Marketing Foundations

   

This segment illustrated how social media is used in order help businesses grow due to its rapid growth. This helps businesses reach their target audience by conveying to them about relevant information and promotions, build trust interactions and sales. It also highlights the way in which consumers and businesses can interact with each other. It highlights how social media allows consumers the platform to talk to businesses directly, get customer services and actively take part in how a brand will grow. For businesses it shows learning opportunities for them to grow off customer feedback and being able to reach more people while saving money. The videos also highlight why companies are not successful on social media. They say that the reason is because they get into social media and ask questions later. They are usually pressured because most of their customers are on social media so they want to interact with them. Their competitors are also on social media that's why businesses are more inclined to be on it to see how their competitors are doing. The videos also talk about how to be successful in Social Media marketing. So first a business needs to make a Social Media Strategy which is a plan on how a company uses Social Media marketing strategy which should focus on your industry, your target audience and how different channels operate. If you experience success with the strategy having a written plan helps a company replicate it over and over and continue to be successful. After creating a successful plan then a business must track their success. They need to use Facebook analytics as well as CRM’s and other databases to see how well their marketing is going. However, businesses should be careful when using the data because it can lead to a wrong conclusion if not interpreted right. Using all the information a editorial calendar should be made. They should show the different social media postings which should be posted about a few weeks to a month in advance to keep them goal focused and illustrate what social medias you will be using and what the goal of those posts are. Make sure that the social media you use reaches the demographic which customers you hope to attract. The videos then go more in depth about which social media’s attract what type of customers by age and interest.  The videos then talk about word choice. Word choice is very important and determines how effective a post will be, you want to align social media with how you advertise in other areas. Include visuals to keep audiences interested and avoid too many words as well as stick to one theme. Make sure to use the right fonts and visuals to communicate the message which you are trying to portray. Make sure that all the content on one post blend well together. No one aspect of a post should be highlighted more than another. Another thing to consider is using high quality and high resolution pictures. Posts need to be clear to be visually appealing. The next thing it covers is how to create user generated content. This is content that is created about your company by your audience. In order to use this effectively a company must start by searching up mentions of their brand and hashtags related to the company. When content is featured on your page made by the audience make sure to give them credit this makes them feel appreciated and a part of the company. Some industries are harder than others but in those cases marketers must just be more creative. The final thing that it covers is link tracking. Companies must make sure that they are tagging in a consistent manner in order to be successful. There are many ways to track success such as adding code or using google. These are all very useful tools in order to make a well rounded and useful social media campaign

Facebook Marketing Advertising

This segment shows how Facebook is a valuable tool in advertising because it is a cheap way to get to a lot of new consumers and you can even target who you want to reach. It also highlights the different tools which Facebook has such as sponsored posts and videos which can direct consumers to a businesses links and call to action to download. The video then talks about how businesses have the ability to target people by their interests, purchase habits and even life events. Another type of targeting is connections by reaching out to people that are connected to your page, event or application as well as their friends. A tool that was also highlighted how businesses can create custom audiences based upon their own data form their email lists, phone numbers and user ID and show your ad’s to just them. One way that Facebook success is measured is the click-through rate. This shows how many people click on an ad which was advertised to them, the higher the number the better an ad is doing. It then highlights how Facebook organizes its ads. Facebook organizes their ads in three categories, campaigns, ad sets and ads. Ads are the smallest set because they are just one ad to try and attract customers. Once you put them together to try and they all try and attract products it creates an ad set. When multiple ad sets are put together then it creates a campaign. Campaigns define who you are targeting, your ad placement and bid settings. They then go into how to run a Facebook page. First they highlight the multiple tools which allow businesses to see traffic, engagement, app installs as well as many other things. After you are able to see how effective your facebook page is doing you need to identify the audience and make sure your ads are relevant to them.  It then goes through the steps of how to target interests by using the tools of Facebook and how those can be used to target an audience. Another thing that can be targeted is behaviors this is not as useful however because it is not as accurate. After knowing all the tools it talks about spending and how much someone should spend on Facebook ads. A company should start small in the beginning and if it successful increase the budget. Then it goes through the steps in order to set a budget and how to pay for it. It then goes into some tips and trick in order to make sure that a company can get the most out of its Facebook experience. After covering Facebook ads the videos go into how to use the Ad create tool. The first step is to select how a person wants a Facebook ad wants to look. They have many different options which they go through in the video. Next is a single video which is a loop of 10 images which will be shown in an ad. It then goes through how to select good images and make the Facebook ad become more appealing. After this the videos cover how to track the Facebook ads with Facebook ads dashboard. This shows how ads are doing by showing the analytics of how many clicks and engagements are happening. This data can be used to refine advertisements which can make a Facebook campaign more effective and if you are achieving your goals. Once all this data is gathered it must be reviewed frequently. This can be done through scheduled reports which can be emailed to you at whatever frequency is decided. In order to make these useful a business must look at the success metrics which can optimize posts by seeing which are most successful. This will show a company what is working and how to approach future ads. Tips it gives is to make sure not to use a lot of text and convey messages through images. Facebook can be a great tool to make a business increase its audience if the tools are used effectively.  

Branding Foundations

These videos show how brands can be useful to a company by giving a competitive advantage and help a company deal with challenges and market competition. Keys to branding are authenticity, make a brand show a company's core values. Brands create status and esteem for a company in the minds of industry leaders, the media and the markets. The videos then highlight where branding is a waste of money such as new markets or if you are already a market leader. The branding process has 5 steps. The first is to define the brand, a brand is a promise and it must be defined what a business is promising. Then brand drivers must be defined which are how the brand will be put into the marketing mix. The next step is positioning the brand. This is where the brand is shaping how customers see them. In order to do that customers must be identified, what benefits they seek and what they currently believe about the products and services of competitors. Then the brand promise must be defined followed by the ability to express the brand. Awareness must be built about the brand. This is done internally and externally to keep a brand strong you must communicate continuously and consistently or else they will lose their value. The final step to the brand building process is measure. A company must evaluate its brand equity or value of its brand and its performance. If brand equity increases then company value will as well. Is the brand living up to its promise? If so then it should be kept. If not then a business can consider getting rid of it. Brands values come from the foundation then it needs to be built upon by the attributes of the brand or self-expressive benefits or what people are saying about the brand when consuming the brand. To make this self expression useful a company must use brand drivers by making a list of phrases about the brand that stretch the brands core purpose. Later on group them in similar categories to see which are most relevant. Once a brand is created it need brand architecture. The brand architecture helps connect the brands back to the company. One thing that can be created is a house brand. They highlight Proctor and Gamble. They have many brands such as Tide, Bounty, Crest etc. These are known on their own but no one is really aware of Proctor and Gamble.  At the other end of the spectrum is the branded house. This is where the brand is the company, all products and services are associated with the single company brand. They use the company Caterpillar and BMW to illustrate this. There is also a third one which is a blended house. This is where they blend the other two together. They use the company Marriot to Illustrate this because its subsidiaries such as Courtyard and Residence Inn are well know as well as the company of Marriott. Then they try and figure out which one is best the Branded house is the most cost effective but there are limits to expansion while A house brand is expensive because it is started from the beginning but there is total freedom. One of the most important things that the video covers is the Brand Book which is the complete story of the brand and the elements that go into it. This affects everything from logos to product design. This tool can be used to make sure that the entire team can execute the brand properly and that’s what makes it so important. After the plan is made for a brand and the brand itself is made it must then be communicated. The communication channel that is used must align with the brand in order to be successful. In order to be successful you must narrow your target audience. Social Media helps people learn more about a product which is important in building a brand. The packaging of a product is another great way to communicate a brand a build equity. The packaging can explain important information about how to use a product or any warnings. The packaging should be used to reinforce positioning and brand promise. A final way to communicate a brand is through branded space which is a physical environment that make the personality, values and key messages of a brand tangible. These can be 3D experiences or pop ups as long as it is something that can be tangible to the consumer. With all the tools of branding a company can enhance the experience that consumers have about a product and if done right it can be a great asset to a company.