Hi, All. In this post I will look at 4 businesses that do work related to the Makers Space and look at how they utilize visual platforms to promote what they do. In such design and process heavy work, where there is a lot to learn and see, visual platforms would certainly help market this business. Videos especially, are going to be key in relaying how cool it is to be involved in what we do. This is why the businesses that we're going to look at use them the most and we're going to use some hard numbers to represent this.
TechShop -
I actually just googled this company and seems pretty big. They do exactly what the Makers Space does which is offer memberships to use their vast inventory of machines to help makers make. They have locations in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and several other areas. Although fairly large, their dedicated Youtube channel (the only visual platform they've invested in) only has 21 videos, which are somewhat few in between. Although, the last post was fairly recent and very well produced which may mean that marketing is being kicked up some notches. Their subscriber to viewer ratio is pretty large which means engagement isn't very well addressed but this is a niche market so that may contribute. Their comments section is also pretty underutilized.
Platform(s): Youtube
Followers/Subscribers: 339
Views: 10,917
Posts: 21
Last Post: 2 weeks ago
Noisebridge Hackerspace -
Despite having only one location in the heart of San Francisco, this group is also pretty big and have delved deeply into their social media platforms. This includes healthily utilized visual platforms that also perform has high post engagement and reach. Each platform is updated regularly, at least a couple times a month, and is mostly for the different events that they have going on or events they attend. An area of improvement would be their comment sections of posts/photos. They are pretty far and few in between. Seeing as how they have a lot of videos they've amassed, it would probably behoove of them to launch a YouTube channel. They have enough material for it to be a hit. Their member base specifically on their visual platforms is also waning, and its another place that a YouTube account would help out. The platforms that they have chosen don't record views in a way that is readily available.
Platform(s): Tumblr, Flickr, Github
Followers/Subscribers: +100
Views: -
Posts: +1000
Last Post: 1 weeks ago
The Tinkering Studio -
This is another San Francisco based group of artists that, similar to the previous spaces, is an arm of the Exploratorium where visitors can come explore, create, and learn how to 'tinker' as they say. It is going to include a lot of the same materials but appears to be more craft and electronic based than industrial as the above two are. They also utilize a couple different visual platforms. Their social media accounts are also very well utilized and trafficked. Part of this, aside from the amazing content that's features, is how much content they pump out of their visitor's work. You can also tell that production value was a an important goal with the content they produce. The views were also somewhat abstract to keep up with but it's probably easy to surmise they their reach and engagement are far reaching as the traffic on their site would suggest.
Platform(s): Vimeo, Instagram
Followers/Subscribers: +2000
Views: +1000
Posts: 990
Last Post: 1 week ago
Hack Manhattan -
In avoidance of beating a dead horse, Hack Manhattan is yet another brand of hacker/maker space, only its based in New York City. It also offers the same theme of DIY tools, classes, exhibitions, and following. One thing I didn't mention is that many of these spaces are organized as non-profits, such is the case with this business. It is a little smaller than the aforementioned places but still has the same benefit with using their visual platforms. Although, the reason I thought it beneficial to list is that it actually hasn't made a big investment in visual social media platforms to promote their business. The closest thing they have to this is Github but this serves a mostly similar utility as Dropbox but perhaps this is to their advantage. Also character to these spaces are membership fees or at least a robust funding source which this space isn't as clear about. The community also seems a bit tight-nit as their is a member application process, and fees that are much more modest than their peers. Perhaps keeping a more 'local' and low profile suits them and they don't feel the need to engage with social media as much.
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