Since I’m the resident propellor-head, it has fallen to me to start our new-media marketing effort. Today I undertook the task of creating a campaign using Google. Though Google makes it simple enough to get started (after all, it’s how they make their money) the process is daunting because of the implications. First, unlike most of our virtual presence, this one will cost us real money. Next, there are strict constraints. The ad has to be short, the geographic reach carefully determined, a few keywords selected (the wrong ones and your ad gets uselessly expensive or never seen), and you have to create metrics for tracking how well your ad is performing.
Most of all, like writing a sonnet, it forced me to consider all my grandiose ideas of who we are and what we do and focus them all into a tight and concise presentation. That re-thinking led me to redesign the home page of this site as well.
I’ve been an engineer and a physician, but I haven’t ever done marketing or advertising. It should be an adventure.
–DrR