Week 8 - Youtube Videos

My Evaluation of Three Youtube Marketing Videos

EarthWool

The first of the three Youtube marketing videos I'm going to evaluate is for EarthWool. I found this video entertaining because it was dramatic and you want to wait and see what happens next. In the end it was humorous, which I think is a good draw for people and it helps them remember. It is a cute concept because things are not as they seem in the end and it would be a low budget video to produce.

Ray-Ban

The second Youtube Marketing video I'm going to evaluate is for a Ray-Ban Sunglasses reseller. I found this video to be informative, but very dry and boring. I don't see this as a video I would recommend to a friend solely based on the video. I can not see it going viral, which is something that is desirable when it comes to Youtube video's. That means it's getting a lot of exposure and that is good for business. 

Apple iPhone

The third Youtube Marketing video I'm going to evaluate is the iPhone 5 Trailer. As usual Apple does not disappoint. The video is stylish and innovative. It leaves the viewer in awe and wanting to touch the product & use it & own it. It draws them in and makes them feel like this product is a must-have experience for everyone. The simple design of the video, yet display of all the features, is a winning combination and I feel this was the best out of the three.

Summary

In summary I would say a good Youtube video is one that captures the interest of the viewer and this can be done in many different ways. You also need to be informative without being boring and you need to deliver a concise view of the product and what the product is/does/looks like. The things that get people talking are the things that are going to bring awareness to the product and have friends of friends telling their friends to go and watch the Youtube video or posting the video on social media sites.

Week 7 Facebook & Google +

Effective Use of Facebook for Marketing

The first site I will use in my comparison of Facebook sites used for marketing is the site for Pretzel M & M's. This site sent a free sample to anyone who liked their page and filled out a very short name & address form. Everyone LOVES to get stuff for free, ESPECIALLY CHOCOLATE! I did this and within about a week my free sample came in the mail. I would rate this Facebook marketing site very high because they gave out free samples to let everyone try their new product. It's not like M & M's are going out of business anytime soon or need heavy marketing to become successful, they are already there. But when they roll out something new it's important to get the word out and offer something for free to people who may be skeptical about paying money to try something they might not like. They got me to try them and I happen to LOVE the new pretzel M & M's.

The second site I would like to use in my comparison of Facebook sites used for marketing is a site one of my Facebook friends uses to market her business called Conquer Entertainment. In my opinion this is not a good marketing plan because she is using her personal Facebook account as a personal Facebook account AND as a marketing tool for her business. I feel the two should be separate. I don't think it's fair for her to be pummeling all of her "friends" with business information against their will. I am friends with her on a personal level, but have no interest in her business venture. She is constantly sending out messages for people to come to this seminar or that presentation and I got so frustrated I changed her setting so her stuff no longer shows up in my news feed. That kind of sucks because I am interested in her as a friend and am interested in what's going on in her life, BESIDES HER BUSINESS, but now I will not see any of it unless I choose to go to her site and weed through all of the solicitation BS she has posted. I would rate this very low, probably the lowest because I don't think it's fair to put your friends through that. If she wanted to promote her "Business Facebook Page" as a separate site and then her friends could CHOOSE to go like it and be involved that would be different but I don't feel I should be subjected to this unsolicited.

The third site in my comparison is The Chronicle Telegrams site. I really like this site for marketing because they publish a lot of great information & news and they also take comments from members of Facebook. Having that voice is a very valuable asset in a customer. It makes the public feel empowered & like their voice & opinions are being heard. That will keep people coming back for more. I would rate this one as pretty good.

Out of these three sites I would say Pretzel M & M's is first, The Chronicle is second and my friend's site is third.

Facebook & Google +

First off I must say kudos to you Professor Zellers for getting the word out. I'm very familiar and used to Facebook, but have only heard of Google + in passing so this assignment has given them the opportunity for me to check it out. I don't really know much about Google +, but according to this site, "Facebook may still have a significant edge over Google+ when it comes to personal pages, but Google+ is gaining on Facebook when it comes to business pages, according to a recent article by MarketingProfs." 

The site also has a list of the top 10 brands using Facebook & Google + and the amount of +1's on Google + and the amount of "Likes" on Facebook. Android is brand #1 and it has more +1's than "Likes", but to me that's not surprising since Android is a Google brand. The Google + page for Android looks sorta similar to a Facebook page, but to me it looks less familiar. I know that isn't supposed to play into this comparison, but it's hard for me to be objective when I'm so familiar with Facebook and all of its elements & content. Even from a business standpoint it's hard for me to look at them both as equal because I have greater knowledge of one and not the other. Anyway, based on my research Google + is gaining ground on Facebook for brand pages.

One of the main reasons Google + is becoming more popular for business is the prospective possibility that brands that have Google + pages will get higher rankings in Google searches based on that information. That is an advantage Google has over Facebook. To me that doesn't make the pages themselves better when it comes to business, but it does give the businesses a reason to sign up and use the pages.

Week 6 Blog about Blogs

Classmate Blogs

One blog post I found interesting is here. In this blog there is a very creative picture at the start, which really draws the attention. It gives the viewer great interest for the rest of the blog. The rest of the blog is also very good. This person used great examples and statistics. The flow was nice and it held the attention of the reader. The only thing I didn't like was that this person did not insert their blog link as a link on the discussion board so the reader has to copy & paste to view it. There was also some wording errors towards the end, but otherwise very good!

The second blog I found to be very good is here. This blog is very eye catching and I like the designs used. The way this person writes is very entertaining as well. Not dry or boring. Which brings me to the content portion. They included a lot of good points and comparisons were a nice touch. I felt the blog was informative and well thought out.

Blogs about Social Media Marketing

The first Social Media Marketing blog I reviewed was this one. It was listed on another blog as number one in the top ten Social Media blogs. The first post I found interesting is found here where they discuss the 4 C's of the Conversation Company. This post is quite an eye opener when it comes to how, statistically, businesses are dealing with Social Media today. There is a lot of interesting information and statistics, most of which surprised me in a way. I knew that Social Media was fairly new, but did not realize it had not been integrated into more businesses. I would have thought once the news was out that it was big, plus the ease of availability, every company would have jumped on board, got their plan in place and started using this valuable resource.

The second post that caught my eye was here. This post was very interesting and entertaining at the same time. It talked about ROI (Return on Investment). The bar comparison was very informative and it all made sense! Using that analogy really shows how Social Media can work for companies and how it is worth it, but you have to put a plan in place and invest in Social Media to get something out of it. This post states that the ROI of Social Media is up to four times as high as that of a TV commercial. That's a lot!!

Blogs Used to Market

The first blog I'm going to grade in Marketing technique is The Giants Baseball Blog. This is a web blog to promote the San Francisco Giants and I will give this blog an "A" based on the information on the blog and this blog post on another site. There is a lot of valuable information, plus interaction with the fans. Very important stuff.

The second blog I will grade is the Ford F-150 blog. I'm going to grade this blog a C because it is not really active. Looks like the last post was just about a year ago. There is information, but not any interaction with members/customers.

The third blog I'm going to grade is the Ecoki blog. This blog is all about living a green lifestyle. I give this blog site an A because it is up to date, interesting and very informative. I actually found this blog site so interesting I will be exploring it more on my own! They have contests and are giving away free stuff which engages the customers and gets them involved. And EVERYBODY love free stuff!!