Event Recap: Marketing in the Digital Age

On December 27th, GFB hosted our virtual event, Marketing in the Digital Age. This event primarily focuses on business marketing and the unique pathways that one can pursue in this concentration. Two highly experienced panelists, Dorene Wong and JJ Jiang, shared their experiences in marketing and gave informative tips. The event was broken up into an introduction of the panelists and the GFB organization, specialized breakout rooms, and finally, a general Q + A. 

 

Dorene Wong is a senior at UC Irvine who majors in business administration focusing on marketing and human resources; she is currently working as a marketing intern at Women Empowered and was previously a media assistant at Roughing It Day Camp. Outside of class, Dorene was the Marketing Director at Entertainment Union and a teacher assistant at Diablo Valley College. Additionally, Dorene is involved as a cohort member at LEADS (Leadership Experience and Development for Success), a program that helps undergraduates with business development. Dorene has also previously worked with GFB as a mentor for our mentorship program. 

 

In Dorene’s breakout room, she explained what marketing was by doing a simple activity with the audience. Attendees were asked to think about a brand that they already knew and to create a “project blueprint” in the form of new campaigns or new accounts to introduce the brand to potential customers. Project blueprint is a guide that businesses use to outline who they are reaching and what they are trying to say by differentiating steps to becoming successful. 

The audience was given an outline that consisted of:

• Naming their project.
• Describing their project in one sentence.
• Defining their audience. Who is their main audience? Who is their supporting audience?
• What are they making? (ie. format, need/opportunity, how the project addresses that need, alternatives, advantages)

One of the participants shared her idea of where she chooses the Nike brand and creates a plan to target the older generation. She explains that Nike is an athletic apparel brand that markets its audience using social media which is a problem when it comes to targeting the older generation. Her plan consists of creating advertisements in newspapers as well as posters around neighborhoods to introduce Nike to the older generation. 

 

The following are some of the questions asked by participants //

What did you do as a social media marketer, did you create graphics or create strategies? 

Both, so at Women Empowered which is a brand that I work for we create a strategy. When you create strategies for any type of brand you have to do some type of research whether that's on competitors or doing research on when are some great times to post or maybe research on the brand itself. Every brand is different, every brand is going to have to bring something different to the table and how they interact with the customer.

How do you make people brand and how do we do effective research? 

A good brand is a brand that's able to conduct research effectively. A brand needs to meet its target audience and establish a relationship with them. A lot of the time even though it's a transaction between a buyer and a seller what makes a brand is being able to sustain that customer engagement. Brands measure success through customer engagements.

How do we do effective research when we have a passion project? 

Initially, you should start out by checking some accounts that do something like what you do. Research through Instagram hashtags or look at different accounts on what they do and see their marketing strategy to understand what is making them successful and how you get there. Reach out to individuals within your target audience or people within the same niche as you to see what they do and how they make marketing campaigns and get a lot of engagement from the community. Over time you will know what will work for your brand and what won't. 

What are some resources you recommend for us to start learning about marketing? 

Websites, programs, and books are great ways to start out. Having a LinkedIn is also resourceful because you can always reach out to professionals saying that you are interested in learning more about marketing and about their experience. You can also go on YouTube and research marketing. Utilize LinkedIn Learning and Coursera now since they are both free because of COVID. 

Do you know any resources for marketing and business for even personal development?

When it came to personal development and marketing and business in general something that really helped her was to communicate with true professionals. It doesn't have to be a professional you can reach out to older college students. 

Do you know of free graphic design websites, apps, or platforms?

Canva is a graphic designing website that is easy to use. They have different templates, and you can create your own designs. 

Do you have to be really good at graphic design to do social media marketing? 

There's a lot of different components to marketing as you know. In social media, marketing has a good strategy to input and an idea you can utilize is more important regarding social media marketing. In terms of graphic design, you don't have to be good at it. There will always be different ways that you can practice. Having a strategy is more important than design. 

 

JJ Jiang is currently studying Economics at Duke University and finishing her third and final year there. In addition to majoring in Economics, she minors in Psychology and Sociology. She has over seven years of graphic design and marketing experience through working at nonprofits, corporations, and consulting firms. For instance, Jiang has created award-winning marketing campaigns for large companies including Sephora and Pantene. 

 

In Jiang’s breakout room, she talked about the beginning steps of getting started in marketing as well as the lessons she has learned throughout her journey of studying the field and working with companies to create marketing strategies. First, Jiang explained the six-step approach that an advertising agency takes in order to maximize the success of its product. In brief, the agency must figure who the company’s target audience is and create a good or service that exceeds the consumers’ expectations that would lead to them purchasing it. Jiang explained that advertising agencies constantly work to learn and recalibrate the good or service because there is always room for improvement, especially when it comes to marketing. 

 

The following are some of the questions asked by participants //

How do highschool students get experience in marketing? 

When asked this question, Jiang stated that FLIK, a platform that connects successful female leaders with students, greatly helps an individual to “get the experience as well as work with professional mentors”. She said that signing up for FLIK is something she wished she had done earlier, as it offers a lot of work experience and allows one to make meaningful connections. Jiang said that with FLIK, you should “reach out to marketing apprentices and ask if you can help with graphic design for nonprofits and companies. She emphasized that a lot of self-learning will be done throughout the ten-week program. In addition to FLIK apprenticeships, Jiang also recommends one to implement marketing into her daily hobbies and extracurriculars. For example, Jiang said that “If you’re on your debate team or in your chess club, you could come up with marketing strategies such as creating a website or making a flyer”. 

 

What is an important form of marketing that is overlooked? 

Jiang described content marketing as one of the most overlooked types of marketing. This strategic marketing approach focuses on attracting and retaining consumers by the means of providing them with information. Although this type of information is directly related to one’s business, it does not require the user to buy the company’s product. Content marketing sparks interest in the consumers for a company’s good or service and increases the chances of the consumer making a purchase. 

 

Jiang’s Marketing-Related Book Recommendations

In the breakout room, Jiang shared her top two books that she recommends someone with an interest in marketing to read. She recommends How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know by Byron Sharp. The book provides several case studies that answer the most important questions that marketers ask. Not only does the book provide scientific marketing research, but it also goes into detail about topics such as how brands grow and the purpose of price promotions. Additionally, Jiang spoke about Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. Ariely is a behavioral economist and in his book, he goes into detail about the overlooked and hidden aspects that shape our decisions in our everyday lives. 

 

What has been your greatest challenge when you got into marketing? 

When Jiang was asked this question that pertains to her personal experience, she expressed, “It can be difficult to figure out what you truly want to do, especially since there are so many tangentially related careers...It was hard to determine what I wanted to pursue since I could see myself in many different fields”. To overcome that challenge, however, Jiang says to “think about the individual tasks that you enjoy doing and what roles align with that the most”. Doing so will allow you to think clearly about what you imagine your everyday work life to be like, and the daily tasks that interest you. 

 

Does having knowledge in psychology give you a leg up in marketing?

“Psychology gives you a leg up in life”, Jiang stated, “It helps you understand why people make the decisions they do”. Jiang explained that learning psychology is beneficial in all areas of life, not just marketing. Allowing yourself to gain a comprehensive understanding of how the human mind works will offer you with an advantage when creating marketing strategies and thinking about consumers. 

 

What is a common social media marketing mistake that is made by businesses?

When presented with this question, Jiang said that the number one thing she always tries to follow when it comes to this area of marketing is to “post on social media not to sell, but to engage and go viral”.  She explained how social media is the place where you will grow engagement since “people are sharing it with other people” and are not specifically looking to purchase any product. With an increase in engagement, businesses get more awareness amongst consumers. 

 

In the final portion of this event, all of the participants gathered to ask both panelists questions. 

 

How should I start getting marketing experience as a high school student with no formal marketing education? 

 JJ Jiang starts off by saying that reaching out to help any local non-profits and business, unpaid, will help to add some experience to your resume. JJ gives examples such as offering any assistance with their social media, building websites, and giving out any promotional flyers helps. JJ mentions FLIK, which stands for Female Laboratory Innovation Knowledge, and is a platform that matches female students with female founders. This organization gives a 10-week opportunity for students to be an apprentice. 

 

Dorene Wong also mentions that there are a plethora of resources online that will teach you marketing-related content such as Coursera, Linkedin learning, and Canva. 

 

How did you know that marketing was right for you?

Originally in high school, Dorene did not know what she wanted to do. She ended up deciding to go into community college and take general courses while looking for a job. This eventually lead her to get hired as a social media assistant. Throughout her year, she learned about the different social media platforms, how to create advertisements, and different website building sites. After taking a couple of marketing classes at her community college, she discovered her passion for social media marketing. 

 

JJ first thought of marketing as a hobby. She became immersed in marketing because she liked thinking through the strategy of why a product was made the way it etc. JJ mentions her passion for understanding people and marketing happened to fall under this category. Since JJ likes graphic design, she also appreciated marketing’s creative aspect.  

 

What are some common social media marketing mistakes that businesses make? 

Dorene answered by saying that a lot of businesses do not do adequate research on what it is that they’re trying to offer. Dorene explains one of the mistakes that she encountered while working for one of her old companies was not posting enough content. Engaging with the consumer is very important in building recognition.

  

What do you think has been the biggest change to digital marketing from five years ago to now? 

The rise of influencers is something that has become very relevant-- especially today. For instance, 5 years ago, it would be a really big influencer who would promote big brand names. But today, a lot of brands are focusing on micro-influencers (people who have 10-50k followers) because they seem more authentic to their followers. 

 

The GFB “Marketing in the Digital Age” was a memorable experience. Participants became familiarized with social media, marketing, and how to effectively promote your brand. The event provided valuable information about marketing and social media, as well as presented the opportunity to speak with two very established businesswomen. 

 

To participate in future events such as this one, follow Girls for Business on instagram and tiktok at @girlsforbusiness and visit our website at girlsforbusiness.org