CAREER SPOTLIGHT

Connect andSocial media is changing the face of online marketing.

ÉL i • .W^L • ext time you're selling a produa for a

B ^ ^ I school fund-raiser, think like a mar-

I ^ ^ I keting professional. Who would be

I ^ ^ J most interested in the product? Whar

B ^ " are the best ways to reach them?

Those are questions that people in the marketing

industry ask every day as they look for creative new

ways to promote products or services. Marketing is

everywhere—on billboards along the highway, in

concerts sponsored by soft drink companies, and on

postcards delivered to your home.

With the growing number of people online, a new

field of marketing has emerged. E-marketing, or

Internet marketing, encompasses everything a busi-

ness does to promote itself online.

"Nearly every company, if it has a Web site, is involved

in Internet marketing," says Carly Desmet. She's director of

marketing at Oneupweb, an online marketing firm in

Traverse City, Mich. Desmet's firm handles online

marketing campaigns for all sorts of businesses—

from pet hospitals to large corporations.

E-marketing isn't just about having a nice

Web site, though. Online display ads and

banner ads linking to a company's home

page need to be placed on sites that are most

likely to reach the target audience. E-mail cam-

paigns promote a company by sending messages directly to a

potential customer's in-box.

Another important tool in online marketing is search engine

optimization, or SEO. It's the process used to improve a Web site's

ranking on search engines, such as Yahoo! and Google. When

someone googles a term—steak restaurant or eye doctor, for exam-

ple—the Web sites that pop up first are determined hy SEO. So

if you are marketing a business online, it's important to use words

in the Web site's text that match the words a person would use

to search for it.

2 6 CAREERWORLD February/March 2010

ProrToote By Natalia Maldonado

But as the ways people use the

Internet evolve, so does Internet mar-

keting. The industry's most powerful

Eools, and how businesses use them,

may surprise you. You may fmd that

you already have some experience

with this field.

Putting In Some Face TimeIf youVe ever logged on to Facebook

and become a "fan" of a company, such

as Apple, or a charity organization,

such as the Humane Society of the

United States, you've seen the social

media aspect of e-marketing in action.

C People want toconnect with realpeople, and that'swhat I think makessocial media so funand so intriguingfor marketers.

-Lisa Goddard

"Social media has absolutely, 100

percent changed online marketing,"

Desmet says. "It's really opened up a

two-way line of communication."

At Desmet's company, social media

plays such an imponant role that an

entire department is devoted to it.

Each social media campaign is tai-

lored to a company's needs and audi-

ence. A corporation wanting to

promote itself to other companie.s

may choose a busin ess-minded out-

let, such as Linkedin, while a dance

company may use YouTube to post

videos of performances. User interac-

tion—the ability to post comments,

send friend requests, and to join a

HOT TOOLS INONLINE MARKETING

Online marketing changes every dayas technologies are introduced orused in new ways. Here are threemarketing tools to keep an eye on-ifyou go into this field, you may beusing them.

Augmented reality: This type ofvirtual reality combines what yousee on your computer screen withinformation about your surroundingenvironment. Sponsors can create avirtual enhancement of reality onyour computer screen.

Smart phone applications: Phonesaren't just for talking and texting any-more. Companies in all industriesoffer software that lets you checkinformation, such as the weather,movie times, and sports scores fromyour phone. Those apps are easilydownloaded, so marketers can besure you're carrying their brand namewith you-even after you've steppedaway from a computer.

Video: Strong visuals and sound area key part of communication, andvideo is a great combination of both.Following the success of YouTube,more and more companies areexpected to integrate video ontotheir Web sites. The idea is to engagevisitors' interest not only with text,but with images too.

2 8 CAREERWORLD February/March 2010

network—connects businesses and

organizations to peopie.

"People want to connect with real

people, and that's what 1 think makes

social media so fun and so intriguing

for marketers," says Lisa Goddard,

advocacy and online marketing direc-

tor at the Capital Area Food Bank of

Texas in Austin. Goddard uses social

media tools, such as Facebook, the

Food Banks blog, and Twitter, to pro-

mote awareness of hunger issues in

her community.

Today's studentshave an advantage:Growing up withthe Internet gives^hem a keenunderstandingof social media'srole in people's-^ay-to-day lives.

Her online efforts, even those writ-

ten in 140 characters or less, have

yielded real-world results. When a

representative from Tyson Foods read

one of Goddards tweets on Twitter,

he offered to help. Together, they

launched an online antihunger cam-

paign: For every re-tweet or comment

posted on the Food Bank's blog,

Tyson would donate a chicken. In less

than 24 hours, the Food Bank had

enough chickens to fill a truck.

Social media sites help nonprofit

organizations like Goddard's create

awareness across an enormous audi-

ence. Information online spreads at a

fantastic rate. It's as easy as forward-

ing an e-mai!, re-tweeting a message,

or suggesting a page to your Facebook

friends.

The Wide World ofInternet MarketingFor someone entering the field of

Internet marketing, the opportunities

are vast. Most marketing profession-

als have a bachelor's degree in some

area of communication, such as

advertising, marketing, or English.

"You can get very specialized."

Desmet says. "You could work for

basically any company because these

days almost every business has a mar-

keting department."

Sports teams need marketing

departments to keep their image and

brand in the public eye. Hospitals use

marketing to create awareness of their

achievements and support for their

community's needs. All businesses

need to promote themselves, so

there's a marketing position out there

to suit nearly any interest. For those

having difficulty picking just one spe-

cialty, there are marketing firms that

work with clients across a number of

industries.

"The foundation for [marketing] is

that you have to be an excellent com-

municator, whatever your specialty

may be," Desmet says. "Marketing for

the most part requires a creative

approach. You always have to be com-

ing up with fresh ideas."

Creativity, LeadershipSkills and... Math?On any given day ar the Food Bank,

Goddard might work with a graphic

designer on a banner ad for the

Internet, then start writing a post for

the organization's blog. Sometimes

she'll meet with event teams to

brainstorm ways to promote an

upcoming event.

Along with creativity and excellent

writing skills, Goddard says, being

able to work well in a team is essen-

tial to her job. "In all of the jobs I've

had in marketing, I've never worked

alone." From its inception to its exe-

cution, an online marketing cam-

paign can involve a number of

people—managers. Web designers,

writers, and account executives, to

name a few.

Once an online campaign goes

live, its results need to be measured.

That is where strong math skills come

into play.

A search ad—in which a business

pays for its ad to appear when a cer-

tain keyword is put into a search

engine—may yield a certain number

of sales. A percentage of people who

view a video on YouTube will click a

link to visit the sponsoring company's

site. Internet marketers track those

figures to see what's working in their

campaigns—and what's not.

"We need to be able to measure

and analyze the success of every cam-

paign. That definitely helps internet

markeung continue to grow," Desmet

says, adding that the field is changing

every day at an incredibly fast pace.

Today's students have an advantage:

Growing up with the Internet gives

them a keen understanding of social

media's role in people's day-to-day

lives. "They have a wonderful oppor-

tunity to take social media to the next

level," Goddard says. "Wherever that

next level may be." CW

»UTIT•nt to start a new

)l tutoring service. Howmight you use soda! media tomarket and promote it?

February/March 2010 CAREERWDRLD 2 9

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