Creator Bio:
Will Franklin is a designer with a passion for web/mobile development, user experience, online marketing and financial technology. This combination of interests has shown itself in projects over the course of his Interactive Multimedia studies at The College of New Jersey. In 2018, he co-founded the paid survey platform Vey, which brings market research to the cryptocurrency space. For his senior thesis project, Will created AdPrice. As a creative marketing intern for Ashland Inc, he further developed his skills in video production. In his free time, Will enjoys producing music, and he completed the Music Minor at TCNJ.
Project Overview:
AdPrice is a website that digital marketers can use to reference the going prices of advertisements across a wide range of social media sites. This provides a valuable tool that marketing teams can use to more effectively manage their online ad budget, and develop content marketing strategies.
Overarching Problem/Solution:
The overarching problem that AdPrice solves is that there is no website devoted to compiling online ad rates on the internet. This might not seem like a problem, but it means that many google searches are met with inadequate results. For example, marketers are curious about the price difference between advertising on LinkedIn or Facebook, and many of these questions are not easily answered...until now!
Development Process & Tools
A wide array of software and web tools were required to bring AdPrice to life. This included WordPress, the Adobe Creative Cloud, and frontend coding knowledge. The process followed the path of research, branding, and iterative design. More often than not, the path circled back to more research!
Personal Inspiration/Interest
My inspiration for AdPrice came from learning about the social media marketing industry while working on a different project. After seeing firsthand how important it is for businesses of all sizes to fully understand online ads, I realized I could put this knowledge towards my senior thesis project. Then I spent last summer as a marketing intern, during which the full vision for AdPrice became clear.
Professional/Creative Goals
This project closely aligns with what I would like to do for my career. I am hoping to work for a web startup, where my full skill set (design, UX, marketing) can be put to use. Throughout my time at TCNJ, I have found that the biggest ideas come from small groups of people collaborating, and that is what I want out of a career. I intend on keeping AdPrice alive, and expanding it as well.
Impact World Beyond TCNJ
My hope is that AdPrice helps digital marketers across the world. It is a fast-growing industry, and tools like AdPrice allow newcomers and pros alike to make the right decisions for their marketing campaigns.
Biggest Challenge/Hurdle
A difficulty in creating AdPrice was figuring out how to display pricing data while taking into account the many variables of online advertising, and differences across various sites. For some sites, certain context is just as important as their digital ad rates. This might include the amount of web traffic a social media site gets, or if they have a minimum budget requirement.
The solution to this was to create a dedicated landing page for each site that AdPrice analyzes, where adequate context can be provided.
COVID Situation
This has been a trying time for everyone, and my sympathies go out to all those impacted by COVID-19. Transitioning from campus to home was not ideal for productivity, but I tried the best I could to stay focused and take it one day at a time.
Collaboration
While I worked on my project alone, I relied on the feedback of friends and family. The collaborative nature of IMM made getting input from fellow students easy, and definitely essential for bringing AdPrice to life!