Overall Reflection on Mimic Pro Simulation
The 7-Week Mimic Pro Simulation Course was very beneficial and gave me the opportunity to have hands-on experience in paid search advertising and email marketing. Round 10 performed the best for me and I was very glad as I felt like I progressed and improved tremendously from where I was at the beginning of the simulation. For me, the biggest challenge of the simulation was trying to improve my ROI and increasing my profit.
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One problem I found is that Mimic Pro does not offer feedbacks and recommendations on where my strategies went wrong. When my performance drop, I try to figure out what is the issue and improve on my strategy each round and saw fluctuations in returns. But this experience allowed me to be independent and figure where I went wrong which will be crucial in the future in the workforce.
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Overall I really enjoyed the Mimic simulation, I think it will definitely help me deal with creating ad campaigns and choosing keywords in future positions in the digital marketing industry.
Strategies I Used
To optimize keywords I removed keywords that were either not generating any revenue or had very low click-through rates. When optimizing ads I tried to focus my titles and descriptions around my keywords as best as I could. For landing pages I wanted to make sure that I at least had a landing page for every ad, I also made sure the pages were all containing my selected keywords. I noticed all these changes created relatively small increases in my clickthrough rates and my profit.
One strategy that I found was the most useful is the A/B Testing of Advertisement style. It is the addition of multiple advertisements within one ad group to find out which ad style performs better. I learned in Google Ads Search that ads will be optimized automatically depending on the search of the user. Hence, I decided to create numerous ads to better match what customers are searching for.
Another tactic I found to be very successful was having a Brand Ad instead of solely doing on products. I saw significant rises in revenue and impressions simply from creating a brand ad group using the hero product template group. The brands that had this landing page ended up doing significantly better than those without it. The rise of revenue can be seen in my Canon Brand. It gained the highest profit at $6,449 as compared to the other canon products.
Landing Pages & SEO
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Landing Pages & SEO
I understand the basic components that make up a great landing page through content (calls to action, unique value propositions, compelling content, etc.) and proper SEO strategies (titles, descriptions, H1's, content, etc.).
After going through the Mimic Pro Simulation, I learned that keywords must also relate to the landing pages so that readers know that they are on the right page looking at the right content.
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Other than that, Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO, is crucial. The use of keywords and enticing words in titles, descriptions, and content can greatly optimize the page for search and increase quantity and quality website traffic to your page through organic search results.
Pay Per Click Advertising
Pay Per Click
I finally understand the metrics to create successful online ad campaigns using targeted keyword research, ad copy and understanding the key performance indicators (KPI). Mimic Pro Simulation allowed me to have an in-depth understanding of marketing terms such as Impressions, PPC, CTR, Ad Position, Conversion Rate, etc.
My Keyword List
Bidding high does not guarantee the best and highest ad position
By the end of 10 Rounds, I learn that bidding high amounts is not everything and even keywords with low CPC are able to earn large profit returns.
Click-through rates are also extremely important because it shows whether your advertisements and keywords are enticing enough for readers to want to find out more by clicking into your page.
Email Marketing
Email Marketing
Email marketing is the act of sending a commercial message, typically to a group of people, using email. I understand now how valuable an email list is to a business and have an understanding of the proper techniques and strategies to use with your list to drive more online traffic and sales.
Keywords are important to include in email marketing to ensure that the business is able to reach potential consumers
I learned that email marketing is extremely crucial to businesses and it should be relevant. Email Marketing is not just about spamming information and promotions at readers but instead, a way to build a relationship with consumers and remind them about your business.
Overall Reflection on Mimic Social Simulation
The12-Round Mimic Pro Simulation was very interesting and gave me the opportunity to have valuable hands-on experience in social media and influencer marketing. This was a fun simulation because it is something I never have done before and it gives me a glance of the behind the scenes of digital marketing and everything that has to be done when creating a post to your social media platforms.
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One problem I found is that it is difficult to read the analytics in Mimic Social because it doesn’t really explain it that well. It will provide analytics on awareness, engagement, and revenue which is absolutely great because it allows me to see where I need to do better, but it was difficult to see my improvements because I can’t go back to previous rounds to check out my analytics.
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Overall I really enjoyed the Mimic Social simulation, I think it will definitely help me in terms of influencer marketing and the timings to post on specific platforms in the digital social media marketing industry.
Strategies I Used
One strategy that I found was the most useful is the use of hashtags. I gradually increase the use of hashtags throughout the rounds and saw a difference in engagement metrics and therefore, my revenue.
Another strategy that I used was to stay relevant by posting seasonal promotions, product launches, and giveaways. I ran a one-holiday promotion, for Halloween and Thanksgiving each. I did a week-long sale and giveaway posting every other day as a reminder of the special day. It was a strong promotion with revenue of $13,741 for Halloween product launches and giveaway. For the #BuhiExplore Contest, the whole campaign gained $17,248. I learned that it is important to monitor the posts and see what metrics are better performing and adjust the underperforming for a successful round.
If I were to repeat this simulation, I would have done more research right from the beginning and implement more week-long contests, sales and giveaway because they performed the best. I felt like I rushed through some of my posts and didn’t truly take the time to read through the information provided by the simulation. It really was a very tedious process to come up with engaging and creative content for different platforms and for my target audiences. Therefore, this really showed me the amount of effort behind every social media marketing post and realize that it will be this way in the real world of marketing.
Social Media Marketing
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Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms to connect with your audience to build your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic. It is important to build a connection and "talk" to your audiences to build a strong and authentic relationship instead of just pushing sales to them.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, people and organizations who have a purported expert level of knowledge or social influence in their field. It is important to test and find out which social media strategy works well with the different tier of influencers and their personalities for the most effective influencer marketing.