MKTG 348 Week 7: "Mobile Devices Upend Google Search"

To most, when searching for a word in Google or any other type of site, we use key words in whatever the search is. For example, if we are looking for a popular clothing store that is known for long skirts, the key word "skirt" or "long skirt" will be at the top of the list. Well, today more than "half of the U.S. searches coming from mobile devices, a search can be a spoken command, or an alert sent, unbidden, to a phone" (Wall Street Journal). It seems that we have come a long way since the first search. Now, it seems that the answers are coming from apps, email boxes, digital calendars, as well as websites. Search engine optimization seems to be what we have been doing all along, but we now have finally come up a name for it.

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It seems that search engine optimization now is less about stuffing a website with keywords, but more about opening apps to Google computers that feeds details and information. This to me is weird because it is as if they are feeding from our information to learn more about us in order to get to something quicker. This will then help Google become better and probably even more powerful. It seems that everything will ultimately be paid to Google and perhaps it is taking over the world.

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MKTG 297 Week 6: Google Ad Placement

When wanting maximum performance for your Google Ad, some wonder what is most important to consider when placing the ad. First, the user needs to organize the site's content and make sure it is easy to navigate around. If there is a messy website--it will be harder for users to be able get around and navigate through it. There are some questions when considering this. It may include: what is the user trying to accomplish by visiting my site? What do they do when viewing a particular page? Where is their attention likely to be focused? How can I integrate ads into the area without getting in the users way? How can I keep the page looking clean, uncluttered and inviting? These are all logical answers that you might want to ask yourself before moving on.

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Then, there is also to consider that you want to show off your content. Placing ads that are close to the content that users are interested in is what really makes sense. Keeping your ads looking like ads is also a reasonable thing to do because if your site is great, but you have a ad that is unappealing then you can forget it. Call them what they are--this means no side tracking with the idea of what the ad is really about. Less can be more, when it comes to the ads. Remember, you do not want to make it look very od or too colorful that might make the ad unappealing to some individuals. Finally, review your site. Take the time to explore your site and make sure that everything is appealing and up-to-date with your ads. Good luck!

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MKTG 348 Week 6: Inbound Methodology

Inbound Methodology is the best way to turn strangers into customers and promoters of your business. this might be confusing to some when they first read this. What exactly is inbound methodology and what does one mean by it--well below is a picture to further explain better what exactly it is.

HubSpot

Inbound marketing has been the most effective way marketing methods have for doing business online. So, this means instead of old methods such as the purchasing of ads, emails lists, and buying leads, inbound marketing focus creatively on the pulls of people towards your different products or services. By doing this, it is alluring individuals in a timely matter with this being fast and easy. The picture above have four actions which include:

• Attract
• Convert
• Close
• Delight

this means that inbound companies must take in order to obtain visitors, leads, customers, and promoters. Along the bottom are tools companies use to do these actions.

Inbound marketing have some major themes which include:

• Content creation and distribution
• Lifecycle Marketing
• Personalization
• Multi-channel
• Integration

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MKTG 347 Week 6: Personal Branding

Branding yourself--what exactly does this mean? Well, personal branding is "the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. while previous self-help management techniques were about self-improvements, the personal-branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packing"(Google Definition). I think that people can take this in one of two ways; first, that you have the power to improve your overall brand weather it is personal or business. And, two, is that the social media outlet is your key component to help get you to where you want to be. A topic that I have discussed over and over again is LinkedIn. I think that we have the power to create an awareness for our brand and it just takes the right tools and advice to really figure it out. If you didn't know already but LinkedIn has more than 350 million users from more than 200 countries. Business to business marketers rate LinkedIn the top social media for delivering business to business content and most effective for generating leads. Lastly, 40% of LinkedIn members check it daily--this means the possibilities are endless!

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So, with this being said, what exactly will make you stand out from the crowd? I mean the facts say it all with how many users are out there. Lets start with your profile. Starting with a professional headline, photo, background, contact info, URL, summary, showcase your work, experience, add media, skills and endorsements, recommendations, and additional information and summary elements. I know I threw a lot at you, but we are not trying to sugar coat anything. These are things that are necessary to improve your profile that will help distinctuate you from others. This might even be the end all for a job interview and an employer is choosing between you and the competition. People looking at your profile can say a lot about you. So make sure you stand out from the others and try to improve your LinkedIn with these steps to rock your profile!

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MKTG 297 Week 5: Google Ad Placement

As I've said before, that Google AdWords is something I think is very important to understand. I have explained what it takes to create an account and the basic keywords that you can include for whatever site you are trying to promote. But, ad placement is something else that is very important. An ad placement is a specific group of ad units where an advertiser can choose to place the ads using placement targeting. This can be done as an entire website or a specific single ad. There are two ways that an advertiser can make the ad placement:

1. Placements automatically created by the system
2. Placements defined by publishers

When placements that are automatically created by the system is each publisher website make available to the advertiser a placement where you can target their ads. Then, this ad may appear anywhere on the website. Placements defined by publishers is when you actually have the ability to define your own placements using customer channels.

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Steps to make an ad placement include:

• Signing into your account
• My ads tab--go to Custom Channels page
• Click name of channel you would like to target (new custom channel)
• Targeting section, check the box
• Enter details
• Ads appear on
• Ad location
• Description
• Site language
• Finally, save

Ad Placement--Google Images

MKTG 348 Week 5: HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification

Nowadays, there is always competition to be the best when displaying yourself on social media or a resume. I can see the pressure that would be for some people, and there ARE ways that you can stand out from others! Especially in today's society, social media is a large impact on the workforce and when it comes to recruiting. One way that will help and is also free, is becoming certified in HubSpot's inbound certification course. What is it, you might ask? Well, inbound certification is a free course that has marketing training to cover the fundamentals of inbound marketing methodology. You will be learning SEO, blogging, lead nurturing, conversion analysis and more. This all comes together to make a form of modern inbound marketing strategy. Not only is this helpful, but looks great on a resume!

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This certification will help not only grow yourself, but your business and career in the future. This will help you learn how to create marketing that people understand and love the outcome of it. In my opinion, I think that everyone should try to get certified in this because its helpful and free! I would suggest to marketers, non-marketers, entrepreneurs, and students to try it out for themselves. Once you pass, I strongly suggest to add the certification to your LinkedIn since that is another great way for potential employers to view your achievements and background. Good luck!

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MKTG 348 Week 4 Buyer Persona

With information that we learned in HubSpot, we were required to make a buyer's persona. A buyer persona is sometimes referred to as marketing personals. This represents basically your ideal customer. This consists of sales, products, and services that you need to decide on the ideal customer that you are trying to attract. Some may ask why do you even need to do a buyer personal but it is very important for your business. This will help you understand your costumers. It will make it easier for you to tailor your content, message, product development, and so on for whatever you are targeting.



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So, as you can see from the picture above that when writing a buyer persona you want to focus on three things which include:

1. Background
2. Demographics
3. Identifiers

This will really help break it down for you in helping understand your consumer better. Demographics include a range of things from age, gender, income, and area. This will be beneficial to your business in finding information out. When it comes to background you want basic detail about your idea persona. Write down key information and any other relevant activities that you think will be important. It really is easy, I think that people make it harder than it has to be--go out and give it a try for yourself!

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