That's a wrap!!

It's the end of the 2nd semester at Monash University (where I study) and that also means that it's my last post on this blog this semester. Looking back at 3 months ago, I am quite surprise that I decided to take the Blog Assessment and the Video Assessment since I have never written a blog nor create a video before. This has been a great and valuable lesson for me that I can go out and tell people about my experience!

It all started when I posted my my first blog entry ever on the beginning of August explaining the purpose of this blog and meaning behind the blog name. Since then, it's all about how companies could use different types social medias to the fullest and how to maximise their opportunity in the digital marketing era.

1. Facebook: the most popular digital marketing platform on earth. Gotta have it! (see my examples of companies that are doing it well and badly).
2. Youtube: make it viral! Top celebrities on Youtube such as Lady Gaga (here's the prove) and Justin Bieber (this is why) have successfully utilize Youtube to communicate with its fans very effectively.
3. Twitter: the new "It" guy on social media. Below is the video I created as part of this Electronic Marketing subject that I'm doing, explaining how Twitter can be used in business.

I am sure there are plenty other examples that I have not blogged about. Companies have so many choices to communicate their brands online. However, they should choose the most appropriate media to use and deliver meaningful and attractive contents to the public. And to get even stronger effect to the marketplace, businesses use integrated approach in combining different social medias.

They can build a website with links to their Facebook page (where customers can interact with the brand and with each other), Twitter account (to post short comments out there), and Youtube channel (create a video to be shared). Possibilities are out there in the future, facilitated by the rapid technology advancement and more and more people can get easy and cheaper access to the internet.

Finally, companies are able to monitor their online performance using
 whether it's a blog, Youtube channel, Facebook page, website, etc.
Google Analytics reported on statistical data of the visitors, which can be used to improve the overall performance of the site if analyzed properly (as I did here and here).

Wanna be the next Youtube star??

When I first heard about Youtube I thought that it's a great website to watch a huge range of different videos. Either home video, recorded from TV, music videos, etc.

However I didn't expect that people can make money from Youtube (as more and more people do nowadays). The example is not only organizations posting videos to build awareness by creating buzz, but there are people making and posting videos to generate income.

Even once upon a time, Justin Bieber was only a little boy who happened to post videos of him singing on Youtube, before finally discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, the former marketing executive of So So Def. Later on, Bieber was signed by Braun and Usher's (who is now became Bieber's mentor) recording company and became the most searched person on Google not long ago. Also, his "Baby" music video is the most watched Youtube video with over 300 million views!

By the time he did his first appearance on TV, Justin Bieber has got millions of loyal Youtube fans already. Not that I'm a fan of him, but I do appreciate him - apparently he's not just a boy trying to sing songs that are not quite age-appropriate, I suppose.

Youtube could also be a platform for companies to broadcast their message to reach their target audience. However, not every company did it successfully. Try not to post video that deliberately expose the brand and ask the audience to buy it. The traditional 30-second TV ad method is not going to work here. Instead, try to communicate the philosophy and meaning of your brand that has valuable intrinsic value for audiences. Also, publish a new video regularly and consistently to create presence and relationship with the audiences who are waiting for the next video posts.

How many people visited my blog??

About 2 months ago in my Electronic Marketing lecture, my lecturer touched on a topic about Google Analytics and how it generates a detailed statistical report on website visits. Basically if you created a website and installed Google Analytics on your page, you are able to track the activities in your website. Whether how many people visit the page, what did they do there, and most importantly it helps you analyse the performance of your website!

I thought it would be a great idea to try it on my blog, so I tried it on my blog as an experiment. As I promised on my previous post, at the end of this semester I'm going to present the report on my blog performance. (Here's what I blogged about Google Analytics - I'm with Google Analytics!)

The following information is taken from 1st of September 2010 up to today (14th October 2010).

Overall:

• there were 213 pagevisits to my blog with the total of 52 different visitors
• Each person out of those 52 people visited 2-3 pages per visit on average (some may only visited 1 most recent post, some may visit another pages while they were still in the website)

Which blog post has the most visits?

• My blog about Cebu Pacific cabin crew dancing received the most visits (43 visits)! This could be because I posted the link to this blog on my Facebook page and has video in it. =D
• It seems that the more recent blog posts got more attention. The shameless self-promotion through Facebook and Twitter played big roles here.

Where did the visitors come from?

When I first found out that I could check where did my visitors come from, I originally thought that most of them would come from Moodle and Facebook (since I recently posted link to my post on my Facebook page as well). For those who didn't know what Moodle is, it's a webpage for Electronic Marketing students at Monash where our blogs are posted on the homepage of the website and the top 10 most recent blogs will be shown at the top of the page.

Based on the statistics below, Facebook is the main traffic source to my blog (this I'm not surprised). However, (sadly) there were actually only 8 visits generated from Moodle page! Since I honestly just clicked on blog titles that are most appealing to me, I guess this means that the titles of my post were not attractive enough to gain visits from students visiting Moodle homepage. =(

Where in the world did my blog visitors come from?

As you see above, almost 70% of total visits come from Australia. Followed 2nd by Singapore with 16 visits and Indonesia with 4 visits.

I was a bit surprised that I got visits from US, France, and South Korea. But then again, they spent 0 second on my blog with 100% bounce rate (they immediately exited from the page), so that was apparently not a good thing haha..

So...

According to these data from Google Analytics, my blog posts gained more visits since I posted the link on my Facebook and Twitter accounts. So, try posting your blogs on social medias to avoid talking to a crowded room with no one pays attention. However, since only 8 visits in total from Moodle page I think I need to pick titles that are attractive to compete with other blogs posted on Moodle.

Anyone doing Google Analytics as well? Feel free to share your performance analysis here, since the end of this semester is approaching very soon..

Cabin Crew safety demonstration using Lady Gaga's Just Dance!

Did you think that airlines safety demonstrations are boring? I did. But one innovative way to deliver the message in a fun way was done by Cebu Pacific Air (Philippines-based low-cost airline). They did not have any difficulties in teaching passengers how to use their seat belts properly and pointing the emergency exits by dancing along with Lady Gaga's hit "Just Dance" and also Katy Perry's "California Gurls". View the video below!

It was reported that a passenger recorded the whole demonstration and posted it on Youtube-with almost half million views! It also caught media's attention-The Daily Telegraph and The Australian had reported the news. The Vice President of Marketing at Cebu Pacific Airlines, Candice Iyog, said "Cebu Pacific has always been known as a fun airline, we wanted to get the message across to our customers that flight safety doesn't have to be boring."

In my view, their fun way of demonstrating safety rules has not only create excitement and buzz around the passengers and viewers. By running this video viral, Cebu Pacific has gained more awareness of the brand than ever. At least I know that there is a Philippines-based airline named Cebu Pacific and "Fun" is their philosophy. 


Do you think they were doing a great job at engaging passengers attention to the safety demonstration? Should they continue to do this in each flight?

MTV Video Music Award. Lady Gaga Wins Almost Everything!

I am not a true Lady Gaga fan if I did not blog about her, since she received 8 awards in the MTV Video Music Award (VMA) yesterday!
Bad Romance swept:

• Video of The Year
• Best Pop Video
• Best Female Video
• Best Dance Video
• Best Choreography
• Best Direction

and

• Best Editing awards

Plus, the Telephone music video feat Beyonce won the Best Collaboration award!

Just until recently, Lady Gaga has: 

• 17,601,534 Facebook friends

• 6,257,295 Twitter followers - since August 2010, Lady Gaga is officially the most followed person on Twitter, surpassing Britney Spears

• 341700 Youtube subscribers

• Bad Romance has been viewed 277,102,055 times on Youtube 

When she was nominated by MTV in different categories, those friends and followers (or so-called Little Monsters) were being loyal. They all (including me) voted for her in those nomination and no wonder she could received all 8 trophies..

And it did not end after the VMA. Trending Topics on Twitter that night were about her and the show (even when she was not performing!)

#bornthisway is the title of her upcoming album on 2011 and she sang bits of the song during the award acceptance that night. (Lady Gaga Announces Her New Album Title ). And she wore Meat Dress, which was quite controversial but has a humble and sweet meaning behind it. (Lady Gaga Explains Meat Dress on Ellen Show).

It seems like Lady Gaga has done it all right on social medias. Worldwide fan base in different social medias that is integrating and supporting each other. The key is to get people informed regularly and keep them updated about the latest news, including new album release, stage performances, next concert event and venues, etc.

Yes all singers could perform extremely well on the stage, but who knows what social medias can do?

I'm with Google Analytics!

In the middle of my Electronic Marketing lecture today,

  was mentioned by Peter Wagstaff (the lecturer). For those who haven't heard about it, be amazed! It is one of the most powerful and credible tools to track activities occur within a website. You can easily install this gadget into your web or blog (I did in less than 10 minutes) and let the miracle happen!
 
Basically, Google Analytics could collect data about page visit, duration of visit, bounce rate (when people jump out from the page instantly after the visit), percentage of new visits, page views, and other data that could benefit the users. In this case, I'm trying to collect the data of my blog visits - I'd like to know where do the visitors come from, visit time, etc. By doing this hopefully I can measure the attractiveness of my blog (which topic is the most attractive to read - understanding my reader). Below is how my Google Analytics report on this blog look like. Obviously, there is no visit yet since I installed Google Analytics just now and nothing to be analyzed. Hopefully at the end of the semester more visits are recorded and I will post the result.
 

 

 

Companies can definitely use this tool - and it's free! - to measure their webpage performance silently. By doing it "behind the scene", companies can track visitors' activities without them knowing and improve problems they might have in the website. For example, page with high bounce rate is the least effective and need to be addressed. They can also track if the same customer actually come back to visit the page for the second time and so on.

 

Anyone would like to try to install Google Analytics on their blogs?

Are you a Spreeter? Not sure what Spreeter is? Read through my blog! =)

One lazy Sunday morning I was Googling fine dining restaurants in Melbourne for weekend night out with my friends, when I saw this highly appealing sponsored link at the top right corner of the result page. It said: "Up to 90% Off Dining"!

So I clicked on it and brought me to Spreets site with that day's special deal of $25 voucher to spend on Mandala restaurant. Basically, if you purchase the $25 voucher you could safe $40 if you spend minimum of $65 in that restaurant. The voucher will be valid for 3 months after purchase and after certain amount of people buy the voucher. In this case, the voucher was already active since 523 vouchers are bought up to that day.

The voucher was sent to my e-mail straight after the purchase. Now I can enjoy $65 worth of meal in Mandala restaurant for only $25!

I think this is a great idea for restaurants and any other retailers to draw traffic to their businesses by partnering with Spreets. Some people with the voucher might spend more than $65 at the restaurant, so that's a good thing!

And since the voucher purchasers are allowed (and encourgaed) to share this with friends on Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail, businesses can create word of mouth buzz through Spreets.

Any comments about this topic?

Care for a chat?

Has anyone ever seen/tried live chat service provided by websites of companies?
I think it would be a great idea if conducted properly. The idea is that companies can chat with its customers or potential customers LIVE - so it's like Q&A but you can ask the company directly and quickly. This could be a great communication tool for those customers who are too busy to read all the FAQs or they simply have a new question that is not posted yet. The positive side is that customers won't be hesitant to ask a question that can benefit both customer and the company quickly and with no fuss.

Telstra is doing this (maybe to have a back up for their call centre's frequent faults) and many other companies are providing live chat services on their websites.

What do you think about installing a live chat service on a website? Would love to get as many opinions as possible from you..

Thanks for reading!

CALIFORNIA GURLS!

I watched Katy Perry's show in the city last Thursday and there are some interesting things I would like to share with you. It was actually a private gig by Debit MasterCard Priceless Music program, where only Debit MasterCard holders could purchase the tickets to watch her sing live. Basically, Priceless Music is a program run by Debit MasterCard, which allows all card holders to gain access to exclusive gigs of international artists and competitions. Luckily my sister have the "mighty" card and we could go watch the gig.

It was a great marketing strategy for Debit MasterCard, in a way that:
1. there might be some Katy Perry's fans who would be willing to apply for the card only to attend the show.
2. Or if it doesn't make enough sense, let's say that the customers would feel rewarded as the card holder because they could buy exclusive gig tickets
3. they would also tell friends and families about how they could purchase the tickets (of course using ONLY Debit MasterCard!)
4. A great tool to expose their brands

I'm sure there are lots other benefits as Debit MasterCard holders that I have not listed (See, I'm doing word-of-mouth indirectly! hahaha...)

As we entered to the venue, we were informed that we could enter a photo booth competition to win  signed Katy Perry gifts. All I had to do was to fill a contact detail form and chose the "California beach"-themed-props (i.e. sunglasses, colored wigs, hat, inflatable duck swimming ring, etc). Below is my photo taken at the photo booth!

And of course they have this Facebook page link typed on the photo for those who want to know more about Priceless Music program and Debit MasterCard. Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/debitmastercardpricelessmusic

More bonus was given to all attendees! They would e-mail a free download link for Katy Perry's latest album - which won't be launched as a CD until 27th of August! So, we are the first to have her whole album..! YAYY.. CORRECTION! THE FREE DOWNLOAD LINK WILL ACTUALLY BE SENT ON THE 27th AUGUST, THE SAME DAY AS CD LAUNCH. SORRY FOR THE MISTAKE..


The whole experience was sooo rewarding! Easy payment, soft-copy ticket, unique photo booth competition, great music, lovely Katy Perry, and last but not least: FREE DOWNLOAD of her latest album!! Overall, thumbs up for them! Do you agree or disagree??

Please tell me your opinions and share your experience attending gigs with a very smart e-marketing strategy!

Thanks for reading =)

Facebook: LIKE or DISLIKE?

I extremely dislike those online shops on Facebook when they keep tagging their Friends randomly in a particular photo of the product to promote their New Arrivals or Sale Items. I mean, can’t you just perhaps post the photos without tagging us randomly?

I did not post any link to this online boutique, since it may not be the most legal thing to do. But, as you can see in this photo (the shop name was edited), many girls are tagged and most people will be annoyed. In my opinion, they could have just post the album with clear and attractive descriptions so that the friends won’t be disturbed by the tag notifications. Do you agree with me or do you have any other suggestions on how to market products through Facebook?

The great example of using social media as a way to promote their products is this small company run by a group of boys in the US, called Wong Fu Productions. I first watched one of their many videos unintentionally which was shared by my friend on Facebook, titled Good Hygiene Gets Girls. I really like that video because it was very honest and hilarious, not to mention the excellent quality of picture they have. Up to today, the video has drawn 441,409 views! And the number is growing!

Since then, I went to their Youtube site, making me wanting to know more about them and leading me to their website. It’s great how they interlinked those social media pages (Youtube, the website, Twitter and Facebook page), creating a more powerful connection. They also have been featured in some university visits to talk in a seminar about video-making and online business. You can check the Wong Fu Productions website for more detail.

Looking at those two examples, it is obvious that even people love Facebook or other social medias to connect with their favourite online stores, artists, or other public figures; third party communication is much better and proved to be more effective than trying to put your product all over your customers’ Facebook page. Not misusing digital marketing or utilizing those online promotional medias in the proper way gives you more power to communicate with your audience.

Share your experience dealing with a very annoying marketing communication on Facebook or an excellent company that successfully use Facebook as their marketing tool (and getting more sales than complaints).

Thanks for reading!

Keep reading for more new entries next week!

=)

The Creation

Hi there, I'm Natalia Ng and this is the first blog I have ever written. Honestly, I have been writing a draft for my blog from last week, but it still needs finishing touch. So, let’s just start with a quick intro.

The reason I'm writing this is as a part of my assignment in Electronic Marketing subject at my uni. A little bit of my background here. I am doing a Bachelor of Business (majoring in Marketing) at Monash University Melbourne and currently in my final semester (hopefully). Check my profile for further details..

You probably ask yourself this question: "what the heck is e-marketing street fashion?" Well, I always adore Melbourne street fashion as much as e-marketing, so why not combining both concepts together? Makes no sense, huh? To clarify my statement, I would say that real people make street fashion came alive by incorporating the current trends to create their own personalized styles. The same thing for e-marketing - without us as the internet and social media users, e-marketing won't be as mushrooming. Also, the idea of this 10-week blog is to observe what is happening around us (as students, shoppers, social media lovers) and digesting it to fashionable digital marketing topics. So, there is nothing geeky about e-marketing at all, indeed it’s everywhere around us!

Well, that's pretty much the reasons why I named my blog "E-marketing Street Fashion"!

Keep reading my next posts!

=)

RANDOM FACTS:

Australia's oldest computer weighed 7 tonnes and covered more than ten square meter of floor space. It's located in Melbourne!