Website Design: Print vs Software

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Kaitlin Powell
playspent.org screenshot

SPENT acts more like software than a traditional website

The newest trends in website design have been leaning towards a software style rather than a translation of a printed page. If you’ve been to the website SPENT you’ll see what I mean. The whole site turns into an interactive game that illustrates their point about living below the poverty line with more impact than a page of facts could.

With new upgrades to HTML 5 and CSS 3 (and of course a lot of other languages including javascript) designers and developers can incorporate motion and layering into the page. This allows for a very interesting user experience. On Slavery Footprint, the beginning animation is powered by the viewer’s scrolling. Go ahead, try it out and you’ll see what I mean.

Now, animations like this are interesting because the combination of the new updates to HTML and CSS can potentially fill the hole that Apple created when they decided that flash wouldn’t be supported on their mobile devices. This allows marketers to create really engaging advertising that can work on phones without the viewer having to download an app. I mentioned this in my post about landing pages as well: the less steps you have in the process the easier it is to reach your audience.

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Posted in Campaigns, Graphic design, Marketing, Mobile Web, Non-Profit, Online Media, Web design | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

What Comics Can Teach You About Design

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Kaitlin Powell

Sometimes the best insights can come from surprising places. That’s why I was delighted to read this question and answer tumblr post by Aaron Diaz, the creator of the webcomic Dresden Codak. The quotes I have included in this post could be straight out of a design text.

“The short of it is that just because you don’t consciously notice something, doesn’t mean it has no effect on you.”

Though Aaron was talking about the level of detail that he puts into his comics, it is also a truism for graphic design. Like most professional designers, I begin the process with a concept. And that concept is based on factual information; about the company, the target audience, and those pesky keywords I’m always on about.

However, an ever increasing number of people and companies now have access to the software that the graphic design profession uses. Having these tools can be empowering and lead the owners to think anyone can design, produce and market all by themselves. But the logic is flawed in the same way that thinking you could produce beautiful woodwork with nothing more than a carpentry kit. The missing piece of course is the knowledge of the craft.

Letterman's jacket anyone?

It's just an "A" right?

And the guiding concept behind professional design is the knowledge. That’s the extra effort that might go unremarked but not unnoticed. You may not consciously know that a geometric slab serif letter reversed out of color will invoke thoughts of high school and college, but the truth is that subconscious connection will still affect the way you feel when you see it.

“When making any art (and especially when crafting stories), the focus should not be just on what you’re actually making but what the effect of what you’re making has on the audience.  Excessive details and flourishes are just as bad as an overly plain execution.”

Having that strong concept can be the difference between bombarding the audience to the point of irritation, and confusing them with vague messaging. Both these extremes can result in a campaign flop. The goal is to walk that tightrope Aaron hints at, too much and the message is lost, not enough and the message just isn’t there at all. Considering the importance of marketing to any company, the tightrope metaphor seems appropriate, and I for one am more comfortable when a professional is walking it.

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Posted in Graphic design | Tagged | Leave a comment

From the Bridget files: 10 reasons you should replace my LG Neon with an Android phone

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Annie Eissler

A couple of of years ago our then 8 year old daughter Bridget begged us for months for the LG Neon, letting us know at every opportunity that her life would be complete if we would just give in. Which, of course, we did.

Skip forward to the present time and my how her tune has changed. Her two words for the LG Neon these days? “It sucks!”

As I am off in a few hours to Xconomy‘s Mobile Madness Northwest event in Seattle (where AT&T is raffling off free phones!), I thought I’d share with you Bridget’s 10 reasons why we should replace her LG Neon with an Android smartphone:

  1. Sydney [Bridget's BFF] already bought me a case for an Android phone for Christmas
  2. My LG Neon phone has NO APPS
  3. It will be faster than my current phone
  4. Me and Syd would have matching phones
  5. I can play music on it
  6. I would use it more because it is AWESOME
  7. I won’t get another chance for two years [if we lock her into another service contract on the LG Neon that is!]
  8. We would all have Androids
  9. It would make me REALLY happy
  10. My current phone is lame…and you know it

We have not yet decided if her wish will come true this holiday season…but I did promise her I’d enter AT&T’s drawing today at Mobile Madness Northwest. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll win a Samsung Galaxy. We wouldn’t want Sydney’s Christmas gift to be for naught, now would we!

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LinkedIn by the numbers

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Jeanette Mifsud

LinkedIn is without a doubt the most valuable social network for B2B marketers, confirmed by a recent poll we ran where LinkedIn received 65% of the votes cast for the most important social media tool for B2B marketing (vs Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and “blogging”).

Here are a few LinkedIn stats to consider:

  • 135m+ professionals around the world as of November 3, 2011
  • As of September 30, 2011, LinkedIn counts executives from all 2011 Fortune 500 companies as members; its corporate hiring solutions are used by 75 of the Fortune 100 companies.
  • More than 2 million companies have LinkedIn Company Pages.

There are many ways to leverage LinkedIn raise awareness and generate leads for your business, including company pages, groups and advertising.

We’d like to hear how your business is leveraging LinkedIn? What is working for you…and what isn’t?

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Posted in B2B, Marketing, Social Media | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Nuggets of B2B marketing wisdom

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Jeanette Mifsud

I recently was sent a copy of Marketing Sherpa’s 2011 Wisdom report, and thought I’d share some of the nuggets that resonated with my experiences in the marketing trenches of late here at Mixtur.

Strategy first & don’t invest in fool’s gold

Two wisdom report contributors came to the same conclusion from their recent experiences in the real world—regardless of how tempting it might be to jump onto the latest marketing tactic bandwagon, you have to really understand if it makes sense for your business.  For example, don’t put a lot of energy behind a company Facebook presence if your prospects and customers just aren’t there.  Success with any marketing tactic always starts with knowing your audience.

Keyword research is paramount

So many companies skip the crucial step of keyword research that is the foundation of any SEO strategy. Take the time get to a short list of keywords that are highly relevant, have decent volume and are not overly competitive. Once you have this list you can go about optimizing your site and content and building credible inbound links.  Make sure you measure where you are before you start your SEO work with your new keyword list, and then keep measuring over time to see how you are doing.  SEOMoz has some great tools to help you keep track of your SEO efforts.

Balance marketing disciplines

There has been a lot of talk and activity in B2B marketing circles in 2011 about inbound marketing—programs where the prospect ‘finds’ information about your company, rather than information being pushed to them via traditional marketing tactics such as direct mail or telemarketing.  Core facets of inbound marketing are SEO, paid search and social networking.  These tactics can have a lower cost per lead than outbound tactics and should be part of all B2B marketing plans to some extent.  Figuring out the right mix for your business, now that’s the tricky part.  Many businesses are increasing their investment in inbound channels and seeing encouraging results.  The key is to measure everything and not just number of leads and cost per lead across your marketing tactics, but other metrics such as cost per sale, revenue and length of sale.  This will help you better chart your course to marketing success.

Get the Marketing Sherpa 2011 Wisdom report at http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31809, and share your wisdom with us!

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Posted in B2B, Marketing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment