Digital Marketing: To the Future and Beyond

          Hello TravelBugs! Welcome to my final post for my digital marketing class.  This class had been my favorite so far in my MBA program.  I have learned so much about how digital marketing has been working in combination with traditional marketing to increase the amount of people reached by ads and companies.  Also finding how I can take what I am learning, how to connect it and utilize it to increase visibility of my personal blog but also for the companies I will work for.  My favorite topics were Search Marketing and Social Media Marketing because they are so applicable to the company I work for now and to the industry I want to work in.  
          For my current company, we are working to develop a digital marketing program.  The company is 20 years-old and has never done any marketing.  Instead, all of the clients were pulled in from cold calls.  My company is hoping, with digital marketing, we can pull in new clients but also keep connected with our current clients.  The Search Marketing topic will really help with generating ideas on how to increase our rank in organic search results.  While the Social Media Marketing topic will help with knowing the best ways to draw new and current clients in while keeping them interested in all of the updates and information we post.  
          For the industry I want to work in, the Thoroughbred Racing Industry, there is a need to start utilizing different marketing efforts or the sport will be lost completely.  While the industry gets good publicity and marketing during the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown races, the other eleven months of the year do not see any marketing or hype and we start losing more and more potential racing fans.  The best place to start is going to be Social Media Marketing because of the large diversity of people and generations you can reach there.  One of the farms making the most head way with this is Winstar Farms.  They have such a great marketing department, not only for their stallions but for the farm itself.  At least once a week they have video out on their Facebook page that features actives happening on the farm.  However, one of the biggest moves they have made, which I think will really pay off for them, was having an ad play during the Super Bowl of 2018.  While it was a small ad it was seen by millions of potential racing fans.  The commercial not only got people thinking about the Kentucky Derby and racing but it also drew them into to what the future could hold in racing.  More farms and racetracks need to follow in the footsteps of Winstar or this wonderful sporting event will be lost.  
         For my personal blog, all topics in this course provided great information but specially Search Marketing and Social Media Marketing will help me to market my blog and myself.  By using my blog to market myself I can show any future employers what I can do and how successful I can be.  The digital marketing space has seen so many changes in such a short amount of time and it will continue to fluctuate for some time to come.  I think the biggest change will be in how marketers access and collect user information.  There are more and more concerns coming to light about how user data is collected.  Especially with behavioral marketing, users are not happy with how the information is collected and used “against them.” I feel over the next several years there will be more strenuous regulations on how marketers can acquire and use data about users.  Do you agree?  Is there another aspect of digital marketing you think will see more change?  Let me know in the comments below.  Thank you for coming along on this journey with me.  Until next time, TTFN! Ta ta for now!

Companies Want to Know: Do you Enjoy Their Website?

           One big pull in digital marketing is the company’s website.  It is where viewers can find information on the product and on the company.  It is where they can go to get answers and write a review.  Hopefully, it is also where the company can connect with the viewers to answer their concerns and issues.  However, the most frustrating thing as a viewer, is to go to a website that you cannot work to save your life.  Those sites that are so complicated that you leave defeated and with a bad taste in your mouth about the company or product.  I am sure many of you have been to those sites.  Personally, I found many school websites were very hard to work.  While searching for a good school to complete my MBA, I started to get really frustrated with some of the sites I visited.  I concluded that those schools really did not want people to attend because of the lack of information I could find.  While DeVry’s website was about average in the amount of information I could find and the ease of use, what I really appreciated was the representatives who actively reached out to me.  

            For my current course, I chose to follow Burberry throughout the eight-week class.  Looking at their website was a lot different than most sites I have seen before.  For those who do not know, Burberry is a high-fashion clothing store with locations around the world and online.  They sell everything from outerwear to make-up to swimming suites for women, men and children.  When you first access their website, it takes you to a modified homepage with one large picture, three navigation options (women, men and children), and a search bar.  While it is nice to have the navigations available, it does take a few extra steps to get to the homepage I am more familiar with.  That is where the company name and logo are at the top, there are department options on either the side or the top (under the company name), and there is a search area at the top right corner.  When you hit the departments, they turn into drop down menus that allow you to further specify what product you are looking for.  What I like about Burberry is they do not do the normal picture slide show that you see in other clothing stores.  Their pictures are much more artistic, while still showing the item itself.  I feel that their mobile store is a bit more user friendly.  This is great for the store because it allows customers on the go to easily access, find, and purchase products.  I have no suggestions for their mobile site.  However, for their website, I would suggest a little less artistic layout.  While it was nice to have the different picture format, it was a bit of a challenge to browse through their products.  Other than that, there is not much to want for with their site.  

            These are the type of suggestions companies want to know about.  They want to see through the eyes of the customers and find ways to make our shopping experience easier and seamless.  Many times, when you shop online, there is a survey at the end.  For those who opt-in, many categories will be address, one of those being the website itself.  Companies, especially those who are experience high bounce rate and high exit rate before checking out, will want to know why the customers are leaving before checking out.  To do this they ask customers active on their site or those who have checked out to take a survey.  The survey helps them to know the likes and dislikes of customers.  While not all issues can be solved, a majority of them can.  So, by providing feedback, you allow the companies to better serve you.  With this knowledge will you be more inclined to take the surveys?  Are there some websites that you believe would benefit greatly from providing surveys?  Let me know in the comments below.  See you back next week for our last digital marketing post.  Until then, TTFN!  Ta ta for now!

Burberry. (2018). Women | Burberry® (United States). Retrieved February 05, 2018, from https://us.burberry.com/women/