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This course gave me a lot to think about. It was interesting learning about a subject that can’t often be considered to have a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer, and put it in the context of how I might use information on those topics to benefit clients. Copyright law is especially important to a majority of my work, as I am a commercial photographer. It helped me understand that, truthfully, some of the marketing firms I have worked with in the past were remiss in the handling of their contracts for freelance creatives. When working on projects in this field in the future, the information from this course will give me the ability to write better contracts for subcontractors or freelance workers to avoid question of copyright ownership. This will allow me to avoid copyright issues and protect my clients’ content.

I felt that this course was one of my favorites so far in the program. It included a lot of information that I felt was very relevant to me in marketing my own business as well as learning how to better assist other companies with their marketing materials. I also felt that Professor Johnson was very detailed in his student feedback and helpful in his answers. To me, this facilitated the learning process in his course in a way I really appreciated, as sometimes in online courses it is easy to feel that the weight of understanding the material is fully on the student. Each article and assignment gave me information that I will be able to apply to real world work environments, as well as helpful tools and resources such as SEMRush and SpyFu that I know I will use on future projects. 

My original objective for this course was to learn more about advertising types and gain insight into how the effectiveness of an advertising strategy is tested. I enjoyed learning more about conversion rate optimization and feel that it will be helpful knowledge when working with my current brand’s marketing as well as with future clients. I also felt that I learned a lot about my current target audiences by conceptualizing them in terms of personas.

The personas I conceptualized in this course are:

Competitive.

Marliese Marie’s competitive persona clients are often motivated by the booking potential of their images and the social media appeal of booking with a well known photographer. They search for skill as well as a photographer who has gained notoriety, in an effort to have the “best” portfolio available. Highlighting Marliese’s publications, international bookings, and booking potential for her clients from their new headshots are all key features to marketing to this persona. 

Spontaneous.

Marliese Marie’s spontaneous persona clients are often converted by consistent posting. When one of these clients sees an image in their social media feed discussing an upcoming travel session or headshot date, they are often motivated to book even if they hadn’t previously been planning on updating their portfolio. Staying in their visual awareness is important for marketing to this persona. 

Humanistic.

Marliese Marie’s humanistic personal clients are often looking for a business with a well-rounded approach. Marliese offers several options for charitable contribution at her studio each year, interacts with her clients on social media consistently, stays aware of important events in many of their lives, and focuses studio sessions on being uplifting and positive to each client. Marketing to this persona involves remaining personable, friendly, and kind, in addition to having a successful portfolio of images. 

Methodical.

Marliese Marie’s methodical persona clients are most influenced by client success stories. They want to know if Marliese’s clients are consistently booking work using the images from their sessions. They are interested in a photoshoot simply for the positive impact new images can have on their bookings for the season. Consistently sharing client success stories are important for marketing to this persona. 

The Consumer Behavior course was very informative. It was so unlike the other courses I’ve taken so far in this program, and I really enjoyed the material we covered. Being able to go through and critically think about the customer base for my company and analyze what products and marketing options may best target them was a great experience for beginning to be more thoughtful in my approach to advertising and social media.

In the Digital Storytelling course, I learned a lot about how to convey the personality of a brand. I think this is an important concept, because it is a large part of what distinguishes one brand from another. What is the brand’s voice? How do their clientele relate to the marketing message they convey? This is an important piece in creating effective marketing campaigns that are relatable to a brand’s target audience.

I learned more about my own brand’s voice in this course than I expected to. Creating a solid brand voice for my company was helpful in establishing a clearer picture of the personality I present to my clients.