Colleen M. Tauber

American Eagle Outfitters and Hollister are similar retailers with similar target markets. They both sell popular styles of clothing and accessories with a target market within the age of 14-28. You would think that their social media strategies would be as similar as their clothing but what me and my group found was surprising.

When we first took a look at each of these companies Facebook pages we noticed that the differences was in the details and in the way they interact with their customers. Hollister‘s posts are focused on their sales and uses words like “dude”, “betty”, ”bro”, and “hot” rather than excited energetic words to promote their sales. All of their pictures are of their own models wearing their clothes. We imagine this is because they wanted to control their brand and maintain their image that their clothes belong on hot people.  American Eagle has a more open and friendly approach. Most of their posts are also about their sales but they target it at their “fans” not “dudes and bettys.” They also have an entire album devoted to showing off their fans wearing their merchandise.

Their Twitter pages were a similar story. Hollister almost exclusively posted about what their #hotlifeguards were up to and did not really respond to customers’ questions or complaints. American Eagle not only responds to its followers but even thanks its employees for the hard work they do.

When we used social media evaluation tools, we were able to quantify the trends that we saw with our own eyes. Tweetfeel showed us that American Eagle had much more positive things being said about them. Some posts even flat out said “American Eagle is better than Hollister.” Hollister follower posts mostly commented on their associations with (pardon my language) “deusch bags” and how they spray way too much cologne in their stores (which I happen to agree with 100%.)

Twitter screengraphs shows us many of the keywords associated with American Ealge and Hollister are very similar. Words like “clothes”, “hoodie”, “jeans” were all words that we expected to see. Some differences were that Hollister keywords included words like “cologne” and “smell” and American Eagle’s keywords included a lot of percentages (probably because people are talking about their sales.)

We made four recommendations to make American Eagle and Hollister social media strategies more effective. Overall, we found American Eagle’s strategy to be much more engaging and appealing so the only recommendation we had for them was that they should impliment more of their Twitter actions into their Facebook page. They were much more responsive to their customers concerns which we believe would also serve them well and prove worthwhile for their Facebook page as well. We had a few more recommendations for Hollister. First, we recommend that they spray less cologne in their stores because we found a lot of negative posts concerning the overwhelming, eye-watering scent in their stores. We also recommended that they be more engaging in their Facebook and Twitter pages. Maybe instead of focusing on how great their #hotlifeguards are they should try and praise their customers more. Finally, we recommend that Hollister respond to their customer complaints (even if they just shoot them a customer service phone number) and compliments.

Maurice’s is a retail and consumer merchandise company that focuses specifically on women’s clothing. They also happen to be my current employer and I am very proud to say that I am a member of their team. Ever since my first day as a personal shopper, they made sure I understood that their philosophy was not about sales, it was entirely focused on service. I quickly learned that if the customer service is great and we make customers want to return time and time again (what we call owning our customers) then the sales will follow. Maurice’s facebook definitely reflects its customer service focus. They use the facebook to communicate directly with customers and use it as another outlet to get feedback aside from customer surveys. I noticed in the most recent post from Maurice’s that they are not afriad to share bad news and use it to communicate with their customers how they will remedy any of their mistakes. “Hey fans! We are so sorry for the technical difficulties we are having with our promos online. We will be extending the scarf sale until Monday. Thank you for your patience!!!”  All of the posts from Maurices are extremely positive and not always about communicating the next sale. In a post I noticed a few days ago they made a post in honor of Thanksgiving “We are so thankful for all of our fans who inspire us, and remind us why we love what we do every day. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! <3″ They even offer unique promotional activities through their facebook. Maurices recently partnered with Christopher Straub (a finalist on Project Runway) and have created a new line of accessories, perfume and clothing now available in Maurices stores and at maurices.com. On November 20th, fans of Maurices’ facebook could chat live with Christopher Straub and enter for a chance to win exclusive coupons. The most impressive part of Maurice’s facebook and social media strategy was how it correspondes so well with the in-store philosophy. At Maurice’s we want every girl to feel like her personal shopper is her shopping buddy, a girlfriend that will tell her honestly if her outfit looks right on her body, right for her event, and right for her taste. We don’t just ask customers what they’re looking for when they come through the door, we ask them about their days. If they’re shopping for a first date, we want to know how she met the guy and what they’re going to be doing. The facebook follows the same motif. They will post questions like “What is your favorite thing to eat on Thanksgiving?”, “Are you going to see Twilight tonight?”, “Do you think that wearing black and brown together is a fashion NEVER?” They will also post pictures of two different outfits, clothing pieces, or accessories and ask their fans which one they like better and why. This just further convey’s the message that personal shoppers send in the store. We don’t just want to know what your style is, we want to know who you are! Their purpose is definitely to connect to their customers and fans and compete with other retailers that don’t offer this same great service. They can definitely measure their success by how much their fans respond to them and engage with them through their facebook. One recommendation that I would make is to respond to their customers individual posts or responses more, especially when the comments are negative. This will let the fans know that we don’t just want to know when we’ve done something wrong, but that knowing will ultimately bring about some sort of change so we can make it better.

Online privacy is a matter that is definitely becoming more and more sensitive. My perception of online privacy before reading the Wall Street Journal article was that some sites were more reliable than others. Facebook had always worried me a little, and it still does. I don’t think I will stop using it because it really is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, but I am cautious about the information I give. For example, I will not tell Facebook that I am from Woodstock, IL I keep it general and say I am from Chicago and I do not share my birth year. There is a lot of information that I choose not to share but somehow I get the feeling that Facebook knows this information anyway. I have never added a location to any of my photo albums but lately Facebook has been prompting me to add locations by asking “Was this photo taken at Augustana College?” It’s kind of creepy but I try not to let it bother me. It is crazy to see how far online tracking has come, its starting to happen in real time! For example, if I update my status to “I love ice cream” then almost instantly a prompt will show up for me to “like” ice cream along with an ad for Ben & Jerry’s.

After reading the Wall Street Journal article I realized how out of control some software and websites have gotten. Tracking software began with the purpose of remembering passwords, settings and shopping cart contents. Now it can track all of your activity in an online session and create a profile about assumptions it can make about you based on what you type into your searches. This process is called third party tracking and it is indeed the most intrusive form of online tracking.

The most shocking piece of information that I found in the article was about the site with the most tracking software. It is probably one of the last sites you would expect…Dictionary.com. It has 234 pieces of software of which, 223 are used specifically to track users online. They claim that they need these pieces of software to create advertisements that keep the site going since Dictionary.com does not require any user info or account.

Many websites claim that most of the intrusive tracking software that they carry is unbeknownst to them. Even Comcast claims to be unaware of its own tracking software. So how are these tracking systems getting on these sites in the first place? Some free software that websites use have tracking systems hidden inside so when they opt to use one, they opt to use the other. How is this getting missed? It worries me that the most powerful online companies can be oblivious to the tracking systems they’re using. Who is to say that something more intrusive or dangerous couldn’t be used without their knowledge?

I am very concerned that the lack of privacy online is getting out of control and more regulations should be put in place to protect its users. Websites also need to be doing a better job of knowing exactly what goes into the software that it is using and held accountable for all of its tracking software (even if they claim to be unaware.)

Custom Fortune Cookies

http://www.fancyfortunecookies.com/Custom_Fortune_Cookies_s/50.htm

Custom cookies for your next event or gift! Free shipping this week only.

I chose Custom Fortune Cookies or my title because it sums up what Fancy Fortune Cookies does as a company. My target market is anyone looking for a fun treat for a wedding, dinner party, birthday or for a fun gift for a friend. My call to action is for people to order soon because we are offering free shipping this week only. My landing page is the Custom Fortune Cookies page because anyone looking for a custom cookie is going to want to land there. This will ensure that the customer has fewer clicks to get to where they want to be.

I chose the word “fortune” as my keyword because I felt that “cookie” and “custom” were too vague. Anyone who searched for the word fortune. I searched the word fortune on Google AdWords and saw that it had low competition. There are over 7.4 million searches for this word globally and over 2.2 million searches for this word locally. When looking at the recommended keyword ideas, I saw that “fortune cookies” were the second listing with medium competition (fortune cookies didn’t even show up in the results when I searched “cookie” and “custom.”) I feel that these would be good choices because anyone who searches for those items are likely looking for the kind of services that Fancy Fortune Cookies offers.

I typed “fortune” into the traffic estimator and did not get a good result. I would have had less than half a click per day and spending less than .25 per day. I upped the ante to $3 and was given an average CPC of $1.81, a position of 1.03, estimated daily clicks of 1.93 and an estimated daily cost of $3.50. I could easily go up to a $4 Max CPC but it didn’t improve my odds very much, nor did it increase the cost by more than a few pennies.

Search Engine Optimization is probably one of the  (if not, THE) most important aspects of internet marketing today. Almost everyone uses search engines to find the most relevant site for their search and they tend to choose the search results that are closest to the top of the page. The key to getting your site close to the top is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). There are two ways to go about this. One way is to pay google (or a similar search engine) by placing bids on adwords. This is usually done on a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) basis. So I will pay for every customer that Google attracts to my website that actually clicks on it and checks it out. The second (and best) way of attracting customers to click on my site is via organic search by having the most relevant content based on the customer’s search. As a Google video said “You can not pay your way to the top.” Relevant content is the best way to get your site seen.

Using Google webmaster and Google rankings, I looked to see what my most relevant keywords were for my WordPress site. The top results for one word searches were: Marketing, Post, and Restaurant but neither of these words had more than a 3% density. The word Restaurant surprised me because my site is not about restaurants at all but considering the post I did about Restaurant.com and how many times I have used the word restaurant in this paragraph alone I guess it makes sense!

For two word searches, the top ranked word pairs were: Marketing Student, Interactive Marketing, and Colleen Tauber (no surprise there!) All of these had between 4-5.5% density.

For three word searches the top results were: Interactive Marketing Student, Colleen Tauber Interactive, and Tauber Interactive Marketing. No real suprise there but the density for these were double the density for two word searches.

These days, when searching for a new career, one rarely walks into an office and asks for a paper application. When people choose that tactic for job searching, they are usually directed to the company’s career page on their website where they can submit an application and website. The game has changed for both the job hunter and the hiring company. If a company is serious about making application submittance exclusively on-line, they need to be sure that their website is easy to use.

I visited two websites to critique the navigational ease of their career pages (from the perspective of someone looking for a career in operations managment and/or information systems) and other visual aspects. First, I visited McDonald’s website. From the careers homepage, it only took three clicks to get to a job post with a detailed description. Click one: search jobs. From there I specified which department I was interested in and in what state and made my second click to submit the information. I was then guided to a page that listed job openings in the department and state I chose. My third click was clicking on one of the listed openings for a complete description of the job and instructions on how to apply. So easy! It was also simple to find the benefits of working for McDonald’s because “Benefits” was its own breadcrumb heading on the left side of the page at all times. The website is very compelling. The descriptions are well worded and thorough and made me feel like the job would give me the opportunity to really make a difference. In terms of design and usability: the navigation was so simple a child could do it, the spacing and layout was very professional and had a very effective use of text and white space. The colors were simple and clean, the classic McDonald’s red and yellow. Overall, I was very impressed with my experience on the website. One suggestion I would make would be to add more photos and/or videos to make it more visually appealing and warm.

Next, I went to the Walgreen’s website and looked for a job (again under the assumption that I was in the field of operations managment and information systems.) When I reached the homepage, I was immediately presented with a list of departments to choose from. One click on operations lead me right to a job description. How efficient!

Walgreen’s and McDonald’s both did a GREAT job making their websites enticing and easy to use. Even though Walgreens only required one click to get to the relevant job description, I would have to say I preferred McDonald’s approach. With McDonald’s website, I felt like I was more in control of the search and that the results were more tailored to what I was looking for. It was easy to narrow down my search to the department and location I was interested in. I got the feeling that McDonald’s was not just trying to get me to listen to their pitch about why working for them is super duper great. They want to know what my job requirements are too.

The two ads that I created used the exact same content and call to action but two different images that would appeal to different natures. Both of the images are 250×300 px. I used a simple call to action: Adopt Today and included a link to the Tails humane society’s adoption page.  I picked this landing page because it correlates directly with the call to action: Adopt. I used the quote “Pets are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole” from Roger Caras for both of the ads because I wanted to see if the image that I used would make a different in response rate. The first ad, I believe, appeals to the person who is looking for a dog as a companion or a pet for a family. It is a much softer image that appeals to emotion.

The second ad I created appeals to the person looking for a pet as a fun playmate. It features a dog with a silly expression carrying a frisbee in his mouth. This ad uses brighter colors to appeal to a fun-loving person.

The metric I would use to test the success of each of these ads is click through rate to see which one did a better job facilitating action.

Last week we had another guest speaker in our internet marketing class. This time, it was a marketer from IT Supplies. The company started in 1998 by Greg Lahart. He began this small business in his garage and focused his business on consumable products like ink and toner. Interestingly enough, IT Supplies does NOT stand for Information Technology Supplies, it actually stands for Ink and Toner Supplies. Who would have thought?

In the forming  years of IT’s business, customers would place orders via phone from a catalog. Eventually, they formed a website as their new fulfillment tool but it was not like the e-commerce websites we are all so familiar with today. It was very much the same as the paper catalog where customers would place orders via the SKU number. As e-commerce became more prevalent in households, IT expanded their business to thousands of differnt products and made their website more functional for online sales.

Like Chris Krohn, our most recent guest speaker from Restaurant.com, the marketer from IT Supplies (who’s name I unfortunately did not catch) stressed the importance of original content in a business’s website. He advised us to be sure to engage the user and highlight the features and benefits of each product being offered online. He also advised any person interested in internet marketing should take the time to learn html language. It only took him about three months and has really made all the difference in his career.

Our IT guest gave several examples of winning aspects of the internet. The internet is a great tool for new customer acquisition on a global scale, is generally less costly than using direct mailing lists, analytics allow for easy assessment of conversion rates, and allows for more information and interactivity than a regular catalog.

When asked if he had any advice for us, he recommended that we take the time to stay “in the know” about current events in marketing and marketing trends. In the simplest sense, he recommended we read books on marketing subjects to continue our education after college, use google (his exact words were “use google to learn about google”), and start a blog to help you learn how to format websites.

Another tip he left us with was to regularly take a step back and make sure your marketing campaign is effectve, making money, and helping your company’s bottom line.

The first plug-in that I came across ended up being the one that struck me the most. I know what you’re thinking and no, I didn’t just decide to write about the first plug-in that came up on the basic search. The plug-in is called “ZENKEI Player for WordPress.” This plug-in, created by the ZENKEI Corporation helps businesses create virtual tours for FREE using your own cameras. I’m sure we have all seen virtual tours before (I mean, we’re college kids. We’ve all looked online for apartments right?) Not only would this be a great plug-in for real estate companies but it would be a great way to give customers a tour of their companies so they can see how products are made and how services are carried out. This could remove some of the existing doubt that some people still have about buying online. You can actually show them that what they see is what they will get without the high costs of hiring a company to create a virtual tour for your business. You can do it yourself!

http://www.interactivemarketingstudents.info/ctauber/wp-admin/plugin-install.php?tab=search&type=term&s=&plugin-search-input=Search+Plugins

The next plug in I came across that I thought would be valuable for businesses is the Facebook Page Promoter Lightbox by Arevico. With this plug-in you can promote your company’s facebook page with a Facebook page like-box inside a lightbox. Since Facebook is a great engine to gain awareness and popularity about your website and this could direct customers to your page.

http://www.interactivemarketingstudents.info/ctauber/wp-admin/plugin-install.php?tab=search&type=term&s&plugin-search-input=Search+Plugins&paged=3