Author: Giovanni Centeno

From what I have learned thus far, marketing campaigns are the life’s blood of digital marketing. They put to the test all of the backend research and strategizing to improve conversions for an organization. It also gives companies many ways to reach their target market. I plan using a combination of email, social media, PPC marketing campaigns in my consulting business once I graduate.

I was shocked to learn how much technology and innovation is going into marketing tactics for businesses these days. One innovation that caught my eye was the Buy Online Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) method. I like how this option allows companies to provide their customers with a seamless shopping experience and no wait times if run properly. It also allows for follow purchases to be made when customers are in the storefront. As I move forward with my digital marketing career, I will be vigilant in identifying the latest technologies available to implement in future marketing strategies.

Having a well-researched marketing strategy is only half the battle; the other half includes pitching the plan to potential clients persuasively. Some key takeaways for me included making the pitch personable, sharing captivating stories, and repetitively contrasting the main points. A few excellent examples of this include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream Speech” and Steve Jobs “Worldwide Developers Conference,” introducing the first-ever iPhone. Using these great examples as my guide, I will strive to match their effectiveness in delivering memorable pitches.

Taking some time to digest everything I have learned in the past 12 months will have its benefits. I am excited to step into a new career with endless potential and room for growth, professionally and personally. I want to use what I have learned to help disabled veterans improve their quality of life. Only time will tell if this becomes a reality, but I can ensure that I will give my all.

Anytime I can learn new law areas, I always take full advantage of digesting as much information as possible. This course was no different; we learned how laws on defamation, spam, and copyright could affect the digital marketing career field. I will also share the objectives that I created before taking the course and how I met them.

When it comes to defamation lawsuits, three main criteria have to be met for a suit to be successful to include: prove a false statement of fact was made, that statement published to a third party, and the intent is to harm or discredit someone. I learned how certain pieces of legislation, like the Communications Decency Act of 1996 Section 230, helped pave the way for what we now know as the internet. It allows for freedom of speech to be carried out online with Internet service providers, websites, and bloggers. I also learned that the best defense for a lawsuit like is telling the truth, which is absolute if proven.

Next, we learned about the CAN-Spam Act and how it guides what we can digitally communicate with potential customers. The act’s central guidance focuses on correctly identifying advertising correspondence and making sure that it is not misleading to the recipient. There are essential components of the communication that have to be present, like placing an opt-out feature and posting a company’s physical address. For every email identified not to be following the Can-Spam Act rules, they incur a fine of up to $43,280. Companies should ensure that they follow the rules, or it could be a costly mistake if caught.

Copyright was a subject that I learned in-depth during my music business undergrad degree program. It was quite lovely to have a refresher in intellectual property, and creative commons works. I learned the importance of using work for hire contracts when having a third party complete work for the company. Doing so allows the company to pay for ownership of the copyright to the agreed-upon work. I also learned how important the use of original work is versus having to acquire a copyright.

Before taking this course, I set a few objectives based on what I read about the class online. Those objectives were to achieve a ninety percent grade point average and above, gain knowledge of FTC/FCC regulations that affect digital marketers, and learn the primary laws that affect our industry. I feel confident that I have achieved all three of these objectives, and I will take what I learned into the field.

Of all the courses that are apart of this master’s degree program, the digital analytics and optimization course is the one that I was most looking forward to attending. I get the opportunity to become Google Analytics certified and learn a skill that I can use after graduation when consulting with clients.

This course taught me how important it is to collect and properly analyze the data contained in your company. Doing this takes the guessing out of the decision-making process, and allows the data to guide business decisions. Equally important is employing someone who fully understands analytics and knows how to apply that knowledge to different business needs.

Before entering this course, I challenged myself to become GA certified, achieve a 90 or above grade, and apply what I learned to my website. I was able to complete two of the three goals I set. Unfortunately, I didn’t pass the Google Analytics exam my first time; however, I will retake it and hopefully pass. I started implementing some of the techniques learned in this course on my website, and the results have been excellent. I have effectively completed my last goal of attaining a 90 or better final grade in this course. This course has given me a perfect foundation to build from going forward with my future digital marketing consulting business.

In conclusion, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn about data analytics and can not wait to apply it in the field after graduation in a few months.

If I had to choose one central theme for this course, it would have to be that focusing all search engine optimization (SEO)strategies on a company’s audience is vital. The searcher should be at the forefront of any optimization strategy that a company implements. Over the past thirty days, I learned many different strategies for improving how search engines rank your website and how a company can utilize SEO advertising to build their brand. I will share the topics that resonated with me the most, and those that practically use moving forward in my marketing career.

The first topic that I would like to discuss would be the importance of doing proper keyword research. The basis for SEO hinges on a company being able to select unique keywords specific to their industry and brand. Selecting top producing keywords is easier said than done, and even harder to do successfully. It often takes months, if not years, to rank high with pay-per-click (PPC) keywords to accomplishing the same organically. If done correctly, it can provide a company an additional monthly revenue and conversions to their website. Keywords are used to promote internal pages within your website and externally to build trust and authority.

When it comes to getting your website noticed by searchers, PPC advertising can be the vessel that leads to more exposure in the short term. Implementing PPC advertising takes time, constant research, and a steady marketing budget to grow in SEO rankings. Ultimately, the goal should be to rank high on the search engine ranking pages organically, but it is rare without PPC advertising first.

It surprises me that in 2020, there are still businesses that are not taking advantage of the free Google my Business utility. This utility allows companies to share their information free of charge to the google search community locally and worldwide. If I ever start my own business, I now know what is needed to rank highly within the local search results.

In conclusion, SEO has taught me that anyone can succeed in growing a business ranking with proper research and implementation. I cannot wait to used what I learned in the field.

The advanced digital marketing strategies course showed me the importance of developing a stable relationship with your online audience to improve sales, the different strategies used in optimizing the conversion funnel, and increasing traffic and visibility.

Taking this course thought how valuable making a connection and truly understanding your online audience can be for a business, especially when you are trying to get people to visit your website and ultimately convert. Also, it is essential to know where your audience is online so that you can attract them to your site with advertisements and help build brand awareness. Ultimately it all starts with having a unique value proposition that speaks to a broad audience that will compel them to act in your favor.

From SEM to SEO, optimization plays a huge part in how your company is discovered online. It can mean the difference between paying to have people find your site versus them finding it organically. Also, once they arrive at your site, is it layed out in a way that will keep them there, or will they leave and never return. Ensuring that the user experience flows and is effortless is what this course imparted on me. It’s paramount to have a well-thought-out optimization strategy and also gain the trust of your audience to ensure they are repeat customers.

If you have all of these things dialed in that, I mentioned above; then, you will surely increase traffic to your webpage and most likely have repeat visitors. I feel like this class has given me many essential tools that I can call on later to manage companies marketing efforts.

Before taking this course, my idea of new media marketing was utilizing social media and technology to market to potential customers. Well, I learned that it is more involved than that, and I will share what I learned and what I implemented for my case study company.

Before taking this course, I had a general understanding of who influencers, fans, and customers are to a business. Still, I was clueless as to how to utilize these groups for marketing a business. I learned how to spot fans/influencers and what marketing strategies work best with each group. After learning all of this, I felt like implementing an influencer campaign would be the best fit for my case study company.

I also learned that conducting exhaustive research on your industry and target market can give options when creating marketing campaigns. Another key takeaway is ensuring that the influencer chosen has the same focus so that the marketing campaign can be mutually beneficial to both parties. Doing this ensures that the message delivered to the customer is consistent and speaks to the brand.  Knowing all of this is only one part of the strategy. Being able to able to measure your marketing campaign's effectiveness with metrics will allow you to measure how well your return on your investment will be. 

As I move forward in my master's program, I will take what I learned in this class with me when drafting marketing campaign strategies for my future business. Before taking this course, I set three goals for myself, which were completing the course with a 90% or higher, network with one holistic healing influencer, and expand my knowledge of location-based marketing technology. I was successful in accomplishing all three. I look forward to continuing through the degree program and learning all I can.

Before I started this course, I had a completely different idea of what I was going to be learning. I had the impression that I was going to be learning coding basics and how to implement that into industry best practices. After learning what website design and usability entails, I see websites through a different light now. Learning how the smallest changes to your site can have the most significant effect on your company’s success. I implemented some of the design concepts taught this month on my website with the hopes of attracting more traffic. I also plan on executing usability test while I build my site to get crucial feedback from users in my target market. Performing a usability test will ensure that the final product I put out to the public will have had some of the kinks worked out. I hope to put what I learned this month into practice with my consultation business in the future. I liked how on the surface, this subject can seem simple, but in actuality, it is very complicated.

Even though my goals did not correctly line up with what I learned in this course, I was still able to complete all three. The first one was to pass the course with a 90% grade point average or higher, which I acheived. The next goal was to use what I learned in this course to build up my site to 50% completion, in which it was accommplished. Lastly, the third goal I set for myself was to gain a basic understanding of HTML, CSS, and Java coding language. I was able to take some courses on Linkedin Learning and use what I learned to develop my website. I want to continue achieving the goals that I set for myself within this degree program

After completing digital storytelling and branding course, I feel like I have a better understanding of how to brand a company and also deliver its message in an exciting, easy to follow way. The course also taught me how to identify, create, share a brand with its target market. The course also taught me that a brand is a promise between the company and the consumer for goods and services performed.  I also learned that creating a well thought out brand voice statement or video can invoke an emotional connection with future customers.  

The skills and processes taught in this course will aid me in my consulting work once I graduate from this degree program. It will allow me to evaluate future companies I am consulting for, and offer up suggestions on how to strengthen their brand. I will be utilizing some of the work done in this course, like the brand strategy, for instance, will come in handy towards the latter part of my degree program when drafting the Internet marketing plan for my final project. I also learned how to identify company archetypes and how to incorporate those archetypes into branding a company, and the message that it displays to the public. The storytelling techniques I learned in the course will also give me a leg up when it comes to pitching my consulting services to prospective clients. I am excited for what the future has in store for me and even more excited to be starting my new career in the marketing industry.

Before starting this digital marketing fundamentals course, I had very little knowledge about the industry. After reviewing the objectives that I created for this class, I believe I managed to accomplish all three. The course succeeded in providing me with a solid foundation in digital marketing terminology and strategies used. The two strategies that interested me the most were retargeting and social media. I like that both strategies require constant tweaking and evaluating to be effective. I also like the customization options that can be implemented with a retargeting strategy. Learning how to implement a retargeting strategy properly can mean the difference between converting or losing a potential lead. I learned that providing unique content aimed at your target audience is one of the best ways to grow your brand’s awareness and engagement. One important note that I will take with me as I go through the program is that as technology continues to evolve, so will the marketing strategies used. I hope to apply the information I learned in this course to my consulting business, in hopes of improving my brand awareness. I will continue to stay abreast of the latest industry trends by monitoring my Feedly account daily. I look forward to learning as much as I can about the digital marketing field in the coming months. Also, obtaining certifications in SEO and Google AdWords before completing my master’s program. I would also like to do further research into geolocation marketing to mobile phones users. In conclusion, I am excited for what is to come and look forward to a long and successful career in the marketing field.

References

Marketing Campaign. (2019, March). 17 Email Marketing Metrics Every Marketer Needs to Know. Retrieved from https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2019/03/17-email-marketing-metrics-every-email-marketer-needs-to-know/.

Sukhraj, R. (2019, September 4). 10 Social Media KPIs You Should Track and Monitor. Retrieved from https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/social-media-kpis.