1. Communicating effectively is more than just good advertising. - If your communication with your team isn't clear of the goals and objectives and your communication in turn, doesn't reach or effect your target audience the way your intended, your advertising efforts won't matter. The advertisement is only as good as its ability to effectively reach and persuade your target market. Not only in advertising but in other fields, such as product development and merchandising, it is important to know your target market and know how to communicate with and to them to get the best finished product out to the consumer. In my hopeful field of work, it'll be important for me to be able to communicate with the consumers to develop and improve upon future products and services the company I work for may provide.
2. Knowing the customer better than the competition - There is always going to be a company out there that wants to be bigger, better, more innovative, with better customer service, etc., so it's important that your company knows the customer better than the competition does so that even if you aren't the 5-star of service, the customer will go to you because you know exactly what they want, even better than the next guy. No matter where I go in my career, knowing the customer better will always be a main goal in most companies. I recently landed a position with Nike and I feel they do exactly that. They are, if not the best, one of the best companies and most successful athletic and footwear companies in the world. They take the time to understand the customer and their needs and wants and in return to them the best and more innovative products to date.
3. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) - ROAS is the revenue realized on every $1 spent on advertising. In business, it is very important to spend efficiently. If the money your spend on Ad's isn't generating nearly as much as you've put in, you can assume your are doing something wrong. I may never use this figure again in my life but in merchandising we have a similar calculation: GMROI or gross margin return on investment. Basically for every $1 spent on a bought product, so many dollars are gained for investment or profit.
4. Public Relations - Public relations is the management of publicity and communications with groups in contact with the company. There can be external and internal public relations departments who also work closely with marketing, sales, and human resources. Public relations takes care of tasks such as company newsletters, special company events, and annual progress reports. Although I won't be working in advertising or marketing, I will be in sales and may work with the public relations department or just experience some of the work they do. Public relations is a vital part to any company trying to maintain a certain image or standard, especially larger companies who need an entire department for inter-department communication and planning as well as making sure their name isn't subject to a negative image, scandal, or controversy.
5. The differences between Online "traditional marketing" and Social Media Marketing - the traditional online marketing consists of display ads, those annoying pop up and sidebar ads that force us all to use the handy "Ad Blocker" tool on our computers. They typically have a higher cost because of the cost of ad space as well as the opportunity for personalization and targeting of their ads. Social Media Marketing encourages customer engagement, pulls people in, compliments online traditional marketing and all for a lower cost. In advertising and businesses trying to reach a wider market, it's important to not only understand your target but know your goals and know which type of marketing strategy would best fit those goals and needs. With social media on such a rise and with such positive response, if I ever wanted to start my own clothing company, I think I would chose to use Social Media Marketing because of its low cost and it's ability to easily integrate with traditional online marketing if I wanted to use it. I like the idea of using the ultimate consumer to base marketing strategies and gain important feedback so that companies can better serve with consumer.
