Matt Wainhouse // New Digital Marketing

WWU Marketing 488

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Google Analytics Wrap Up

New Digital:

The visits and growth of my Digital Marketing Blog throughout this quarter have actually been pretty pathetic. The main reason being that I wasn’t excited to share it with others, due to me being over self-conscious of my writing. Over the 11 weeks, I was lucky to get 5 hits in a day, averaging maybe 1 or 2 per day all quarter. Another reason for the low visits could be due to the Tumblr style of sharing. Students in class who follow my blog can see my posts without visiting the blog itself – because it appears on the Tumblr feed.

Methods taken to increase hits:  

Always tagging the posts with keywords/hashtags. This way folks who are searching for “Digital Marketing” on Tumblr have a chance to land on my page.

I did once subtly share the blog on Facebook, which resulted only in 6 hits that day.

Other methods that helped visits were to post interesting pieces of content that weren’t necessarily required for this class. I noticed many students who did a good job of posting infographics, videos and captivating bits of content, not only their required thoughts on the readings.

WainsWorld:

On the other hand, it’s been a much more fun looking at the data of my OTHER Tumblr blog (wainsworld.tumblr.com). I started this one a few years back to post photos and videos of my friends and I snowboarding. Then all of a sudden a little app called Instagram came along (follow me @wainosworld) and my Tumblr blog became of less use. Now I basically use that blog to post my Instagram photos to, as well as a few other photos and videos. It has had many visits in the past due to being linked to other blogs, websites, and promoted in some of my past videos. If you ever Google my name (Matt Wainhouse) it’s one of the first sites to pop up.

Here you can see a big spike in visits at wainsworld in early January 2012. (Over 500 views) That day, GoPro shared a video I made on all of their media outlets, and my blog was tagged at the end of the edit. Since then, I haven’t promoted the blog as much since new forms of social media are taking over, amongst other reasons. Today wainsworld averages about 10-20 hits per day, and a bit more during the winter.

Loved this class. Have a great summer!

R. Matt Wainhouse // P. Kevin Hanson // L. Stevens Pass

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Invasion of Privacy?

Privacy on the Internet in this day and age has become a pressing issue.  People feel invaded when they find out that companies such are tracking and storing data about them. Facebook, in particular, stores data on its users and sells it to advertisers. Other third party advertisers exist in which they track users web activity in order to advertise relevant content to them. As marketers, we should all accept these methods of data collection and use them to our advantage. But there is also a demand for systems/apps that keep our activity private.

  Do Not Track Settings:

Through the use of cookies, websites and third party advertisers are able to track online user activity.  This helps segment their market and advertise relevant content to desired users. By turning the Do Not Track setting off, users indicate that they do not want to be tracked by companies and marketers. (Although there has been no legal standards reached on this topic, which means that all users are still being tracked in some way… Sweet.) Turning off the Do Not Track setting may leave users feeling more secure, but it will also reduce the amount of relevant content to the user - possibly harming their online experience.

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Before posting online, every web user should know that once something is posted online, it lives online for eternity. The amount of stored data from social media postings is enormous. For example, the Library of Congress is archiving more than 170 Billion tweets. Facebook is also known for preserving all user data, possibly to sell it to advertisers among other reasons (Creepy?). Some people are becoming annoyed with the fact that a status they updated many years ago can still be dug up

Snapchat and Erasable Data:

Snapchat is an app that debuted in 2011 that showcases self-terminated data. This method is their business strategy and has been very successful. People feel more comfortable sending a message that quickly disappears. It’s more like a conversation in real life – someone’s words don’t necessarily live in the air forever. Snapchat has a more personal and genuine feel to it – compared to Facebook and Instagram. 

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Millennials (by Sebastian Behar Piquero)

Check out this inspiring viddy for all us Generation Y kids. Times have changed. Do what you love!

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Living the Google Life

In 2012, Google reeled in over $50 billion in total revenue, and over $43 billion in advertising revenue alone. This answers the basic question of how Google makes their money. Google is the most visited website in the world, so it creates a huge potential for these advertising dollars. 95% of their revenue comes from advertising.  What makes advertising even easier for Google is that they have the ability to find out what users are searching for, and promote relevant ads to them.

  Google was not the first search engine of the web, but it became the best search engine.  Hobot, AltaVista, and AskJeeves were among the other popular search engines before Google broke free from the competition. Google’s use of PageRank was a key action they took in ensuring their success.  PageRank is an algorithm that analyzes links to other sites and orders these sites in such a way. While other search engines ranked purely on the websites traffic, Google’s algorithms proved to be more worthy.

  Today Google is much more than just a search engine. It provides apps such as Maps, Docs, Gmail, Earth, Drive, etc. These apps all seem to be way ahead of their competition. Gmail offers 100 times more storage than its competitors. Google Maps is far superior to Apple Maps. Google drive offers tons of free storage space compared to Dropbox. And as far as I’m concerned, there is no competitor to Google Earth. The best part about these applications is that they’re all free! These free resources that Google provides has contributed greatly to their success, changed they way we students study, and changed the way we live our everyday lives.

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The Most Epic Facebook Meltdown EVER

If you guys haven’t already seen the Amy’s Baking Company PR/Facebook/Social Media meltdown, you can see it here (BuzzFeed). It is similar to the Applebee’s PR meltdown, but this is probably worse. [This happened earlier this week, May 14th.]

Recently this restaurant was featured on Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares, and the 2 owners could not take his criticism. Ramsey also exposed some real unethical business which they partake in.

The one thing that I find very interesting, is in the matter of only a couple of days, their Facebook page went from around 2,000 likes to nearly 90,000+. People are probably going to visit the restaurant simply because of this horrible PR. It’s made them famous. 

"All press is good press.." Geniuses? 

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Product Co-Creation // Necessary for Satisfaction

Product Co-Creation is a strategy that allows customers and firms to maximize value out of products. Basically what it means is that firms are turning more to consumers for input on how to better their products. This provides a sense of empowerment to the customers and it creates a higher value in the products.

So what are some of the reasons this strategy is working?

Products are more tailored to users’ needs. In the old fashion models, companies would create products and did not seek out copious consumer input. Companies would attempt to create value exclusively within the business itself. This clearly represents the marketing theory of “creating a perceived value.” I believe that in today’s world in which consumer feedback is huge, the theory has shifted to creating actual value to the consumers.

It increases customer loyalty. “Customer loyalty is a fragile concept in a world where customers are only a mouse click away from a better deal.” Engaging the customers directly in product improvement adds that customer faithfulness. When someone feels like they are partially responsible in the creation of value, they will likely continue to be a supporter and ambassador to the brand.

What motivates consumers to participate in product co-creation?

Dissatisfaction with a product is the first thing that would make me personally want to partake in co-creating a product. It doesn’t necessarily have to be dissatisfaction with the product, but simply having the desire to better an applicable product and make it more useful.  The things that come to my mind are snowboard products because they are relevant to my lifestyle. If I can see a snow-sports product having potential to function better or have extra benefits, this will benefit me and therefore I will be motivated to help improve upon them.

Financial rewards, recognition and pride are other reasons folks will partake in product co-creation. Some companies will provide monetary incentives or discounts to those who participate in focus groups. Increasing consumer benefits is a great way for companies to motivate consumers to contribute. Others will partake simply because it will help improve their intrinsic motivation and recognition from the community. 

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Mobile App Marketing

What makes certain apps successful?  A few examples include appealing to a wide audience, being unique and strong mobile app marketing. In this post I’ll go over how to engage in mobile app marketing and how it can help your app get discovered.

Discoverability is the most difficult stage in most apps lives. The app market has become crowded with so many apps (nearing 1 million), that it is difficult to stand out. Effective mobile app marketing by itself won’t make your app stand out from others, but it can be a key difference maker.

 1.     Develop a pre-launch strategy. This includes promoting your app before it is released, create some hype around it so some consumers are already aware of your app. The use of press releases before the app is launched can be very effective.

2.     Get consumers talking. Word of mouth is still one of the most effective strategies in marketing. It still works in mobile marketing – if consumers like your app and find it useful, they are more likely to talk about it with a friend. When we receive recommendations from someone we trust, we are more probably to check out their suggestion. Also getting reviews from consumers can be very useful for other potential users as well as improving upon the app itself. Simply suggesting users to submit app reviews is can make a big difference in how many reviews you receive.

3.     Utilize social networks. Use Facebook and Twitter to help promote your app, because if you don’t then you’re probably falling way behind. Twitter and Facebook allow you to engage and connect with your audience. The goal is to get traffic from your social media network to filter down to your app page. It’s also another good way to get feedback from your audience. 

4.     Building email lists. This is a piece of the puzzle. Being able to connect with people via email seems a bit more personal and thus recipients may be a bit more responsive. Email allows you to send out newsletters, important product information and sign ups to specific users. Actively adding to this list will help broaden your audience and keep them up to date on your product.

These are only 4 of many strategies that can be utilized in app marketing. Marketing effectively is only one aspect of creating a successful app. Since it takes thousands upon thousands of app downloads in order to make a decent profit, app marketing must be put into effect. Other aspects like the actual purpose of apps are just as, if not more, important to creating a successful app.

Below is a cool diagram I found on effective 'MAM'.

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The New Era // Mobile Advertising

Growth of Mobile Advertising >>

On June 29, 2007 the mobile advertising world was changed forever. The growth of mobile advertising has been so great in the past few years, mainly due to the fact that most people won’t break away over a foot from their mobile device 24/7. This means that advertisers are able to reach their targets any time of day.

Location Targeting >>

Advertisers are able to take advantage of the GPS in smartphones in order to send location-based ads to someone’s phone. These ads can come from apps like Pandora, Facebook, or even in the form of a text message. Say your walking south downtown Seattle and an ad for Mariners tickets pops up on your Facebook. This happened because your phone is tracking your location. (Sort of similar to “Minority Report” as Brian mentioned in class) Falling in one’s search results is another key position to be in as the majority of consumers looking up your business are looking to buy.

  App vs. Mobile Web >>

Which works better - or which do you prefer, apps or the mobile web? In order to maximize reach, awareness and engagement, a company should utilize both methods. There are pros and cons to each service. Apps tend to work faster, are more engaging and are easier to work around. The mobile web my reach a further audience, it’s cheaper and is normally similar to the company’s webpage.  Mobile websites can be tedious due to the “pinch and zoom”, while apps may not contain all of the information and links that a mobile website does. So really companies should employ both to satisfy their customers.

Engagement >>

Mobile marketers have a big advantage over print and other sorts of advertisers in that they have potential to be very engaging. Ads on mobile devices make it easy for consumers to end up on a company’s website due to one simple click. It was claimed in the article by Stovall that 40% of mobile ad clicks are in fact accidental, proving this simplicity. Through high engagement, offering discounts, promoting deals and other creative techniques; mobile web users awareness and overall liking of the company can be positively affected. 

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Data mining: The way of the future

Data mining is becoming increasingly important in today’s business world. With technologies that are available today, companies are able to store information about their customers in giant databases. This allows them to segment their market and direct particular messages in order to persuade.

A great example of a successful use of data is the 2012 presidential election. Three of the articles we read showed how Obama’s marketing analytic team was able to use big data in order to secure his second term in office. How did they do it? The driving factor was their collection of data of email lists that they have been tracking since the 2008 election. Obama’s data collection team was able to contact a broader audience in a more persuading manner. The team did lots of AB testing to see which style of emails would be effective in reaching a specific audience. Using this extensive data mining, the Obama team was able to raise over $1 billion for its campaign. Through the use of cookies, the team was also able to track who is likely to be persuaded though online tactics. The data effort enabled Obama to increase the effectiveness in advertising to these swing-state voters, which ultimately won him the election.

Target uses data mining by assigning a customer ID to everyone who walks through their door. They track data such as past purchases, sign ups, demographics, marital status, interests and other types of information. It allows them to direct specific ads and coupons that relates to the customer’s needs. Target is able to purchase information such as, ethnicity, job history, education history, online history, etc. I definitely believe it would be crossing the line to purchase information of customers to use to your advantage. Target denied to identify what types of information they purchase, but now since I know they’ve done that it makes me a bit hesitant to go shop there (Although they are likely not the only retailer out there doing this). 

Although some of these methods may seem unethical, they turned out to be very successful in identifying a consumer’s needs. The ‘pregnancy prediction model’ developed by Mr. Andrew Pole helped Target’s revenues grow nearly $20 billion in 8 years. Data mining and segmenting can make it easy for customers to save money on the items they need. As digital marketers we all need to accept that the use of these databases are the way of the future and can be crucial to the success and growth of your company.

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Upgrade Your Website With A/B Testing

What is A/B testing? From what I’ve learned after reading these articles, A/B testing is basically a controlled experiment that allows you to test out different website strategies or layouts to improve conversion rates. This is normally done by setting up 2 versions of the same website. One version acts as the controlled site (normally the existing site), and the other is a candidate for a new design. It’s similar to hypothesis testing – you have the null hypothesis (controlled version) and the alternative (new version). By running this experiment, web-masters are able to measure valuable information such as conversion rates, bounce rates, time spent on site, sales, etc.

Optimizely is a company that specializes in A/B testing for businesses and here they illustrate how it works though this diagram:

  Minor changes in the content, layout, even colors can make a big difference. The Ultimate Guide to A/B testing shows a company, CareLogger, who changed the color of their “Sign me up” link increased conversion rates by 34%! After checking out the tests featured on ABTESTS.com, it’s cool to see that those minor changes do really work. A quick change in how Dustin linked to his Twitter account, by creating the link under the word “here”, improved his landing page by over 170%. There are many other simple tactics you can use to help increase rates on your site, but in order to find out what works and what doesn't, you've got to continue to engage in A/B testing. 

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Coding and the Academy

A basic understanding of coding will go a long way in today’s digital world. Coding acts as the skeleton to a website, so for those who have a deep understanding of it, creative displays can be produced. Having a basic understanding will be beneficial for changes and updates made to a website. Coding can be difficult for many to learn, it can be similar to learning a new language. I once took a JavaScript class many years ago, and realized that it is not easy to catch up on a new language when you fall behind. But there are many sites out there that are willing to teach you basics of coding for free. 2 hours on CodeAcademy.com will help you learn fundamentals in an interactive way.

  The Computing Textbook breaks down how computers store information and represent data. From what I understand a bit is the primary unit of information and it acts like answering a “yes or “no” question to determine an outcome. Binary trees are used to improve efficiency and depth is added depending on the amount of possible outcomes. I played the 20 questions game - it models how a binary tree works and helps with understanding the concept.

  The power of computers these days has come a very long way since the earliest computers. I found Moore’s law pretty interesting: Computing power is doubling every 18 months. He turned out to be pretty accurate as a modern laptop is 4 million times more powerful than the 1960’s Apollo Guidance Computer. The future of computing should continue to grow rapidly as consumers expect more power and capacity in their computer devices.  

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Here’s the diagram  @Andrewdumont shared with us today.

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Inboud.. An easy way to remember..

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My Google Analytics data. Average duration.. 4 seconds baby!  Gotta spice up my content!

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A Glance at Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing is a relatively new way to market to an audience - by helping them find information about your company through different online channels. Marketers of 2013 and beyond should put a strong inbound marketing effort into their overall strategy because it can be cheap and very effective. Today consumers are information seekers before buyers so it is crucial, as a company, to provide that information and make it accessible to prospective buyers.

By putting useful and interesting information on the web, prospective buyers are able to seek you out. Compared to marketers seeking out the customer through annoying methods like telemarketing and email automation. This is the direction marketing is heading. Using a wide swath of platforms like blogs, Facebook, Twitter, company website and SEO will help increase brand awareness and the number of prospective buyers.

Although inbound marketing is an essential piece to nearly every company these days, it should not be a stand-alone method. The Amplify Your Impact article gives us an ideal “marketing mix” to complement inbound marketing.

-> The use of outbound (paid) marketing combined with inbound. This will help acquire new leads. Also with outbound marketing you are able to develop more personal relationships with customers.

-> A corporate communications strategy will help get your company recognized. Establishing a consistent message to consumers will help build your recognition.

-> Marketing automation can help boost your inbound marketing through the use of technology. Marketing automation will simplify repetitive tasks and will allow you to see who the engaging customers are. The Death by Automation article explains that humanizing your automating strategies will help build trust and credibility with your prospects.

The last takeaway I’ll discuss is the concept of mobilizing/socializing your marketing, from Death by Automation. There is a stat in the article that says 86% of corporate level executives have a smart phone and the majority use it as their primary communication tool. Smart phones make accessing social media very simple with the swipe of a finger. Having a presence in social media is obviously very important, and promoting your social sites via emails and accompanied web sites is key. You could possibly go further by creating an app to further simplify customer use. I like to relate to my favorite ski area – Stevens Pass – as they have created an app for all things Stevens; conditions, webcams, general info, etc. This makes is very easy for me, the customer, to get the latest info on what’s happening at the mountain. Although an app may not be necessary for all companies, it sure enhanced my experience with this company in particular.

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New Paid Media // Cookies

Many people are predicting that Paid Media (Online ads, banners, AdWords) is coming to an end. The first article “Defining Earned, Owned and Paid Media” goes on to counter that argument by claiming paid media is evolving into a catalyst that is needed at key periods to drive more engagement. The next few articles talk about how marketers are improving on their paid media strategies.

In the AdWeek article, “Advertisers ready to make an impression,” Curt Hecht from The Weather Company says that in 2013 will be more about effective advertising. Quality over quantity – Advertisers who adopt 3MS Initiative, which counts viewable impressions as a measurement standard for advertisers, will be able to collect and compare data to see which ads have been effective. This will lead to more online advertisers to improve upon their creativity of paid digital media.

Display ads have been traditionally the go-to method for paid digital media. The uprising of content marketing is adding diversity to a marketer’s repertoire. Custom content that is interesting to a specific audience can be a powerful tool for a marketer. The article “Native Advertising” reports that social network users are more likely to respond positively to advertising in a creative content form, such as an advertisement-sponsored post. TheAtlantic.com has found that ad-sponsored articles also help generate better results of display ads from the same advertiser on that sponsored page. Customized content, although effective and progressive, can come at a high price, which is why many companies aren’t buying into it. Customization is a process that takes lots of time, and those sponsored posts cannot be spread across multiple websites. 

This whole talk about cookies was pretty confusing at first, but after reading through all the articles, I have a slight better grasp on how they affect our internet-surfing experience. Cookies are creating when browsing the web. These tiny files record where we go, what we search for and revert back to them when we arrive at a recognizable website. Cookies are responsible for remembering the last movie you watched on NetFlix. Recently, the European Union implemented a law that governs the opting in and out of website cookies. The main reason for the law is to protect the privacy of users, although it could end up making the users experience online worse. As we have learned from previous class sessions, web users normally prefer ads that are tailored to their preferences and interests. With cookies being disabled, online ads will be irrelevant and annoying for some. This is a challenge marketers in Europe face as they now try to find ways around tracking methods to reach their audience. However here in the USA, the use of tracking cookies is on the rise and marketers are piling on tracking technologies in order to better understand their audience. The fact that we are being heavily tracked by advertisers is creepy to many people, hence the EU Law, but as marketers it is a very effective tool in order to find where, when and who to advertise to.

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This is what my friends and I do with our time... Fly into powder. Great edit by my friend Eric.. I am the rider in the orange pants. Enjoy!