Google Analytics qualification and Data Studio certification
Final Takeaways from MBA 536 Internet Marketing
Internet marketing and e-commerce are vast and ever-changing subjects to study. It has been thrilling to see how marketers can reach target audiences in various ways online. The seven weeks of projects for Southern Oregon University’s MBA 536 class has been rewarding. As I reflect upon all the many tips of the internet-marketing icebergs, there are five final takeaways I’d like to share.
UX
Creating a website for specific clients or users is fun and all but understanding the simple design details that will delight visitors is where the rewards come. Before MBA 536, I had no idea that user experience is represented by the term UX. There are many variations of UX such as user experience design (UXD, sometimes UED), user interface (UI), and user-centered design (UCD). I learned at the center of a website visitor’s experience, it is the user’s perspective that matters most. To create the best UX content creators should be mindful of six qualities. From now on as I develop this website I will constantly be trying to improve the findability, accessibility, desirability, usability, credibility, and usefulness of its content.
SlideDocs
Anyone can make slides or documents to share with colleagues or clients, but can they combine the two? Yes, they can. I learned from Nancy Duarte’s website the art of making Slidedocs. In a nutshell, Slidedocs helps break down ideas into readable chunks – with text in columns put on slides that can be supplemented with visuals. Slidedocs are meant to be read and allow users to take in information at their own pace. No bullet points are to be used like conventional PowerPoint slide decks. Nancy’s website provides fantastic templates containing a variety of Slidedocs anyone can use to effectively communicate their next great idea.
Google Analytics
Google is sharing its power of data tracking with Google Ads and Google Analytics. What’s great about using the internet search engine to gain customers is that with the right tools you can track how and why customers are finding what you want them to find. With all the data being exchanged online, it would be most advantageous to see the stories behind that data. Online marketers can use Google Analytics as a tool to see what data decisions are being made by customers. Marketers can easily compare internet campaigns and create reports to display progress and opportunities to stakeholders. With so much data traffic being exchanged every second worldwide there are plenty of great business decisions that can be made to capture attention and sales. A user can go as deep or shallow into data with Google Analytics. Users can also take free courses to learn and get certified as a guru of Google Analytics. I received my Google Analytics Individual Qualification (GAIQ) thanks to the encouragement of MBA 536.
Persona
Marketers need to know exactly who they’re targeting for clients, especially online. From my mass commercial communications background, it was enlightening to learn just how specific your reach in marketing can be when you build a Persona. Hubspot and other websites provide questionnaires and templates to identify the type of person a company is marketing to. I teamed up with some classmates to support Google Ad campaigns for a nonprofit called Positive Coaching Alliance. Before executing our campaigns we had to identify who we’re trying to find to donate to the nonprofit. You can take a look at the Persona we made by clicking here. It really helped to narrow our focus to the customers most likely to contribute to the Positive Coaching Alliance’s online goals.
Affiliate Marketing
My friend from college, Mark Hamilton, is an example of an affiliate marketer. His YouTube channel is called “Mark Reviews” and he reviews various products and services given to him from companies. These companies consider him an online influencer hoping he’ll reach the desired target market. I’m not sure whether he utilizes data analytics to get a cut of what his channel contributes, but I know he gets a lot of cool, free stuff. Better examples of affiliate marketing include third-party advertisers of products or services for a merchant in return for a sales commission or lead. MBA 536 taught me how affiliate marketing is more effective online than it is offline because on the world wide web referrals are easier to track. Check out Mark’s channel! Maybe I can track your click and Mark will give me a cut of what he enjoys from contributing companies.
What stands out as being the most useful of these takeaways is Google Analytics. Companies small and large need more people to help them make data-driven decisions and grow their online presence. Be receiving the GAIQ, an industry standard for interpreting online search engine and website customer decisions, I feel more confident in boosting a company’s growth with online customers. Now more than ever, we can track online users’ habits and decisions through data analytics. I’m grateful for MBA 536 in sharing how to use Google Analytics and to try out Google Ads with a nonprofit for an enlightening and educational campaign.
Persona for Positive Coaching Alliance
I had the chance to dabble with Hubspot’s persona application. It helps identify a company’s target market. You can get very specific in who you’re targeting for campaigns. This persona was created with the guidance of what nonprofit Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) wanted as it pursues donations. My next squirt post will highlight the work done for PCA.
For this post, check out what my marketing group (with Nick Davies) came up with in identifying the sort of people we want to contribute to our Google Ad campaign for PCA.
View the PCA persona here or see the PDF attached. What do you think?