

8) //Search Engine Optimization// VCCA will combine the efforts of all the other online promotions in improving its SEO ranking, as well as, a focus on content rather than traffic when publishing and sharing articles. Once adequate funding is available for VCCA, an affordable online service will be contacted to further improve SEO. By the end of 2012, VCCA hopes to be ranked No.1 for all searches pertaining to the Visual Culture and Communication program.