Allie  Lewis,   '10 53
   Major: Economics and Management
   Hometown: Novi, MI

Sponsor(s): Mike Frandsen, Charlene Crandell
Support: Gerstacker Institute

Abstract: 
In today’s economy, businesses need to allocate money wisely within their marketing mix. One of the easiest, most effective channels to use in marketing is online advertising. Through online advertising businesses are able to reach their target audience while obtaining beneficial success metrics that help them constantly modify their strategy.

The front runner of today’s online advertising services is undoubtedly Google. The main service they provide is Google AdWords, a keyword-targeted advertising program utilized by business all over the world. AdWords is so popular and effective because each business, large or small, has control over its own budget and can instantly get feedback to change their strategy accordingly.

To further our understanding of the phenomena that is Google AdWords, we participated in the Google Online Marketing Challenge. The Google Online Marketing Challenge is designed to be a hands-on exercise for undergraduate or graduate students in classes such as advertising, e-commerce, integrated marketing communication, management information systems, marketing, and new media technologies. The goal of the competition is to have student teams work with a local business to organize, manage, and evaluate an interactive, online marketing campaign using Google’s AdWords application.

The local business we selected was the Albion Heritage Bed and Breakfast in downtown Albion. Through this campaign we will drive more traffic to their well designed website while gaining exposure to a broader audience of potential clientele. To achieve this goal we will conduct market research, perform a competitive analysis and test unique keywords.

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