Posted By Lauren Labrecque / 10th November 2011
This week we discussed mobile marketing. During the lab I showed some interesting uses for QR codes, including using QR codes on headstones/shrines and QR codes on McDonald’s wrappers for accessing nutritional information. We had some discussion around effective uses of QR codes and the importance of adding value. We also took a look at how marketers are creating eye-catching custom QR codes, as opposed to the standard black and white squares.
We also focused on augmented reality (AR) through watching video and in-class demonstrations. For those of you who want to check it out, the examples used in class included:
Tobi.com Fashionista Virtual Dressing Room (Pretty neat discontinued online virtual fitting room experience)
Macy’s Magic Fitting Room (Virtual fitting room in NYC)
Yelp’s AR Mobile Application (Helps you find nearby restaurants by overlaying a virtual layer of reviews)
GE’s Ecoimagination Smartgrid (See a virtual wind turbine or solar power station)
DeBeer’s Forevermark Virtual Try On (Try on a virtual diamond ring, earrings, and a necklace)
Taylor’s 3D Augmented Reality Experience (Produces custom 3D AR experience- I found them at the 2011 DMA conference in Boston)
Augmented reality on a business card (Cool, but creepy example of AR!)
Posted By Lauren Labrecque / 31st October 2011
Over the past two weeks, students learned about the basics of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Paid Search. During our lab time, students installed the WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast and optimized their sites based on the SEO principles discussed in class. During the lab we also used a keyword density tool and HubSpot’s Website Grader to identify SEO problems.
After learning about Adwords the following week, students used the Google Adwords keyword tool to gain a better understanding of the keyword bidding process. I hope that some students continue to learn about paid search by taking part in the Google Online Marketing Challenge in the spring!
Lastly, students finally got the chance to look at their Google Analytics data. We may have uncovered signs of a stalker or two during the in-class demo!
Posted By Lauren Labrecque / 28th September 2011
Today in class we covered Adobe Photoshop fundamentals. Students were acclimated to the software- we covered topics such as resizing, cropping, layers, and filters. In addition to Adobe Photoshop, we discussed differences of digital image file types (e.g., .jpg, .gif, .tiff) and copyright issues. Copyright on the web is an important topic, which is often ignored or misunderstood. Many students fail to realize that images found using Google’s image search (or another search engine) often lack clear copyright information, which may lead to potential legal issues such as this one. Many of these images may be copyrighted and therefore cannot be used without the owner’s explicit permission. Even if an image doesn’t have a copyright notice, it is still protected under copyright law. Oftentimes, owners will gladly allow others to use the image with attribution. In order to avoid any legal confrontations, it’s always best to ask permission before using any materials found online.
There are many websites specifically designed for sharing and offer clear copyright information. These sites vary in terms of charges—some are free, others offer images for a small one-time fee as low as $1, while others offer images with more complicated licensing fees.
The class visited a number of these sites including the following:
http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
morguefile.com
freestockfor.us
rgbstock.com
freepixels.com
stock.xchng
Freestockphotos.com
4freephotos.com
istockphoto.com
gettyimages.com
Posted By Lauren Labrecque / 14th September 2011
Last week Chris Krohn, President and CMO for Restaurant.com, spoke to my class about Restaurant.com’s wide array of online marketing programs. Restaurant.com follows an online brokerage model by offering discount restaurant gift certificates to consumers. Restaurants benefit by attracting new customers and filling empty tables. Consumers benefit by finding new restaurants and getting great dining deals. Last year, Cary Chessick, founder and CEO, spoke to my class about the company’s evolution. The company started in 1999 by offering websites to local restaurants. After little success, the company started working with restaurant owners to sell discounted gift certificates on Ebay. They quickly realized that this model was unscalable and moved to their current model, working directly with restaurants and consumers through their own site. Cary’s entrepreneurial spirit and openness to change allowed the company to grow and prosper. Today Restaurant.com works with over 18,000 national restaurants and has provided savings of over $500 million to customers through their printable gift certificates.
Chris gave the class an overview of Restaurant.com’s current marketing programs including Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Paid Search (PPC), Social Media, Email, and Affiliate Marketing. He also discussed the company’s dedication to giving back to the community through education and donations. Their altruism has been acknowledged through their award winning “Feed it Forward” online gift-giving initiative. Since 2008, Restaurant.com has enabled consumers to give away $10 gift certificates, for free, during the holiday season. Consumers can give up to 40 per day to anyone, except themselves. This year the company hopes to give away $40 million worth of certificates.
Restaurant.com works closely with interactive marketing classes at NIU, offering students real-world experiences through the use of data and through the creation of their own online marketing programs in MKTG 470. We are grateful for their support!
Check out what the students had to say about the visit on their class websites.
Posted By Lauren Labrecque / 1st September 2011
Last week students in my Internet marketing course (MKTG 370) at NIU began construction of their personal websites using WordPress. During class we discussed domain names and the importance of the Domain Name System (DNS), the basics of website hosting, and took a whirlwind tour of WordPress. Students explored various templates options and were given the assignment to transform their site to project their own unique personalities. This week students will add content to their “About”, “Contact”, and “Resume” pages, and will write their first blog post about the experience. As the semester continues, students will use their website as vehicles to learn about different Internet marketing concepts like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC), and web analytics. Each student was provided space on the domain www.interactivemarketingstudents.info , but had the freedom to purchase their own domain name and hosting.
Posted By Lauren Labrecque / 20th May 2011
On Wednesday I spoke to a group at NIU’s day-long Interactive Marketing conference about the value of social media. Social Media continues to be a “hot topic” in interactive marketing and it doesn’t look like this will change anytime soon. As echoed in the CADMEF’s IMC Roundtable discussions last week, oftentimes marketers want to jump straight into tactics instead of focusing on developing strategy. This is especially true for social media, as companies act quickly to keep up with its rapid evolution. Before racing onto the next trend, marketers should sit back and ask themselves, “What am I trying to accomplish?” and “What value am I offering to my customers?” The “build it and they will come” mentality doesn’t cut it in social media. Companies need to offer something of value to consumers– create unique experiences that make them want to connect with you again, across different channels.
A strong social media campaign should consist of three steps- (1) listening, (2) planning, and (3) engaging.
Social Media Planning Stages
For the listening stage, marketers should conduct a “brand audit” in order to gain insights into consumers’ perceptions of the brand. I highlighted a number of paid and free tools that can help marketers achieve this goal. Popular paid tools include Alterian SM2 (which I’ve used in my Internet Marketing Class), Radian6, and Meltwater Buzz. These tools offer a historical look at the brand– for example Alterian’s SM program has a historical database storing around 4 years of social media data. Marketers can monitor peaks in brand mentions and attribute these events such as advertising, new product launches, etc. Sentiment analysis offers marketers the ability to see what words are frequently used in conjunction with the brand. I gave the example comparing the sentiment and themes around Skechers Tone-ups versus Reebok Easy Tones. When looking at the word cloud for Skechers, negative words such as “pain,” “discomfort,” and “ugly” appear, while these words are noticeably absent from Reebok’s word cloud. Reports can also provide information to help identify heavy brand influencers, along with demographic and geographic profiles.
Much of the same information can be glistened by using free tools; however, the marketer faces a challenge in bringing all of this data together since none of these free tools offer all of the features available with the paid tools. Therefore, marketers will have to conduct several analyses with different tools. Also, the majority of these tools lack the ability to view historic data.
Some free tools I discussed include:
Brandtags http://www.brandtags.net/
Google Alerts http://www.google.com/alerts
Social Mention http://socialmention.com/
Tweetfeel http://www.tweetfeel.com/
Backtype http://www.backtype.com/
TweetPsych http://tweetpsych.com
Twitter Advanced Search http://search.twitter.com/advanced
Social Mention http://www.socialmention.com/
Blog Pulse http://www.blogpulse.com/
Information from the listening stage can provide insights for planning and ultimately engaging with consumers.
Consumer Motivations for Using Social Media
For the planning stage, marketers should focus on understanding consumer motivations for engaging in social media. I identified the 4 C’s of consumer motivations– create, connect, control, and compete– and gave examples of successful social media campaigns that tap these motivations. Again, the key is to make a reason for people to engage with your brand on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube, or one of the many other social media channels. One classic example that speaks to all of these motivations is the Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” campaign. In this example consumers are able to create their own Doritos ad, which allows them to connect with the brand and other fans and compete for votes from other fans. The online community, not the brand, controls the selection process and the lucky winners see their ad on the Super Bowl (and may even win prize money). Other examples I discussed include the Old Spice “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign, Mt. Dew Democracy, and the BlendTec “Will it Blend?” series.
Although I discussed each of the steps (listening, planning, and engaging) in a linear process, each stage should be revisited throughout the campaign. Don’t execute your strategy and stop listening, instead keep your eyes and ears open for more feedback to improve your relationship with your customers.
Lastly, use social media in synergy with other channels. For examples, include incentives for customers to opt-in to receiving email communications or provide coupons for discounts at your ecommerce site. Try to continue the relationship through these different channels by informing customers of new products, specials, and news.
