Week 6 -- MKTG 6101 -- Google Ads Final Review

Over the past week, I have been running a Google Ads campaign and the results are staggering. Electing to run an inexpensive campaign with a daily average budget of $4, my ads still received a large amount of attention quickly. With a $4 daily average, a customer is estimated to get 30-50 ad clicks a month (1-1.67 clicks a day). Google Ads customers only pay for ad clicks, and once the monthly max is hit, the ads stop. This can cause for fast results like I received during my campaign. Below are the results for the first day of my campaign.

The average expected ad clicks is around 1-1.67 per day (for a $4 daily budget), and I received 19 clicks in the first day. My ads had 894 impressions, which means my ads were shown 894 time to Google users. So, 2% of the ads shown resulted in clicks. Not bad for a budget campaign that was used for testing purposes.

And after one week...

After a week, 10,300 impressions and 196 ad clicks resulted in about a 2% click rate on ads. Although I believe I had success with this test run of Google Ads, I know I should finetune my ads and increase creditability through introducing ways to collect emails by setting up conversion. I believe a 5% click rate would be fantastic and is attainable. Additionally, the ads if unregulated will not stretch the month but rather exhaust themselves as quickly as possible--Google is in the business of making money after all. With a bit of work, my ad campaign for a new online store will allow for fast and steady growth. All and all Google Ads is a winner for EVERY business. Use it.

If you have been on the fence about using Google Ads, I would not hesitate because you are wasting valuable time that Google Ads could be working for you. Best of luck in your Google Ads adventure.

Week 6 -- MKTG 6101 -- Selecting the Right Method

Reaching your target audience is the main purpose of a marketing effort. As you may already know, there is not a one-size fits all approach to reaching a target audience because each company, product, as well as consumer are different. Know, really know, the target audience for your product, offering, or service. Examine their habits and lifestyles. Explore their world and truly understand it. Learn and pivot to dive into, possibly drive, innovation in your field. Hopefully, through all your examining, exploring, and learning you are able to select the right marketing methods for your target audience. However, if you have yet to figure it out, below are a few methods to help you select the right one for your marketing plan.

1. Newspaper--nothing wrong with using this seasoned method to reach your audience but use it wisely. Use it for news about your company. Invite a journalist to an event and have them write an article about the money raised for a local charity.

2. Magazine--if you are targeting males, place your ads in a men's health magazine. If you are selling toys, place the ads in front of parents by targeting magazines like Parents Magazine or Hip Mama, as well as children through magazines such as National Geographic Little Kids or Sports Illustrated Kids.

3. Online Marketing--anything from Google Ads to Facebook to Online classrooms are great ways to reach your audience. Use them correctly though. If you don't need or want a large online marketing plan, stick with social media platforms but update them regularly.

4. Emailing Lists--gather everyone's email. The larger the emailing list of your target audience, the better. Find ways to grow this list through surveys, email brochures, free information about your company, etc.

5. If none of these can help you, here are a few more ideas: canvassing, TV and radio, direct mail, outdoor signage, decaled give way items, and public relations.

I hope you are able to select the right marketing method for your company. To continue to reach for new ways to target your market!

Week 5 -- MKTG 6101 -- Implementing a Creative Marketing Approach

Have you ever begun a marketing campaign and fell flat on your face in the process? You had amazing advertising, and your store aesthetic was exactly what you envisioned, but the campaign was a failure. But you were committed to your campaign and brand, so why? Your customers really enjoy your offerings but still no sustained growth. A successful marketing campaign is not always about the best ads or the best offerings. It's about growth. And yet, all that effort and still no growth. At this point, you may be talking in circles trying to figure out why you failed. The answer is simple. You have missed your target audience--for one reason or another.

Even though you marketed on the internet, passed out business cards, ran radio and TV ads, as well as did a newspaper article and mailout flyers to local customers, you still cannot get the proper exposure if your marketing is not constant, at the wrong time slots, too fragmented, too concrete, etc. etc. etc. But let's say you are doing a great job of reaching your target audience, then the main reason you have not seen growth is maybe your marketing lacks a creative approach. Create drama in your campaign. And I am not talking about Jersey Shore drama. Here is an example.

I am building a Shopify store for animal toys and products. So, here are a few marketing examples I intend on implementing in my Shopify store to help create drama.

1. Upon their first purchase, I intend on sending a personalized letter to every customer thanking them for their business. This will set me apart from my competition.

2. For monthly subscribers and frequent customers, a personalized "Christmas" toy for the continued support will be given or gifted to each customer. It doesn't need to be much but something like this sets you apart.

3. I will be offering the ability to customize boxes and provide feedback. This will allow subscribers to personalize their own experience and get desired pet products each month. I will keep the reins on the number of offerings in subscriptions boxes so personalized boxes don't turn into an Amazon shopping cart.

4. Monthly or quarterly email newsletter--discounts and special offerings will be provided to the email list to give a feeling of exclusivity and involvement. My email list will also allow me to target customer who have not purchased in a while and send them a special offer or a personalized letter about exciting new offerings.

5.  Even though the majority of my business will be online, I will be hosting local events at dog parks handing out business cards and showing off samples. With something like this, consistency is important. Monthly or twice a month will be needed. It will also establish a community familiar with me personally--great additional marketing and will help your online presence with photographs and videos.

6. Lastly, I am tying all of my efforts into a strong cause. Not only will my products be environmentally safe, but I will be offering donations for the purchase of service dogs. The first person on my donation list is a personal friend who is a quad amputee. Attaching a strong cause like this is not only amazing for the people you are helping, but it also helps your image and relatability.

I plan on using all the above marketing to frame all my ads. I will place a sad dog against a happy dog. Customizable boxes vs. normal online pet purchases. Speak to the nature of the environment and speak about the importance of smart choices with your pets. Show older dogs enjoying our products, etc. etc. etc. What I am trying to accomplish is drama. Without my products, dogs aren't the same, and without dogs, humans aren't the same. So, take care of your dog and your dog will take care of you. Create the need for your product and be unique with how you align yourself with your customer. Best of luck on finding your own creative approach.

Week 5 -- MKTG 6101 -- Google Ads is worth it.

Learning a new software or program can be challenging, often daunting. Google Ads was such a program for me. I had always been interested in taking a dive into this offering by Google, but I saw it as scary and avoided learning it for some time. Recently, I dove into Google Ads and found the service to be quite the experience. Google Ads makes setting up an advertising campaign simple.

Before I launch my own store on Shopify, I wanted to practice and learn Google Ads. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed with the whole experience, but that quickly faded. The setup process went step-by-step and had tutorial videos and a quick help menu (although you didn't really need the help menu). Note, if you do not have a website and a Google account, you cannot begin. So, make sure those are in created before continuing. The first few questions are very straightforward.

You select keywords and a few images and boom you are done. The ads begin immediately after a quick quality check--to help reduce hateful and inappropriate ads. After the short setup (15-30 minutes if you don't need customer support), you will end up at a screen like this.

Although Google has not shown their numbers yet (less than hours 24 after setting up the Google Ads campaign), my blog I used for practice has tracked a large increase in traffic.

If you didn't believe before, you should now. I went with a very small budget on four dollars a day, and, within the day, I had more than forty visits to my blog. Helpful tool for your small business! Good luck out there!

Week 4 -- MKTG 6101-- Marketing: Challenge of Continuing

After a marketing plan is in effect, business owners, for various reasons, desire to stop their marketing plan for their company. They may view marketing as a gimmick or believe they have already reached the level of success they desire--they become too comfortable. No matter the reason, stopping your marketing plan is a bad choice. Whether you are a small/large business or a marketing agency, these ten reasons will help you to continue (or help your customers continue).

In Jay Conrad Levinson's book Guerrilla Marketing, he explains ten reasons why you should not stop marketing. As I was reading his ten reasons I realized, a marketer trying to attract new customers or persuade existing customers to continue their marketing effort can also use these ten reasons as valid defense of objections. The ten reasons for continuing your marketing effort are as follows.

1. The market perpetually evolves--new prospects are continuously entering your sphere of influence so keep your marketing going!

2. People forget about your company quickly--repetition and a continuous presence allow you to remain relevant to your customers.

3. The competition will be relentless--if you stop, do you think they will? Be realistic. They will not.

4. Your identity is strengthened through marketing--if you faulter, customers may see this as a sign of weakness for your business. Don't slip. Keep pushing the strengths of your business because it will strengthen your business.

5. Survival and growth are fueled by marketing--marketing shows customers that you exist or that you still exist. Let your customers know you exist.

6. Marketing enables retention--marketing helps you keep your customer loyal and allows them to refer others. Keep your marketing committed to retention--some businesses survive by word of mouth alone.

7. Morale is stimulated through marketing--Employee morale is affected by marketing. Dropping marketing can cause instability for your company. Imagine if Chick-fil-A stopped saying "my pleasure" after a customer said thank you. At least some employees would both find the change unsettling, and some customers may lose confidence in the Chick-fil-A experience. Stay committed for morale.

8. Continuing marketing can cause your company to outpace your competition who have stopped marketing--similar to reason #3, if you keep marketing, the competition who ceased marketing will be begin to lag. Stay ahead!

9. Operations continue because of marketing--without marketing, no one knows you exist. Marketing is the lifeblood of your organization. Literally.

10. Removing marketing will cause regression--you have already created (or are creating) a strong plan, invested money, spent time, and engaged with your customers. If you stop, you may have to even start your marketing again from scratch. Don't let your investments go to waste.

Hopefully, these ten reasons help convince you (or your customers) to continuing challenging yourself to market your business. Write these rules done and remind yourself whenever you have a moment of weakness in your marketing plan. Pivot and adjust but don't abandon your marketing effort.

Week 4 -- MKTG 6101 -- Seven-Sentence Marketing Plan

Have you ever wanted to start marketing your company or are just starting a company and do not know where to begin in your marketing journey? Well, The Seven-Sentence Guerrilla Marketing Strategy, in Guerrilla Marketing, is a simplistic marketing plan for your business; that is, you guessed it, seven sentences. This strategy sets out to simplify your marketing plan down to seven core ideas: 1) the objective of your marketing; 2) how you will achieve your objective; 3) marketing audience; 4) marketing tools to be used to achieve your objective; 5) your forte; 6) your identity; 7) the budget for your marketing plan. After reading those seven core ideas, you may be thinking, "that doesn't seem so simplistic," or "wow, I can do this!" Whether you believe you can do it or not, I am here to help with your journey into marketing. 

Below, I will be sharing an example of my own seven-sentence marketing strategy which I created for a Shopify store I plan on launching in the near future. You can use my seven-sentence guerrilla marketing strategy as a template for your own simplistic plan.

The objective of Pet Playpen marketing is for our online pet shop to increase our brand awareness & recognition, increase website traffic, and ultimately to generate online sales by selling quality pet products in assorted giftboxes. This is achieved by offering our curated pet giftboxes fully customized to satisfy the individual needs and preferences of pet owners and their furry friends. Our target market is pet lovers who are interested in monthly box subscriptions, fantastic gift ideas, and personalized gift boxes for pets. The marketing tools we intend to utilize include search engine optimization, email marketing, social media advertising, and influencer partnerships. Pet Playpen will be positioned to offer customizable pet giftboxes that are environmentally and pet friendly, for happier pets and a more sustainable world. The identity of our company is an environmentally friendly pet store committed to providing exceptional customer service and a seamless online shopping experience. Twenty percent of sales will be allocated for the marketing budget.

I hope this helps! Best of luck on your seven-sentence marketing plan!

Week 3 -- MKTG 6101 -- Commitment: Marketing in One Word

In Guerrilla Marketing, Jay Conrad Levison states, "I hate admitting this...but mediocre marketing with commitment works better than brilliant marketing without commitment" (25). Commitment is the secret to successful marketing. Think of a sports athlete, rich entrepreneur, or a movie star, do you think they achieved success overnight? Simply put, no. They were committed to their goal. They put blood, sweat, and tears into their goal. At times they could not see tangible results from their efforts, yet they continued. Commitment. They pushed past their personal doubt and the doubt of others. Commitment. Sacrificing personal time, for professional opportunities. Commitment.

Commitment is the key to success, and if you want successful marketing, then you need to stay committed. Think of strong brands like RedBull and Ford, they stayed committed to their marketing. RedBull stayed with "RedBull gives you wings" and stayed committed to their strong connection with the extreme sports community. Ford stayed with "Built Ford Tough" over the years and have recently narrowed their offerings to mainly trucks and SUVs. However, their commitment has always been to the working man, and they have stayed true to this identity. These two companies, like many others, understood their messaging and their target audience. They stayed committed to their marketing while adapting to the ever-changing world.

Companies like RedBull and Ford did not faulter when their marketing may not have resulted in their sales goals; they continued to press forward and understood their target audience. RedBull has helped to lift the X-Games to new heights as well as helped shape the energy drink category to what we have today. Ford's accomplishments speak for themselves--cars are everywhere, and every working-class person can afford one. Their marketing was targeted and consistent. They stayed committed to their marketing.

I believe if you trying to start a small business or build your brand, you should stay committed to the path you choose for your marketing. If you are attempting to create a small business that sells animal jackets, then contacting influencers to showcase your product, asking for customer photos of their pets wearing your jackets, and picking a recognizable logo are ways to stay consistent in your marketing. You may not always need to think big. Sometimes keeping offerings that your customers enjoy are far more important than large branding efforts. Having a dog party once a month may be something your local customers enjoy more than your actual product. Use everything to your advantage. Retain your customers and keep pushing.

Marketing is commitment--don't forget it and don't give up.

Week 3 -- MKTG 6101 -- AI and Elon

Elon Musk has made some impact on everyone's life whether you realize it or not--his purchase of Twitter, the growing number of Tesla cars on the road, SpaceX, or his interview with Joe Rogan, just to name a few instances. But how closely should we listen to the world's richest man? To some, Elon Musk is the next Rockefeller (or Nikola Telsa, maybe Michelangelo?) and is viewed as a cultural icon. And, to others, he is a divisive character who, at times, seems to cause a stir just to cause one or just to prove a point. No matter your opinion, whenever someone who is helping to lead innovation in an industry speaks out about that industry, we should listen.

Why you should listen whether you like him or not...

Elon Musk has one of the best self-driving AI systems for his electric car brand, as well as invested in OpenAI, who created ChatGPT. Although he has stepped down from the OpenAI board, the man is highly invested in the development and understanding of AI while simultaneously seeking to do so in the safest manner. And yet, he recognizes the need for regulations in this infantile industry due to the uncertain future posed by AI.

At the National Governors Association in 2017, Musk warned the world that AI is "the biggest risk that we face as a civilization". He forebodingly imagines the potential evolution of a "deep intelligence" inside of our networks that could cause a war through propaganda or rerouting an airline to a warzone solely to maximize a stock portfolio. Quite a postapocalyptic dystopia. He continued about the dangers on an unregulated AI industry, stressing the potential of the loss of human jobs. Preposterous? Scary? The future? Like Musk, we just don't know. So, regulations and supervision are required--like he suggested.

But how do governing bodies implement regulations on a growing field without stifling development? Should governments implement regulars like the Artificial Intelligence Act? Or should the AI industry even exist? All great questions. I don't have those answers, and nor will I pretend like I am qualified to create such legislation.

AI has already become deeply imbedded in our vision of the future, but can humanity balance the unknown and our desire for growth without creating Musk's foreboding message? We need to be cautious with how AI is handled for humanities' sake because AI's meteoric progress over the past few years should raise eyebrows. Language generation technology (ability to re-create written word), speech recognition (as well as facial), deeper learning compacities, and automation are a few ways AI has advanced dramatically over the past few years. Additionally, AI is bleeding into healthcare and architecture--already proving to be just as good or better than their human counterparts at finding the solution to their respective problems. If governments allow the AI industry to remain mostly unregulated, fundamental and possibly catastrophic changes will happen to the workplace landscape. 

Additionally, serious privacy as well as safety issues could easily arise in the coming years. AI could determine who gets heart transplants or which accident the first responder is dispatched to, who gets a raise at work or hired based off of a social issue the AI is promoting this month, or how much your auto insurance payment should be based of AI records of your driving--possibly even the implementation of a personal credit score based off driving record, carbon emissions, CCTV activity, and internet search history, and all regulated by a "deep intelligence". Only time will tell but we should heed Elon Musk's warning. You may not be as pessimistic as Musk (heck maybe you're optimistic), but I am advising you to be realistic about our future--AI is here, and it could be dangerous for our future.

So...

Welcome the ominous future of AI. I hope being realistic is the right choice.