Meet Mark

There’s no better feeling than being able to combine your personal hobby with your professional career, and that’s exactly what I’m able to do as a PR and Social Media Assistant at Kennywood, an amusement park near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I’m Mark Frazee, a senior double majoring in public relations and journalism, with a business management certificate tacked on for good measure. And yes, I love traveling to amusement parks and riding rollercoasters.

I’ve actually worked at Kennywood since 2017, when I innocently started as a ride operator in Kiddieland. I later worked my way to larger rides, then to Customer Service, then to a PR and Social Media Intern in 2020, and ultimately a PR and Social Media Assistant when I return to the park in just a few weeks.

I am taking this class to home in on, improve, and expand my skills in the field. My approach to projects is simple: learn and absorb the material and then apply it by giving every activity the full attention and effort it deserves. When I return to work, I am hopeful that this class will help me to improve upon my skills and abilities from 2020. Some things I hope to apply from this course include:

Social Media/Marketing Analytics. I have a solid ground in creating and deploying content on social on which I also hope to expand, but my knowledge of the analytical side is admittedly even more limited. How do we truly measure the success of marketing activities?
Website SEO. I work hand-in-hand with our marketing team within our department, and I would like to have a greater understanding of SEO in developing web content. This will be especially important as I become more involved in updating our website.
Digital Marketing Psychology. I think that’s the best way to put this: what small trends do we see with users and how they interact with content? What types of content on what platform on what device at what time are the most effective?

Professionally (and in every other sense), COVID-19 has been a great disruptor. This pandemic has taught me the importance of getting out of the house and enjoying in-person interaction with others. While I know most of us are very grateful for the capabilities of Zoom, nothing can quite replace actually sharing a laugh with someone in person. I will be sure to not take “normal times” for granted.

I’m very optimistic that this class will be rather helpful into the future. In a perfect world, I’ll be able to stay in PR within the amusement industry; no matter where I end up, I am hopeful this class will help teach me skills that will help to differentiate myself.

In the meantime, cheers to a better 2021 and its coaster rides ahead in just a few short months!

What I Learned on Facebook Blueprint

I recently completed a course on Facebook Blueprint called “How to Make Your Instagram Content Stand Out.” At my job, our marketing team is adjusting our brand’s Instagram account for best practices, so I believed this topic would be helpful.

The course was divided into three lessons: developing a creative plan, ways to share content and writing engaging captions. While I previously had a basic understanding in these areas, this course allowed for me to learn some of the more granular best practices.

Lesson 1: Develop a Creative Plan

This lesson provided an overview of why people come to Instagram: to be inspired and discover things they care about. Helpful tips included:

Have a clear goal
Establish a consistent look and voice, including color schemes and themes
Use a content calendar and post regularly

Lesson 2: 3 Ways to Share Content

This lesson provided a basic overview of the three ways to share Instagram content and what works best for each:

Feed: your brand’s gallery to help people learn about business
Stories: short, in-the-moment content that raises your brand’s authenticity
Live: connect with your audience in real time

Lesson 3: Write Engaging Captions

This lesson focused on best practices for captions, including:

Be engaging with elements like storytelling, questions, simplicity and authenticity
Stories captions to provide more context, with engaging features like motion