1. Make it viral: not only by offering a creative application but by leveraging the friends and networks of the people downloading your app. Add a ‘share’ function to your app to make it easy for people to suggest it to others. If possible, add an interaction element that will allow users to play against or interact with others. Try to integrate your app with existing social apps such as Twitter or Facebook (e.g. log in using your Facebook profile).
2. Promote it within the blogger community: reach out to application bloggers in order to get your app reviewed. But be creative in the way you approach them as they are frequently inundated with this kind of requests. It may be a good idea to offer them a ‘sneak peek’ before your app becomes available to the public. Provide as much information as possible about your app to the blogger so that it will be very easy for them to write the review (e.g. screen shots, clear description of the app, relevant links, value of the app, etc.).
3. Price it right: people are usually looking for apps that they can try for free before they consider purchasing the app. It’s a good idea to offer a ‘lite’ version of your app at no charge. This version could offer limited functionality – but enough to let the user understand how the app works. Offering a ‘lite’ version also provides the company the opportunity to get listed twice within the search engine results as both the lite and the full, paid version will be ranked in the results.
4. Get rated and reviewed: users will have a favorable perception of your app if they see reviews for your app (and the reviews are positive) as well as how well it’s ranked. In order to initiate the process, ask your friends to try your app and if they like it to post an honest review.
5. Choose a good name and a great logo: include your main keyword in the title of your app as it will help you rank higher in the search results. In addition, when creating your app logo, make sure that it is well designed and aesthetically pleasing. It should represent what the app is about in a very simple way.
6. Write a compelling app description: think of it as a value statement that highlights what makes your app different and its value to your target market.  Be concise and use a format that makes the description easy to read. Use descriptive words that can help your app create relevance within the search engines.
7. Promote, promote, promote: if you have a website, mention your app on your homepage. Add links to marketplaces where your app can be downloaded. Use your social media channels (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to spread the word. If it makes sense, promote your app using pay-per-click and display ads using a strong call to action (e.g. Download Today). Submit your app to app directories and lists (keep a list of these sites so that you can go back and check from time to time to ensure your listing is still there and to monitor reviews or comments).

Thinking about adding mobile ads to your marketing/advertising plans? Here are some types of mobile options to consider:

• Display ads: similar to web ads, mobile display ads are graphics placed on a web page. When visitors click, they are taken to a specific offer or page ad. The banner can be a static, animated or rich media ad. It can also be a text ad. It’s important to ensure a clear call to action. Not all phones show the ads the same way (if using animation, make sure that the first image frame contains the entire message in case the phone doesn’t support the animation). It’s one of the most common types of mobile ads used.
• SMS (Short Message Service): limited to 160 characters, SMS messages can be sent and received by anyone. SMS messages are short text ads. They can include URLs and phone numbers (click to call and click to web capabilities). They should be used as part of an opt-in advertising campaign.
• MMS (Multimedia Messaging): it allows mobile users to send messages including graphics, photos, audio, video and text. These ads are not supported by all devices or networks. The Mobile Marketing Association recommends the use of MMS images with a width of 216 pixels and files of no more than 300 KB.
• Apps: in-app ads can be static, animated or text banners. They are displayed within a mobile app. According to the Mobile Marketing Association, there are three kinds of apps: Integrated ads (an ad that is integrated with the app or game experience and is compatible with the content used in the app), branded mobile apps (reflect the brand attributes – can be entertaining, informational or functional, are available through app stores), and sponsored mobile apps (e.g. a sports app featuring Red Bull as a sponsor).
• Location based: these ads are served to mobile users based on where they are. Location-based ads are every marketer’s dream because of their relevancy and immediacy. According to BIA/Kelsey, local advertising revenues will reach over $151 billion by 2016.
• Rich media: considered effective because of its engaging capabilities, rich media mobile advertising (RMMA) is still an emerging product. RMMA offers different options for users to experience an ad on their mobile devices such as ad banners that can expand across the page for users to interact with the content, displaying real time content changes without reloading a mobile web page, and simplifying interactions with users (e.g. click to call).

Here is more information about Mobile Advertising Guidelines from the Mobile Marketing Association.

1. Ease of use: with a small touch screen and a small keyboard, mobile devices offer a different kind of experience to users than laptops or even tablets. Therefore, determining the ease of use of your mobile site will help you identify any gaps or changes that need to be made in order to make it easier for users to find the information that they are looking for or make a purchase. Studies related to this metric have looked at: the organization and structure of the site (is it logical?, is it easy to follow?), the URL (is it easy to remember?), the terms and conditions (e.g. payments, return policy, etc. – are they easy to find?, are they easy to read and understand?), the content (is it concise?, is it easy to understand?).
2. Speed of interactivity: given the fact that people are on the go, they have less time or patience to wait for a page to load. Therefore, it’s important to measure the time that it takes between a user clicking a button or link and the time it takes for a page to load. The faster your pages load, the lower your bounce rate. Studies in this area have analyzed: the waiting time between user’s actions and mobile’s response (does it take long for the site to load?), interaction (is it tedious?, is it fast?), speed to display information on the page (e.g. images, text, buttons) and response time when making a purchase.
3. Access: just as with a regular website, a mobile site should provide users the ability to contact the company through different channels. Marketers can take advantage of text messages, geo-location capabilities, click-to-call features, chats, social media channels, etc. Studies about site access have measured: how easy it is for a user to get in contact with customer service (e.g. phone, chat, etc.); availability of a street address, email, phone, fax; ordering options (e.g. phone, mail, etc.); access to more information (e.g. company’s full site – optimized for mobile users, chat rooms, bulletin boards, etc.).
4. Irritation: this is a good metric as it let’s you identify any aspects that users may find annoying, confusing or deceptive about your mobile site. It also allows you to determine how entertaining, informative and satisfactory your users find the site. Studies in this area have asked participants to rate their experience with a site based on how irritating they find the site to be, how annoying they find it, if they feel that the site is confusing and if they think that the site is messy or deceptive.

At the end of the day, these or any other metric that you can use to measure the results and impact of your mobile site, will help you identify opportunities for improvement and find new ways to engage with your mobile users while taking advantage of all the functionality and the immediacy element that mobile sites offer. Lastly, metrics will also help you determine the Return on Investment (the famous ROI).

(CNN standard website on the left – CNN mobile site on the right)

If you decide that your brand needs a mobile site, here are a few considerations to keep in mind:

1. Know your user: mobile users are on the go and usually use their mobile devices for specific purposes (e.g. get directions, check prices, look up customer reviews, make purchases, etc.). Therefore, it’s important to understand how they use their mobile devices and the kind of information that they are looking for.
2. Optimize your design: use brand elements that you use on your standard website, but adapt your layout and design to mobile devices. Mobile sites tend to load slower than regular web pages so try to keep images to a minimum and avoid using Flash or JavaScripts (not all mobile devices support these). Use fonts that are easy to read, use white space so it’s easier to click on links and limit scrolling to one direction. Focus on the content rather than on the aesthetics.
3. Optimize your navigation: your site will be accessed through touchscreen interfaces (not devices that use a mouse) so it’s important to make buttons larger, add space between links and offer a simple and short navigation bar. If you require users to provide information, limit the amount of data that they need to enter by pre-populating fields and using drop down menus and checklists. Avoid pop-ups and opening new windows as it’s more difficult to navigate between tabs and browser windows on mobile devices, plus users can experience slow load-times which would interfere with their browsing experience.
4. Test: test early in the design process, test on multiple mobile devices and test frequently because people will be accessing your site using different mobile devices and these devices and their platforms change often. Check for screen resolution and operating system issues to make sure that your site can run as efficient as possible on all devices.

In summary, keep your mobile site simple and clean – less is more in the mobile world. Make it easy for users to land on your mobile site by using mobile redirects (have the site automatically detect the type of browser that the user is visiting from so they can be sent to the mobile version of your site) and give users the option of visiting your standard website in case they need more information than what is available on your mobile site.

Aside from launching your mobile site, you should also consider measuring the results/impact of your efforts. In my next post, I’ll provide some examples of metrics to consider when evaluating the performance of your mobile site. Stay tuned!

TWITTER

Twitter is a microblogging service that enables people to post 140-characters long text-based tweets. According to Wikipedia, as of 2011, there were 300 million people using Twitter, generating over 300 million tweets.

What can users do with Twitter?

Some of the main features available through Twitter include:

• Users can follow other users in order to get a feed of their tweet updates.
• Users have the possibility of Re-tweeting (RT) posts and Replying to them.
• Users can mark tweets as Favorite and keep them for future reference.
• Users can send Direct Messages (DM) to users who are following them if they prefer to keep their conversations private.
• Users can use Hashtags (#) to categorize tweets.
• Users can share pictures and add their location to their tweets.
• Users can Search for specific topics or other users.
• Users can participate in conversations about Trending Topics (topics that are popular at a certain time).

Advantages of Twitter

• Users can re-tweet content with the potential of having a viral effect. This gives marketers an opportunity to extend the reach of their content and their brand worldwide.
• Marketers can use hashtags to segregate groups and specialize their messages (e.g. #superbowl, #mobileads). By targeting specific groups, marketers can improve the relevancy of their content involving more people in conversations while increasing awareness for the brand.
• Marketers can also use hashtags to chat about specific topics (e.g #HBRChat). Marketers can create a hashtag for a specific topic or series of topics, schedule and promote the chat and invite experts, brand ambassadors, executives, etc. to share their experiences and expertise. During the chat, users can ask questions directly to the experts and provide their views about the topic at hand, or they can just follow the conversation. The chats offer a great opportunity for Marketers to bring people together and increase their network while establishing brand expertise.
• Marketers can use Twitter to conduct competitive analysis by searching for competitor’s tweets and identifying their strategies. This can also shed some light into potential target markets that you should consider.
• Marketers can look into follower’s tweets to get a better understanding of their perception of the brand (e.g. sentiment analysis) and identify opportunities and risks.
• Marketers can use Twitter to establish their brands as experts in their fields through their participation in conversations, highly relevant tweets and sharing of thought leadership materials.
• Twitter provides Marketers a channel to offer immediate feedback to customers. Some companies use Twitter to provide customer service only.  Other companies use it to have conversations with users and address general concerns and questions that they may have.

Disadvantages of Twitter

•  Your tweets may be lost in the feed of tweets if users are not participating or following a conversation since Twitter provides real-time communication by displaying tweets as they are posted.
• Just as Marketers can conduct some analysis on their competition, competitors can also analyze your strategy and reach out to your target audience. As with any other social media channel, everything that you post online for public viewing is for everyone, including your competitors.
• There is a chance of overexposing a brand by posting too many tweets. Marketers have to be mindful of this and adjust their activity as they see fit.
• Instant interaction can result in unexpected situations. Marketers need to have a crisis plan in place so they can address the situation proactively and turn things around.
• Users are allowed to delete tweets. However, once posted, it can take seconds for someone to re-tweet it or reply to it. Once it’s part of the conversation, Marketers won’t be able to do anything about it. Your tweets may also appear in the Twitter Search for a while after you have deleted the original tweet. The advise here is to check before posting anything online to make sure that you’ll not need to take it back.

One last thought for Marketers considering Twitter (or any other social media channel): consider the type of relationship that you want to establish with your followers. This will allow you to determine the level of friendliness that you may want to establish with them so that you can be on your way to meeting your marketing objectives.

FACEBOOK

As we all know, Facebook is the social media channel that has the most users thus far (according to Wikipedia, as of February 2012, Facebook had over 845 million users worldwide). It is therefore, the first social media channel that comes to mind when thinking about a social media presence. But, is it for all brands?

Advantages of Facebook

- As with other social media channels, Facebook can help marketers humanize their brands. By creating a Facebook page, brands can build a social media profile that people can identify, engage and interact with. Facebook offers a variety of options that can help brands develop their ‘social’ personas (e.g. pictures, videos, links, posts, etc.). These tools can also be easily leveraged to engage with fans and provide them with an extraordinary experience that will motivate them to visit your Facebook page repeatedly.

- Facebook makes it very easy for fans to share your content. Given that is a biggest social network, the potential for increasing brand awareness is huge. This is also an important element in building a community around a brand. The possibility of sharing the brand experience with people worldwide can extend the reach of the brand to places that marketers may not have thought of before.

- Having a Facebook page will allow marketers to get a good idea of the way people see and understand their brands. It gives companies the opportunity to initiate and influence/facilitate conversations that would otherwise still happen but under different circumstances. Marketers can choose to participate or simply observe what goes on on their company’s pages knowing that they have a little more control or influence over what is being said. The information captured from comments and people’s reactions will help marketers modify strategies and tactics in order to increase success rates.

- What happens on Facebook has a long-term impact that can directly influence the positioning of the brand in the future. This gives marketers an opportunity to develop a social media personality that can support the brand’s goals in the long-term.

- Facebook can help marketers spread news fast. It also offers the possibility of news and information going viral which will surpass the reach of any of the traditional media options. If done correctly, it could increase the relevance and awareness of the brand bringing in more customers and business opportunities.

- Facebook offers marketers the possibility of running targeted ads. These ads show on the pages of people that show an interest for your product or service. These ads are more likely to perform better since they are relevant to the target audience.

- Facebook’s platform is opened to developers who can build a variety of applications that can help support the company’s business and marketing goals. Developers can add subtle marketing messages to the apps without diminishing their usefulness. Marketers can also work with developers to develop custom apps that help them differentiate their brands.

- Facebook pages are indexed by search engines such as Google. This gives marketers another avenue to improve the visibility for their brands as well as their rankings in search engine results.

Disadvantages of Facebook

- The unexpected is always a possibility and this is probably the main concern of executives. Marketers don’t have control over how things may develop in the social media space. At any time, someone may post a complaint or a comment that may have a negative impact on your brand. But, keep in mind that with all the social media channels out there, a person that is not happy will let the world know one way or another. In this case, having a Facebook presence will give marketers an opportunity to be proactive, turn things around and show how the brand cares and values their customers.

- Promoting a brand or marketing initiative through Facebook requires a great deal of time as this is not a ‘one-time’ type of media. Initiating and engaging in conversations requires time and careful planning. In many cases, this process may require additional resources that may not be included in Marketing budgets.

- It may be difficult to quantify ROI and see tangible results. However, there are other metrics that may help support your social media initiatives and that may have a long-term impact on your sales goals (e.g. customer references, improved SEO, increase in RSS subscriptions, etc.).

Who blogs?

According to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2011, bloggers are:

• 3/5 are male
• The majority are in the 25-44 age range
• The majority have a bachelors or graduate degree
• The majority are married
• The average number of blogs is three per week
• Almost 1/3 of bloggers have worked for traditional media
• Nearly 4 out of 10 bloggers report being actively courted by brands to write about or review products
• 9 out of 10 bloggers say its important that advertising on their blogs align with their values
• 70% of bloggers use their blog to share their expertise and experience

What motivates them to blog?

I have identified four different types of bloggers (non-corporate) based on their motivations to blog. These categories are:

1. Hobby: these are bloggers that write about the things and activities that they like the most. They find inspiration on their every day routines. They like to share what’s in their mind. All their content comes from their personal experiences. Examples include people that blog about cooking, surfing, photography, movies, etc.
2. Inspiration/Support: blogs in this category are meant to inspire and encourage readers. Bloggers in this category share new ideas that may help inspire readers. They share their mistakes so people can learn from them. Examples include bloggers hosting periodic weight-loss share your accomplishments tips, how to make a positive change in your life, etc.
3. Money: bloggers in this category focus on Search Engine Optimization, keywords and other tactics to increase visibility in the search engines rather than on the content of their blog. Advertising and money are their main objectives. Examples include blogs that help sell products, market services, etc.
4. Value: the main purpose for writing blogs in this category is to provide valuable information through high quality content. Bloggers in this category care about offering tips, insights and advise. They want their readers to get something actionable out of their posts. Examples include people who make recommendations from professional experience such as financial planners who provide advise on how to budget and plan for retirement, etc.

From these categories, and from a marketing perspective, the first and the last offer the most opportunities for engaging in a successful influence campaign that can help a brand generate awareness while building a community around its products or services.

Can you think of any other type of blogger category that may be considered for an influence campaign?

- Promotional: these videos provide an overview of your product or service. They help people get familiar with your offering and set preliminary expectations about the benefits or advantages that they can expect.These videos are usually short and to the point – think ‘elevator pitch.’

Example: HubSpot Product Overview

- Demonstrations: these videos show your product or service ‘in action.’ They help viewers understand how the product or service works, its capabilities, and how it is going to solve their needs.

Example: Demonstration video for the NEX-5 ultra compact digital cameras by Sony

- Tutorials: the main purpose of these videos is to educate, to transfer knowledge so that the audience can learn how to use or take advantage of a product. These videos provide step by step instructions and tips that customers can use or apply right away.

Example: Add Dramatic Color to Photographs: Photoshop Tutorial

- Customer testimonials: the power of word of mouth, these videos showcase actual customers talking about their experience with your product or service. These videos are powerful as they show real customers sharing their stories and providing evidence that you offer a good product or service.

Example: Walmart MoneyCard Customer Testimonials

- Behind the scenes: these videos provide a sneak peek behind the curtains. The ‘exclusivity’ aspect of this kind of video helps people get a better understanding of the product or service while adding a personal touch and engaging with the audience in a deeper and lasting way.

Example: Old Spice | Behind the Scenes

- Thought Leadership: these videos are the result of conference speeches, presentations, webinars, etc. They show experts talking about relevant topics in your industry, your products or services, best practices, etc. These videos allow you to build trust and credibility in the marketplace.

Example: PL/SQL Best Practices with Steven Feuerstein

- Viral videos: these are tricky as they require a special talent to get them right. These kind of video tells a story that elicits a strong emotion and motivates the audience to share. Viral videos usually offers stories that are original, unusual, unexpected, funny, etc. and have the potential of generating a tremendous amount of awareness for your brand or situation promoted in the video.

Example: A Day Made of Glass… Made possible by Corning

Edited 02/20/12

After attending some sessions during Social Media Week last week, I learned about a new type of video: the social video. The idea behind it is to offer the viewer an opportunity to actively participate in the development of the film story through social media interactions.

The first film of its kind was called The Inside Experience and was developed for Intel and Toshiba. The story focused around a girl that was trapped in a room and needed help to get out. The girl was given access to the Internet and through clues and tips found in social media channels, people were able to communicate with her and help her get out. Here is a quick preview and description of the video:

To see the full video, you need to subscribe to The Inside Experience channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheInsideExperience

What are widgets?

Widgets are stand-alone, task-oriented applications that you can easily download to their desktops or embed in a webpage (no technical expertise is required). The applications provide information that you are interested in, without you having to surf the web. Widgets can be anything from a Facebook message alert to a weather forecast to a game to a voting poll. Widgets are usually visually attractive and can take the form of a picture, graph, summary, numbers, etc.

An additional characteristic of web widgets is that they allow you to pull information from many different online sources (using different widgets) into one page and share it with the world. For instance, if you want to integrate your Twitter feed with your blog, you can do so easily by adding the Twitter widget to the page so when people land on it, they can follow your conversations.

Why are widgets relevant to marketing?

Widgets are becoming so popular that they are supported by tons of services, especially social media applications (e.g. wordpress, typepad, myspace, etc.) There is even a new term – Widget Marketing – that represents the potential of widgets as a marketing tool. Some of the benefits that can be expected from using widgets for marketing purposes include:

1. Brand awareness: widgets offer another way for companies to extend the reach of their brand in a practical way by offering value-added content in the form of user specific information, extra functionality, and even games.
2. Viral distribution: if done correctly, widgets have the potential of going viral tapping into the massive social media audience.
3. Engagement: widgets are interactive in nature ensuring that users spend a lot of time with them. The ability of widgets to push information as it happens ensures that engagement remains high.
4. Personalization: widgets are becoming a tool for expressing identity by enabling people to personalize their web pages through content that is relevant to them.

Widgets are changing the way content is published, shared and promoted. They are also changing the way customers engage with brands. Ensuring that your content is relevant, can be personalized and allows engagement will go a long way as customers share and endorse your brand through their web page, blog or social media profiles.

Here is a quick tutorial with more information about widgets: http://youtu.be/QIn-8s_yYHs

Just as first impressions are important in real life, they are extremely important in the virtual world. A website that is easy to navigate, visually stimulating and leads users to action will provide a positive experience, one that users will enjoy and remember. A website where the colors are off, has the “wrong” images, uses a typography that is very hard to read, takes too long to download, etc. will cause users to get confused or frustrated, and therefore, look for another website that offers what they are looking for.

So, how can you establish a visual web identity that sticks? Here are the basics:

1. Know: keep in mind that your website is a reflection of your company’s brand. Therefore, it should look and feel like everything else under the brand name. If your brand stands for elegance, simplicity and sophistication, your website should reflect that in its design. Use the website as an online extension of your brand and its promise.
2. Learn: test different options to determine the visual appearance that your customers are more comfortable with. The ease of navigation and the inherent interactivity of the website should be optimized so customers can easily find what they want or need. The aesthetics of the site are important as they can influence your customer’s behavior.
3. Influence: make sure that your site looks credible and professional in order to inspire trust in your visitors. Achieving the right combination of colors, images, typography, animation, and navigation while keeping the consistency throughout the website will ensure that your customers have a positive experience. Driving your customer’s experience by making it easy for them to find what they are looking for will ensure the achievement of your website’s goals.
4. Promote: having a well designed website is one piece of the puzzle. However, in order for your efforts to be effective, you need to promote the site through all of your marketing and communications channels (e.g. search engines, social media, marketing materials, press releases, blogs, videos, etc.). Make your site accessible through different devices and platforms, and integrate new tools and technologies as you see fit.  The success of your website will largely depend on your promotion efforts to drive traffic.

First impressions can dictate the success or failure of your website. Use the design of your website to attract visitors and inspire a sense of reliability and trust so that you can engage and establish a relationship with them.