Hey, there.
Eric here again. I wanna go through the final video
of our module one set of videos here,
really covering the overview introduction to the course.
So, like I've mentioned before,
this video is just gonna be about
going over some of the digital marketing landscape basics,
just so we're all on the same page before we dive deeper
into each of the fundamental digital marketing channels.
Plus, I'm gonna end up giving you some direction
on what to do next now that we're beginning week one
and about to head into a pretty busy week one
as it relates to content, but that's okay.
It's gonna be very, very manageable,
sticking with myself asking questions
and engaging with the community here.
So let's get into the digital marketing landscape.
I think this slide, in my years of doing marketing,
this slide I think best summarizes
a definition visually of effective marketing.
And if you think about it, it makes a ton of sense,
because how many times have we been targeted by businesses
that just don't get it, right?
So when you think about marketing basics,
inclusive of digital marketing,
effective marketing's going to be the intersection
of what a brand has to say
and what a customer's really interested in
or has a need for, right?
So you think about that intersection
between what the brand has to say
and what the customer needs or wants,
that's where effective marketing is going to happen.
That's where the message is going to be clear.
That's where the attention is gonna be gained.
So really think about this as effective marketing.
When we talk about digital marketing,
I wanna leave you with a very simple definition
about what digital marketing is,
and that simply is just consumers connected with brands,
sorry, brands connecting with consumers
through digital executions and digital mediums, right?
So the digital piece here is key.
When you think about all the digital touchpoint that exist,
that's digital marketing.
So you might be thinking about other screens,
like mobile, smart TVs.
Yes, that is inclusive in digital marketing.
So go through this course
listening to the fundamental channels
about how they operate,
but also think about how those digital experiences
can connect in supporting this definition.
Now, this is probably one of the biggest takeaway slides,
mindset shifts that you may have to embrace.
Some of you may have already heard about this
prior to joining this program,
but to me, this is a big walkaway piece that,
even after today, you can leverage in your day-to-day
and how you think about marketing.
Traditionally, we talk about marketing as the funnel,
and the funnel has a place in today's marketing,
and that's about getting customers through certain stages.
But when it comes to effective marketing,
I want you to think more about a customer's journey,
and this is a a diagram.
McKinsey had released this study
about the customer's journey,
and think about it in a clockwise motion,
that the journey a customer goes through
before making a decision to purchase any product or service.
So it always starts with
some additional consideration set or some trigger
that is, could be an ad, could be a mention from a friend,
could be just a need.
My car broke down. I need to buy a new car.
That's the trigger.
So whatever the trigger is,
that's gonna start a customer's journey,
and throughout their journey,
they're gonna be actively evaluating information
before making a decision,
whether that decision is to download something,
or in this case, make a purchase.
But here's the kicker, right?
Effective marketers today
are focused on what happens after that conversion event,
whether that's the download, whether that's the purchase,
whether that's the video play.
Whatever happens after that moment of conversion
is what's key to understanding
the effectiveness of a customer's journey.
And what we mean by that is, think about it.
The last time you purchased something on Amazon,
what showed up in your email inbox, right?
Leave a review.
After we download something,
let's say it's a a piece of content,
what ends up being sent to us,
or what sort of ads do we start to see
after completing that action?
There's an element of post-purchase communication
that is key for marketers to understand,
because once the purchase is made, that is not it,
'cause there's a lot of things that marketers can do
to still provide value to that customer.
Now, as you follow this clockwise motion,
and the post-purchase experience
is about getting more information,
more value in front of that customer,
and then what happens
is there is this interesting loyalty loop,
known as if we can turn a paid customer
or a customer has taken a conversion action
and increase their loyalty to our product,
that will do nothing but generate more sales,
more traffic, more downloads.
So the key here, the sweet spot for a marketer nowadays
is how to you generate this loyalty loop?
And don't always think about loyalty loop
about making purchases.
Loyalty loops can happen if you have a subscription service
or if you have a guide to download, right?
So it's really just about how do you empower your customers
to be advocates for your brand?
And all that said
in terms of the customer's journey in this one slide.
Now what's interesting is when you start to layer in
all the channels that you're going to learn,
now you start to see this integrated picture
of, oh, wait a minute.
An ad can drive someone's,
when someone's searching for I need to buy a new laptop,
well, let's page search in action
to capture the active evaluation
as well as the organic search,
as well as the social media ad,
as well as an email with more information.
So start thinking about the last time you made a purchase
and the journey that you went on,
not just to get to the purchase,
but what happened after the purchase.
So you start to listen
and you'll learn from all the different key channels
that you're gonna be covering in the next couple of weeks.
Remember this slide.
Remember, and you'll hear this from the instructors,
how that channel works inside of the customer's journey.
This is a key concept
that some people get paid a lot of money
to come into a business and help them figure out
what is their specific target persona or customer's journey?
'Cause then, as you can imagine,
helps you to better effectively use
these digital marketing channels.
So, like I said in the other video,
the fundamentals are key to success here.
These are the fundamental channels.
When used correctly, you can see here targeting a journey,
you can be extremely effective as a marketer.
And all this to say, here's another slide
that just represents all the different touchpoints
that a consumer can be exposed to.
And this is a great cheat sheet
I've used actually when making marketing plans,
just considering all the different touch points
and requirements for an integrated campaign.
The lines connecting here I think is critical,
because it's basically summarizing
that you can't just operate in a vacuum
with one or two channels.
You have to think about all the touch points.
Integrated campaigns are a must for marketers today,
but I leave you with a, there's a but here.
Given all that, here's what we want to keep in mind here
from the marketing landscape
specific to heading into this course.
There's a challenge now
being faced by marketing or marketers,
and this is a quote coming from Michael Brenner,
a content marketing expert.
And he coined this at a conference saying,
"Hey, listen, marketing's got a marketing problem,"
and I think it's key that we all embrace that
and understand that as we go through each of these weeks,
'cause it'll allow you to really appreciate
the best practices,
all the content our instructors are providing to you
about those channels.
But marketing itself,
being a marketer has a marketing problem,
and the problem for marketers today
is even thinking about that customer journey,
think about customers,
and that's, again, we are customers ourselves.
Customers have so many choices.
Choices with direct to consumer,
choices with discount shopping,
choices with competitors that are cutting prices, right?
So the choice of a customer today is vast.
Couple that with the fact that attention spans,
I mean, I see my teenagers
and how they consume content on a phone,
and maybe there's a second or two
before it's time to move on,
and these teenagers will be consumers of the future.
Yikes.
So getting the attention
when we're conditioning ourselves now to be,
it's two seconds and move on, that's a challenge.
With all this information,
you have good marketers, you have bad marketers.
There's a lot of crap that's being sent,
a lot of noise being sent to us as consumers,
but marketers, we need to be aware of that.
Look at your inbox, look at your spam folder.
When's the last time you looked at your spam folder or email
and you see all this stuff
that's just trying to get your attention,
but most of it is noise?
Now when it comes to consuming that content, right,
this talks about the vehicles
where you're gonna learn about mobile,
mobile ad strategy in this program,
but also, you know, it isn't just the mobile device.
The smart TV is now becoming a device
that is effective at getting attention.
Billboards and bus shelters have become interactive,
where now they become vehicles for consuming content
for marketers to consider
when trying to get the attention of our consumers.
So there's choices on not just products
but also how to consume what you want to read or see.
Now, the big question after all this is,
well, then Eric, how do we stay relevant
as marketers trying to reach customers?
And you know, it's pretty simple.
Go back to that first slide that I showed you.
If you're not focusing on what the customer's needs are,
then you're missing the point,
then a lot of what the brand is saying is going to be noise.
So you must remember to always think about those customers.
Survey the customers.
Ask questions of customers.
Go walk a mile in the shoes of your customer,
or even your prospect,
those that are considering a purchase
of your product or service.
Always, when I consult with companies and I ask them,
"When's the last time you surveyed your current customers?"
they look at me and they say, "Why would we do that?"
And to me, that's a, "Oof!"
That is a moment of,
wait a minute, there's an opportunity here.
So always be listening to your customers,
because in doing so,
this goes back to that customer journey,
we're all seeking to make sure
that we're sending the right message to the right person,
the right target audience at the right time.
I'll even add through the right vehicle.
So this is almost the holy grail of marketing
is being able to answer this,
being able to deliver this,
right message, right person, right time, right vehicle.
That's what it's all about.
Now, when it comes to being that brand trying to market,
you have to make sure you're marketing your value,
not your features, but your benefits.
And this is the late Tony Hsieh, who was the CEO of Zappos,
and all of us, many of us have probably shopped at Zappos
and had a really great experience.
But look at his quote when he's summarizing
when somebody says,
"What's the brand's philosophy at Zappos?"
And he describes it, and here's the thing to keep in mind
if you're a brand or a business.
Doesn't matter the size of business.
Could be a non-profit, startup, or conglomerate.
You have to market your value.
But look at how Tony talks about delivering happiness
and making sure the customers remember
how you made them feel.
Emotional connections are the key to communicating
a true brand, or brand's true value,
if you think about it that way, right?
It's the experience.
It's how this brand made you feel.
If you do that, based on everything I just talked about,
the marketing problem becomes less of a problem
because you're gaining information from your consumers.
Now, having said all that,
what do all these brands have in common?
If you think about
if you're been a customer of any of these brands,
and it's just a random sampling of this,
brands that have been known for,
known for what?
Providing great customer experiences.
Kimpton Hotels, free happy hours from four to six.
Patagonia, return anything anytime, anywhere,
we'll give you a replacement.
Dollar Shave Club
has basically upended the shaving industry.
Disney, I mean,
who hasn't had a good experience at Disney, right?
So you think about what these brands have done.
Like Zappos, they have focused on
creating an emotional connection with the consumer
tied to an experience second to none.
So you wanna think about,
again, just kind of digital marketing landscape.
If you have this approach
for your digital marketing campaigns,
you should be in good shape.
So that was just kind of an overview
of the digital marketing landscape,
how to think about that customer journey,
how to think about really standing out in a crowded,
always gonna be crowded marketplace.
Hard to get the attention of our consumers.
So when it comes to this program, what next?
What do you wanna do next?
So here's what you can be doing
if you think about this being week one of the course.
Ask questions.
You'll have questions.
Get familiar with your learning management system.
Reach out with questions.
Again, best way to learn is just jump in,
and you'll have questions, we have answers.
So don't be afraid to email myself or Chris
and we'll get you straightened out.
What next is, we have a live session
that is upcoming this upcoming Wednesday,
and that's gonna be focused on I believe SEO.
Bill's gonna be our instructor there.
That live session is gonna be 8:00 PM Eastern,
so do the math on your time zone.
8:00 PM Eastern.
And last to keep in mind is have fun, right?
There's a lot of information
that's gonna be shared with you this week.
It might feel a little overwhelming.
I'm gonna talk about that
in the live session this Wednesday,
but keep in mind that it's all about having fun.
Have fun, learn, connect with others.
This is a space and a time for you,
you've invested in yourself
to get the most from this program.
Walk away with value.
Your week one discussion board assignment
is a very simple one.
I want to learn more about you.
I wanna learn why you're taking the course.
If this is your first online course, yes or no,
because there's others just like you, I can guarantee it,
and therefore you can communicate
and connect with each other.
But I also want to hear from a digital marketing standpoint.
We've all been exposed to digital marketing.
Tell me about a campaign that got your attention, right?
So tell me about a campaign
that caused you to actively evaluate
or a campaign that caused you to convert.
It was a sale email, it was a ad on Netflix.
Is there a digital marketing campaign
that caused you to take an action?
Share it, share it.
Let's share that across all the students here,
so we can all learn.
And I mentioned this in the other video,
if you want to get started with identifying
your capstone project brand, challenge, campaign,
I went into more details about that in video two.
Do that now by going to this URL.
Enter your name, the brand,
select dropdown menu challenge, campaign.
Check the tab at the bottom for other capstone examples.
And again, I leave you with this.
Other resources you should be prepared
to look for and review as you get through the course here.
There are bonus modules that will be released
and offered to you that go deeper into other topics
that will help you to stay relevant
to what's going on in digital marketing.
They're gonna be around social media, analytics,
an artificial intelligence bonus module,
as well as some other trends to keep in mind.
So I encourage you to consume,
take advantage of those resources,
really round out your knowledge about that information,
'cause they're gonna be extremely helpful
and a great supplement
to what you're learning in the next eight weeks.
Also, if you're really wanting to get started,
and saying, "Eric, where can I go
to learn about digital marketing
now that I'm jumping in here?
Are there other resources that are worth checking out?"
And these are a couple of communities,
newsletters, podcasts that I encourage you to go check out.
Each of them will give you,
keep your finger on the pulse
of what's happening in digital marketing,
'cause I can guarantee you,
at the end of the eight weeks we're about to engage on,
at the end of those eight weeks,
something in this industry will change,
something in this digital marketing industry will be new.
There's gonna be something new
that none of us have anticipated over the next eight weeks.
That's how quickly this industry changes,
and here are a couple of resources to help you stay on top,
not just during the eight weeks,
but for the entirety of your career.
Think about that customer journey, right?
And I went through it really quickly,
but if you have questions about it, email me.
If you're in the process of purchasing something,
phone, car, house, boots, shoes, jackets, whatever,
think about how you're being interacted with by brands
to help get your attention along your journey,
but not just until you purchase,
but think about, pay attention to what happens
after you make that purchase.
So like I said at the beginning,
my commitment to you in this course
is to make you a more marketable version of yourself.
A more marketable version of you
is an expected outcome of this program.
So I'm here.
I'm here to help.
This is my commitment to you.
So please reach out with any questions.
And again, another big thank you
for investing in yourself to be part of this course.
I look forward to the journey, taking this journey with you.
But here's my, again, here's my email address
that you may have already added to your contacts.
Thank you.
But also, here's my LinkedIn profile URL
if you want to connect on LinkedIn as we get started here,
just to stay on top of anything that I'm posting as well.
So again, thank you.
I look forward to seeing you in upcoming live session.