CASA MKTG- Reviewing Campaign Performance

Even though I had a terribly hard time trying to get my Facebook ad up and running, it eventually worked!
So far, I have had the ad running for four days. Now it is time to see how many people my ad is reaching and how many people are actually visiting my blog.

Check Facebook Ads Manager: When you login to ads manager you should see a screen like this:

Now, it might seem like a lot of information that you don't know what to do with, but there are a few key features we want to look at:

Performance

First, we want to take a look at the total reach. The reach is how many people were able to see my ad. So far this campaign has a reach of 91,050 people. 

Then we want to see how many websites clicks I received. Which in this case was 53. 

I also want to know how much I am spending overall and per click. When I created my ad I set a lifetime budget of $20. So far, I have spent $9.49. Now let's take it a step further. I want to know how much I am spending per click, and this is $0.18. 

Audience

I am done looking at the performance, now I want to see the audience I am reaching. Is it a younger crowd, older, male, or female? By clicking on the audience button located next to performance, I can get my answers. When you click on the performance tab, you should see a screen similar to this:

By looking at the graph, I see that my ad is reaching the age range of 18-24 years old the most. Of that age group, I am reaching more males than females. So more of my websites clicks are from males. 

Now that I know a little about how my blog is doing, I can use the information I received to make changes and attract more visitors! 

Creating a Facebook Ad Campaign

Making a Facebook Ad sound simple right? It seems like it should be, but I am having absolutely no luck! One of my class assignments was to create a Facebook ad for my blog, so that I can track the analytics. It sounded simple, and I thought it would take about 10 minutes to create, but I was sadly mistaken.

 When I first went to create my Facebook ad, I was taken to this landing page.

I clicked on "create ad" and proceeded to fill out some basic information. The page asked for information on who I am trying to reach, interests, demographics, and other various details. It's a great way to narrow your search and gain exposure....if it actually works.

Every time I hit the green "create ad" button at the bottom of the page, I ran into trouble. I kept recieving an error that said I had an invalid image. So, I tried a number of different images, changed the size and the file type, but it still didn't work. Now I was just getting frustrated.

I decided to do what everyone does when they don't know an answer: Google it! After Googling, I found the image size needed, but can you guess what happened? It still showed the same error.

At this point I was running out of ideas. So, I exited the browser and started from scratch. I was so sure this was going to work, but then I received yet another error.

I'm not too sure why it's not working. Maybe it's the computer, or maybe it's something very simple that I am overlooking, but I do know one thing. I will get it to work at least once this annoying loading symbol goes away!

Come back soon to see if I overcome my frustration and figured out how to make this ad campaign work! 

CASA MKTG- Blog Exposure

You can have the best content ever, but it does not serve its purpose if no one is able to view that content. In order to properly utilize Google Analytics, you need traffic, and its very simple to generate! If you are attempting to have your blog gain some exposure, follow these tips!

Pitch:  One way to get views for your blog, is to pitch the link to your friends on Facebook and connections on LinkedIn. For instance, you can say, "Please take a look at the link for my marketing blog below. I'm trying to generate data for Google Analytics and you can learn a little about marketing!"

Post: You can also share the actual post on Facebook and LinkedIn. To share on LinkedIn simply press the "share an update" button.

Promote: I have talked about the free ways to gain exposure, but you can also pay to promote. On Facebook, there is a pay to promote button, but it will help you gain exposure quickly and easily.


Making an ad on Facebook is another way you can promote your blog. By using this Facebook feature, you can customize your demographics to gain the exposure you desire. You choose the region, age range, interests, pictures, and create an ad you wan to be displayed.

Tip: If you decide to use a Facebook ad campaign to gain exposure, be sure to set a limit on the amount of money you want to spend. You can set a lifetime budget or customize the time period in which your ad will run.

Generating traffic may seem like a difficult task, but there are many options available, bot free and paid, to gain the exposure you desire!

WCIYP- Your New Resume

Almost everyone has used Google at some point in their lives.Whether it was to search for reviews online, find answers for homework questions, or just to browse funny cat pictures, most people have had some experience with Google. But now, Google has another major purpose: Being your online resume.

Google as your new resume can be great, but you must remember that if a potential employer Googles you, they can see the good and the bad. Here are some tips to make them see the good.

Edit and Fill: To start off, Google yourself and see what you come across. If you see something that could affect your chances of getting a job, take it down. Then, take the time to go through all of your social media sites and clean them up. While you are cleaning up your social media sites, make sure they are filled in as much as possible.

Filling in includes: Having a profile picture, adding in skills, mentioning past job experience, etc.


Expand Your Presence: The more active you are on the internet, the more recruiters will be able to see about your activities and involvements. To be more active you can:

• Join groups and forums on LinkedIn
• Utilize Twitter
• Start a Blog
• Add videos

Add: You already know that adding information to your social media profiles can help recruiters learn more about you, but another way to get noticed is by putting your actual resume on Google. Yes, you can do that. Just make sure to post it some where that the recruiter will be able to find.

For some tips on creating a great online resume check out this helpful post from Mashable.

CASA MKTG- Setting up Blogalytics

Blogalytics is exactly like it sounds. It is simply having a blog and using anayltics to track how the blog is doing. It is easy to get started because you only need two thing: A blog and an analytics account.

Creating a Blog: Maybe you have never written a blog before, but that's okay. To set up a blog, simply go to https://www.blogger.com. Once you're on the website, you will be able to choose a custom address and pick the layout that you would like your blog to display.

Tip: Once you have your blog up and running, remember to post content on a weekly basis.

Starting Goggle Analytics: If you have a G-mail account, all you need to do to access anayltics is to click on the Access Google Analytics button. If you don't have an account, visit http://google.com/analytics.


After you create and customize your accounts, you can connect the two of them. This way you will be able to see how many people are viewing the content that you are producing every week. To do this, you will us the tracking code that analytics provides you and copy it into your setting in tracker.

After your accounts are connect you can play around with the data provided in Google Analytics. You be able to see statics on things such as:

• Page Views
• Pages/ Sessions
• Bounce Rate
• Percentage of New Sessions
• Average Session Duration

With the data that you gather from Google Analytics, you will be able to see how people are responding to your content and what types of content your viewers respond to the best. All of this feedback can help you improve your content and number of viewers.

WCIYP- How to Adapt to Job Hunting in the 21st Century

After the economic crash in 2008, it has been increasingly difficult to find jobs. Although many people believe it is this way because there are no job available, that is not the case. Yes, full time jobs are harder to find, and it seems like you send out countless resumes that never receive a response, but this is because employers changed, and job hunters didn't.



The book titled, "What Color is Your Parachute?" gives some valuable insights to aid you in the job searching process. In order to better the odds of landing a job, job hunters must speak the same language as the employers. Job hunting is a process and there are a few tips to follow to make the process go as smoothly as possible.

Use Online Resources: Job Boards can be a useful way to find job openings and send out your resume. Some common ones include Careerbuilder and Monster.com. In addition to job boards, it can be helpful to use social media. Sites such as LinkedIn, Skype, Facebook, and Twitter have become more popular in the job hunt process over the past few years.

Determine Your Search: Don't just look for a job that requires skills that you know. Instead, look for jobs with the skills you love to use. Being passionate will help you throughout the process.



Notice the Interview Time: Employers have stacks of resumes for just one available position. If you are fortunate enough to land an interview, be aware of the time. Follow the 20 to 2 rule, meaning that you should keep your answers between 20 seconds and 2 minutes. Also, don't spend the majority of your interview talking. Let the interviewer talk just as much as you do.

Send a Thank You: Taking a few minutes after your interview to type up an email saying thank you for your time, can give you an advantage over other candidates. I had an employer tell me that she was highly impressed by the follow up email I sent after my interview, and that played a part as to why I received the jobs over the other candidates.


Landing a job might seem like an intimidating and frustrating process, but it is possible. Just remember to follow these few tips and keep trying!

Casa MKTG- Why You Should Care About Analytics

Things change, especially in the marketing field. As things change in the field, the need for certain skills also change. At the time being, there is a high need for skills in involving social media marketing, digital and online marketing, and business intelligence. All three of these areas relate directly to analytics.

If you are interested in gaining some experience with analytics there are a variety of tools, both paid and free, that you can use.

Google Analytics: This particular tool is free, and it is a great place to start. I recently attempted to take the Goggle Analytics Quiz to get certified and this tool provided me with free study material that helped me gain valuable information.

Adobe Analytics-Omniture: This web analytic tool is considered to be one of the best. If you have experience with this tool, it can certainly can help you when you are applying for jobs. Although it is helpful, unlike Google Analytics, it is expensive. There are certain things that Adobe Analytics can do that Google Analytics can't, and visa versa.

So, having experience with analytics can only help you in the search for a profession in the marketing field. If you are interested in learning more there are a variety of tools that you can utilize to accomplish your goal of becoming certified in analytics.