October 7th takeaways

Understanding Web Host Plans: 7 Terms to Know
When picking out web hosting one runs across some terminology that they should be aware of. Shared hosting is where one web server box handles hundreds/thousands of websites. This is a practical solution if websites on server use little bandwidth. Linux hosting mostly likely is something you want to make sure your web hosting offers. Linux is needed for many web development tools and web sites that use PHP and most other programming codes. If Linux is not used by your web host then windows hosting is usually the alternative. Windows hosting is required if sites employ Microsoft specific tools. Windows hosting is more expensive than Linux. VPS hosting or virtual private server is usually used for higher traffic sites. Your website is the only one that runs on this server but equipment is shared. Dedicated hosting is where one computer hosts just your site. This is an expensive option. Managed hosting has staff members to keep an eye on your website. Colocation is similar to dedicated hosting but you provide the hardware and software giving you complete control over the site.

How to Pick a Good Web Hosting Service?
A web host is a company that will store your files on its servers. Web hosting has a varied pricing scheme depending on storage capacity, RAM, CPU power, databases and email accounts. Next you must look at which type of hosting fits your needs, shared, dedicated or Virtual. Look into the pros and cons of each type with your application use. A provider that offer a 24/7 customer service is a good thing too. Be careful of “unlimited bandwidth” claims that truly aren’t unlimited. Linux based servers are a popular pick over Windows base servers. Window servers are more expensive and usually picked when using windows based applications. All these factors need to be considered when picking web hosting.

Getting Started with Content Management Systems
A content management system allows you to create, manage, store and edit massive amounts of content for a website without any HTML programming skill. A business should consider a CMS-based website if they are constantly updating content, contains over 10 pages or they are frequently outsourcing simple website updates. There are three common key elements to every CMS, templates, content and meta data. Meta tags are often over looked but are needed to help with search engine optimization. Standard CMS features and functions include publishing, typography, organization, member management and security. There are also multiple plug-ins which can be added to CMS to improve its value and functionality. Some plug-ins available includes blogging, e-commerce, discussion forums, photo galleries, video management, multi-language support, newsletters, statistics/tracking and RSS feeds. With the right combination of features, you can create a website that fits your business plan and helps your company achieve its goals.

Are Viral Marketing Tactics the Right Choice for My Small Business?
Viral marketing is a method of product promotion that relies on getting customers to market and idea, product or service on their own by telling friends about it thru the internet. This form of marketing can be very inexpensive choice for any size business. The most successful viral campaigns are established with an “all about the audience” approach. The business’s product and services are given a backseat. Viral marketing success is based on the ability to think outside of the box. Having a sense of humor about your brand and its character is a great way to gain views and entertain a wider audience. Pranks have become an easy and successful way for viral marketing. Another trend for viral marketing is to inspire loyalty and challenge perception. These two techniques demonstrated viral success. I have really enjoyed these different videos and did not realize how widespread viral marketing was until this class.

 

Experiential 101: What is Experiential Marketing?

Experiential marketing is a form of guerilla marketing, is advertising that focuses on helping the consumer experience the brand. Instead of verbally or visually promoting a brand, experiential marketing tries to invoke many of the human senses with their product and their consumer. In the end the consumer has drawn am memorable and emotional experience with that brand. The brand stands out in the consumers mind. This will also promote customer loyalty and influence purchase decision. The example the article cited took place in London where advertisers created a DRose Jump Store. Shoes were placed on a ledge 10 feet high from the ground, the same height as a regulation basketball hoop. A participant could win a $100 pair of shoes if they could jump to get them. Whether the person won a pair of shoes or not it was an experience they will always remember. Another buzz factor for the promotion was that Derrick Rose was there to promote the event.

October 3rd Takeaways

Typography- Best Practices
The internet is all about content which means text. That is why web design is 95% typography. Headings on a website must really standout and grab the user’s attention. Serif fonts have become the popular fonts for headings, whereas the sans serif font is popular for the body portion of the website. Surprisingly, nonstandard fonts are dominating websites as their main typeface. When it comes to selecting the background for a web site conventional a light background is used with dark lettering for heading. On the body however the traditional black text on white background is still the standard. The font size for headings follows the motto bigger is better. 38 pixels is the average font size for headlines. On the body font size trends also to have a large font size but still considerably smaller than its headlines. To make a website aesthetically pleasing the number of characters per line must be limited. The average of 83.9 characters per line gets used for a widescreen resolution. The ability for text to change with browser sizes makes many users happy too.

 

Color Theory Helps with Web Design
Color of website can actually draw a user to it or it can bother them enough to make them want to leave. Colors should be limited to 3 and no more than 5. A website having more than five can make it look unprofessionally done. The five colors should be use somewhat like this: background color, text color, headings and logos should be contrasting/complimentary color and second color may be used for visual interest. A final contrast color could be used sparingly to help draw some attention. Either complimentary colors or analogous color scheme theories are used when selecting for a website. Analogous colors are adjoining color on a color wheel which means slight variations in color. This combination is thought to give a softer appearance. Complimentary are colors on the opposite side of color wheel. Typically this based off your logo or product.

 
6 Guidelines for Exceptional Website Design and Usability
Once someone enters a website it does not take them very long to decide are they going to stay there or leave. It is only a matter seconds. In order to make the most of the opportunity your website should follows these simple guidelines. First of all make sure your website is accessible. No matter what browser or mobile device someone is using they should have a good experience. The amount of animation used on a website should be limited due to the fact that it slows down the web site and can be distracting. Navigation is a very important piece of a website so make sure it is very simple and a solid system. People need to find what they are looking for or they are going to leave. Take time to analyze images placed on your website. They could be sending different messages to your users than what you may expect. Maintain consistency from one page of web site to another. Lastly make a great first impression by using colors, layout and typography properly and apply that to a great content.

 
Using Alignment to Improve Your Designs
Aligning photos and text on a website will make the website visually appealing, easier to scan for information and offer the user a calmer reading experience. Alignments are done most of the time by creating a grid on website to aid in placing different elements and group of elements. Some designers find these grids restricting their creativity. But recognizing the right time to break away from the grid can be difficult. Instead these designers should think of how you can mix alignments. This way the pattern and visual interest will still be there. One way to mix alignments is by playing around with the number of columns used. Images must also follow in this alignment. Smaller images can make this easy. It is the larger images where you must play around with in order to make them fit. When it comes to background imagines it is important take a close look at both your design and image. Move text around and make sure it is not covering the focal point of the image.

 

7 Best Practices for Improving Your Website’s Usability
Coming up with content for a website is hard but even harder is trying to get someone to read it. One way to accomplish this task is to improve the readability of the content. Not only does the web designer have to effectively use color, typography and spacing to do this but the web content writer must use writing strategies that enable reader to quickly identify, read and internalize information. Articles must be very concise and use easy to understand words or phrases. The use of headings helps to break up long articles and keep the users attention. Bulleting and highlighting important text can also aid in the ease of reading and bring out important points. Finally, use photos, charts and graphs to help get a point across. One image is worth a thousand words. So make sure images are relevant to the website content.

September 26th takeaways

The 10 Questions You Must Ask Your Client before Designing Their Website

http://blog.web123partners.com.au/blog/the-10-questions-you-must-ask-your-client-before-designing-their-website.aspx

 

When creating a website for a client a lot of assumptions can be made between the client and web designer.  It is important that both interested parties sit down and talk about their expectations.  The web designer must have a clear understanding of the company.  They must know what the client is expecting the website to accomplish.  What needs are they fulfilling for the business? It is good for the designer and client to go over an existing website explaining likes and dislikes.  Make sure the designer knows what makes their company remarkable and who their competitors are.   What are the demographics of the people using the web site? It is even better if the designer has a full understanding of the web user by knowing their pains problems and fears.  Know how the client will measure the success of the site so the web designer can incorporate it into the design.  Finally the web designer should be aware of any style or branding the company may have.  It is very important to keep consistency.

 

The Overlooked: Social Media Marketing for Senior Citizens

http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2013/05/20/the-overlooked-social-media-marketing-for-senior-citizens/

Each year the number of older individuals using social media is increasing.  In fact the over 50’s are the fasting growing user for Facebook and other social media.  Additionally, usage among those over the age of 65 grew 100 percent since 2009.  More and more seniors are taking classes to learn more about social media.  Seniors are using Facebook just like everyone else to connect with children, grandchildren and friends.  Twitter is also has seen an increase of senior users, often to follow streams of information like news sources, health information and literary publications.  While some companies are still trying to figure out social media AARP and Merrill Gardens are leading the way for the social seniors.  Both companies are using Facebook, twitter and YouTube to target directly to their older members.  They often create post that would be a direct interest to seniors.  The article suggests that all companies should have separate social media accounts that cater specifically to seniors.

 

 

The Importance of a Marketing Plan

http://www.cornerstoneresults.com/RefLib/KnlgeBk/mrkt_mrktplns_importance.htm

A marketing plan clarifies the key marketing element of a business and maps out directions, objectives and activities for the business and its employees.  A business plan on the other hand is not as broad of a plan.  It only focuses on a product idea and how to transform it into successful merchandise.  The marketing plan uses the four P’s: product, price, promotion and place to formulate this plan.  In addition to the market plan a company should do a SWOT analysis in terms of Strengths, Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats.  This analysis looks at the competitor for areas of opportunity.  This helps a company to figure out how it will fit in the marketplace. Creating a marketing plan helps a business owner to analyze their business while it helps the employees create a sense of orientation and be a source of motivation.

 

Nonprofit Mission Statements – Good and Bad Examples

http://www.nonprofithub.org/starting-a-nonprofit/nonprofit-mission-statements-good-and-bad-examples/

A mission statement is a way of summing up your organization in a memorable and unique way.  The 3 elements that should be included in a mission statement are cause, action and impact.  The purpose of a mission statement is not to tell everything about your organization but to make people interested so they want to hear more.  The idea is to keep the statement simple.  The article states that Nike’s “Just do it” statement is perfect.  When creating a mission statement say it out loud.  Does it roll off the tongue?  Ask a friend to read the mission statement.  After talking to them for a while see how much they can remember.  See if people get your mission statement.  Make sure the end goal clearly stated within the mission statement.  Lastly make sure the statement is not too broad.  Refine it.  Every organization has something no one else offers. What is it?

 

Seven Seconds to make a First Impression

http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/2011/02/13/seven-seconds-to-make-a-first-impression/

It is just human nature to form an opinion of someone within the first seven seconds of meeting.  Studies have found that nonverbal cues are 4 times higher impact on someone than verbal.  We cannot change people from doing this but we can change ourselves to have a more favorable first impression.   So always adjust your attitude before meeting someone.  Make a conscious effort about the attitude you want to convey.  Make sure to sit up straight to show you are confident and competent.  Smile to show people you’re friendly and approachable.  Three hours of continuous interaction has the same impact on someone as a single handshake. Finally leaning forward during a conversation shows people you are interested and engage.  If you complete these tasks seven seconds is all you need to make a good first impression.

September 23rd takeaways

5 Examples of Huge Branding Successes and How You can Achieve Them Too

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/5-examples-huge-branding-successes-and-how-you-can-achieve-them-too

According to the article, Coca-Cola is considered to be very strong in the ability to relate with an audience and connect with its customers.  Thru the years they have changed their logo and come up with creative commercials to keep up with their audience.  The example they used was their 2012 Super bowl commercial which showed two polar bears watching super bowl cheering for opposite teams.  They had two versions of the commercial which version ran depended on who was winning the super bowl at the time of airing.  Geico was note for being creative and finding a unique, exciting and attention-grabbing way to express its message.  Geico uses a mascot to define its brand.  Talking insurance is not exciting but can be when you have a gecko talking in humorous situations.  Apple was cited as a company that can communicate with its customers in a way that earns their trust and loyalty and makes you want to tell others about its brand.  Apple focus on human connection which made its brand represents a friend more than business.  Jet Blue found its customers’ pain points and figure out how to solve them.  They saw a niche in the market.  People were not happy when traveling so Jet Blue figured ways to improve air travel.  Finally Comcast was the first company to use Twitter to service and interact with their customers.  Comcast used a different technique, such as social media to provide additional ways to allow customers to reach and engage with them and show the customer they care about their concerns and feedback.

Relationship Marketing 1-2-3: Why Building Relationships Matters Most

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/r-kay-green/relationship-marketing-12_b_5605572.html

 

A company can have the best products and business practices but you need strong relationships with its customers to succeed, and respect is the core of this relationship.  Businesses must show they will provide some sort of value to the consumer.  The consumer must feel like they depend on the business.  This type of sentiment does not happen overnight.  This type of relationship takes time to nurture.  The article states that everyday a company should devote a portion of it to relationship building.  Find different way to stay connected to consumer.  Remember specific details about your customer.  Share details about things you learned or accomplished.  Your customer will have the sense that you are an expert in your field.   You just built more confidence in your company.   If these customers feel valued and important to a company they will most likely refer you. Business success is all about relationships, relationships relationships!

The Case for Co-Branding

http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/16/cold-stone-creamery-dan-beem-rocky-mountain-chocolate-cmo-network-co-branding.html

Co-Branding is when two companies form and alliance to work together creating marketing synergy.  It is an arrangement that associates a single product or service with more than one brand name.  The article states an example of Cold Stone Creamery offering complementary brands like Oreo, JELL-O pudding and Jelly Belly with their ice cream.  Combining these iconic businesses is great draw for customers.  The idea of co-branding is so intriguing because combining the strongest element of one product with the best complementary brands to offer new goods and services. Some brands just fit together naturally like Betty Crocker and Hershey’s to Lay’s and KC Masterpiece.  Co-branding can be an effective marketing strategy to survive during down times which a company can actually grow.  It can create new revenue streams, increase sales and raise brand awareness as well as reduce cost.   These partnerships can have a tremendous influence on a business’s future.

Examples of Brand Positioning Strategy

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-brandpositioning-strategy-25213.html

A company’s brand is at the fore front of a business.  It defines your company’s personality and values.  There are six different ways a company can anchor their brand to make it even more effective.  First there is quality positioning where a company narrows their focus to one area of expertise which allows a company to be branded as a high quality and trusted specialist.  Value or Price positioning of a product allows for branding one of two ways.  First being high end pricing associated with being high end tack.  The other option is low end pricing and being branded a good value priced product.  Benefit positioning is where companies highlight their most powerful attributes.  Problem and solution positioning is a brand that comes to the relieve customers of problems both quickly and efficiently.  Positioning your brand as competitor based is where a company demonstrates how they are directly better than their competitors.  Finally companies can hire a celebrity to endorse their product which is known as celebrity driven positioning.

Great CSR Leadership Examples for 2014

http://www.triplepundit.com/2014/01/csr-greats-2013/

According to a survey only 17 percent of consumers said they would recommend a company even if it did not follow thru on its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).  This shows that consumers do care about CSR.  However the number of companies that distinguished themselves in CSR fell from 12 in 2012 to 5 in 2013, showing that companies were not taking CSR seriously.  When evaluating CSR three areas are looked at: citizenship, governance and workplace.  Walt Disney earned votes as a good citizen for its program to offset carbon goals. BMW was noted for it good governance for upholding the rights and protection of whistleblowers.  Many other companies created their own brand of CSR.  These companies found new ways to increase sustainability and community support.  Patagonia started a new Common Threads Partnership which allows customers to trade in Patagonia products for a 50 percent discount.  This is a win-win situation for the customer and those in need throughout the world. Although Patagonia was not noted as truly distinguished they were noted by their customers which is just as good or not even better.

September 19th Takeaways

The value of Marketing Strategy http://frog-dog.com/articles/detail/the_value_of_marketing_strategy/

Marketing strategy is defined as how a company will achieve its marketing objectives.  Every company should have a marketing plan that outlines its marketing strategy and then describes what tactics marketing and sales will undertake to achieve targeted goals.  One way to reach a company’s goals is to differentiate the company from its competitors.  What is one thing that a company does to make them different? In another word it’s branding.  Once the company’s niche is decided they must figure out who they are going to market to.  Who are the people that will be most likely to use their product or service? With a marketing strategy in place companies have better control of their budget.  It takes the guess work out of their spending.  Then the company must do everything it can do to influence the demand for its product.  A clear marketing strategy provides focus.  The article states the having plans help companies coordinate activities, align efforts with global strategies, define messages and positioning, and track results.

How to Develop a Brand Promise  http://frog-dog.com/articles/detail/how_to_develop_a_brand_promise/

The article states that a company’s brand is a promise.  It is what the company promises to the people who interact with it.  Making a brand promise allows the consumer to understand what a company does, how it feels to work with the company and what kind of character the company has.  When creating a brand a company needs to look at what kind of benefits they can provide.  What makes them stand out from its competitors?  Never assume there is no competition.  Some companies can offer an option similar to the companies.  Companies then need to focus on how the brand is going to deliver on its promise.  A brand promise should never be a description of the product or service but how people will feel when they interact with the brand, how the company provides its products/services and what sort of character the company has.  Developing a brand is a long and difficult process but it is invaluable.

5 Types of Data You Should Gather When Doing Market Research https://www.waveapps.com/blog/small-business-market-research/

In order to understand how to best market your product and configuring the potential growth of a business requires marketing research.  The first thing to understand is who your target market.  Become an expert of what your ideal customer is by knowing their demographics, their needs and buying decisions.   Use this information to decide which media will best promote your product, whether print, online or broadcast.  Become an expert on your competition.  Understand their strengths, weakness, price points and their marketing campaign.  When setting a price make sure it is based off the research found.  Make sure to look at all competitors currently on the market.  Look at all aspects of the product/service for things like function, appearance, customer service and warranties.  Lastly thru research evaluation decide on the best placement for your product or service.  Continually doing market research during the life of a business allows for awareness of market trends, demographic shifts and changes to economy.

Do You Know the 8 Keys to Creating Effective Advertisements?   http://www.digitalsparkmarketing.com/creative-marketing/advertising/effective-advertisements/

To create effective advertisement message one must create information that your customer find interesting and worth talking about and remembering.   First you have to get the customer’s attention by captivating their interests.  Make sure that once you have the attention to state what makes you different from the competition. Make comparisons to the competition. But keep is short or you will lose their attention.  Pictures speak louder than words.  Advertising will not reach everyone but make sure it reaches your target market.  Make sure you brand and message is clearly linked.  Keep working on your advertising designs even when they are successful.  If they do fail the article says to remember this most important step, “Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.”

The Impact of a Relationship Marketing Strategy on Customer Loyalty.  http://smallbusiness.chron.com/impact-relationship-marketing-strategy-customer-loyalty-60028.html

The definition of relationship marketing is to focus on maintaining customer for long term rather than a quick sale.  This is done just like any relationship, the company needs learns the customer tastes and individual issues.   As the relationship builds the company earns a reputation of a company that cares about people.  This type of relationship will improve sales.  As far as the customer is concerned this relationship has an emotional impact on them.   Customers can feel like products have solved their problems or fulfilled their desires.  They are attached to a product.  Loyalty to a company is especially true if you provide outstanding customer service.  Customers will return if the company makes sure that they are satisfied with your service despite price and location.

September 16th takeaways

I found an article called, Domain Name Importance in Ranking.  http://blogs.bing.com/webmaster/2014/01/15/domain-name-importance-in-ranking/    The article basically states keyword stuffing a domain will increase ranking regardless of content. This was probably true 10 years ago but not today.  The reality is that your focus should be on the user experience and relevancy.  Good domain names should be easy to remember, easy to spell, easy to pronounce and often short.  There is no shortage for made up words as domain names.  Anyone can create a new word and anyone can build awareness of it.  Once you have your catchy domain name make sure you have something of value on your site.  It is fine to use words in domains in a unique and ironic ways.   Although make sure those looking for you understand your meaning.  The article used the example of “The Onion”.  People don’t go there looking for produce.

You Won’t Finish This Article is an article that is about why people don’t read to the end.  http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/06/how_people_read_online_why_you_won_t_finish_this_article.html   For every 161 people who landed on a web page, 61 of them or 38 percent bounce off immediately.  Five of these people never scroll down.  Within seconds the web page is down to 95 people viewing it.  Readers cannot stay focus.  After about 100 words into a story only half or 50 people are still around.  It is hard to get people to even scroll down an article and continue reading.  At least more of an article gets read with larger monitors out today.   Hopefully the user is not reading from a smart phone or tablet.   The funny thing is how many people tweet an article without fully reading it.  With ebooks and streaming movies and TV shows it is easier than ever to switch to something else.  We live in the age of skimming.  Everyone is busy.  There is always something else to read, watch, play or eat.

Say it quick, say it well -the attention span of a modern internet consumer. http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2012/mar/19/attention-span-internet-consumer  This was an article that I found that explains how media must adapt to cater a new generation of internet consumers who expect instant gratification.  With free Wi-Fi and smart phones we live in an always on world.  This is great news for web based businesses because this means they have an audience available 24/7.  Studies show that students of today, attentions span and desire for in depth analysis in consequently diminished.  Web developers must grab the attention of their users.  Don’t make people wait for information.  Use bullet points for key facts.  Keep page content short and punchy.  Put detail content on secondary pages.  The use of video, images and graphs to present content has been shown to keep users attention.   Tell the reader what they need and want to know then move on.

The LIFT model: Use these Six Factors to Increase your Conversion Rate.   http://www.widerfunnel.com/conversion-rate-optimization/the-six-landing-page-conversion-rate-factors  This article went over how to improve conversion rates on landing pages.  There were six conversion facts that they modeled as the LIFT factor.  These six factors allow you to evaluate landing pages from the perspective of page visitor.  The first factor is value proposition which is defined as an innovation, service or feature intended to make a company or product attractive to customers.  The next two steps are conversion driver.  The first step emphasis is relevance; make sure the landing page is what the visitor expected to see.  The second step had to do clarity. There are two aspects to clarity which are design and content.  Design clarity is making web page appeal to the eye.  Content clarity makes sure both the text and images combine to make for quick comprehension.   Thirdly is the act of making the user feel a sense of urgency both thru the web page and marketing tactics the user experienced beforehand.  The last two steps are conversion inhibitor.  Anxiety is the fifth step which has everything to do with the credibility the webpage has established with the end user.  The sixth step is distraction.  Are there any items on the page that are taking the user away from converting?

4 Common Website Design Mistakes to Avoid   http://mashable.com/2012/08/27/website-design-mistakes/  A website must be appealing  and function properly otherwise it could hurt a business more than it can help.  One tip is to not make the web design over complicated.  Don’t include every new gadget available for a web.  The page needs to load quickly or you will lose visitors. Less is more when it comes to web design.  A typical webpage has 3 seconds to communicate its message.  Quality comes before quantity.  Do not overload the page with text and pictures.   Make your website look unique.  You need to stand out in the crowd not look like your competitors.  Immediately generate traffic to your website.  Just because you built it does not mean that visitors will come.  Draw attention to it thru Facebook, joining conversations on blogs and Twitter.

September 12th Take Away Points

I found this article called, Six Social Media Marketing Strategies to Drastically Improve Your Efforts in 2014.  The link is http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/01/09/social-media-marketing-strategies#.   This article explains the potential of growth that is available for businesses within social media.  The prime networks that a business should be active on are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Google+.  These are all free advertisement available any business.  Social media should be on a business’s calendar every day to post.  Look to see what competitors are posting.  Your post should be different in each social media.  Respond in a timely manner to visitor’s post to maintain trust.  Once on these social media sites make sure to use software to track data like bit.ly, Google Analytics and Hootsuite.  Use the information with marketing forces to plan for the future.    Finally the article says to stay active on Google+ because it is thought to be the second largest part in determining search engine rankings.

I found an article on Google analytics titled, Growing your Business with Google Analytics.  http://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/growing-business-google-analytics-0990573  Google Analytics tracks traffic and statistics about a website.  The tracking will tell you how someone comes to a website, how long they stayed, what they visited, where they are from, website performance and much more information that could be analyzed from data. All this information is only important if it is looked over and analyzed on a regular basis. The data must be used in your business plan for future task or goals.  Analyze what marketing efforts pay off and which do not.  Website success or failure is another important indicator that can be determined thru Google Analytics.  The ability to have a snapshot of activity indicating at which point visitors leave can be a good for understanding the users flow thru a website.  Are users frustrated on a page and leaving website?  Once again, all information received from Google Analytics is only powerful when used.

The innocuous text files that Web surfers love to hate.  Cookies. I found an article titled Cookie Monsters.  http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2005/11/cookie_monsters.html  Cookies are simply text files sent by a Web site to your computer to track your movements within its pages.  Almost every media site on the internet uses them.   Cookies remembers login and passwords, products in shopping cart and make navigating the web much easier.   They have received a bad rap among some users.  They do not trust them.  Some internet users blame them for everything from spying, to identity theft, to slow internet connections.  As a result many security products promise to remove them at no extra charge. The truth is cookies are not software.  They can’t carry a virus or malware that could wipe out a hard drive.  They are dormant text files that sit on your computer until you return to the web site.  There are third party cookies usually placed there by advertising companies interested in tagging visitors.  Most major browsers allow you to customize the cookies you allow to be on your computer.  So you do have control over them.

Another topic discussed in class was search engine optimization.  I found the article http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2259693/SEO-Basics-8-Essentials-When-Optimizing-Your-Site.  Search engine optimization is the process of increasing visibility of a website’s during a search result on the internet.  There are important steps to keep in mind when creating a website which will increase the optimization.  Things like links, paid search and social media all increase search engine ratings.   Making a site relevant is done by being excellent in the areas of content, performance, linking to authoritative sites, and user experience. It is important not to overuse keywords, purchase links and have poor user experiences.  These tactics will only hurt you during an internet search.  Make sure your website stays focus on its main objective.  Make sure your keywords or phrases are identified when advertising on the radio, twitter or email.  Domain names should be kept consistent.  Focus on optimization of mobile and tablet media.  Title tags and meta descriptions should also be unique.  Think of them as a 4-8 word ad.

Bounce rate is defined as a visitor who arrives on your site, views one page and immediately exits.  By definition the bounce rate is the total number of visits with only one page view divided by the total number of visits to your site.  I found an article the disputes that equation.    http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2256384/The-Truth-About-Bounce-Rate-Why-Context-Matters  In this article it states that bounce rate should not be considers a bad thing but rather a marker for a well-designed website. Maybe thru search engine optimization the user was taken directly to the page they were looking for.  Another consideration is that not everyone who enters a site is there to make a purchase or convert whatever goal the website has. The author believes that content must be added the above equation.  The article feels that webs site should segment all visitors as to what their intent was.  Based on that intent was their goal completed.  Counting visits without a conversion who viewed only one page would be a more telling report.

Takeaway points from Tuesday September 9th

My first takeaway point is on Psychographics. I wanted to know what they were.  I found this article blog.hubspot.com/insiders/marketing-psychographics.  Psychographics is simply explained as why people buy a product.   Psychographic information might be consumers’ hobbies, spending habits and values.  The article then went into the two ways we could obtain this information.  The first suggestion was to interview existing clients.  Asking questions of customers could be done personally or thru a customer survey. If you tell the customer why you are collecting this information they are more likely to share.  The other way to collect information is to analyze your consumer’s use of your web page.  Do sales go up when a promo code is offered?   Checking to see if any trends exist that causes an increase in a website visits, calls or purchasing?  Once the psychographic data is collected it should be used to make your marketing effective.  Information like, the consumer spends a lot of time on Pinterest tells you to stop advertising on Facebook or newspaper ads.  Once you understand what is important to your consumer, you will know where to find them and how to motivate them.

The second takeaway I chose was marketing the demographics of the different generations.   I found this article http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/ 202334.   Understanding your target market is very important when it comes to marketing.  One part of understanding is to know your consumers demographics which helps you determine exactly what your products or services will be, and what kind of customer service tactics works best.  Not every message will work on every person.  The article talks about web sites.  If your product is geared toward seniors the font should be big on a white background and little use of flash.  When working with demographics each generation must be looked at for the impact of the internet on that generation, their spending habits, and their lifestyle and generalized characteristics. When a product applies across generations it is best to recognize your customer as an individual and understand their lifestyle.

A cohort in marketing is my third takeaway. I found this article smallbusiness.chron.com/cohorts-marketing-58265.html.  The term “cohort” in marketing refers to specific experiences, events or other factors shared by a group of consumers.  Some general demographics like income level or age are often confused as cohorts.  But it is events or experiences that breakup that income level or age into a cohort.  Events like a concert is an excellent opportunity to promote and sell items that commemorate the event.  Experiences like the great depression shaped many people in their outlook on spending and saving. Marketing towards this cohort group might be effective when promoting financial products like bank accounts, gold shares or life insurance.  There are significant drawbacks when marketing a cohort.  The marketing is too precise for most companies.  If your company handles litigation for a specific illness contracted in specific place and time cohort marketing will work.  If your company has a more general market there are better ways to reach a broader area.

My fourth takeaway target market.  I found this article http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/marketing-strategy/your-target-market/six-steps-to-defining-your-target-market.  This article goes over 6 steps to defining your target market.  The first step is to understand the problems that you solve.   Finding this out will help you figure out who is most likely to suffer from these problems.  Secondly, paint a picture of the customer.  Group your customers’ similarities like location, gender or marital status.  Next decide who will gain from the value in your offer. Think of the questions: To whom will these problems be most troublesome?  And who will have the most to lose by not dealing with these issues?  Fourth, you need to think about the market.  The TV market is available to us any time of the day in any country.  The web is a great place to reach consumers for a personalize service or product. The fifth step for defining your market is to look internally at your company.  Do you have experience in a particular market? Do you get along with certain type of people?  There are a lot of factors that can help you pursue a certain market.   Lastly ask yourself why are you uniquely placed to solve the problem?  Some marketplaces will not be able to answer that question.  If so then either you have selected the wrong target market or you have the wrong offering.

My last takeaway point is marketing strategies.  I found this article http://blog.marketo.com/2013/05/5-of-the-most-innovative-and-unique-marketing-campaigns-so-far-in-2013.html.  This article describes the 5 most innovative and unique marketing campaigns so far in 2013.  The article is dated May 31, 2013. It states that emotional connection, relevancy, and the “wow factor” make fantastic marketing.  The greatest marketing campaigns are those that are remembered.  Coca-Cola sharing can is their first campaign listed.  This is the idea of having a can of Coke that twist into two cans so you can share with a love one.  Senador Volstead Beer based in Spain is themed after the 1920s prohibition.  They created a website which initially looks like they are selling teddy bears but after resizing the screen you get to the real website.  Game of Thrones Season 3 was noted for its simplicity of a mysterious shadow of a dragon which could be seen on magazine covers, buildings and the New York Times.  ORPHEA an insect spray rented a billboard and put their aerosol can on it.  They then created a giant insect trap using transparent glue that was placed on the billboard in the shape of aerosol spray.  Insects got trapped in the glue and created a very visible insect trap. Finally Lowes was mentioned for the use of vine videos to help customers fix some of their most common issues.

Friday September 5th Class

The Four “P’s” of Marketing were discussed.  Since the 4 P’s are very important in the marketing strategy I decided to focus on each one individually to learn more about them and what they actually were.

1.  Products:  I found this article http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2013/06/28/how-to-launch-anything/ .  The article summarized the different steps used to launch a product.  The article states that you must start marketing long before the product is launch.  You must figure out who your target audience is and establish an expertise level with them.  Teach them all you know before the product launches. The author of the article did this thru blogs. Thru this teaching you have become a trusted advisor not a random company selling something on the internet at the time the consumer is  purchasing your product. Another point the author stresses is to announce the launch date as soon as possible to everyone in your contact list. Remind them of the launch the day before so they can make their decision of whether they are going to make a purchase the day before.  Then they are not surprised the day of the launch.  Offering a launching day sale also increases sales.  This article was pertaining to on online product but I felt it went over some of the points we covered like promotion, target market and public relations.
2. Price: I found this article http://www.helpscout.net/blog/pricing-strategies/. This article went thru 10 different techniques when it comes to pricing your product. I felt this article really focused on cost analysis which was one of our points we discussed under the pricing point.  One technique discussed in the article was price anchoring.  This refers to the human tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offer when making decisions.  They said the best way to sell a $2,000 watch is to place it by a $10,000 watch as an example. I never really thought about this but found it very true when reading it. Weber’s law was also mentioned in the article which states when it comes to price hike a 10% increase seems to work well with consumers. I was surprise to read in the article how ending prices with the number 9 really does increase sales of products.  Lastly, the simpler the price is the lower it seems to the consumer.  Given the prices $1,499.00 $1,499 or $1499 the first two prices seem far higher to consumers than the third price. I found this article very interesting cause all these price strategies never looked at the competitor’s price.  I thought competitor’s pricing was where product pricing was really driven from.
3. Promotion:  I found this article http://www.graphics.com/article-old/marketing-using-4ps-product-price-place-and-promotion which talks about the 4 P’s of marketing.  I focused on the promotion portion of the article.  It discussed the importance of  a promotion should draw the consumer to your product.  You should concentrate on motivating your target market and put yourself in their place.  What type of offer will motivate your target?  It talked about how calendars are one of the oldest and most trusted promotions, no matter what you are trying to sell.  It is because they stick around for a year and few people can throw out a calendar. I found it interesting the reasoning behind why so many products/companies send out calendars every year.  I never really thought about it.  You would be looking at a product logo for an entire year on a calendar.  That is great advertisement.  Promotions are also so important because everybody loves free stuff.
4. Place: I found this article ww.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/EC/EC-730.pdf.  This article goes over the 4 P’s of marketing.  I chose to focus on the place portion of the article. Place refers to how you will get your product to the customers.  The type of product you are selling greatly influences how you will distribute it.  One type of sales is direct sales where you meet with the customer face to face.  One benefit of this type of sales is you can easily detect any marketing changes that need to be made.  You also have complete control over your product range, how it is sold and at what price.  Direct sales works well for limited and seasonal products.   The second type of sales is reseller sales.  This type of sales is when sell through a wholesaler of retailer who will resell you product.  Doing this will provide your product a wider distribution and more customer connections.  With either of the sales you must decide what type of coverage you want to market your product. The three types are intensive distribution, selective distribution and exclusive distribution.  Intensive distribution will put your product in many places usually at a low price.  Selective distribution will put your product in few businesses.  While exclusive distributes to a single reseller. A combination of all the distribution methods could also be used.

My last take away point will focus on branding.   I wanted to learn more about what branding actually is.  I found this article http://www.tronviggroup.com/the-difference-between-marketing-and-branding/.  In this article they focus the difference between branding and marketing.  Marketing is defined as actively promoting a product or service.  Marketing is pushing out a message to get sales results.  Branding is defined as the expression of the essential truth or value of an organization, product or service.  Branding determines if you will be a loyal customer or not.  The brand is made from the experience the consumer had with the product. Was the product reliable? Did the quality standards hold up?  These questions will tell us how our experience was with the product.  These experiences will affect the brand of product. Marketing finds and activates buyers.  Branding makes loyal customers for different products.  Branding is an essential foundation for a successful operation.