A new interactive marketing course for the RMDMA in January 2009

Time

Web Design Fundamentals:

A website is the foundation upon which all other Web marketing rests. It’s the content hub where users can find out more information about a company’s products and services. All other Web marketing essentially points back to the content hub, with the goal to have prospects convert into paying customers. During the course’s first session, we will learn the fundamentals of how Websites work, and learn how different customer types interact with sites on the Web.

We’ll cover how to engage both sides of a customer’s brain: the logical left side (text, facts, logic), as well as the creative right side (graphics, shapes, colors, images). We’ll discuss what elements make a website successful, and what elements to avoid that cause confusion and abandonment.

We’ll discuss why a mobile version of a website is critical for many site visitors, and what mobile visitors to a site are usually looking for.

We’ll talk about the all-important contact form, and how to build trust and confidence with site visitors at each step of a guided, sequenced process. Part of the section will be spent reviewing live websites in an interactive format.

eCommerce:

During this section, we’ll explore what makes an ecommerce site successful, including home page layout, product information, persistent shopping carts and the checkout process.

We’ll look at the how to prevent visitors from abandoning their carts and a site, and discuss how to build trust and confidence each step of the way.

Email Marketing:

Email remains the most cost-effective way to reach out to past customers. As a retention tool, the return on investment (ROI) metrics for outbound email campaigns remains top. In this three hour block, we’ll learn the tips and tricks to make sure that your email campaigns are as compelling as possible.

We’ll study past campaigns, how to balance images, text and calls to action, and the five key strategies for making sure your messages are opened and acted upon. Examples will include email campaigns done for Shell, Xcel Energy, BP Solar, 3M, Adventure Rabbi and the Howard Dean for President Campaign. You’ll come away from this section with a solid grasp on email marketing metrics – including deliverability, message open tracking, clickthroughs and conversion tracking.

Web Applications:

During this section, we’ll discuss how to leverage web applications to better interact with pros pects and customers.

We’ll review Web applications including online Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Appointment Scheduling, Event Registration, Project Management / Trouble Ticketing, and Personalized URL systems. We’ll learn how web applications, including Website personalization, can enhance the customer experience.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

Research shows that 70% of business and consumer purchases begin with a search on Google, Yahoo or other search engines. 42% of people click on the top search result.

When a business doesn’t appear at the top of a search engine result, customers can’t find them and they are perceived as less relevant.

In this section, we’ll delve into the fundamentals of how search engines work, what they look for, and what you can do both on your website and external to your site to enhance your search engine optimization efforts.

You’ll learn key strategies for selecting keywords for your site, as well as why meta keywords are usually ignored. We’ll discuss page rank, keyword density analysis, inbound links and much, much more.

Search Engine Advertising:

In this section, we’ll discuss how to use Google Adword’s Cost-Per-Click (CPC) system, as well as Yahoo, Bing and Facebook to drive targeted traffic to your website. We’ll explore why you shouldn’t pay for top position, and how not to waste money using CPC advertising. We’ll discuss everything from local search to broad match, phrase match, exact match and negative match keyword selection.

Social Media:

Nearly all businesses have found traditional ways of reaching prospects, including print, radio, TV and newspaper advertising are increasingly less effective. That’s why social media can be a powerful way to create a buzz and attract new people to a product, service or brand.

We’ll explore how to best leverage Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and others. You’ll learn who’s using social media effectively, and who’s been able to figure out how to make money with social media. We’ll break up into small groups during this section to develop social media strategies for sample customers.

Review + Emerging Trends & Technologies:

In the final section, we’ll synthesize the seven previous classes, and discuss emerging trends and technologies that will change the landscape. We’ll dive into Web 3.0 – known as the Semantic Web – and how structured data about information on Websites is likely to fundamentally change how people will interact with websites.