Marketing via LinkedIn

In today’s business world, one of the most important qualities to have is the ability to network yourself. With the growth and expansion of technology and the social media world, a LinkedIn profile is a key asset to any job-seeker. The focus of LinkedIn is about career development, professional connections and other types of business-related activities. Below, I’ve listed a few steps that represent my strategy on LinkedIn.

1. MAKE CONNECTIONS: Not only should you connect with people, but more so build relationships with these people!
2. STAY ON THE RADAR: Yes, it’s important to have LinkedIn but its even more important to actually be present. Employers search for people who fit their criteria and then introduce themselves; therefore its important to stay in touch with people who have shown interest in similar activities as you.
3. KEEP IT UPDATED: Going off the last step, it’s important to keep your profile current. This can be done by regularly checking the statuses of connections or posting yourself. If your job hasn’t changed recently and haven’t really acquired new skills, share an article that is relevant to your field of work. This will show employers that you are interested and up-to-date in the business world.
4. JOIN GROUPS: Its key to be join LinkedIn groups that are relevant to your target connections. This way you are a more informed job-seeker or employer. Moreover, you will be able to expand your connections by meeting new people.
5. CREATE A BIO: The summary section of your LinkedIn profile is one of the most important aspects of the page. Here is where you briefly discuss your work and personal interests to appeal to employers. Think of it this way, if you were in an elevator with your dream employer, what would you say within that minute and a half? Keep it short and sweet.
6. ASSES ABILITIES AND SKILLS: Following the bio, there is a section to list all relevant skills and abilities. In order to do this, you must accurately assess your own abilities. What makes would make you an asset to future employers? THIS is where your references come in to play also. After listing your skills whether it be Microsoft Word or Google Analytics have a past employer, co-worker or friend endorse those abilities.
7. NEVER STOP LEARNING: Last and one of the most important steps, actually use LinkedIn. You should be regularly checking updated job postings or opportunities in your area. There are a multitude of resources on the website including searching for alumni. It’s important that once you’ve made your profile that you’re using it the proper ways.

Email Marketing for Patagonia

For this assignment I chose to analyze a company that I have already been receiving emails from, Patagonia. Patagonia is one company in particular whose values are similar to mine (they also are one of the few companies who stick to their mission). The brand focuses on fair labor practices, being eco-friendly and socially responsible; all of these factors are a little tricky to control but somehow they’ve managed to be successful. I’ve been receiving their emails for roughly 4 months and RARELY ever click on the links because I’m not very interested in purchasing anything right now. I receive emails from Patagonia roughly 2-3 a week more or less they’re promoting exclusive deals or ways that they are changing production in order to be more responsible. I would say that I open them 25% of the time not for purchasing but more so to see what they’ve improved or how they’re changing the retail industry.

For this assignment I chose to focus on my latest email that reads “the lighter variety of favorites.” This email was enticing because the subject hints that these are clothes or products that I have not seen. The first line when opening the email is “free shipping on all orders over $75” which is interesting because as some of you may know it’s VERY easy to spend over $75 at Patagonia because everything is of high quality. The email follows by promoting Women’s Sportswear and different spring attire that may appeal to me. It’s clear from analyzing the email that it was sent to a segment rather than to the entire database. Because of the specificity of the email and the content that it leads me to on the website it’s clear that it’s targeted towards women who are interested in purchasing sports-wear; therefore this email would not make sense if sent to a male or someone who isn’t interested in athletic clothes. The clothes that are actually shown in the email are not clothes that I would have picked out or buy therefore I don’t think that Patagonia did a good job distributing the email. With that, I do think they did a good job sticking to their mission within their email. Meaning, in each sub-section where they promote sportswear/spring clothes there is a small blurb stating how it relates to Fair Trade or recycled material. I think for next time Patagonia should use my past purchases as well as cookies to analyze what products may appeal to me. Along with this I think it’s important to continue to promote the ways their brand differs from competing brands such as Lulu or North Face. When I do decide to open their emails it’s because I like to read the small blurbs they have that are also on their blog, without the emails I probably wouldn’t go read their blog. Therefore I think it’s important to keep promoting that but ALSO it’s REALLY important to promote products that appeal to the consumer you are trying to reach. Clearly this email wasn’t successful because I didn’t purchase anything, I didn’t even go to their website through the email. 

 

SEO for Yoga

One of the most important factors when running a site or a business via the internet is SEO (search engine optimization). Just a brief summary for those who aren’t too sure what I’m talking about here. Basically the point is to get people to actually type in your website to their browser therefore increasing the traffic on the website. This can be done through the relevance of your site to what someone is looking for meaning the URL, title tag, header tag, content etc. There are other factors that are considered that are not actually on your site like trust, shares, likes or  even links from other sites. These aspects are all key to SEO and bringing customers or viewers to the site.

Now, for this site it’s a little trickier because I’m not selling anything. With that I’d have to draw viewers in with the content of my blog; this can be done through ensuring high quality and engaging material. One aspect that is important to note is the research and words used within the blog. Meaning, is the material accurate? Have I done the proper research to adequately discuss yoga products? In regards to words, the only way someone will be able to find my site through a paid search ad or non organically is if I’m using the ‘right’ words throughout the blog. This means that I have talking about yoga, Lululemon, meditation, or other aspects that may pertain to the topic in order to become relevant. There are ways to make certain words more important also! Depending on where a word is placed on the page, either the header, URL or content the importance also changes. To put it simply, the larger a word is on the page and the more frequently this word appears, the more important this word becomes.

One aspect of Google AdWords that I thought to be super interesting was that when users are searching for yoga sites, they are frequently searching for ‘yoga classes near me.’ Now, if I wanted to utilize this search I could discuss the different yoga studios I have been to in order to help users find the right studio for them. Another top search is simply ‘yoga information,’ if I tagged these into my blog or made a specific post about either topic I would be able to increase my SEO.

For more information on SEO and tips on marketing, go to Professor Pepe‘s page!

NAMASTE!!!

Analysis of Lulu

Traffic: For me, Lululemon advertisements are constantly coming up in sidebars of other webpages. Mostly because I’m visiting the site on a regular basis to stay up to date with new trends. With that said, for someone who isn’t familiar with the brand, they may not be so inclined to directly contact the site. Another key thing to consider is that yoga is definitely a niche market, meaning when you’re involved in the yoga community more often than not you will know of Lululemon. I think because of their high brand-recognition for those in the market they do bring high traffic to their site. One thing I wanted to try out was to see how high Lulu ranks on a Google search. So, I searched ‘new yoga mat’ into Google and to my surprise, the first organic site to show up was Manduka, the first paid advertisement was Lulu but this may be because I was on the site at the time as well.

Conversion: Continuing on my search for a new yoga mat, I find myself on the homepage of Lululemon. If I click on the paid advertisement it brings me directly to a page with yoga mats, blocks, straps and towels. So, I find a nice matte black one that’s just what I’m looking for. When trying to checkout, I hit ‘express checkout’ but am disappointed to find that I have to make an account. This for me, turns into a whole process that I don’t want to deal with right now therefore I would leave the page. In my opinion, if a site is going to have ‘express checkout’ than I should be able to check out immediately without further steps. I will say that when you do add the item to your car, you’re able to check out as a guest but it requires more clicking which in my opinion will lose many customers.

Revenue Maximization: On the details page, they have customer reviews, products you make like, care instructions, what it’s made of and why Lulu made this product different. In my experience with Lulu, they carefully analyze the reviews in order to ensure quality products. Another key aspect of their review section is that they have the reviews divided by rating, athletic type, age and body type to ensure the review will suite you best. If a product receives multiple negative reviews about pilling or tearing in the clothes, they offer customers a brand new pair. Another thing that I think is very important is that Lululemon in the store, offers free alterations and free removal of pills.

For more tips on digital marketing, visit my my professor’s site here.

Hello, it’s me!!!!

Hello ladies and gentlemen, Small Sam here. I want to begin by discussing the ridiculousness that is last nights Super Bowl; believe it or not the Patriots took the W. The game seemed to be going in favor of the Falcons but to most peoples disbelief the Patriots made a huge come back in the final quarter. Anyway, let’s get started on the initiation of my first blog. First, I wanted to answer a few questions for the audience.
What is this?: A brief blog thats purpose is for class but will be used for a writing outlet. Along with this, my goal is to keep the family updated with relevant things going on in my life.

About what?: A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Because of the intentions of the blog, and because of the viewers (hi Grandma), everything will be PG; mainly focusing on yoga, school and friends. With that, I will be asked to do a few course related posts about marketing.

What class?: The class that assigned this is called digital marketing; the course focuses on how the advances in technology have altered the marketing world. As a college senior, it’s important that I’m able to stay current and creative with my thought process. Employers are searching for new ideas that are innovative and unique, especially in the marketing industry. Since we’re discussing marketing and the Super Bowl, might as well show you guys my favorite ad from yesterday’s game. Honda’s Yearbook Ad: In my opinion, this ad was creative and unique from other ads that played (also my family has a Honda CRV so I’m biased).