Visited UM-Flint Yesterday: Internet Marketing Class

Yesterday, I was invited to attend part of an Internet Marketing class at University of Michigan-Flint (UM-Flint).

The class is an online course that requires students to meet at the campus twice each semester for a residency.

Professor:  Syagnik (Sy) Banerjee

Course Goal:  Give students a hands-on project, helping a local area business increase its sales via an online marketing presence.

Assigned Marketing Method:  Create a Facebook Fan Page and Use Facebook Ads (somewhat similar to Google Ads.

Synopsis:  This is a neat project for the students.  It gives them a real-live situation that allows them to apply the lesson being taught.  This also provides the students an opportunity to get real-world feedback in only a couple of months.  So they have an opportunity to observe the effect(s) of their own work.

Here is a little bit of background of the targeted company they are helping:

Company: Adkisson Heating & Cooling, located in Holly, Michigan


There are two (2) parts to this company:

• Air 1 Heating & Cooling:  a heating, ventilation, & air conditioning (HVAC) service and installation service company--boasts high level service, including highly technical inspection technology that enables them to find problems at earlier stages that most other companies, offers affordable furnace inspections
  (Website:  www.MyAir1.com)
• Autumn Glo:  a high end fireplace retail and installation company
  (Website:  www.AutumnGlo.com)

This company has a brick and mortar storefront.  They are not simply an online presence, nor are they just a couple of contractors working from their truck.

Marketing Goals for Project

Air 1 Heating & Cooling:  They make the majority of their higher priced sales while a service technician is visiting the home.  They want to target people who need help NOW--the urgent shopper, and they want to be in position to use their technology to show the need and importance of spending the money to repair or install new equipment.

Ad Goal:  Call to schedule an inspection appointment today.

Autumn Glo:  Their products are high end, and these are not usually purchased via an impulsive decision.  They want people to visit their store to see the fireplaces in person.  Their approach is to make the visitor feel comfortable while sitting in a comfortable chair in front of one of their fireplaces--just to get the effect.  They are not targeting the price shopper here.

Ad Goal:  Visit the store, knowing--in advance--that the fireplaces are high end.

Summary

The students are broken into two (2) groups.  Each business division gets one (1) group of students working with them.

The students have until early February to see the results.  Hopefully, I will be in position to report the results.  I think the company will be impressed.  There are a lot of really intelligent students in this class.

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