In the United States gambling regulations have been loosening considerably over the past several years. Many states have legalized sports betting either at physical locations or through mobile apps. With the legalizations have come an influx of marketing efforts by all the large gambling companies. These marketing efforts raise serious ethical and legal questions, as groups of vulnerable people such as minors are being frequently exposed to sports betting and other online gaming. The sports gambling industry was worth 76.75 billion dollars in 2021 and is rapidly growing with a growth rate of 10% year over year (Grand View Research). Given how lucrative sports betting has been even in its relative infancy the major players in the field are attacking potential markets fiercely, flooding TV, websites, and social media with advertisements. Every major sports league has been quick to partner with the large sports betting corporations and air numerous advertisements during every nationally televised game. Mainstream exposure such as this is what makes these tactics so controversial. While these advertisements may not be as clearly problematic as previously outlawed tactics which preyed on the young and vulnerable in the alcohol and tobacco industry, they share many of the same troubling elements. For these reasons we find it important to examine the effects of current marketing practices used within the gambling industry. It is critical to begin these examinations now as every day that passes potentially harmful practices become increasingly commonplace and would be tougher to reverse or alter.

For my Barrett Honors Creative Project, I created a guide titled, Digital Marketing and Social Media Branding Guide for Newly Established and Growing Pediatric Therapy Companies in 2022. I created this guide as I have noticed a lack of knowledge regarding social media and digital marketing within pediatric therapy companies due to a lack of resources. As a Social Media Specialist for a small pediatric therapy company, I know that pediatric therapy companies that are new or rather small can benefit from a visual, research, and example-based guide so they can succeed on various digital marketing platforms. The purpose of my guide is to assist owners and marketing professionals within the pediatric therapy industry who are starting their journey or need a little extra help with marketing by helping them set and attain their marketing goals and develop strategies, tips, and tools that can support them in their marketing efforts. My guide will have everything they need to know - right at their fingertips. In order to create this guide, I obtained secondary research from various online sources and guides to identify the industry background and supporting information for the guide, analyzed it, and derived common facts, themes, tips, and advice. Second, I conducted primary research by surveying 365 marketing students at Arizona State University through Qualtrics and analyzed that research. The purpose of this survey was to discover how familiar respondents are with pediatric therapy, services, companies, as well as their social media usage, types of content they would interact with, and to see if they would follow a pediatric therapy company. Third, I created my 57-page digital guide via Canva.com using the information I found through my secondary and primary research. The guide has a total of six sections: Section 1) Starting Steps, Section 2) Social Media, Section 3) Digital Marketing, Section 4) Management Tools, Section 5) Advertising, and Section 6) Final Tips. This paper component explains the pediatric therapy industry, my reasoning and methodology for creating the guide, the information that is in the guide, recommendations, and next steps.

For my Barrett Honors Creative Project, I created a guide titled, Digital Marketing and Social Media Branding Guide for Newly Established and Growing Pediatric Therapy Companies in 2022. I created this guide as I have noticed a lack of knowledge regarding social media and digital marketing within pediatric therapy companies due to a lack of resources. As a Social Media Specialist for a small pediatric therapy company, I know that pediatric therapy companies that are new or rather small can benefit from a visual, research, and example-based guide so they can succeed on various digital marketing platforms. The purpose of my guide is to assist owners and marketing professionals within the pediatric therapy industry who are starting their journey or need a little extra help with marketing by helping them set and attain their marketing goals and develop strategies, tips, and tools that can support them in their marketing efforts. My guide will have everything they need to know - right at their fingertips. In order to create this guide, I obtained secondary research from various online sources and guides to identify the industry background and supporting information for the guide, analyzed it, and derived common facts, themes, tips, and advice. Second, I conducted primary research by surveying 365 marketing students at Arizona State University through Qualtrics and analyzed that research. The purpose of this survey was to discover how familiar respondents are with pediatric therapy, services, companies, as well as their social media usage, types of content they would interact with, and to see if they would follow a pediatric therapy company. Third, I created my 57-page digital guide via Canva.com using the information I found through my secondary and primary research. The guide has a total of six sections: Section 1) Starting Steps, Section 2) Social Media, Section 3) Digital Marketing, Section 4) Management Tools, Section 5) Advertising, and Section 6) Final Tips. This paper component explains the pediatric therapy industry, my reasoning and methodology for creating the guide, the information that is in the guide, recommendations, and next steps.

The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the social media marketing strategies of Goldvana, a recently launched startup who provides a nanotech-enhanced CBD brand, analyze the survey data from over 930 respondents, and make recommendations for Goldvana to improve its social media marketing strategy going forward. After overviewing the science and efficacy of CBD, its legal background, industry trends, and best practices, this thesis will review Goldvana’s offerings, differentiation, and previous social media strategies. Then, this thesis analyzes the data of a qualtrics survey sent to 933 respondents. Among the most interesting trends found were consumers’ heavy prioritization of the credibility of CBD brands, the suggested benefits that consumers were most strongly influenced by (stress relief, pain relief, headache relief), the strong preference of Instagram as a platform to engage with brands on, and significant correlations between CBD use and which benefits of CBD (as well as unique benefits of Goldvana) that consumers consider in their purchasing decision. After analyzing the primary data, industry trends, and best practices, I make three categories of recommendations for Goldvana to revamp its current social media marketing strategy. These recommendations include new tactics for our content strategy, insight on how rebranding may benefit Goldvana, and ideas to install advertisement campaigns that are compliant with the guidelines of both social media platforms and the FDA.

The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the social media marketing strategies of Goldvana, a recently launched startup who provides a nanotech-enhanced CBD brand, analyze the survey data from over 930 respondents, and make recommendations for Goldvana to improve its social media marketing strategy going forward. After overviewing the science and efficacy of CBD, its legal background, industry trends, and best practices, this thesis will review Goldvana’s offerings, differentiation, and previous social media strategies. Then, this thesis analyzes the data of a qualtrics survey sent to 933 respondents. Among the most interesting trends found were consumers’ heavy prioritization of the credibility of CBD brands, the suggested benefits that consumers were most strongly influenced by (stress relief, pain relief, headache relief), the strong preference of Instagram as a platform to engage with brands on, and significant correlations between CBD use and which benefits of CBD (as well as unique benefits of Goldvana) that consumers consider in their purchasing decision. After analyzing the primary data, industry trends, and best practices, I make three categories of recommendations for Goldvana to revamp its current social media marketing strategy. These recommendations include new tactics for our content strategy, insight on how rebranding may benefit Goldvana, and ideas to install advertisement campaigns that are compliant with the guidelines of both social media platforms and the FDA.