Using Google Analytics to Benchmark & Track Progress

I've been using Google Analytics to track the behaviors of my visitors when they visit my website. This helps me identify pages that they spend the most time on, which pages they visit and which ones they don't. It also helps me identify how much of my web traffic is new traffic and how much of my traffic are returning visitors. This way I can see whether or not any changes I make to my site to increase its ranking are working or not.

When William Faulkner visited our class one of the things that he said that I found most memorable was that we needed to set measurable goals as a way to determine whether our marketing plan is working.

For my photography business, one of the ways I measure the success of my marketing strategies is through Google Analytics and its benchmarking tools.

What better way to track progress than through numbers? These tools are completely free and incredibly powerful.

In Response to Chris's Blog Regarding Egypt

I absolutely agree that countries should take a marketer's approach to encourage interest in their country. After all, so many countries rely on tourism as a large source of income and the better they're able to market themselves the more people will want to visit.

Take Australia, for example: A while back they had a contest that would allow two people to live on the coast of Australia, all expenses paid for two years so long as they would blog their experience.

This was a very creative and unique way of Australia to get people interested in their tourism industry. They had millions of entries, which suggests that they were able to reach a huge audience and they were able to promote themselves in a way that is memorable.

How could Egypt use a creative marketing strategy to create revenue?

Let's Talk About Social Responsibility

One of the environmental factors that affect businesses and in turn affect the way businesses market is social responsibility. I'm a big believer of investing part of a business's resources to the greater good of the local, national or global community.

I also understand that photography is an incredibly powerful marketing tool and that people and problems that affect us directly or indirectly and it is our responsibility to lend our skills to those who may not have the resources to hire a professional photographer.

Many photographers (of all kinds) will take on the task of devoting part of their year to shed light to a cause that they are passionate about. Here are some examples:

-Locally, photographer & professor John Willis of Southern Vermont founded the Insight Photography Project and provides subsidized photography classes for young residents of surrounding towns.

-Celebrity photographer, Jeremy Cowart started the Help Portrait project to connect photographers to people in their communities that may need photography services but can't afford it.

-Commercial photographer Chase Jarvis founded the website CreativeLive as a way to democratize learning. For the past year they've had free video lessons on how to build your website, on photography and on watercolor. He's brought some of the best photographers in the industry (including above-mentioned Jeremy Cowart) to teach anyone with a computer and internet connection to improve their skills.

-And finally, photographer Chris Jordan paid a visit to Midway Island to photograph birds who died from consumption of the bitsand pieces of plastic we litter and throw into the ocean every year.

This kind of social responsibility accomplishes two things: 1. It sheds light on an important issue and brings a solution 2. It is a way of marketing.

Knowing that you are hiring somebody who is not simply interested in profits but also cares about the community will give clients added satisfaction when using their services. This is why this is an important thing to consider when marketing a brand or product.

Can you think of any other companies that use social responsibility to complement their marketing strategies or their business plans?

In Response to Jackies Blog Regarding Social Media Blitz

I think that this example can be applied to our marketing plans for Country Life.

Social networking not only makes a business more visible, it helps creates conversations with potential customers and what this bakery did was a very clever and perfectly placed marketing strategy that helped them come back from a slow winter season.

We should use Facebook as a way of helping Country Life create conversations with customers but also, having a Facebook page will help them connect and network with other businesses in the area. This will not only allow them to share specials with these businesses but also learn from what other businesses are doing.

Social networking tools can be very powerful if used wisely?

What other social networking tools do you think Country Life could use to "create conversations"?

Brand Presence & Impact

Another blog I subscribe to is Liquid Agency Brand Marketing's blog Liquid Brand Exchange.

Their blog is "dedicated to ideas, news and issues about Liquid Agency, brands and branding." They are a marketing consulting company who take the time every once in a while to blog updates regarding clients, conferences and evaluations of certain brands. They've created brands for companies like Adidasas well as the musicians B.o.B.

Recently, they did an analysis of the biggest companies and their brand impact. You can find the full article here.

(from the Liquid Brand Exchange Blog)

The strongest brands for last year were Adobe and Facebook (Adobe took first place for the B2B category whereas Facebook took first place in the B2C gategory.)

This exemplifies the power that brands have in successful companies. To see the full report, visit the Liquid Brand Exchange blog.

What do you think are the defining characteristics of Facebook's brand?

In response to Professor Johnson's post about Bon Iver's online marketing strategy

I recently started listening to Bon Iver thanks to online radio services such as last.fm and with the enormous increase in social media usage, it would be foolish not to make use of the vast marketing channels social media offers to just about anyone who is looking to promote a product or service.

It's no wonder Bon Iver was able to reach so many people through the internet; however, rather than attributing his fame and success to social media, it's also worth considering the thousands of aspiring artists on the internet who are unsuccessful in marketing themselves -not for lack of trying, but for lack of talent. Much of Bon Iver's success is due to their talent and yes, some to their ability to reach the masses to the internet.

To me, one of the most important ways social networking helps artists market themselves is by allowing direct and personal connections with fans. And as if that was not enough, as the article mentioned, social media allows independent artists to reach niches of people who do not care for mainstream pop music. I do think that as much as this is an advantage to new artists, it's also a disadvantage since just about anyone who is musically talented has the potential to build a following and become a successful recording artist. It takes an artist like Justin Vernon to differentiate himself enough from anyone else to take advantage of this exposure and become a successful recording artist.

We've so far talked about what a powerful marketing tool the internet is but nothing is perfect. Besides market saturation, can anyone think of any other disadvantages to social media advertising?

In response to Chris's post: Steve Jobs's Surprise Appearance

I heard about Steve Jobs making an appearance at the iPad keynote as well! I also heard that his appearance caused Apple's stock to rise the very next day. I think this shows what a valuable asset Steve Jobs is to Apple. He is the very reason Apple is so successful today and without him many argue that the company would have not been able to survive.

Jobs and Jonathan Ive, the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design are Apple's biggest core competencies, through synergistic collaboration, they've been able to design and market high quality, premium products that have lead the way in the consumer electronics market.

Jobs was diagnosed with a rare kind of pancreatic cancer and as a result has had to take time off from his job as C.E.O of Apple. While he has recovered since his operation in 2004, there has been speculation that his health has continued to deteriorate and as a result, many fear for the future of Apple without Jobs.

Because Steve Jobs has incorporated his presence into Apple keynotes, in a way, he has become a spokesperson for Apple products. When Jobs is unable to attend a keynote, it creates negative speculation in the media, which then hurts consumer and investor confidence in Apple. So while Steve Jobs might never be able to keep his health status private, it becomes more obvious that there is something wrong when he is missing from a keynote.

So, for Apple, having Steve Jobs as leader and spoke person is a double-edged sword. While it can strengthen Apple's image, it can also cause damage when it becomes apparent that for health reasons, he is unable to attend Apple events.