Gavin Llewellyn | Digital marketing blog | One Too Many Mornings

5 principles of an effective mobile website

Gavin Llewellyn on August 30, 2011 — Leave a Comment

The world is becoming increasingly mobile and there’s no turning back! With the proliferation of smartphones, laptops and other mobile devices such as tablet computers we are now beginning to see the rise of the ‘digital nomad‘ – those willing and able to work and socialise online wherever there is either a 3G or Wi-Fi connection.

With half of all local searches being performed on a mobile device and a prediction that the mobile internet should overtake desktop internet usage by 2014, having a mobile action plan should become an an essential component of any company’s corporate marketing strategy.

One of the first steps to take when ‘going mobile’ is to create a mobile version of your company website. Whether your site is static, interactive, a blog or e-commerce-driven, the aim remains the same: to create a simple, separate and effective online experience for anyone visiting your site on a mobile device.

Below are 5 guiding principles that I have personally found very useful during the planning, design and implementation of a mobile website:

Define objectives

Before starting the process of designing and creating a mobile website, be clear as to how you intend to use the site and what you want to gain from it. The mobile website should be designed with your main target customer in mind and tie in with your existing marketing strategy and tactics.

Set clear goals and identify success metrics during the early stages of the planning process and link these with any website marketing targets that are already in place.

Keep the site simple but practical

A key principle for any mobile website is to have a clean, simple and practical design and functionality. File sizes should be kept at a minimum to allow for faster loading times and navigation and layout should be straightforward and intuitive to aid usability.

The main elements from the desktop site should be included on key pages throughout the mobile version and there must be an emphasis on the tappable (as opposed to clickable) as users will be using their fingers rather than a mouse to navigate around the site.

Be stylish

Just because the site is simple doesn’t mean that it has to be boring. As with your desktop site, it’s important to add an element of style and flair to your mobile website to attract visitors and create a buzz around your brand.

The mobile website should compliment the desktop version whilst retaining its individuality as a genuine ‘third screen’ in its own right. The mobile website should be clearly identifiable as belonging to your brand but at the same time stand alone and offer a completely different online experience.

Make it interactive

Being able to access a website from the palm of your hand is a uniquely intimate experience and changes the whole dynamic of how a customer interacts with your site. Mobile therefore gives you the opportunity to connect with your audience in a completely new way through the use of:

Social media integration
Location-based marketing
QR codes
Gamification

Test

As with any new project or venture, testing is key prior to launch.

A mobile website will function differently depending on the smartphone, handset and operating system being used and although it is wise to optimise your mobile site for the main devices your core customers are using, it is still important to test the site on a range of platforms. This will give you time to iron out any bugs and make adjustments before the site goes live.

I’ve not intended to take a technical look at web development or design for mobile in this post, instead just offer a selection of guiding principles for marketers to consider during the planning and implementation stages.

Check out this very handy article from Mashable for a much more detailed and technical look at mobile web design strategy.

Do you have any additional ideas for what makes for an effective mobile website? Please feel free to include your thoughts, insights and experiences in the comments.

Be remarkable

Gavin Llewellyn on August 24, 2011 — Leave a Comment

As a marketer, I never see my work as ‘just a job’. It may be easy for others to follow the status quo, do what has always been done before and copy what the competition is doing, but for me that is boring – and ineffective. Marketing should be about creativity, innovation and artistry. And it is these qualities and values that will allow you differentiate and stay ahead of the game.

Make a difference

Being a marketer gives you the unique opportunity to make a real, tangible difference to the way your company presents itself to the outside world. Regardless of what area of marketing you work in there is always a chance to contribute your ideas and shape the context in which the company is perceived.

Marketing allows for customers, employees and anyone else connected to the brand to feel as though they are a part of something special. Just ask the customer and employees of Google, Apple and Facebook! Great marketing allows you to build a community and a following as well as a set of advocates excited to be associated with the brand.

Be remarkable

As marketers, we must take the opportunity to be imaginative and push boundaries. The brands that I have always admired are the ones that refuse to settle for second best. Virgin, Nike, Amazon, Disney – these guys are constantly innovating, creating and blazing a trail for others to follow.

The key to success is to be remarkable. Nobody ever remembers a shrinking violet and in order to stand out and be counted in today’s increasingly crowded mediascape one must earn the right to be heard by being different. Not being different for the sake of being different, but in a way that adds value, fits in with the brand’s personality and contributes to the core principles on which the brand has been built.

There’s no such thing as a short cut

Gavin Llewellyn on August 19, 2011 — 2 Comments

Time and again I come across examples of companies who seemingly expect social media to solve their marketing problems as though it is some kind of magic marketing formula. But as with any new technology, practice or procedure, implementing social media as part of your marketing strategy takes time, effort and a good deal of planning.

Social media is evolving at a rapid pace and I believe that it can play an important role within any company – big, small, consumer-focused or B2B. But as with any other tactic or tool, social media must be researched and thought through thoroughly in order for it to be integrated into the marketing strategy effectively.

What do you want to achieve?

A clear set of goals, objectives and milestones must be put in place along with an individual or team who understands social media and how it should be used. Creating an impromptu Facebook page, Twitter feed or YouTube channel without a clear endgame in mind is to use social media as another marketing ‘add-on’, separated from the values, personality and image of the brand.

Brand consistency is essential in today’s increasingly crowded online space and social media plays a vital role in generating brand awareness across both the traditional and social web.

Stay the course

The consequences of a poorly executed social media marketing plan can be dire for a brand. Consider the business that hasn’t tweeted since January 2008 or the company blog with only a handful of posts and little or no comments. It looks lazy.

Social media is not a quick fix – it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Social media is about building relationships and engagement and this requires constant and consistent attention over a long period of time.

I’ve often suggested to companies that if they cannot guarantee the time and commitment needed to use social media correctly then it’s probably better that they don’t use it at all. It’s far better to focus on the channels you can use well than spread yourself – and your brand – thin across a variety of social media sites that aren’t being maintained.

Set out a clear plan of action

A social media strategy doesn’t have to be ‘War and Peace‘ but it does have to be a document detailed enough to coherently map out why you want to use social media, how you are going to use it and with whom. If you haven’t got the time to put a simple plan together I doubt you’ll have the time to consistently engage with communities using social media.

There’s no such thing as a short cut

Social media is new, exciting and fun and an area of marketing I really enjoy. But social media is a paradigm shift from an outbound marketing to an inbound marketing approach and it takes time to understand and appreciate the intricacies and nuances of this new way of thinking.

The brands that use social media well are the ones that will do the work to understand how it should be used correctly as part of their overall marketing plan. This takes time and effort.

There’s no such thing as a short cut.

Teamwork

Gavin Llewellyn on August 17, 2011 — Leave a Comment

As an England cricket fan it was fantastic to see the England team beat India last week to win the series and become the number one Test team in the world. It was a brilliant achievement, one built on skill and endeavour – as well as a ruthless focus on preparation and teamwork.

A focus on the collective not the individual

Each member of the England cricket team is a master craftsman in their own right, whether they are an opening batsman, leader of the bowling attack or wicketkeeper. But although everyone in the team has their own set of particular skills, the real driving force is a collective sense of togetherness and a unified goal of becoming the best cricket team in the world.

England’s achievement in reaching that goal is all the more impressive when you consider their opponents in this series’ win: India. Before the series, India were the number one team and contained some of the biggest and best cricketers in the game. However, unlike the English, the Indians often played as individuals and not as a team and at times seemed to lack conviction and purpose. One wonders what aims and objectives they were focused on.

Strong leadership builds motivation

With a good team comes good leadership. If it weren’t for a strong leadership team England, despite all their collective talents, would probably not have achieved what they did. The influential management consultant and writer Peter Drucker once said:

“The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say ‘I.’ And that’s not because they have trained themselves not to say ‘I.’ They don’t think ‘I.’ They think ‘we’; they think ‘team.’ They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don’t sidestep it, but ‘we’ gets the credit…. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.”

There were various points throughout the series when England struggled and players failed. And yet the team persevered and came through to win three matches in a row. When one player struggled, another picked up the slack. And whenever someone achieved a personal victory the team as a whole got the credit.

A common characteristic

I’ve used the England cricket team as an example in this post but I could easily have chosen to focus on the 1998 New York Yankees, England’s world-cup winning rugby team from 2003 or even the current Barcelona football team. But whomever I chose the key characteristic remains the same: they all possess the power of teamwork.

How to use LinkedIn effectively

Gavin Llewellyn on August 12, 2011 — 2 Comments

There has been more than one occasion when someone has suggested to me that LinkedIn is simply an online destination to post your CV. But if this was all LinkedIn were for, I’m certain the company would have not have been valued at $9 billion following its IPO in May this year.

LinkedIn is much more than a ‘digital resume’. In fact, it’s the professional social network, allowing millions of users from all over the world to connect with classmates, colleagues, business partners and friends. As Chris Brogan and Julien Smith state in ‘Trust Agents’:

“LinkedIn is a living network of relationships, and it is a reputation engine. It’s the opportunity to connect with people and build business relationships”.

So what should you do once you’ve signed up? Here are a few ideas on how to get the most from LinkedIn:

Update your profile

First of all, make sure you’ve got an accurate, up-to-date profile. You should think of your LinkedIn profile as your ‘enhanced’ business card. First impressions count, so make sure you do the following:

Include a professional, clear picture of yourself – not a logo!
Make sure the professional headline that appears below your name includes your job title and company
Write a compelling summary of who you are and what you do in a professional capacity. Try not to use too many management buzz words and focus on telling a story. Include ‘specialties’ to highlight your key skills
Include both professional and extra-curricular experiences on your profile, for example membership of sports teams and networking groups

Add applications

If you’ve got a blog or a SlideShare account, considering importing them within your profile by using LinkedIn Applications.

Integrating these accounts is an excellent way of demonstrating your skills, competencies and thought-leadership on your area of expertise and is a great way of allowing you to ‘stand out from the crowd’.

Create connections

Start building your network by searching and connecting with people by using the LinkedIn search facility.

Although LinkedIn states that you should only attempt to connect with people you know personally, I don’t see anything wrong with reaching out to those you respect or would like to network with. When adding someone to your network, select ‘friend’ and make sure you edit the default message and tailor it to explain the reasons why you’d like to connect.

Feel free to connect with me – you can check out my LinkedIn profile here.

Update your status

The LinkedIn status update allows you to include both text and links to let people know what you’re up to or to share an interesting news article or blog post with your network.

You can write about anything you like in the status update although I would highly recommend that you consider the community you’re communicating with and customise your LinkedIn posts accordingly. LinkedIn is a business-orientated network and your updates should reflect this environment.

On a related note, DON’T connect your Twitter account to your LinkedIn status update. I can guarantee that nobody in your LinkedIn community will want to see updates like “@alexk1041 – LOL me 2!” in their newstreams!

Make recommendations

One of the most powerful aspects of LinkedIn is the ability to give and receive recommendations. Recommendations add credibility and social proof to your profile and suggest to others that you’re a professional that others can rely on and vouch for.

When making recommendations, only choose to write references for people you have worked with directly. Recommendations should be authentic and I believe this can only be the case if you’ve had a genuine working relationship with someone.

Ask for recommendations

Writing a recommendation may well inspire someone to write one for you in return. But if this doesn’t happen don’t be afraid of asking.

There is a handy ‘request a recommendation’ tool but once again make sure you edit the default message and write something specific to the person you’re requesting a recommendation from.

Get actively involved in groups

One of my favourite aspects of LinkedIn is the opportunity to join and get involved in groups. They’re a great way of networking, finding new people to connect with and discovering what the big trends and issues are right now in any given subject area.

Participating in groups will give you the opportunity to take part in discussions and answer other people’s questions, allowing you to show off your expertise and knowledge.

Stick around

As with anything, you have to stick around and stay the course to make something work. Signing up to LinkedIn isn’t suddenly going to bring you a flurry of job offers.

To begin with spend some time getting to know the place. Log into LinkedIn every once in a while and spend around 20 – 30 minutes per week building your connections, tweaking your profile and participating in groups. The more involved you are the more opportunity may come from it but this will require some effort

In this post I’ve pointed out just a few ways to use LinkedIn effectively – there are many more. But what are your LinkedIn tips? What advice would you give to someone joining for the first time?

Social media is not to blame for the UK riots

Gavin Llewellyn on August 10, 2011 — Leave a Comment

It’s been interesting to see a number of reports in newspapers and on news channels suggesting that social media has played a damaging role in the riots taking place in London and across other cities in the UK this week. Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry Messenger have all been singled out and blamed for allowing rioters to organise themselves and stay ahead of the police.

A climate of uncertainty

But to blame social media is misguided and ignores many of the deeper societal and psychological factors that are the true causes of much of the unrest.

Yes, many of the rioters are simply opportunistic thugs looking for an excuse to cause trouble but one cannot discount the fact that there is an awful lot of uncertainty around at the moment: we’re in the midst of an economic downturn with cuts in government spending and a reduction in education and job availability.

These factors, along with the fact that most riots often take place in the summer months and in highly populated areas, as well as controversy over the shooting of a local man, have led to the unrest that began in Tottenham, North London, on Saturday night.

Social media can be used for good

Criminals are using social media as a device to co-ordinate, organise and plan attacks and this has unfortunately given social media a bad name. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Social media can and is being used for good. We are already seeing support on Twitter through hash tags (e.g. #riotcleanup) as well as Facebook pages dedicated to organising community clean-ups. It’s been great to see how communities have rallied around each other in the midst of the rioting and are using social media platforms like Twitter to co-ordinate efforts.

Use social media to engage

However, although these are positive examples they are nevertheless a reaction to what has already happened. That is why I’d also like to see a more proactive use of social media by politicians, business leaders and the police to connect with young people and build relationships.

There is currently a ‘digital disconnect’ between the government and young social media users that is adding to a sense amongst some groups that ‘no one cares’. I believe that if the authorities can work together and start using social media to listen and engage with young people in a meaningful and authentic way, then perhaps they would feel more educated and understood.

I am by no means attempting to excuse anyone for the rioting and looting or suggesting that social media is the ‘cure’. However, I am suggesting that blaming it is wrong and that used correctly social media can play a big part in the solution to some of the problems.