MKTG

Guest Speaker - David Alpern

2006-12-14T15:49:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday on 12/7 we had David Alpern come back as a guest speaker. He discussed Search Engine Optimization and different advertising and promotion avenues online. He also discussed Search Engine Marketing.

Search Engine Optimization can be achieved though increased “popularity” of the website. Building links and selecting the right meta tags and keys words for the site is important.

We also covered different promotions and call to actions online. There are CPC (Cost-Per-Click) or PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaigns, which are exactly the same. There are also pay-per-call campaigns available for businesses with or with out websites.

David explained that you must have a goal for any Search Engine Marketing plan. Objectives should also be placed so some form of measurement can be made. One interesting fact is that yahoo has recently allowed paid advertising to show up in the organic search fields. Google has chosen not to practice this; however, it will be interesting to see what develops.

Usability Assignment

2006-11-09T00:12:00.000-08:00

"100 Million Websites"

In November 2006 the web has over 100 million websites, which was based on Necraft’s latest survey.

The web has experienced three growth stages. From 1991-1997 would be considered explosive with a growth rate of 850% per year. From 1998-2001 would be considered rapid with a growth rate of 150% per year. From 2002-2006 would be considered maturing with a growth rate of 25% per year. Any other industry or field would marvel at 25% gains. The web will continue to grow as more businesses, non-profits, government agencies, and people develop websites.

There wasn’t a “web user experience” in the 90’s. However, with in a short 15 years web users have developed a well-defined user experience. There are basic expectations that have settled with users. Websites have standard models to work with as users view websites based on this model. Web designers must comply with these expectations. New and different interfaces may not attract viewers but actually repel them. “The Web is no longer a marvel of innovation, it's an everyday tool, and you differentiate yourself by providing both better content and better solutions to users' problems.”

I would agree with the author. Users definitely have certain expectations for web browsing. There are a number of sites that are difficult to browse. If they are not user friendly based on our expectations then the site will be rejected by most.

The author implies that designers must recognize there is a model and user expectations based on the web’s short history. Users have become accustomed to a certain way of viewing the web and designers must understand this.

Clickz.com

2006-11-08T23:35:00.000-08:00

"Email Marketing Has a Great ROI"

Heidi Cohen wrote the article. She discusses why email is one of the best online marketing tools. One study found that email marketing has a greater ROI than other online options.

Engaging the customers is important. This can be done through welcome messages, post-purchase emails, birthday emails, forward-to-a-friend referrals, abandoned shopping cart follow-up, wish lists, and customer service. Cohen writes, “All these approaches to e-mail marketing can prove effective. The trick is to find the combination of timing, frequency, and content that works best for you.”

Monitoring email effectiveness and maximizing ROI can only be done by measuring and tracking them over time. Be sure to manage house-file size, churning, revenue per email, and cost per email. In order to maximize ROI, consider how to use every mailing most effectively to deliver real value to readers.

I chose this article because I know as consumers filter their inboxes from “spam” and “junk mail” marketers will need to become savvier in gaining the consumer’s attention. This does not mean more emails but better and more creative emails.

The success of a marketer’s ability to attain consumer attention (via email) would likely effect e-commerce. I see email marketing as having a similar effect as traditional direct mailers and catalogs. The difference is this all takes place online. E-commerce has begun to replace or co-exist with long time catalog companies.

Direct Marketing - Guest Speakers

2006-11-01T19:46:00.000-08:00

The guest speakers were very good. They discussed general marketing concepts as well as direct marketing.

They first lectured on general definitions and concepts of marketing. This included the marketing mix and the four P's of marketing. These were things that marketing majors should know, nonetheless I thought it was a good refresher.

They also discussed direct mailers. It was interesting to learn about how to buy lists and how targeted you can get. They gave good examples of direct mailers. They brought good resources like a chart from the DMA site. The chart gave an overview of the response rate for direct marketing across different mediums. I was a little surprised to learn that Radio and TV were on the bottom of the list in regards to responsiveness in direct marketing.

They also briefly discussed direct emailing as well. I was interested in this because I am researching and in charge of developing a small email campaign for a client at my work. They showed different sites where you can buy lists and companies that will manage and send emails for you.

Overall I was impressed with the speakers. They have a lot of valuable experience in direct marketing and internet marketing.

Assignment 2 - Consumer Product Reviews

2006-09-21T01:29:00.000-07:00

The shoe I chose to look into on Zappo.coms is the Onitsuka Tiger by Asics Gantrai. The SKU number is 7198024.

I found from the reviews that the Onitsuka Tiger is a vegan shoe, meaning no leather or animals were used to make the shoe. Most people thought the shoe was very fashionable. The looks are most appealing. The comfort received mixed reviews. Some thought it was very comfortable and others thought it was lacking in the comfort level. Because of its flexibility, it may also be used for rock climbing.

In general, reading reviews will help you buy a shoe. It will influence your likelihood of you buying a shoe. It will help educate you about your purchase. However, it may also turn you away from certain shoes that you were considering.

The advantage for consumers reading reviews is that it will help to get input from a number of consumers who have used the specific item he or she may be looking into. Again it’s about having an opportunity to make an educated purchase. This may reduce buyer’s remorse.

The advantage for Zappos.com is that for the most part, a consumer will find a shoe they like by seeing the great reviews on a particular shoe they were considering. It also may draw attention to a particular shoe that the consumer never really considered until browsing and reading positive reviews on the shoe.

I would not recommend KennethCole.com to offer recommendations and reviews. They offer a limited selection of items to choose from. In many cases clothing and shoes look similar to each other based on the season and general style of Kenneth Cole. Certain consumers do not care for the typical style of Kenneth Cole and will write a bad review. This will influence other consumers. Without alternative items to shop for, the review system may cause them to loose more business than they would be gaining.

I do check reviews on certain items I am shopping for. They are usually bigger ticket items, $300 plus. For example, when I was looking for a digital camera I looked on various sites for their reviews. After reading reviews and finding the top cameras I liked, I then shopped for the best price. I wanted to buy a camera that other people have used and I knew was reliable.

In general, a site with a wide selection of items and brands of a particular type of product should offer consumer reviews. This will drive people to the site and help inform their consumers. They will also increase their chances of a purchase from a consumer who is simply browsing.

Assignment 1 - Why Blog?

2006-09-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

There are a number of uses that businesses and organizations may have for blogs. The following is a small list:

Organizations
o Communications
o Important updates or changes
o Receive constructive feedback from employees or members
Marketing
o New product/service release – create buzz
o Create Brand Loyalty
o Marketing research – find if a product or service has potential

Blogs should not look or feel like traditional advertising. The reason why people respond to blogs is because they seem genuine. Fellow bloggers want to believe they are reading blogs from actual people with real opinions. The audience following of blogs would diminish if readers knew a particular blog was simply advertising. Blogs should not be polished like it would be for a press release done by an agency. It is a different kind of communications.

Blogs are not a fad. They will change and evolve through time. Furthermore, there will increasingly be a place in marketing for blogs. As the number of internet users and the sophistication of use increases, blogs will see an increase as well.

I would not mind the marketing department here at CSULB to develop a blog. However, I don’t think there would be an immediate following. It would take some time before students would find interest on issues involving the college of business. With that said, I’d like to see blogs like what topics students would like to learn about. This way we get some feedback between faculty and students about the kind of classes and topics we are interested in.