CASA Marketing (Facebook Ads)

As I have learned this week, Facebook Ads are an ideal resource to utilize in order to increase reach towards an intended target audience. The two main types of Facebook Ads are those that appear directly in a news feed or the kind that are placed on the right side of a web page. For the purposes of social media marketing, Facebook Ads that appear on the right side of a web page are typically the most common. Once you pay for a Facebook advertising campaign, it will begin to appear in news feeds, especially those who find interest in the subject manner that you are promoting.

The ultimate goal of advertising on Facebook is to entice individuals to click on your ad, in hopes that they will like your page in the process. Once you begin regularly posting about your website or blog via Facebook, in addition to running an ad, you can further promote content by "boosting" it, that is, paying an additional fee to Facebook to increase the online presence of your posts.

Curious what a promoted post looks like on Facebook? Fear not, I have you covered with this screenshot pictured below:

Notice that once a post is boosted, Facebook provides in depth information that you would be otherwise unable to view, which includes data related to organic reach, paid reach, and post clicks.

In the event that you're ready to create a Facebook ad, I recommend following a few of the following pointers to guide you through the process:

• Monitor how many clicks your page/content receives, especially the click through rate (CTR) 
• Make sure to target a specific target market that would be interested in the content that you're promoting 
• Be sure to add interests to your Facebook advertising campaign to hone in on a particular audience 
• Decide whether you want to run an ad on a Lifetime Budget or Daily Budget, and add corresponding start/end dates if necessary
• Understand the concept of CPC (cost per click)
• Add images to enhance content
• Keep content simple and offer a value proposition to differentiate your brand from others 
• Consistently monitor the ad campaign to track progress and results 

CASA Marketing (Reviewing Performance Of Campaigns)

Reviewing performance campaigns on Google Analytics and Facebook is arguably one of the most important components to monitor as you begin becoming familiar with digital marketing. Even more, understanding how to analyze information on Google Analytics or Facebook is critical as well. Before you decide to pay Facebook for advertising your content, it is essential to practice using the features available on the site. In addition, learning how to use Google Analytics to your advantage to measure ROI is an important skill to learn and refine.

I believe that the following terms/topic provide the best insight into how to review the performance of a campaign on Google Analytics or Facebook:

• Session: this term corresponds with a visit to a webpage.

• Bounce Rate: indicates the percentage of sessions with only one user interaction or page view. It is better to have a lower bounce rate than a higher one.

• Trending: monitoring how themes or concepts perform over a period of time.

• Traffic: the amount of people that are visiting a webpage. Look out for "bots", which could be responsible for generating spam traffic. Also, it is important to decide if the content you're posting is better suited for mobile or desktop, as this could affect the flow of traffic to your posts.

• Dashboard/Reports: tools that enable users to manually find items or pieces of information.

• Export: the ability to share content with friends or colleagues.

Speaking of Google Analytics, please view the screenshot pictured below for an inside look into the terms and topics that I have discussed above. In particular, notice how a high bounce rate can negatively impact a performance review. 

Facebook Ad

This past weekend, I created a Facebook Ad that is linked to this exact blog. The ultimate goal of creating an advertisement on Facebook is to send people to a specific website. In this case, that website is my personal marketing blog.

I specified social media marketing as an interest while developing my Facebook Ad in order to ensure that I was reaching out to the correct target audience. With a clearly defined target market, it is easier to reach certain segments within the Facebook community. 

I also made sure to create a Lifetime Budget of $20.00, which is planned to run for approximately a week. After the advertisement runs its full course, I will have a much better understanding of how Facebook advertising can benefit a company in terms of overall ROI. 

After beginning my Facebook Ad on 9/25, I have noticed results starting to compile. The following images represent various results I found interesting from the early parts of my Facebook campaign:

Although my Facebook advertising campaign is still in its initial stages, some insightful data is available to analyze, which includes:

• I have 12 website clicks as of 9/28
• Males and Females between the ages of 18-24 appear to represent my largest reach in terms of demographics
• My link has only been clicked on by people in one country, which is the United States 
• My ad campaign has resulted in 4,214 impressions as of 9/28
• As of 9/28, my Facebook Ad has an overall reach of 2,359 people
• CPM as of 9/28 = $2.47

Below is a glimpse into the results of my completed Facebook Ad campaign, after it ran its course for a full week:

WCIYP (There Are Over Eight Million Vacancies Available Each Month)

The mere fact that there are over eight million job vacancies available each month contradicts the belief that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find an occupation in the United States. According to What Color Is Your Parachute, the job-hunting experience has not changed in essence since 2008, but rather in behavior. In fact, I dove into this very subject in my previous blog post pertaining to this exact topic. In short, the fear of not being able to find a job is more of a misconception than people think.

If you're currently a job-hunter, or simply considering the idea of a career change, be sure to examine the following five statements that can be found in Chapter 3 of What Color Is Your Parachute:

• Job-hunting is not a science; it is an art
• Some people are adept at finding a new job, while others struggle. The good news is that there are resources available to assist everyone in the job-hunting process.

• Job-hunting is always mysterious
• It can be very difficult process to job-hunt, and sometimes it may seem cloudy in terms of actually finding a position. However, it is important to keep a positive attitude throughout the entire process, as you will eventually find a job. 

• There is no "always wrong" way to hunt for a job or to change careers
• There are likely ideal ways to find a job or change careers, but nothing is necessarily set in stone. People find different ways to succeed in life on a regular basis.

• There is no "always right" way to hunt for a job or change careers
• Similar to how there is no "always wrong" way to hunt for a job or to change careers, there is no"always right" way to go about the process either. Therefore, it can be considered a subjective manner.

• Job-hunting is, or should be, a full-time job
• If you find yourself struggling to find a job, this may mean that you need to invest more time into the job-hunting process. As it is with anything in life, the more time that you devote to something, the more likely it is that you will succeed. The same goes for job-hunting, especially if you're serious about landing a position. 

Speaking of job-hunting, I am currently seeking a job in the sports marketing industry and have found that LinkedIn is one of my favorite resources to find work through. It's simple and offers a clean look. If you don't believe me, be sure to check out the following image where I am searching for jobs at ESPN:

Facebook Activity

Today in class, I liked the following two pages on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/npoex and
http://www.facebook.com/freedomsongs.

After doing so, I was granted administrative access to each Facebook page to in order to determine if a return on investment was being made. To measure this, I navigated through each page's activity and insights tabs to decipher if boosting posts resulted in a larger overall reach for the intended target audience. Once I completed the class activity, it became clear that boosted posts clearly reach more people on Facebook than do organic posts.

The NPOEx Facebook page had quite a few posts boosted. In comparison to organic posts, it was rather evident that boosted posts reached more people. Typically, this resulted in more post clicks for the page, which is the ultimate goal when investing in advertising on Facebook.

The Freedom Songs page did not appear to contain many boosted posts. However, the page was useful to analyze information pertaining to what type of people view the page, including what countries they reside from.

Here are some notes from what I discovered on the Freedom Songs Facebook page, which focused on user information:

• Top 3 Countries 
• Egypt
• Bahrain
• Yemen

• Gender/Ages
• Men- 53%
• Women- 46%
• Most popular age group: 18-24
• 26% Men
• 24% Women

Although the United States was not the primary country that dominated likes for the Freedom Songs page, I found it interesting that English was still the most popular language.

Overall, this exercise was very rewarding, as I now have a better understanding of how to navigate through Facebook pages as an administrator in order to determine if advertising efforts are resulting in a ROI.

For an inside look at the one of Facebook pages I have discussed within this blog post, please look at the screenshot pictured below:

CASA Marketing (Getting Traffic For Analytics)

A key component of web analytics is learning how to generate traffic to a blog or website. Sharing a link on social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn is one of the most basic forms of social media marketing. When posting on social media platforms, it is recommended to include visuals in order to enhance a viewer's experience. Also, if you plan on using a blog for analytic purposes, it is important to regularly post (once a week) in order to have enough data for Google Analytics to process.

Once you have content to post on social media, it is essential to promote it. Facebook enables users to promote posts by simply paying the company advertising fees. After a post is promoted on Facebook, each of your posts are being paid for to gain exposure. In addition, Facebook will list each promoted post as "sponsored" after it is paid for, which not only makes content appear more credible, but also increases the overall reach of your content to an intended audience. Hence, once a post on Facebook is promoted, it will appear across a variety of news feeds, as opposed to only those of friends or colleagues.

Another sound strategy to gain traffic for analytic purposes is to make an advertising campaign on Facebook. This will enable you to control who your posts are exposed to, especially where demographics and geographics are concerned. I have also learned from experience that adding an image to an ad campaign is a unique way to differentiate a brand from other competitors in a market. This will also assist you in selecting a target audience, as you will want to advertise towards a select number of segments that will be interested in your product or service. If a target audience is not clearly defined, the money you invest into an ad campaign on Facebook will be unsatisfactory since it will be exposed to individuals who may not be interested in what you have to offer. Once a target market is defined, it is imperative to decide what type of ad budget should be implemented. For example, creating a lifetime budget on Facebook will likely mean that you plan on continuously advertising at a nominal rate. However, if you wish to take an aggressive approach to advertising, you can switch to a "per day" payment in order to accommodate peak times to promote a product.

It should now be clear that Facebook is an excellent resource to utilize in order to generate traffic and analytics from. The ability to analyze data from a social media marketing campaign is a strong skill to possess, especially with how prevalent technology is in today's society due to the reliance that placed on social media platforms.

The following screenshot illustrates how simple it is to create an ad campaign on Facebook:

WCIYP (There Are Over Eight Million Vacancies Available Each Month)

I find it hard to believe that there are over eight million job vacancies available each and every month, but according to What Color Is Your Parachute, this is exactly the case. Although the book discusses how the job-hunt has largely changed since 2008, Chapter 3 specifically discusses how it really has not changed all that much. The author credits this contradiction to essence and behavior. The behavior of job-hunting is realistically always changing, due in part to advances in technology. However, the overall essence of a job-hunt never truly changes, as trying to find a match between your personality and an employer will forever remain the end-goal. The most important piece of information that I took away from reading this chapter is that the job-hunt is a two-way conversation. In other words, although the employer may hold more power in terms of hiring ability, your opinion should be just as large as a factor during a conversation.

Although it appears difficult at times to find a new occupation, the job-hunting market is truly never as bleak as it seems. In Chapter 3 of What Color Is Your Parachute, the author utilizes an analogy about owning a dress shop that is extremely reassuring. In short, he argues that the job market is comparable to a change in inventory, that is, if a retailer adjusts inventory, the net change is completely different than the actual change. The same goes for job-hunting in the sense that more positions will become available at the expense of others being created or filled.

CASA Marketing (Facebook Pages)

Believe it or not, creating a Facebook page is one of the easiest options to begin a social media marketing campaign. However, before creating a page of Facebook, it is important to understand the company's business model, In short, Facebook earns a majority of its revenue off of advertising. More specifically, Facebook charges people to "boost" posts on its pages to promote them across more news feeds. Therefore, if you create a Facebook page and solely attempt to gain an online presence through current friends or colleagues by earning "likes", your page will be limited to only those people you are connected with on the site. On the other hand, if you pay Facebook to "boost" your page, it will gain exposure and will become exposed to people across the world through Facebook's sponsored advertising.

In order to determine if it is worth "boosting" your page on Facebook, it is necessary to look at various analytics. For example, if you publish a post, Facebook will allow you to track the number of page views associated with that specific page. By analyzing page views and traffic, you will be able to determine if a Facebook page is earning a large enough return on investment (ROI) to warrant paying reoccurring advertising fees. One way to determine if a Facebook page is worth "boosting" is to pay a nominal rate to gauge its level of success. If popular, it may be logical to expand advertising efforts to increase social credibility and grow your overall brand. If unsuccessful, it may be time to reconsider advertising on Facebook. Instead, focusing on search engine optimization (SEO) on Google could be an sound alternative in order to effectively advertise a brand.

Overall, I highly recommend creating a Facebook page for your company or brand if you have not done so already. In addition, it is worth the minimal investment to "boost" your posts to appeal to a larger target audience. Focusing on content as opposed to the channel of social media (Facebook for this example) is also important to consider, especially where social media marketing strategy is concerned.

Speaking of Facebook pages, feel free to take a look at the screenshot pictured below of a page I made for a company I created my junior year in college, which is called Tuned Vision.

WCIYP (Google Is Your New Resume)

Although the Internet has become the prominent source for employers to research information about individuals, an old fashioned resume is still important to regularly update. In fact, with Google widely considered to be the new form of a resume, it should be relatively easy to transfer information from online to paper. According to What Color Is Your Parachute, creating a "Pre-Google Resume" is vital in order to personalize a relationship with employers and potentially differentiate yourself from other candidates applying for a job.

In short, the following topics are among the most important to include on a classic resume:

• Send a resume by e-mail, but also be sure to send a more polished version through the post office directly to an employer.

• Pay attention to the "feel" of the paper you're using for your resume. Allegedly, employers will subconsciously read or dismiss a resume solely based on the texture of a piece of paper.

• Ensure that your resume has a purpose-- that is-- it should earn you an interview with a potential employer!

• Only mention strengths on a resume. If an employer asks you about your weaknesses during an interview, then that's another story. However, only provide positive accolades about yourself on a resume to increase your chances of becoming hired or earning an interview.

• Search for keywords to include on a resume that are trending in your field of expertise. This will allow you to stand out if an employer takes the time to glance through your resume.

• Be careful with references on a resume. More specifically, make sure to ask approval from someone before making them a reference. 

Overall, classic resumes are still important to update and use in order to earn a job. It is imperative to edit, fill in, expand, and add to a resume before submitting it to a future employer. The sole purpose of a resume is to use it as a bridge to an interview, so be sure that it is as complete and organzied as possible.

Below is a snapshot of my current resume, which follows some of the recommendations I have mentioned above:

Blogalytics

In order to become familiar with Google Analytics, it is first important to understand blogalytics, or simply put- creating a blog. After creating and regularly blogging, using Google Analytics to monitor web traffic will not appear as intimidating as it looks. The first step in this process is create a Google Account or Gmail Address. Next, create an account on Blogger, which will enable you to begin writing blog posts on content that you're learning or are an expert on.

Once you complete these steps, you can then start a Google Analytics account to begin tracking data. This can be a rather rigorous process, but is worth the hassle in the end. The step that is most confusing for setting up a Google Analytics account is obtaining a tracking ID. In order to complete this step properly, be sure to read and follow the instructions provided by Google carefully. Once your account for Google Analytics is verified, it is then time to sync it with your blogger account. This will allow you to analyze who is viewing your blog posts, and offer insight into various marketing concepts, such as demographics and geographic related to your reading audience.

The only way to become fully comfortable with Google Analytics is to practice using it. I have done just that this week, as I am still grasping the basics of how to utilize the resource myself. One of key features available in Google Analytics is the ability to delve into data ranges for a post or blog. This will allow you to look for trends and determine if your website or blog is earning revenue or meeting goals. Overall, I highly recommend creating a Google Analytics and Blogger account, as they are both integral components of web analytics as a whole.

For a quick preview of Google Analytics, please view the screenshot below:

WCIYP (Google Is Your New Resume)

It may be scary to think, but employers have a new resource at their disposal to find information about any individual in a matter of seconds. In fact, this specific resource can also be considered a resume, since it includes endless information about your life. I'm sure you're curious as to what this new resource is. Well, according to What Color Is Your Parachute, this new resource is Google, and it should also be considered your new resume.

Essentially, all an employer has to do is Google your name and a virtual resume will appear. However, it's not a typical resume. Instead, it consists of everything that you have posted on the Internet, including content on social media. Clearly, the control is now in the employer's hands before you even have the opportunity to earn an interview. Hence, it is very important to monitor what you post on social media outlets, and ensure that you represent a positive image of yourself.

This week, I learned that there are four things that can be done to improve your Google Resume in the eyes of an employer. The steps that can be taken are to edit, fill in, expand, and add to what is already existing on the Internet pertaining to yourself.


1.)  Edit

• Google yourself to see what comes up under your name. If the information appears to be inappropriate, be sure to edit it accordingly. Also, make sure to remove content from all social media sites that could be frowned upon by future employers, such as pictures with alcohol. 

2.) Fill In

• For any social media site--particularly LinkedIn for the purpose of this argument-- make it a priority to completely fill out a profile so that it is easier for recruiters to find you among other competitors for a job. Even more, be sure to regularly update your profile to appear professional and organized. 

3.) Expand

• It is also essential to expand your presence on the Internet and social media. This can be done by participating in forums, creating a blog, joining Twitter, or creating videos. 

4.) Add

• The best route to add information to the Internet is by creating an old fashioned resume and posting it online. However, it is important to post it to only certain sites that relate to the area of business that you are interested in. 

CASA Marketing (Skillbox: Content)

One of the most critical aspects of social media marketing is the ability to offer quality content to an end-user. In particular, the following three areas of content are of the most importance: curation, creation, and collaboration. From what I have read, curation is related to searching for content, including sharing, reviewing, and commenting on it in a social media landscape. For example, finding a YouTube video that is appealing to you and then consequently linking it to a social media platform can be considered a form of curation. Creation is the most unique form of content, as it gives you the freedom to create a blog post or write an article and post it on a social media medium. Finally, I learned that collaboration is creating content with other people, in order to develop a more polished finished product. Finding people with different skill-sets and allocating work is an ideal way to create quality content and combine resources.

Another important step in broadening your overall skills in relation to social media marketing is becoming familiar with Google and its corresponding tools. There are many ways to approach learning about Google's resources, including how each can make a positive impact for marketing on social media.

Please consider the following list of Google tools and resources as essential pieces to understand and utilize in order to become a successful social media marketer:

• Create a Google Account or Gmail Address
• Start a Blog (Use Blogger)
• Create a Free Website (Wordpress or Google Sites)
• Make/Edit Videos
• Become familiar with editing on YouTube
• Understand how to crop images (Use Picresize)
• Know how to take screenshots of images

Overall, I strongly believe that Blogger is one of the easiest ways to refine your social media marketing skills, while verbalizing knowledge and creating content in the process.

WCIYP (It's a Whole New World for Job-Hunters)

As I mentioned in my previous blog post pertaining to the book"What Color Is Your Parachute", by Richard N. Bolles, job-hunting and career-changing have evolved dramatically since 2008. Remarkably, the book discusses how job-hunters and employers speak practically two different languages in its first chapter. For instance, to job-hunters the word skills represents the ability to perform a task, but to employers the term relates to experience. I found the analogy of job-hunters and employers speaking different languages to be rather interesting, especially if you consider researching about a potential employer being similar to visiting a foreign country. In other words, before you visit another country, it is necessary to understand their customs and values. The same could be said for a company before you interview for a position, as you need to be prepared to adapt to the preferences an employer is searching for.

As I continued to ponder through the various reasons why job-hunters and employers speak different languages, I came across six contrasts that were rather compelling. Below are three of the most important language barriers that I came across:

• "You want the job-market to be a hiring game. But the employer regards its as an elimination   game-untl the very last phase."

• "In being considered for a job, you want your solid past performance (summarized on your written resume) to be all that gets weighed."

• "You want the employer to hunt for you the same way you are hunting for them." 

Consider the image below for further insight as to how job-hunters and employers differ in terms of searching for job vacancies:

The quotes and picture above represent common misconceptions that job-hunters perceive when in the market for a new occupation. In the end, it is imperative to realize that time is the main concern for job-hunters, while risk is the primary value for employers. The ability to express self-worth or value to a potential employer is a required interpersonal skill in order to succeed in today's new world of searching for work. 

CASA Marketing (Overview of Google Analytics)

This week, I began to learn about the basics of Google Analytics. From a beginner's perspective, I have found that personal ROI, organizational ROI, and tools (free and corporate) are important concepts of web analytics to gain an understanding of. Although Google Analytics appears to be complex, it is clear that the tools associated with the topic are necessary to hone as a future marketer.

Personal ROI is important to consider for social media marketing, digital marketing, and business intelligence to measure the success of a marketing campaign. Likewise, organizational ROI is useful to determine if a business is operating under a profitable social media campaign, or if it is simply not earning a sufficient return on its investment. Social media marketing is often referred to as "social analytics", whereas business intelligence is known as "advanced analytics". Nonetheless, both are vital tools to implement in order to successfully measure ROI. Failure to measure ROI can result in a substantial loss of resources and time for a business. I have also learned that important tools, such as Adobe Analytics, Open Source Analytics, and Social Analytics, are important to research and practice using in order to gain a full understanding of web analytics. However, it is noteworthy to mention that the various tools available come in both free and paid forms. Therefore, it is logical to use free trials in order to see if a particular tool will be beneficial to purchase for regular use. Overall, I look forward to continuing to expand my knowledge around Google Analytics, in hopes to become certified by the end of the semester.

WCIYP (It's a Whole New World for Job-Hunters)

"What Color Is Your Parachute", by Richard N. Bolles is an incredible book to use as a resource for anyone who is in the job-hunting market, or simply looking for a career change. In its first chapter, the idea of a whole new world is presented to emphasize that the process of finding and earning a job has changed dramatically over the years. In order to succeed in this new business atmosphere, it is essential to adapt to the current trends of job-hunting.

Hence, I believe that one of the most important topics discussed in the first chapter of this book is that job-hunting has moved more online since 2008. According to the book, the five most common places to locate jobs (usually referred to as job-boards) are:

1.) Search Engines

2.) Mega Job-Boards

3.) Niche Job-Boards

4.) Company Job-Boards

5.) Job-Boards For Particular Ages

I personally believe that these are legitimate resources to research jobs, but I prefer to use LinkedIn as my main option. As I attempt to market myself and find a job related to sports marketing, I have found that LinkedIn offers enormous amounts of information relating to potential jobs, including a large database that contains precise job descriptions. In addition, I have found that social media is another reliable platform to find an occupations. In fact, I recently earned a fantasy football writing job from a link on Twitter. Overall, it is clear that the job-hunting process has shifted to an online presence.

CASA Marketing (The Basics For Having Fun and Finding Work)

To begin the semester, I was introduced to the basics of social media marketing. In short, return on investment (ROI), engagement/public relations, and channels (Facebook and Twitter) stood out to me as being some of the most important aspects of marketing on a social media landscape.

Return On Investment, otherwise known as ROI, is simply the measurement used to see if a business or individual is earning money off of social media marketing. It is critical to monitor the funding of a social media campaign in order to determine if it is profitable or a waste of financial resources. In order to efficiently measure ROI, it is crucial to practice the skill regularly. Failure to do so will result in consequences, such as the inability to decipher if a particular social media marketing channel is a match for your brand or product. One way to interact with a social media channel in order to gauge its level of success is through engagement. While engaging with an audience, promotions and other forms of content will allow a business or individual to generate buzz, awareness, or attention. Essentially, engagement is a form of public relations in marketing, as interacting with a target audience enables a business to listen to its customers and simultaneously build relationships in the process. Finally, I believe it is important to understand the social media channels that are available to utilize to promote a business. Currently, Facebook and Twitter appear to be the most dependable platforms to market content on from a social media perspective. Overall, I believe that the material I have learned this week is extremely beneficial to know as a marketer, and could be useful to consider in order to find work in the future.

Other important introductory concepts to consider about social media marketing include:

• B2B and B2C marketing
• Monitoring (Radian 6 and Social Mentions)
• Posting
• Tools (Internal, Third Party)
• Things change!