Three Things I've Learned

1. Internet Marketing is next to impossible to pin down--it's always changing, never pausing for a single moment. Once you learn something it's out of date. Maybe that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but the moment you collect data for your business of which you are attempting to make a marketing assessment, nine times out of ten the data is incorrect by the time you present the statistics to the board; however, that may be great news regarding the growth of a company. In any case, it's a taxing world, internet marketing. You have to be in-the-now and always on top of your game to keep up with this industry. Customs and conventional ways around the internet are changing as we speak, and it's accelerating at such a fast pace that you are always in the process of learning. Yet, isn't that half the fun? You are always learning about the internet and new technology while simultaneously utilizing it and applying to your business' success. There are many facets fo internet marketing of which a business needs to be aware in order to create and enjoy long-term success.

2. The smallest of details can either majorly withhold your company from improvement or catapult it towards success, depending on which way they are handled. The smallest of details in web design, in target marketing, in advertisements, word choice, and so forth all have a large impact on target audience members. Understanding your targe audience is also crucial down to how they live, how they act, and how they think. Getting feedback from your audience is probably the most helpful information that any company could ever hope to receive, whether comments are positive, negative, constructive, or anywhere in between. It is hard to motivate people to leave the simplest of comments or to participate on your company's social media sites, but if effort is placed within the 80/20 rule, (where 80% of interaction is simply for building bonds and relationships and for the benefit of the customer and 20% is for self-advertisement), then customers will begin to instill trust and desire that relationship with your company. They'll begin lending their voices and becoming your most trustworthy and valuable advisors if you want to learn how better to serve them and to improve your company. Relationship building and customer to company interaction is crucial in internet marketing.

3. I've never understood the entire vast scope of internet marketing in different contexts. With certain businesses, I never understood why they would ever dive deeper into video-making on YouTube or create accounts on social media sites like Pinterest or Tumblr. I believed some pairing--like Rhapsody and Pinterest--did not make any sense at all and was a waste of effort, time, and money. However, I've learned that companies and internet marketing are in fact social media in themselves. They are simply vehicles of communication and relationships between previously faceless companies, CEO's and slogans and unnamed, unthinking consumers. Now the relationships have evolved to become those between a friendly helpful business full of your average everyday human beings and thinking, caring, thoughtful customers who are also average everyday people with similar interests, wants, goals, dreams, desires, tastes, etc. Oddly, the internet and social media has made both sides of the relationship human again. Therefore, I began to see the value in every touchpoint of the relationship, whether on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, 4Square, QR codes, Groupon, and so many more.

I especially enjoyed this class, finally being able to learn how to verbalize such a complex and ever-moving world of internet marketing. I can see the purpose (or the attempt of purpose) in each advertisment that comes across Facebook, every company that I've "liked" and their 80/20 posts that before seemed random to me but now holds so much more value, and in every move the company makes in order to improve their services or products. I have a deeper understanding of the high intensity interconnectedness across the web and a greater appreciation for it. I'm glad I've learned so much that is incredibly valuable to having a successful business, especially unconventional notions that aren't so "academic" or book or number-based--for example, such as the idea of sharing a story. Sharing a relative and relatable story is something that I have not hear of in business courses as much as it was stressed and expressed in this course, and I am very grateful for it.

What I've Learned About Internet Marketing

This class has been a pleasure to take; I was excited to sign up ever since I heard it was a course.  There have been many new and exciting things I've learned; however, the three that stand out the most are the 80/20 rule, the importance of developing a relevant story, and the how crucial it is to maintain each page.

The 80/20 rule is something that I surprisingly never learned about before this class.  After hearing that it is a rule that splits up the amount of items for posted for promotions vs. giving the customer what they want, I realized it was extremely important.  Customers do not want to solely hear about what the company is up to.  They are more interested in things that led them to "like" or follow the company in the first place.

The content of the story being told is also significant.  I will now always remember about the importance of relevance.  A story needs to appeal on an emotional level to connect with customers.  It also needs to be simple and to the point.  Stories should not be long and bore the reader or viewer.  Through examples and creating my own internet marketing strategy, I now feel confident in my ability to create compelling internet stories.

With the particular organization I did my project on (Childhaven), I had the opportunity to analyze a company that does not uphold a social media presence.  Before this class, I had always been disappointed whenever I stumbled across a Facebook or Twitter that had minimal updates.  However, after this class I almost cringe because I now know the vast amount of potential available that is being wasted.

What I've learnt ...?

What I have learnt in this class surely surpasses the objectives stated in the syllabus. The idea of Internet Marketing with today's tools such as videos, social media channels, games, etc. was not new to me; however, even I am aware of it, I didn't know how to actually use it. 80/20 Rule; content is king, but context is queen; relevant, interesting content at the right place, right time; etc., all were new, make sense, but interesting, and inspiring. 


I've also learnt that this

and this 

if done well can be viral and worth thousands of words. So obviously, since technology is becoming so cheap, these are where marketers need to strongly take advantage of for some budget reasons, and specially for making successful marketing campaigns.


Last thing, I've finally learnt how to speak to others like a professional, or a great believer. I love TED talks, not because of the content, but because of the enthusiasm of speakers. I am grateful for materials provided in class which really helped me build my confidence, pride, braveness, and then enthusiasm about my presentation. I delivered a message through a talk, a speech, not through slides of text and pictures and maybe videos. I made a story out of all ideas I wanted to deliver and told the story. I am not great, yet. However, I know I am moving forward! :) How great is that when you have the feeling of self-fulfillment, huh? Yes, you know what I am talking about :D


Enjoy some days off before we come back and rock this world [I guess for those who are going to summer school only! For the rest, enjoy your summer \^0^/] I <3 you all! ;)

This class is one of the funniest and interesting business classes that I have taken in SU. I love how relax and free it is in the class. Throughout the whole class, we have been watching a lot of videos about how companies use online resources to market their business. I learn stuff by seeing it so I think videos along with the lecture really help me understand the concepts a lot better. 

There is a lot of stuff that I learnt from this class. I learnt that internet marketing is becoming more and more important and more people are using it. When using the Internet to market your business, if there is a story, you can get more attentions because people love to see stories. Also, customers want you to hear them. Another strategy that the businesses should be using is to build up their relationship with their customers. Furthermore, social media platforms are now being used very widely. People rely on Internet more than before and people now love to check on social medias thus, it is a good way to market themselves if the business have a social media such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Internet Marketing lessons

In this internet marketing class I have learned about the power of a powerful message. Sharing a story that inspires your audience can be the best way for customers to have a genuine interaction with your brand. Using humor is also a way to relay a heartfelt message from your brand.

Also I learned about the importance of messaging your audience with relevant information at the right time. If they are constantly bombarded with marketing messages from one brand they will begin to ignore the all together and block them out with the other thousands of messages they are exposed to everyday.

Lastly, using Facebook and Twitter as a resource to interact with customers is an important factor. Just because you can share every single marketing message doesn't mean you should. The 80/20 rule should be applied to every internet marketing strategy.  

Listen, Learn, Deliver...

Internet marketing introduced many new methods of interacting with customers on a much more personal and cost effective level than in decades past.  While social media, mobile advertising, and user generated content have opened up many new avenues, three elements remain key in developing a successful online campaign.

Listen
The basic underlining concept of marketing is to identify a customer's needs or wants.  Without this principle, marketers, product designers, and engineers often miss the whole point of why their product or service exists in the first place - to alleviate the pain of a customer's unfulfilled need or want.  Yet, so many companies fall victim in failing to understand and implement this very important concept.  They fail to listen to their customers.  It becomes even more important with Internet marketing as we discover new ways to reach and interact with customers to provide near-instant satisfaction.

Learn
Many of these new fangled techniques developed in Internet marketing are still in their relative infancy...especially compared to traditional newspaper advertising.  The pace at which new technologies emerge is so fast that often marketers take too long trying to perfect a product offering causing them to ultimately miss a prime opportunity.  Thus it is essential to not be afraid to make mistakes along the way as long as we are able to learn from them and improve upon our flaws.  No one is perfect, it is a fact of life and it proves once again that we are all human.

Deliver
Once marketers listen to what their customers want and learn how to improve upon their existing strategies it becomes absolutely critical to deliver on the expectations they have set upon their target market.  Most will forgive a minor flaw, but a huge debacle is not only hard to solve; it becomes increasingly easier for unhappy customers to publicize the gaffe into the blogosphere and eventually into the main media.  No company wants to face such a public relations nightmare as it could potentially lead to huge negative repercussions.  Hence, the ability to deliver and execute on a product offering becomes even more important as it essentially separates the winners from the losers.

IS 462 Reflection

The future of marketing is interactivity. We are heading into a direction where the marketing messages that individuals see, are for that individual. They relate to that individuals interests, hobbies, habits, etc. The target audiences for these marketing messages will be complex because they will be very specific; they will incorporate many variables. Currently, technologies individuals use and rely on are able gather data about individuals so that they could be marketed to in a more effective manner. In the future these technologies will make it easier to gather data about individuals so they can be marketed to in an even more effective manner.  The marketing messages will also be interesting because consumers will be able to interact with them. The Xbox Kinect is an example of a technology that allows consumers to interact with marketing messages they run across on their Xbox.

Social media plays a key role in the marketing and production of businesses. The more active businesses are with social media, the more their business booms. Consumers want to be heard, and social media allows them to be heard in a very convenient way. Social media sites such as YouTube have opened endless possibilities for creativity and interactivity for businesses. Social media sites such as Facebook, and Twitter can really empower businesses to listen to their consumers, make adjustments, resolve complaints, offer help, etc. At the same time, social media enables businesses with the ability to promote themselves.

Mobile technologies are becoming increasingly important. Consumers are moving towards mobile technologies in a rapid way. I was surprised to hear that Apple has sold more iPads in recent years than the amount of Macs ever sold. I think that there is a lot of potential in the mobile technology market for a lot of businesses out there.  Mobile websites and applications should be a main focus of businesses that want to gain an edge in their markets.

It is very interesting to see how fast technology is changing the world. Looking back just 10 years, technology has dramatically improved and changed things. It continues to improve and change things at a fast pace. Businesses should make the most of these technologies when marketing. Otherwise, they may be left behind and become irrelevant. Businesses must be ready for the changes in technologies and adjust accordingly.

Evan's Final Reflections

This class has been intriguing on a number of levels. I would like to explore three ideas and notions covered in this course which I found to be particularly engaging.

There is a single overarching takeaway I drew from our study of Internet marketing. This lesson centers on the importance of embracing change, in marketing and in all facets of life. Internet marketing epitomizes the idea of a rapidly changing landscape ripe with opportunities. That being so, it is still a new arena where many people are uncomfortable or simply refuse to enter. Rejecting shifts, no matter what stage they may be in, is not a sustainable practice for any individual or enterprise. Rather than spectating on the sidelines or remaining ignorant, the best result and greatest success results from diving in and exploring for yourself. The true potential of something so vast and quickly changing can only be appreciated through a first person account. There is something for everybody, but equally importantly--you must make the initial leap then carefully pursue relevant and interesting emergence's while filtering all the background noise. Soon the Internet and its multifarious platforms will be central to all matters and dealings. Neglecting this reality for the comfort of contemporary practice is crippling.

On a more practical level, this class helped to clarify a defining characteristic of Internet marketing which has led to its pervasive success. I am writing of the new found power to target individuals, with specific interests and perspectives, on a broad scale and in an efficient manner.  The Internet helps to satisfy peoples needs virtually, and supports peer to peer transactions online, but the Internet is beginning to play an increasingly important role in connecting the physical and virtual realities. This capacity to connect with people on the go, in customized ways and through mobile outlets is fantastic. The potential to return to "small town rules" empowered by Internet marketing promises a future rich with hope for a renewal of humanity. The Internet will help us get our touch back, to get back to our roots, to think globally like never before while acting locally in a historic and sustainable fashion.

This leads to the third and final lesson gleaned from ECIS 462. Marketing in general and Internet marketing in particular have so many purposes and objectives beyond facilitating ubiquitous  blind consumerism. While this is at its core, especially in many opinions, it has greater potential. Internet marketin can be the avenue toward more sustainable and humane practices. Connecting the physical and virtual realms through multiple channels will surely be integral in our progress forward. This makes embracing the change purveyed by internet marketing all the more important.

From "social media idiot" to "social media immigrant" ;-)

Looking back on the quarter, I've honestly learned far more than I expected to. While many people may believe that social media is inherently intuitive, and that everyone should easily be capable of being a social media pro as long as s/he has accounts on the various social media platforms, it's not easy. Social media masters must pay attention to their content curation carefully, and they need to be aware of the 80/20 rule. A great saying that applies to being an effective social media user is that, "You have 2 ears and 1 mouth, so you should be listening twice as often as you are talking." The very same thing applies to using social media sites.

Despite this rule, though, it's still obviously important to think up great content. It is important to tell a story and help your followers connect personally with your brand. Each of your followers should people with whom you aspire to have a lasting friendship, and like any human relationship, virtual relationships must also be nurtured and tended to.

Another important aspect of internet marketing is having a consistent theme or message across all of your social media platforms; but each message should also be tailored to be most effective on the different social media platforms. E.g., a company's website should have an easy-to-use look-and-feel, and its Twitter page should have a similar style sheet with consistent and relevant content; its Facebook should also be similar but it should be also focused on the user-experience; the company's LinkedIn account should be focused on satisfying the needs of business professionals, etc.

The term "digital natives" was also new to me during this course, but since I have become aware of the term, I have had a lot of fun teaching my coworkers at Microsoft (all of whom are "digital immigrants") the difference between the digital generations. In fact, they coined their own term, "digital idiots," to describe individuals who are ignorant to technology altogether. ;-)

All in all, I learned so much from this class, and I am more aware of the advantages and disadvantages of using the different social media sites. I've already increased my tweets from about 20 to nearly 100, and I've gradually started using more mobile applications, etc., because I have a better knowledge of how I can develop my personal brand, and also how I can be benefited by the posts that companies make as well.

End of Quarter Reflection

This quarter we covered a wide range of topics. The world of Internet marketing is extremely vast, and is expanding every day. Here are three important takeaways from this quarter's discussions and lectures.

1. Mobile is the future; embrace it. While I new that the rising popularity of smartphones indicated a need for companies to look into mobile, I didn't predict that tablets and mobile devices would outsell laptops. This ties into interactivity as well and a need for mobile ads to engage with the consumer and provide captivating content. Gamification is on the rise as well, and if companies don't embrace mobile technology now, they'll soon find themselves leagues behind and struggling to successfully market their brand.
2. Mass marketing is dead. With the wealth of social media tools available, permission marketing is the only truly effective way to reach consumers. We now expect that the ads we see are not only targeted and relevant to us, but entertaining as well. We are bombarded with marketing messages that try to interrupt our days, and we don't have time to listen and respond to them. If we give a company permission to market to us, the company has a higher probability of selling because we have already expressed an interest. Permission marketing is a more cost and time efficient marketing tactic, and has caused the demise of mass marketing.
3. Video is crucial to Internet marketing success, and you have to master great storytelling to use it right. I didn't realize the importance of marketing on tools such as YouTube and Vimeo. Before this class, I really considered both more of a place for music videos, movie trailers, or user generated content. I now understand the true scope of especially YouTube's capabilities as an Internet marketing tool. We watched some incredible videos that prove that if they include compelling stories, videos are an incredibly effective way of marketing.

This was the most relevant and interesting class I have taken so far. Marketing is becoming more and more digital every day, and as a marketing major, I feel better prepared for the business world having studied the trends and principles of Internet marketing.

Reflection

Internet Marketing was one of the most valuable classes I've taken at Albers. In the class, I learned valuable, relevant information that can be applied to businesses of any scale.

This class taught me that Marketing is all about relationships. Today, people can connect with brands in ways they never could before. Companies aren't only legally persons, consumers see them as persons, with personality. People recognize brands' flaws and redeeming qualities. The more the brand reaches out to its consumers, the tighter the bond becomes. Tighter bonds make brand's qualities appear more likable, and the flaws become easier to overlook.

I also learned the importance of interesting, relevant content. The internet has ushered in an age where trends can blow up globally in a week, and die out a week later. Internet marketing tactics from three years ago are outdated now, and certainly everything we learned in this class will be outdated within a few years as well. Now that I am aware, I am better prepared for change.

Finally, I learned of the power of mobile. The mobile web is fundamentally changing the old web. We demand access to anything, anywhere, anytime. Companies need to learn how to provide our seemingly insatiable demands.

I am glad I took this class. Some of our studies were timely, an others were timeless. Even if some of the things we learned may be outdated by the time we land jobs, we were still provided with a marketing framework that won't change for a very long time.

End of Quarter Reflection

       When registering for this class, I was looking forward to learn about things such as tools for internet marketing, data mining for beginners and such, however, the class turned out to be something else than what I expected; Not in a bad way though! If I had to make an analogy of what I learned, it would be as if "Neo just woke up from the Matrix and realized what is going on."

        At first, I was a participant, then I became an observer of the internet marketing environment; with upon further pursue I would become a facilitator. Following are my 3 biggest takeaways from this class.

        Relationships matter, but relationships can't be build only from one end. The traditional mass marketing strategy is not working as effectively as it did in the past, mainly due to the Internet revolution. Consumers now have an opinion, a voice, power. Companies are increasingly coming up with new strategies on how to build these two-way relationships - through social media, events, interactive marketing, mobile etc.

         Stories make or brake a relationship or an advertisement. Question is, what tools do you want to use to tell the stories? I learnt that there are more ways to advertise besides the traditional mass marketing. Now thanks to platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, everyone can tell a story, leave feedback or advertise. At the end of the quarter, I had a shot at creating a plan to increase the internet presence of a company.
     
          Finally, Everything is moving towards mobile and interactive marketing. As learned in class, Now is the golden age of internet marketing, new channels emerge, new technology,approaches, strategies and concepts. If a business is not always connected to their customer and the technology their customers use, they can get lost in the stream of "evolution" , in the end, lose their customers of competitors who always keep themselves up-to-date.

ECIS 462 Review

1. Content must be relevant to your consumers. I learned that this is key in social media marketing, if you can't have content that is easily shared between your target market, you will have a hard time. If you work for your consumers and the consumers will reward you by being loyal to your company. It's all about content, content and content. Content is all that makes a brand make it or break it.
2. Word of mouth DOES make a difference. No matter how much a company shoves advertising down someone's throat, the ultimate final decision can be based on what your peers said about the company or the product. If there was an idnetial pair of Toms shoes at Nordstrom but under a company named Poms, you would purchase Toms because not only are they identical, Toms gives a pair to someone in need.
3. Relationships! Life is about relationships, and the relationships with one consumer is just as important as your competition. Focus on building relationships with customers, relating with them and exchanging thanks and feedback.

Take Aways From This Class

There are many things to mention here, but if I have to pick three, it should be

The power of word of mouth

The strategy of customer relationship

The fact that I liked only this class(InformationTechnology) out of other Marketing classes

I unconsciously knew that customer relationship and word of mouth were very important to companies even before taking this class.  However, through this class, Professor Barnes had used numeric data to convince me so.  I am the person who does not believe in someone’s passion and feeling but numeric data, and how customer relationship is important is cognitively in my head.  Even just casual conversation on Facebook would convince people to buy its products, and liking on Facebook or talking good thing about a brand on blog can dramatically have power to build public awareness and to encourage “friends, followers, and viewers” to buy the brand.

Moreover, this is my last Marketing related class to take.  I honestly have got bored in other marketing classes because all they talk about were applying common sense except for some strategy to me.  However, Internet is still new technology, and now is the time to create the common sense.  Thus, all the information in this class surprisingly hit me and grabbed my attention.

Thanks, it was a very interesting class!!

Looking Back

Looking back at the entire quarter I feel that there are three main points that stood out for me.

First, social media marketing is an effective and legitimate marketing tool.  Before this class i didn't really understand the Facebook and Twitter craze.  Facebook seemed like a great way to stay connected with friends and family, but I never really saw the potential for marketing.  I was so used to the rather ineffective and seemingly arbitrary advertisements that appeared on the side of the screen, but never thought about how companies could use their own pages and comment feeds to market a product or service.  More than anything, I saw the ability to "Like" a company page as a way to tell your friends what you are interested in. I now see the viability of the company page as a way to deliver messages to the consumer.  Twitter was a completely useless tool for me when I began this class.  I never cared to read anyone's "Tweets" about what they were doing, where they are, etc.  Looking at Twitter as a way to also deliver messages to consumers, whether marketing material or crisis information, has really changed my opinion of Twitter.

Second, the idea that effective marketing with respect to social media is a conversation.  This really helped me understand the use of Facebook and Twitter.  After hearing Gary Vaynerchuk talk about using search.twitter.com to see what people are saying or asking about specific topics, and responding to these threads to build a relationship, I definitely understand how useful both platforms can be.  I think back to all of the times I have posted something on the Home Depot site about a project I am working on and receiving a response from a Home Depot associate, and I really see the power in that communication.  Carrying this idea into more than questions about specific products and into a conversation about a specific company makes complete sense.

Third, the viability of mobile.  I saw the trend of mobile technology, but never thought about the integration of effective marketing through mobile outside of annoying popup ads and apps specific to a company.  Taking the mobile craze and using it to create a fully integrated company experience is brilliant.  I really think this is an area that organizations like Pacific Science Center and Seattle Aquarium could really capitalize on.  Introducing games or interactive displays on mobile devices that incorporate the experience had in the organization can open up a lot of doors.  It would allow the learning to continue outside the walls of the different complexes, and keep the organizations at the front of the consumers mind, even when they aren't physically at the place of business.

Overall I was very impressed with the material I was presented and the level of instruction I received.  i feel that much of what I learned in this class will benefit me in my career regardless of whether or not I am working in a traditional marketing role.

My Thoughts on Internet Marketing

When I first signed up for ECIS 462, I have to say I was not excited since I thought I did not have anything to learn about internet marketing. Being from the internet generation, what could I be taught? Boy, was I wrong. Over the last ten weeks, I have gained a vast amount of knowledge about internet marking. Aside from being one of the most intriguing classes I’ve taken here at Seattle University, it has also been one of the most useful.

Today’s marketing world is entirely different than what it was ten years ago. Today, the forefront of marketing is the internet, specifically social media. Marketers need to connect with consumers to build a relationship, so that a consumer will value your brand. Simple tactics such as communicating with followers on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and letting possible consumers interact with your brand (such as posting video or creating a mobile application), can be the best marketing for a business.

            With this said there are two up and comers in Internet marketing; social media and mobile devices. Businesses have to have a presence on all social media platforms to make meaningful connections with all types customers. This means commenting back to followers and starting conversations. The 80/20 rule will always stick in my mind.

            Mobile devices are also about connections with the consumer but in a different way. Mobile connections are through interactive marketing such as applications. Using an applications makes your business an experience that consumers can recall and have positive thoughts about. Both of these things are good.

            In addition to these two concepts, there are many more I have learned but that would take pages to tell you (pages we don’t have). Just know that this class is awesome and social media is the next marketing front. 

What I have learned from ECIS 462

This class is my favorite class throughout the quarter because I use social media on a daily basis, and it is fun to know how social media is affecting businesses nowadays. There are a lot of sections that I found it will be useful in the future.

First, it is very important for organizations to use social media platform to promote their business.  Before taking this class, I did not realize the purpose of company creating Facebook page is for building relationship and promotion. It is amazing to know how business organizations are using their Facebook page to benefit consumers by creating deals and coupons.

Secondly, when promoting online, it is significant to have compelling content to attract customers. Since there are so many advertisements and commercials nowadays, businesses have to create contents that are able to stay in people’s minds.

Third, while promoting online, it is important to follow the 80/20 rule. A successful business organization needs to show consumers that they care about consumer’s feedback. It is an important way to build trust relationship with your customers.

Last, it is significant to use videos and mobile apps. As we discussed in class, these two are very powerful tools in marketing. In addition, interesting videos and mobile apps can easily attract all types of consumers.

After taking this class, I have learned a lot of great strategies that will be very useful in the future. I really enjoy taking this class. Thank you Dr. Joe.

Dave

Course Reflections

As I reflect on what I've learned over this quarter I want to highlight a few things.

Building relationships is far more effective than selling advertisement
With all that we've learned about social media and how consumers are behaving, it is very clear that relationships are more effective in marketing a brand than advertisement is. People listen to their friends' opinions much more seriously than they do of brand representatives because there is a relationship there. Social media has really been a catalyst for the de-emphasis of advertisement and putting power into relationships. People now have instant access to their networks and it is very easy for people to connect with those they have built relationships with. While advertisements do still serve a place, perhaps in raising brand awareness, it is relationships that are the big influencers in purchasing decisions. Marketers need to build relationships with their consumers so that they can wield that similar kind of influence.


Mobile Technology cannot be ignored
With new technologies such as the iPhone, iPad, smart phones and tablets becoming increasingly popular it has become increasingly obvious that the mobile space is becoming, if not already, the dominant mode of connection. More people are connecting together through their mobile devices than they have before and are making mobile their primary go to device. The implications this has for the marketer are enormous, it won't be good enough to just put stuff on the internet, they have to be designed with mobile in mind. This also presents a lot of cool opportunities for the marketer. With people have that "always on them" device there is always a way to connect with them. People use their mobile devices for all sorts of things and it is vital to understand how they are using their devices and how the marketer can tailor experiences to fit with that behavior.

The Rise of Digital Natives
It has become very clear to me that I am a digital native. I have such a fluency with technology that my parents and grandparents can never hope to have. And because of that I am changing the landscape of how technology is going to develop in the future. However, as new social paradigms are developed I hope that the next generation can learn from the older ones. Some of the things such as the difference in perspective about information security and privacy between my generation and older ones is a flag of concern. I think if we learn from history and set out on correct paths that we can avoid some very nasty situations

Internet Marketing Class

When I first came in to this class, I thought that I would not learned much from this Internet Marketing class. However, after taking this class for almost one quarter, I have learned two important things, which are to use any kind of social media platforms for certain purposes and how to make a creative Internet Marketing Plan.

Before I took this class, I only used some of the social media platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube. As times goes by, I just noticed that the other platforms that I have not used, including LinkedIn and Twitter, are also very good platforms to interact for certain purposes, such as business purposes. By updating LinkedIn profile often, there is bigger chance that the company will contact us and get the job.

The second thing that I learned from this class is how to make a creative Internet Marketing Plan. Each student is being assigned a different client for its project. Basically, we made a creative analysis Internet Marketing Plan for our client, particularly how many Internet strategies have the clients used.

Personally, I learned much from this class and I highly recommend and suggest to the future students to take this class. It will definitely help the students to use Internet, specifically to use social media in this era technology.                       

What I learned in Internet Marketing (IS 462) Class

To begin with, I find IS 462 as one of the most interesting and useful course I have ever taken throughout my college career in Seattle University. Not even once I ever got bored in class. The topics discussed each day were very attention-grabbing in nature. The visuals used in class were very helpful and appealing. In addition, I was really fortunate to have being taught by Prof. Barnes whom in my opinion, is an amazing instructor. His ability to deliver all the important concepts of internet marketing to the entire class clearly and in a relatively interesting way fascinates me. To me, the overall course was very challenging because there were never-ending works that needed to be done, but in the end, the important knowledge and experiences I gained from this class really worth the huge effort I put into the class. It has been such an amazing experience being in the class, learning about how the internet marketing has completely transformed the way marketing has been done in the past  and that businesses need to utilize the opportunity to stay ahead of their competitors through creating remarkable experiences to the customers

In this class, I learned that the internet has revolutionized business practices and that there are plenty of ways to get into the pool on this movement. People around the world share their ideas, preferences, likes, disapproval, and so on by a click of a button. In fact, social media is becoming an instrument for people to feel accepted and successful businesses need to utilize this aspect for market optimization. Successful businesses today do not merely sell products or services. They sell memorable experiences for the customers to enjoy and be associated with. In the next paragraphs, I would like to share some of the most important internet marketing ideas in a little bit more detail that I learned from the class.

First of all, I learned that internet marketing is all about the content. Successful businesses provide interesting and relevant content to their customers using social media channels in order to grab the customers' attentions. There are several ways that businesses can do to achieve this. Using content curation is one of them. Content curation is the act of continually identifying, selecting, and sharing the best - most relevant online content and other online resources to match the needs of a specific audience. Another way is to tell interesting and relevant stories to the target market. Stories that engage their emotions and touch hearts, inspire them, influence them, and tap into drama, humor, and surprise. Furthermore, I also learned that it is critically important for businesses to listen to their customers. As a matter of fact, it has always been the problem that businesses do not listen to customers. These customers keep getting marketing messages that are irrelevant to them. They absolutely want businesses to listen. They want to be valued.

Other important ideas I learned from this class include using online videos to grab customers' attentions, mobile marketing, and permission marketing. Online video is a very powerful marketing tool due to its effective ability to influence audiences' behavior. However, to create a big hit video is no easy task. Successful online videos need to tell compelling stories, stories that include all those attributes I mentioned in the previous paragraph. In addition, successful online videos need to also incorporate a call-to-action, meaning that there should be a link through or at the end of each video that leads the audiences to a landing page, enabling them to get further information about the marketing message from the video. Moreover, I also learned that having mobile strategies these days is very important for businesses in order to be successful in terms of their marketing efforts. As discussed in class, mobile has revolutionized consumers' behavior. They use mobile devices such as smart phones and/or tablets to surf the internet, use apps to shop, play games, read news, and many more. For this reason, successful businesses might want to capitalize the mobile opportunities in order to succeed in their online marketing strategies. In class, I also learned about the concept of permission marketing. Nowadays, most online businesses have already implemented this marketing concept in which they incorporate opt-in e-newsletters box, asking website visitors if they would like to be included in the mailing list and received regular news and/or offers from the business. It is important for businesses to realize that interruption marketing have failed and that permission marketing is the key to a successful marketing effort.

In my opinion, the most engaging and useful experience that I got from this class was to create and develop an internet marketing plan for real business. I learned so many things out of this project that I strongly believe will be applicable for my business in the future. I got the chance to think creatively in creating several online marketing strategies that Pacific Science Center (my client) can do in the future that will enable them to build more attendance, encourage donors, and have more advanced brand understanding. Overall, it was such a great and remarkable experience being able to work on a project that will help a real non-profit organization's marketing efforts better off. All the hard work that I put into the project will be paid off if it truly helps Pacific Science Center.

Thank You, Prof. Barnes and all my classmates for an enjoyable quarter!