Author(s) : Ethan Marcotte

The Responsive Design

Internet, and its interface is growing very rapidly and create innovations every day. However, they must confront regularly to various constraints.

We can now ask how the web, this new platform is based on our knowledge? But also how a site fits our various tools such as smartphone or tablet? 

These two hypotheses will help us to develop the concept of "Responsive Design".

On the one hand "The Web", this new digital world has its own codes. However, its principles are derived from real domains.

1. In a first step, we will look to its interface

The creator of the website has to choose his own canvas in order to spread its "desires", his work as an artist who expresses his emotions. The word "canvas" retains its full meaning here, we can even extend its sense and compare the "web" to a "cobweb" because it is composed of yarns that make up the network. This thread will allow the spider to catch its prey and live. The canvas of this website approaches this significance because the creator of a website will make every effort to ensure that his site is attractive and should be the subject of targeted research. That will generate the flow. Having special offers, they will push the consumer to buy. The site will live with his income.

• In addition, we can see that in a website, there are: titles, headings, paragraphs, etc.. These words impose real code to this flexible surface. By imposing this, website’s creators allow the user to simply understand their digital platform. The user will know by a a glance the theme of the site with his name, he has a brief description in the search page and will even offer to click on "sub-categories". This can be compared to a book, when the title is vague, the reader have to read the back cover to quickly understand the theme of his book. Here, the principles of the printing are applied.

 2. Now we will look at the construction of the website to be visible by any tool.

• The interface of a website is composed of headings, columns, tabs, banners etc.. All this, is set up through the work of webdesigner. He has a role of architect but specializes in ergonomics, aestheticism’s websites. Previously internet was dedicated "solely" to computers. Therefore, each page website could have a larger or smaller size according to the screen type and its resolution. It should be flexible in order to adapt to each screen to avoid bad ergonomics. It’s necessary that the user finds the site "fun" to watch. For example: if the site is improperly sized, the user must scroll the page from the left to the right in order to have a global vision of the site. This will be unpleasant, and he will leave very quickly the website.

There were in 2011 about 40 million users (Fevad, 2011) in France. Knowing that 12% of French (= 3 million) have already made purchases from their mobile. This figure is small today but tends to develop in several years. For this reason adapting a website for mobile and tablet is a real challenge, especially in terms of development for the company and optimization.

We will develop the concept of "Responsive Design".

• A website is "Responsive" when it adapts to any screen (resolution), either a computer screen, smartphone or tablet.

•  The user must be able to navigate without a problem. When this is not effective, the user can not feel any pleasure and will be restricted. Some web designers decided to create a website for each tool, but when users want to share the mobile URL with a friend or colleague who receives it in his mailbox. He will be confronted with the ergonomics "mobile" on his computer. Reading the site will require more effort for the person and she will be incommoded by the format.
• 

• Then, the site is "Design" because in addition to adapt to any type of resolution, it must be ergonomic. The navigation will be different between a computer and a smartphone. Thus, columns, headings and other tabs have a different position. It is necessary for user interface is attractive, but also ergonomic.

Finally, by joining the two words: "Responsive + Design" we access a concept that simplifies the user experience and enables businesses to be seen and read anytime, anywhere.

Author(s) : Alexandra Knezevic

Author(s) : Silverpop | Engagement Marketing Solutions

Buzz Building – 7 Steps to Social Media Marketing Success

Introduction: In 2012, customers and prospects spent more and more time on social networks,
which are now a major marketing method for companies. If you can gather customers and
prospects around your brand, it means that you are doing your job well and you can be optimistic
about future sales. If you can’t be, Silverpop brings you 7 steps to teach you how to build the
right “buzz” on the Internet.

Hypothesis: What do you need to create a great social marketing campaign, bring new customers
and gather them around your brand to keep them and help you to sell ?

1 – Determine your goals and your strategy
Stop focusing on tactical metrics: don’t believe. Think about the reason why you’re using social
media: acquisition or retention tool? Start small and surely: when you feel comfortable with
social media, then you can look for a precise objective. How to do it right? Don’t communicate
like a robot, with untimely ads (you can hire a community manager) but involve people who are
enthusiastic and driven.

2 – Understand your market
Choose your social network according to the habits of your prospects/customers. The key to marketing success on social media is the ability to target communities and customers that align best with your content.
Allocate your resources wisely by understanding customer social behavior. Directly ask the
customer their preferences via surveys or go directly inside the community (not only the big ones,
small ones are important as well). Also look for resources on the web.

3 – Align execution with key channels
Go further than “Twitter or Facebook?” debates. Integrate messages in every social channel.
Invite customers to choose their preferences, push them to be involved on every social network
you’re on (use their emails, spread the word on twitter…) because this how you’re going to get a
maximum impact. Customers are going through different networks all day long and by taking an
integrated multichannel approach, your message will have many more chances to reach them. Just
be careful to maintain a focused and uniformed message. Encourage sharing, make specific and
global campaigns.

4 – Create content that connects (with people and networks)
Content is king in the way that the more it’s relevant, the more it will be effective. 100,000
fans who can’t share valuable content are not as useful as 50,000 fans that can. To optimize this
content, follow these three rules: lose the corporate speak (stop selling, start being human and
transparent when you’re speaking), deliver valuable educating content and be consistent (have a
regular cadence, tweet/post everyday to be sure to be seen).

5 – Engage the marketplace
Going viral is the dream of every marketer and here are a few tips to maximize your chances of
doing so: build a solid seeding social network and community with the help of your valuable/
fun (a social network needs to be fun and not boring. It’s meant to be time-consuming) content.
Listen and respond to the community that you’re monitoring, don’t forget to seed to content with
articles which will generate reactions and conversation around the topic!

6 – Identify and Enable Influencers and Fans
Social media is at its best when you have customer to customer relations and the company isn’t doing anything in appearance. Identify brand ambassadors (Track them by key data) who are going to tweet or respond to questions instead of you. Ninety percent of people are going to trust them (it’s a study), so these ambassadors can have a huge impact. Obviously you’re not going to meet only brand enthusiasts and in this case, you need to resolve problems on a case-to-case basis. Also, don’t forget to treat your ambassadors well if you want them to become more loyal and invested.

7 – Monitor social activity
It’s great to be invested in social networks, but it’s important to know how effective your effortsare. You need to quantify your performances, improve your understanding of customers andprospects, learn to be more efficient in your programs (for example if something worked in acampaign especially on twitter, you can try to make a twitter-only campaign with this thing). Use analytics tools from your social network provider to monitor your efforts Question yourselves:where have we made mistakes, what’s efficient? Asking yourself these types of questions willhelp you to evaluate your progress and go to the next level.

Conclusion: The key to succeeding in social networks is to retain the customers who are goingto help bring new ones. This goes by several important points to never forget: the content is thepriority, you have to push the customers to “work” for you. Monitoring social activity also gives you a competitive advantage.

Author(s) : Jan Lauren Boyles and Lee Rainie

Mobile Phone Problems

Despite the many benefits they can bring, cell phones are causing many disadvantages for the personal life of their users. 

Indeed, because of some intrusions into their mobile phones, owners cell may find them faced with unwanted services.

The Pew Internet Project (PIP) decided to do some search upon this subject in order to discover what are the main problems caused by mobile phones.

This is an organization which explores the impact of internet on children, families, communities, work place, schools, health care and civic or political life. It’s an initiative of the Pew Research Center that provides informations on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.

In a survey of April 2012, the PIP has identified the major problems faced by mobile phone users. This study was conducted only within the United States population through phone calls.

In responding to this survey, the American public has allowed PIP to list several negative factors, but four of them are cited by most Americans. These four main problems are:

• dropped calls

• unwanted sales and marketing calls

• spam and unwanted texts

• slow download speeds

To detect these problems, the questions asked by the PIP were really focused on the unwanted aspect of intrusions.

According to this survey, some 88% of American adults have cell phones, some 79% of cell phone owners say they use text messaging on their cells and some 55% of cell phone owners say they use their phones to go online to browse on Internet, exchange emails, or download apps.

This study also showed that the users of smartphones are more affected by these problems. This is particularly because these phones have more functions and possibilities.

Moreover, the survey revealed a difference between the different populations of the United States. Indeed, the results show that African-Americans and Hispanics are more affected by these problems than white people. This could be because they are more likely to use only their cell phone to call and get on the Internet (based on PIP).

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, we can say that cell phones have become essential tools for everyday life. They are part of the technological revolution of the 21st century and evolve more over the years. However, the disadvantages of technical and personal orders also made their appearance.

Now the challenge is to ensure the safety of users while minimizing the problems they face with their cell phones.

Author(s) : ComScore

 

 

 

With the widespread adoption of the Internet around the world came the rise of social networking as a global phenomenon.In March 2007, Social Networking as a category had a global audience of less than 500 million users, representing just 56 percent of the world’s online population.

Author(s) : Réseau Femmes et Développement Durable (FDD)

Crédit Agricole has launched a project to integrate students with disabilities easier in companies. The goal is to find new ways of collaboration with disabilities and learn to work together, to improve communication for the generations coming. Social networks appear as the most effective and viral communication tool.

Crédit Agricole has proposed a challenge to 50 students by asking them to imagine a strategy of integration for the disabled people. The results showed that social networks are fundamental; it allows multiple sources of inspirations and sharing.(example of a tutorial about social networks and sustainable development. Please see the Youtube link)

There is another example with WiserEarth, a vertical network serving the collective intelligence. There are many associations, communities or organizations dedicated to sustainable development in the world. We must come together to achieve objectives more easily and quickly. It also can help to promote partnerships. Once again, social networks appear to be the ideal solution to get there! Its model is similar than Wikipedia, the internet user can propose its own content, becoming an activist and participating to the changes of communication tools.  The new trend is to be connected, to gather, to collaborate and to grow! It then come an obvious change of the society through the use of new communication tools. This phenomenon is called “connectivism”.

 

2. Social networks are changing the behavior of society.

 

As shown by the phenomenon of “retweet”. We are becoming a zapping generation, because everything is and must be shortened (Example: Twitter and its tweet about 140 characters like a SMS). It is obvious that the information knows an incomparable speed. However, we can wonder about the content’s quality.

Nowadays, what seems to be more important isn’t the accuracy but the quickness of the exchange. The media “Down to the Earth” from Danone can be an example to understand the issues of professional social networks. This social link was created by Danone and operates on four themes (Nature, Nutrition, and Social Business Ecosystem) on the reputation of the company, in order to be more credible to its consumers. The aim is to have influence thanks to the users’ interaction and to make the platform a reference on the issues covered.

3. Benefits and risks of using social networks

Advantages: Using social networks also allows professionals to develop their reputation, and to support or develop expertise on a subject, and to manage their after-sales service (Example: a customer who complains via Twitter is visible by everyone). In addition, a social network can also help to federate its employees and for recruitment. These networks can create new modes of communication such as carpooling, as it facilitates exchanges and also to develop new services. Sustainable development also encourages users to choose virtuous communication. There is the phenomenon of “crowd sourcing”, the content creators have the power to influence business companies (Example: restaurants’ rating, 70% of Internet users rely on it while they don’t know each other). These new means of communication show that the consumer first!

Risks: There are still some risks associated with this communication. Company credibility cannot be defined by the number of followers or subscribers. The company must continue to listen and accept conversation whatever happens. That is to say, to be reactive and to should remain humble. In addition, it is important to be “transparent” and to accept every comment. It is not recommended to use fake profiles because it is very badly received.

 A facebook page static and “non-living”, for example, can be seen as a company non reactive, with a lack of dynamism.

To conclude, the use of social networks is very beneficial for sustainable development and to improve the image of a company. However, it is necessary to know the advantages and the risks, to define communication objectives, and to manage its presence on selected media.

Using social networks as an amplifier is a very difficult art but is becoming essential in an era when Internet, “that’s our world”.

In short, companies who want to use social networks should:

 – Be transparent

 – Accept the conversation / critics

 – To be humble

 – Create content relevant, innovative and authentic

Author(s) : IAB France

Mobile internet evolving

In our time, Mobile internet is boosted by smartphones which offer a tons of attractive use: stay in touch with his family or friends, get some information, listen to music, take pictures, watch videos, play and of course surf on the internet.

In only 3 years, the number of mobinaute increased from 10,7 to 18,3 millions persons and a tier one of them connect to the internet everyday from their mobile.

Mobile Advertising

Mobile advertising is very effective and especially in field of branding.  According to the experts of MillwardBrown US, they suggest 3 main reasons for this phoenomene:
– Mobile advertising occupies a large part of the screen which maximizes  the attention and the impact
– The size of the screen plays a major role because it forces companies to focus on key message, which it benefits  the clarity and comprehension
– opportunities targeting and interaction are important which reinforces the relevance of the message

Conclusion

Mobile advertising is a real opportunity for companies and especially those will be able to adopt their messages. And with the consantly evolving of smartphone, it will be more than useful and effective in a near future.

Author(s) : i-on interactive, inc.

Introduction : what is that document about ?

This document is a guide about QR code landing pages. It provides clarification about the QR code, which can be seen as a weird code at first sight. It also explains how to read a QR code, why its invention will help to improve marketing in another way, and many other questions.

What is a QR code and where can it be seen ?

The QR code appeared for the first time on packaging products, marketing brochures, shelters, etc… At first, the majority of people totally ignored this code. It was unknown and only seen without interest. People didn’t really know the meaning of this picture made of pixels in black and white. It is like a traditional barcode but square shaped. The document states that QR code scanning increased more and more between 2010 and 2011. Nowadays, this number keeps growing and QR code is totally part of everyday life.
 

This is what a QR code looks like on a product packaging for instance

How to read a QR code ?

QR code can be decrypted thanks to any mobile phone or tablet equipped with a camera and  a special application which can scan QR code. It is very easy to read it : simply point your mobile phone to the code, click to scan and that’s it !
 

QR code is being scanned

Why QR code has been created ?

The QR code is a direct link between online marketing and offline marketing. Indeed, it acts as a gateway that enables offline marketing to become an online marketing by redirection. In fact, the person is redirected on online media to learn more about the brand or the product. QR code can display text, contact information, a web page, etc… (Reminder : online marketing is a marketing using Internet tools, unlike the offline marketing denotes the set of marketing techniques used outside the Internet).
Here are another reasons : QR codes are easy to create and easy to scan. Moreover, they can be scanned anywhere, there’s no limit to where they can be placed. People can also easily bookmark a page from a QR code and return later. The marketing team has to make it easy for them to remember the landing page. For instance, a very short “contact me’’ form, an “email me more” link, or a “bookmark me” button incorporated into your page is efficient.

Right things to do and secrets to successfully using QR codes

Here are some rules to follow for a successfully QR code :
–    If someone scan your QR code, it means that something about your ad or product sparked enough interest that someone wanted to learn more about that specific thing. So it must be up to his expectations and give a rich content, otherwise he will be disappointed. QR codes set up big expectations. They’re new and cool, so people expect that of a landing page. Furthermore, a QR code visitor doesn’t have the same expectations of a landing page than a visitor from an e-mail. The marketing team must be creative and imaginative to make the user experience a truly unique experience.

–    Of course, the landing page should be optimized for mobile phones and tablets, otherwise the user will not see all the contents clearly. This is called the responsive design.

Smartphones today

–    It is important to show consistency between the advertising of the QR code and the landing page. In fact, the landing page’s language, offer, and visual imagery should match the QR code ad. Doing this reassures people that they are in the right place.

–    Obviously, stating the offer very clearly before they scan and then giving them what they want after the scan should not be overlooked. The ad has to inform people if they will find customer reviews, a discount, etc… after the scan.

–    The landing page must load quickly. Most people who stop and scan the QR code are stepping away from what they were already doing. They don’t want to spend five minutes waiting for the landing page; they want to get there now.
 

Loading…

–    One of the main aim is to focus the communication around its target and place the QR code at strategic locations to affect them.

Conclusion

QR landing pages make it possible to turn an offline experience into an online experience. Companies must take advantage of it, creating fun, interactive, memorable landing pages for the users.

Bibliographie :

i-on interactive, inc., From scan to conversion : A guide to QR code landing page

Author(s) :

Don’t associate color with feedback
The color-blind visitors might not make the instant association of color, such as red with danger, suggesting you need to integrate some additional method of warning, or praise.

Associate the website with the colorblind web page filter
For a designer who doesn’t know color blind person, a handful of accessibility simulators exists to give a way for colorblind which is Colorblind Web Page Filter.
Another simulator for previewing what a color-blind audience would see is Vischeck.

We can conclude that web accessibility joined ergonomics owing to aims also to improve the usability of a computer, the surf all that for disabled people.
Furthermore, there are many methods very easy to implement one website. Disable person represent a big market.
It is more important owing to usability will benefit all users of your website not only disable person.

There is still work to do, but the step is hard to climb…

–    Aurélie Bernad (2010), Accessibilité web, Enjeux et Bonnes pratiques

–    Wikipedia (2012), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability
 

Author(s) :