CCT356-Self+Reflection

=Self Reflection=

I have done web marketing and design semi-professionally in the past. Naturally, one of the obvious advantages of taking this course was that I knew a lot of the topic from previous experience. **Nonetheless**, learning something 'practically' is different than actually sitting down and **systematically learning** the concepts in an academic environment. This was one of my biggest motivations for this course.

I am happy to say that **I have achieved my goals** that I had in mind. I have learned the systematic concepts and tried-and-tested approaches to marketing. **No more do I need to do guesswork** and base my web marketing decisions on a 'gut feeling'. I have learned about email marketing and best practices, formulating a marketing strategy from scratch (4Ps, Porter's Five Forces, SWOT, etc), viral marketing and how to create a winning viral campaign (define goals, make it shareable, be transparent, etc), and mobile marketing which is all the hype nowadays. Finally, I have learned about analytic tools (I looked at the textbook on my own) and I am especially happy I found the Google Analytics tool. With Google Analytics, I have learned how to conduct A/B split tests and Conversion Rate optimizing, which is something I can **apply immediately** to my various sites.

Another amazing thing that I liked about this course was the **online textbook**. Not only is it **free**, it is surprisingly well-written and professionally-edited. It is defintely a textbook that I will look to in the future for online marketing reference. **It's a keeper**, and kudos to the publisher. I think that a student should always read a textbook beyond the course boundaries. That, is they should read extra chapters in addition to the course required chapters. In my opinion, this keeps a student well ahead of his/her peers in terms of academic prowess. It also encourages the amazing quality of **'self-learning'**. I generally try to employ this tactic whenever possible.

In terms of the difficulty of the course, **I found it mediocre**, which is good. The professor really did a good job. I want to mention that the professor was **'lax'** and the grading was relatively easy. Some critics might argue that this might be a bad thing, but I say it is good. It **enhances the learning experience**, it makes the course less daunting, and it instils confidence in students. The first assignment was rather easy: to find an advertising campaign and critique it. The second assignment was to create an advertising campaign for a real-world product or service. This assignment was rather interesting, and I ended up creating a couple of creative banner ads for the Snapo software product. And the last assignment, the Final Project, was to create a complete advertising strategy for the product or service chosen in Assignment 2. This was rather straightforward, especially if one paid attention in class. And to top it all off, the final exam was rather easy, and if one studied the lecture notes well, one would not have a hard time getting an 'A'.

To close, I want to say that **this course was rather amazing**. It had all the key ingredients of a good course: Good, 'relaxed' professor, inexpensive textbook, no attendance marks, highly practicle course content, and downright fun. I would defintely take another more advanced course on online marketing, say a fictional CCT456, if it was offered.