What is Social Media?

Social media is always used as a buzz word when marketing experts try to sell you their services.  It is often not well explained exactly what social media is though.  You should not be put off by those who make social media appear like some sort of voodoo.  There are many reasons why people are put off by the thought of using social media and we hear these reasons all the time from business owners, friends and family. Questions I mainly get asked are: What social media platforms are out there and where can I find them? What is social media for? Can anyone do it? Is it free to join? Who am I speaking to when I use social media?  There are many social media platforms out there but this blog post will focus on Twitter and Facebook.  We will give you and your business in-depth knowledge on why you should not be ignoring social media. You should be putting these services to good use to promote your business on a daily basis.

Why is it important to use Social Media?

Through social media you can reach a worldwide audience.  Unlike putting an ad in a newspaper which has a limited audience.  Social media is also free to use unlike most advertising platforms.  You can increase your brand awareness by engaging and talking to people whom you know are already interested because of their own contributions to the network.  However, it is important not to fall into the habit of constantly promoting services or products.  You must also socialise with other members of the community because people become disinterested very quickly.  Social media is a two way street in which those who attempt to only take from the community through continual advertisements become outcasts and ignored.  You must give a little in order to reap rewards.  By engaging with people and answering any questions they may have about your services or products you can build up your target audience very quickly. You can generate leads and driving traffic to your website. Social media has real business value.

How effective is Social Media for my business?

The simple answer is “very effective” but I don’t expect you to take my word for it:  I prefer that I give you hard facts.

• Of SMB’s who use Facebook, over 80% say that it has benefitted their business. Source: Ad-ology, November 2010
• Only 18% of Twitter users tweet once a day, so it only takes two or more tweets per day to be one of the top users in Twitter. Source: Rjmetrics, January 2010
• 93% of US adult internet users are on Facebook – In total that is 152 million people! Source: Blogher, April 2011
• On average Twitter users have higher amounts of income than the total population, meaning they have more expendable income. Source: Edison Research, 2010
• Just over 1 in every 7 minutes spent online is on Facebook. Source: Comscore, December 2011
• Companies using Twitter are obtaining twice as many leads as those who do not. Source: HubSpot state of inbound marketing lead generation report, 2010 

How much time do I need to invest in this?

Social media does not have to be a chore, it is something that you should integrate into your working day. If done properly you will not notice the time spent posting to social media as it will be an enjoyable experience.  Whenever you find something that interests you and is related to your business you should share it.  This might be a news article that inspires your followers; images that relate to your business such as photographing new products; answering a question from one of your customers; or just simply saying good morning.  You are increasing your social visibility and engaging with your audience.  Almost every website invites the visitor to view their Facebook and Twitter pages and encourages them to leave a comment or a tweet. If your website does not have easy access buttons for visitors to “Like” your site on Facebook or “Tweet” your site to Twitter you are missing out on the opportunity to get free and effortless recommendation of your business to their friends.

Social Media Apps

One of the main reasons that people don’t want to use social media is the inconvenience of taking up the working day and having to remember to visit websites on a regular basis.  If you have a smart phone or tablet then you can download one of the free apps to allow you to update social media quickly and on the move. Time otherwise wasted on train journeys and whilst between meetings etc. can be put to good use on your device.  Another advantage of this is that you will be instantly notified by the app when you receive new messages from other users.  For convenience we have listed the links below for the official apps for the iPhone and iPad.

Facebook App
Twitter App

Summary

Social media is the use of tools on the web to communicate with people in a social way.  By harnessing social media you quickly engage a large community of people who are interested in your products and services.  Statistic show that businesses using social media effectively generate more leads and target a larger number of people then those who don’t.  Social media can fit into your current work flow with minimal impact on your productivity.  This can be aided by the use of social media apps on your smart phone or tablet.

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Businesses who want to succeed online, ought to know about converting leads into customers. The call to action buttons on a web page is one of the most important features. To convert incoming traffic into leads you will need to improve their effectiveness. Below are some top tips to spark your creativity in creating good calls to action.

Call to action buttons above the fold

Make the call to action button stand out on the page, use strongly contrasting colour as these will perform better. Use colours that suggest warmth such as red and orange, these will appear larger to your visitors than colour suggesting coldness such as blue and green. Large buttons get noticed more on websites. If you are creating a button to use a good size is 225px wide and 45px high. Colour can be used to great effect to help balance the size of your buttons. For larger buttons, choose a color that’s less prominent within your design (but still stands out again the background). For a smaller button, you may want to choose a brighter, contrasting color to really make the button pop. In either case, make sure the colour you use sets the button apart without clashing with the site’s overall design.

You don’t need a button to create contrast

Simply change the font colour so that it stands out on the page. It is important to create the right context and make sure the text in the call to action is relevant to the content on the page. Describe what the user will receive and reveal details of an incentive for example “Get started now -> sign up in 60 seconds” Customise this incentive to the needs of your visitors in order to encourage them to take the next step for example “Try it free – No credit card needed!”. “In the example of Tea Round App, they tell that user that they won’t be getting spam emails by taking the action of signing up for their email service, which is a cause for concern whenever giving your email to a third-party service.” Smashingmagazine 

List the benefits of a call to action

The call to action should match the information on the page where it is located and should convey a clear message. It should convey the answer to the question, “What is in it for me?”. To do this you should list the top three benefits of your offer in order of importance. To ensure that your visitors go to the next step, testimonials are always a strong motivator. “In the example below on Mobile Web Design the call to action button below is placed in a prominent location; it has large size and a distinctive color with respect to surrounding elements. To provide additional context on what it means to “Purchase the book”, the call to action button is followed by text explaining cost and available format (traditional book or PDF).” Smashingmagazine 

Summary

• Make your Call to action clear and concise.
• Create urgency within your call to action.
• Place the call to action above the fold.
• Make it engaging and action orientated.
• Include a relevant image.
• Align the call to action with its landing page.

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Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

Web Accessibility Info-graphic

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If a customer is left wondering about the specifics of a product they will go elsewhere and you will loose the sale.  This is why details of the product such as size, quantity, stock control,  reviews  and key features are all important and should be taken into account when designing the product information page.

Great example of what could be done to improve this is illustrated below. Notice the high quality of the photography and that each thumbnail of the image depicting the product can be viewed as a large image.  The more information you have about the product, the more the customer will trust your site.

Upfront about your contact information

Consumers want to know who they are dealing with before they hand over their credit card details.  They want to know that if they have a problem then they can get the help they need from a real person.  If they can not find your contact information then they will be less likely to trust you and do business with you.

Great example of what could be done to improve this is illustrated below.

Long or confusing check out process

You have to make it as easy as possible for your customers to hand over their credit card information and complete their order.  The more steps you you put between them placing the order and actually paying for it, the more opportunity they have to leave the website without completing the purchase.

Great example of what could be done to improve this is illustrated below.

Requiring an account to order

At the end of the checkout process offer the customer to sign up for an account giving hem the option of saving their details for future purchases and to track their existing purchases.  Many customers will opt to save their information and this will prevent driving away customers before they have completed their order.

Great example of what could be done to improve this is illustrated below.

An inadequate site search engine

The search feature on the website needs to work well and have filters for letting customers refine their results.  Users should be able to search via keyword and then be able to see the results based on their options such as most popular, highest, lowest price, newest item etc.

Great example of what could be done to improve this is illustrated below.

Customer service information

You need to make it easy for people to get in touch if they have a problem or question.  Make it clear what the best way to contact you is if they have a technical question, a sales question, or they want to return an item.  Offer a help request form to fill out as this can install more confidence then just an email address.  Make sure that you include a FAQ that covers common questions that customers may have such as what is your return policy?

Great example of what could be done to improve this is illustrated below.

Tiny product images

Provide large and high quality images on all the product pages and allow users to click on that image and zoom in to see every detail.  You want to aim for users to be able to view the image on an average monitor and this means an image that enlarges to 1024 x 768px is good size to aim for.

Great example of what could be done to improve this is illustrated below.

Use more then one product image

Provide multiple images from different angles, include 4-5 images of each product and this will offer customers enough views to feel comfortable that they know exactly what they are getting.

Great example of what could be done to improve this is illustrated below.

A poor shopping cart design

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Like any other project I began to research what criteria a travel brochure should have to make it appealing to holidaymakers:
1: Travel brochures must contain high quality images that give the right feel and positive image of the place that they are advertising.
2: Travel brochures are used as an intro guide to the area and must contain maps, tourist spots, information about landmarks and activities.
3: It is important that the brochure gives information about the climate, culture, history, geography of the chosen area.
4: Included within the pages of the travel brochure should be information about flights and the cost of the holiday.

I began to research interesting concepts and modern layouts for travel brochure design and have included the designs that most appealed to me below.

I was inspired by this design and my eyes were drawn to the attention to detail. The bold yellow background works well with the modern choice of font in white to make the heading text separate from the paragraph text in black. The text has been fully justifyed which makes it easy on the eye for reading. The images in the circles I particularly like as they work well on the plain background. The page has been designed to guide the eye around it starting from the top left hand corner, taking in the headline and then paragraph text. I like this design because it does not overpower the viewer with lots of information all at once and uses the negative space to let the design breath.

The layout is unusual for a travel brochure and I found this inspiring especially the way the text has been structured. The high quality photograph with the texture and colour of the next page incorporates the image into the design and includes information such as the temperature of the climate and a detailed plan of an excursion, which follows the same trend as the last design with white bold text for the headings and black paragraph text for the detailed information.

I am a big fan of vector graphics and photoshop brushes having started my design career in Illustrator and Photoshop and so this design spoke volumes to me using the graphics to incorporate the images into the design. The layout includes a thought out colour scheme with text being short and to the point. The images I think would look better with a white boarder around them as I am a big fan of white upon dark backgrounds.

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Graphic Design

It is important within any corporate company to have consistent branding throughout their printed marketing material and their online material such as their newsletters and website. I come across bad examples of this all the time where companies have different identities for online and offline communications. As an example I open  an expensive printed company brochure but there is no reference to their website to be seen. The printed and online communications should complement and cross reference each other in the look, feel and style.

Web Design

I am always surprised by people’s attitude to Web Design and Development, having worked with small businesses and start up companies. Many businesses do not spend enough on their website and yet they wonder why it is not making them any money or why have they not reached a number ranking in the search engines. For a Web Design and Development,which I must stress are two separate jobs you have to hire the professionals.

A good Web Design consists of an interesting layout, interactive features such as a slideshow, thought out navigation and tested user experience, high quality images, well formatted text with optimised keywords for Google to feed on and social media links to drive traffic through to the site as well as a call to action on each page. A good Web Development consists of making sure that your website is cross browser compatible, this means that the website will look the same and function the same in all browsers, it is also very important to meet web standards, a set of guidelines for developers in order for the website to be validated it must pass and conform to the standards expected of todays web.

Copywriting

Research suggests that many of us no longer have the concentration to read an article through to completion and our brains are more trained to absorb short bursts of information from social media such as Twitter and Facebook. The internet has changed our reading habits in the way that we are now very good at collecting snippets of information but we forget to think about the information we have gathered and relate these to the facts because we have too many distractions.

We have become a nation of readers who skim the text and absorb too little of the information being presented to us.  This is why the most important text in an article has to be written in the first paragraph. When writing for the web, the text should be broken up and clear headings should be used along with margins and space because this helps increase readability.

Photography

Photography has always been a passion of mine and I have spent many hours researching its long found history. It is interesting to see how photography has become more popular with the increase of on line platforms such as Twitter, Facebook Flicker and Tumblr. It is apparent now more than ever that being a skilled photographer is not about the expensive equipment you use, but it is about capturing the moment on any device that is available to you and sharing online with friends and family.

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Beautiful design of modern and yet traditional wedding stationary

Good use of traditional floral patten for the background of the design

Interesting use of photography and typography

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Who would of thought that a decision to drop out of college and study the art of caligraphy would result in the foundations of not only the first Macintosh computer but the first computer to offer a wide range of fonts.  I was excited to find out that whilst at university, Steve Jobs had a passion for calligraphy which had been inspired by every poster on campus and every label on his university furniture which had been beautifully hand written in calligraphy writing. Steve Jobs found calligraphy beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science could never capture and it was this that he found fascinating. He began to study serif and sans serif typefaces and the amount of space between different letter combinations, he fell in love with calligraphy so much so he designed his own typefaces, naming these after American cities.

Ten years later he applied his passion of typefaces and designed his Macintosh computer, which came with a wide choice of stunning and beautiful fonts, each one proportionally spaced. Steve Jobs started a relationship with letters and type, something that was previously only known to the print and publishing industry but now he placed the word font in a vocabulary of everyday computer use.  This resulted in giving everyone the freedom to choose a font and express themselves, either by choosing a corporate looking font to write a letter or choosing a playful looking font for a school project. Having a wide choice of fonts available was a successful outcome for Apple and one that IBM and Microsoft have done their best to copy.

The invention of the Macintosh and its  proportionally spaced fonts helped to create desktop publishing and Apple has been a huge success because of its leader, Steve Jobs, he knows what people are looking for and he would take this into consideration when designing the next platform or mobile device. His ideas of technology were all about placing electronic intelligence in the hands of normal human beings and it is because of this that Steve Jobs belongs with the iconic pioneers of the automobile and is referred to bringing technology into the 21st century.

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