Ethical vs. Non-Ethical SEO & SEM Practices Being ethical must be something that is applied to all facets of life, both home and business alike. There are ethical ways of doing business, and there are ethical ways of marketing or advertising for new business. These ways can be applied to print ads, to mobile marketing and also as in this discussion SEO or SEM marketing. Ethical SEO techniques are as follows, relevant content and keywords, inbound links, and links that are both relevant and also that are not exchanged for product or service. On the reverse unethical SEO practices can be things such as hidden keywords (words to only be seen by the robots or search engines not the end user), duplicated content, keyword stuffing (using the same keywords over and over), trading of links and or hidden links. In the competitive market of the online world it may be very tempting to get a higher rank by using some of these black hat techniques but trust me Google is watching. Google is able to quickly and swiftly deliver punishment for these poor techniques, by dropping your websites ranking to the back of the SERP. For example, JC Penny’s got into trouble during a link building scheme, where they bought into a paid and shady inbound linking network. Google dropped the bomb and dropped JC Penny’s search rankings from top position to high 60’s and 70’s. Another example of Google seeing all, is with Overstock. Where they lost over 1.05 billion in revenue when Google penalized them for trading discounts for links to help raise their organic search results. Not only does black tactics make for a poor business practice but it also can be very costly and extremely ineffective and detrimental.

When I talk to clients about marketing strategies for their business we discuss both physical and online media. When it comes to online forms of advertising and marketing the three main focuses are Organic search (SEO), Paid Advertising (PPC) and then social media marketing. All three have their place in a business’s marketing plan, and every business is different requiring a different mix. Today though, we will be focusing on Organic vs. Paid Search Strategies. Let’s start at the basics. Organic search or Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is defined as a digital marketing strategy that focuses on your website’s presence in search results on search engines like Google. To take it one step further, it is based not on paying to be in the search results page but the ranking in which your website shows up will be based on the quality of your website, and how relevant it is to the search preformed. For example, if you are a roofing contractor, you want to show up for roofing contractors, metal roof etc. In order to show up for those results, you need to talk about those items on your website. Have relevant content to show Google, and other search engines that they should serve you up as a result when someone searches for those words or phrases. Think about it this way, if you were Google, which is a business. They need to keep their customers happy, so they need to be sure that when a customer (end user) searches for Roofing Contractor, they find results for roofing contractors not florists. That is what SEO is, it is the practice of doing the due diligence on your website and off (linkage) to show Google and other search engines that you (your website) is a good result for them to serve to their customers when searching. Paid search is the other end of the spectrum. It is defined as an online advertising model in which an advertiser pays a publisher every time an advertisement link is “clicked” on. Now, does that mean that you can simply pay to show up for every single word, relevant or not… No, you still need to have content and a website that backs up what you are trying to show up for, like the roofing example. But you can pay to show up higher on the page, in the ads section and atop (depending) some competitors. Now I said you only pay when your ad is clicked on, that is true. PPC is made up of impressions, which are how many times your ad shows up in a search result. The only time you would pay for the advertisement is when your ad is clicked on, the consumer (end user) goes through to your landing page or website in general. The price you pay per click is based on many factors, but they include, your websites strength, the area of service you are advertising in and your particular area. You can ensure a better cost per click, by working on your website’s strength, which in turn helps your SEO. Good content, quick loading and relevant information. PPC is used as fast or short-term strategy, as it is almost instantaneous. When a client decides they need to begin online marketing, whether they just built a new site, or they are launching a new product or service they may want to incorporate PPC into the plan so that they can begin showing up in searches. SEO is a long-term strategy and takes time for Google to read and “check out” websites, additions to sites to begin making them appear in searches. Now, again it is important like I discussed in the opener to have a mix of these strategies. They say that if you build it they will come, that isn’t true online, so you have to be sure to have both of these strategies in place to make sure your website is found. To summarize, Short term PPC gets things off and running or when a boost is needed, and then be sure to have a long-term strategy in place, your SEO, a good foundation to ensure the longevity of your online presence and marketing campaigns. Doing both of these items, will ensure your online success! What is SEO & How does it work? Web Fix - https://www.webfx.com/internet-marketing/how-SEO-works.html Pay-Per-Click – What is it? CFI? https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/ecommerce-saas/pay-per-click-ppc/

Coca Cola may be the worlds largest soft drink maker, selling more than 3,500 products world wide but that doesn't mean they have escaped scandal and ethical issues over the course of the last 128 years. One of the most glaring examples is when in 1999 the faced a huge lawsuit from about 1500 African American employees for racial discrimination. The number grew to over 2,000 current and former employees, and was based on how African Americans, would do the same job as a Caucasian but would receive over $20,000 less pay on average. The lawsuit brought to the attention that the top management at Coca-Cola knew of the discrimination and did nothing to stop it. The public reacted with strong emotions to the case. To help offset the image destruction, Coke created a new diversity council and also ended up paying out around $193 million to settle the cases. Continuing into today's world Coke has continued to make strides to better the company as a whole, and ensure issues of the past didn't come to light again. Coke is now ranked third in a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers as most respected companies in the world. The have continued to donate to organizations that help with racial issues, and in one case donated $50 million to a foundation that supports minority programs. Overall, they seem to have come through this and other ethics issues without much of a scratch, and in the end better off for having been through them. References | Essays, UK. (November 2018). The Coca-Cola Company Struggles with Ethical Crises. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/business/the-coca-cola-company-struggles-with-ethical-crises-business-essay.php?vref=1 Marketrealist, Sharon Bailey. (December 2014). Investing in Coca-Cola: The world’s largest soft drink company. Retrieved from https://marketrealist.com/2014/12/investing-coca-cola-worlds-largest-soft-drink-company/#:~:text=The%20Coca%2DCola%20Company%20(KO,comprises%20sparkling%20or%20carbonated%20beverages.

For this blog post about Brand Positioning I have chosen to write about the company I work for, Bethesda Lutheran Services. Bethesda is a mission that provides promising futures to children, youth and families in a residential, school or community setting. Bethesda has been providing these services since 1919, and currently serves over 1000 children, youth and families everyday in Northwestern Pennsylvania. Bethesda Children's Home was officially incorporated in 1919 as the Orphans’ Home of the Pittsburgh Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and for nearly 100 years it was referred to as such. Bethesda in the early years, was an orphanage and still today provides residential housing for children and youth but our scope of services is much greater today. In 2017, Bethesda underwent a huge branding change. Our board of directors and leadership team realized that Bethesda had outreached the name Children's home as I stated we had grown to be much more than a children's home. Bethesda contracted a marketing company and began a painstaking year process of developing a new brand. The logo was the first step. Bethesda's old logo had such a history, nearly 100 years and was well known in the community. In purpose in creating the new brand was to help to explain to donors and community members that Bethesda is much more than people thought, and the creative team though that incorporating history and story was super important. Let me explain. The logo, as seen below includes a middle piece in the shape of a home. That lends to the Children's home and that Bethesda has been a home and safe place for children and youth for nearly, now over 100 years. On either side of the home are mountains which symbolize the mountains our children and youth have to climb in their treatment plans to heal from traumas and other experiences that have led them to us. If you look closely there is a cross in the window of the house. It pays homage to our Lutheran heritage, which was very important to our leadership team. The word Lutheran was also included in our re-naming, which as the new marketing director I have trouble with, because it sometimes hurts us for grants and other donor support, but I digress. The final piece of the logo, the yellow in the window, symbolizes that the lights are always on at Bethesda. We have never refused a child in all of those 100 years, we always do whatever possible to take in, help and heal the children that come to us in need. In my opinion, although our agency leadership team thinks our re-branding process is over I disagree. I think we are just in the beginning stages. We need to tell the story of which I just told you in order for people to really understand the meaning behind our agency and the youth we serve. We need to show our donors that we aren't the same agency we were in the early 1900's or even the 1980's. We are now a multi dimensional agency serving children not only with us, but we can now meet them where they are and serve their mental and behavioral needs. I love working with this agency, and look forward to use what I learn in this class to further our brand in the non profit marketplace!!

A new hybrid approach to marketing is hitting the social media world, and taking it by storm! Influencer Marketing or IM is a new trend that brings together the old use of Celebrity endorsements and delivering it through a content driven online marketing campaign (Influencer Marketing Hub 2019). Its a unique collaboration between the influencers, aka the celebrities or those of high enough social media rank and followers and the brands they are representing, soliciting and advocating for. As a girl that spends a good amount of time on social media both for my clients as well as personally, I have seem my fair share of various influencers across the platforms I frequent. The main social channels I follow and see the campaigns widely on are Instagram and Facebook, although YouTube is a huge platform for many users. In thinking about what campaigns and products I see the most of the main one that comes to mind is FabFitFun Boxes. They are constantly on my feed via Instagram and Facebook and not only from one Celebrity or social media influencer but by many, I would go as far as to say upwards of 10 different people I follow or have seen through my feed are paid influencers for FabFitFun. I did some research and this company has an entire division dedicated to this type of marketing. It was started in 2014 and they now have over 10,000 influencers, from what they call micro to celebrities (Wheeler 2018). Over the past 4 years since this article was written the influencer campaigns have seen over 800 million impressions of tier product and has created a huge rise in profit as well. For anyone, but in this case with FabFitFun, the influencers they "employ" are vetted and are ensured to be authentically interested in the product they will campaigning for. This is huge for anyone employing this marketing technique as it can really effect the relationship with the end consumer. Say you have a celebrity that is creating videos for a vegan product as part of a campaign for X Vegan company, but then are seen in the news, on there social platforms perhaps eating and/or engaging in activities that would be against the brand values they are producing the ads for. That creates a riff between the influencer and the consumer and ultimately the brand because the consumer loses trust, and feels that they have been tricked or that the brands employed celebrity, ambassador for the company was dishonest or simply pretending. If that was a lie, it begins to question what else maybe that this is a very bad place for a brand/company to be put into. Overall, Influencer marketing if done correctly can be a huge win for a company. Especially one that is newer to online/social media as it can help them to grow their reach in a very quick and cost effective way. The key is to ensure who you are collaborating with and ensure the authenticity of their buy in to the product before beginning the campaign. FabFitFun Loves Influencers - Samone Wheeler - 2018 - https://influence.bloglovin.com/fabfitfun-loves-influencers-a723dd4b07d3 What is Influencer Marketing - Influencer MarketingHub - 2019 https://influence.bloglovin.com/fabfitfun-loves-influencers-a723dd4b07d3

If you want to see social media used to its fullest extent through TV check out the Voice! The show gets millions of fans to tune in every week not only to the TV but also to all majority of their social platforms. This show pioneered social TV, allo wing fans to be completely immersed in the experience along with the contestants. They not only get to watch, but they can be as involved as they want, from picking songs, to saving their favorite contest and exercising their right to vote across multiple platforms. The Voice's target audience is the younger millennial generation and what better way to create a world for them then one that revolves completely around them. The show is fan driven, without them there would be only 4 judges that are making choices similar to other shows in the past that haven't been as successful. Not only did the show create a world that allows the fans to determine the majority of the outcomes but also allows them to do so on their terms. Not a fan of Twitter? No worries, cast your vote on your mobile app. Need more then just the hour the show is on to get your reality TV fix, they have you covered there too with the tail gate preshow. In looking at all of their social media platforms, they are very successful. Their Twitter account is probably the most impressive, the Voice itself was the most tweeted series in 2015 and currently has over 5.3 million followers. There mobile application is also very impressive, it allows voting, interactive videos, listen to contestants music and also save contestants. There is also a way to earn points as "your" favorite artist moves along in the competition and become a coach, check how you stack up against friends and others back on the social media channels! Overall, The Voice has really created a new sensation for the younger generation and I would venture to say that it is roping in the older demographic as well as it continues to gain new coaches, new celebrity guests etc. I look forward to seeing how the show continues to be a for ru nner in the new social TV era.