Advertising | Glenn Ward

eCommerce – Should online stores be thinking about website usability from a mobile access POV

I was asked the other day if it would be a good idea to produce a shops brochure as an iPhone App. After taking off my iPhone evangelist hat I replied objectively. More and more people are accessing the Internet in new ways but successful apps work because they allow users to quickly and easily perform a task that they would normally do or feel comfortable doing on a laptop.

So back to the question, is it really realistic that every user would install an app for each of the stores they occasionally shop? I doubt it! And although the iPhone dominates the Market they still only account for a portion and unless you are prepared to develop for blackberry, android etc you will only be reaching out to a small proportion of shoppers.

While I have never been a fan .mobi idea of developing sites specific for mobile phone browsers as mobile phones, screen aspect ratios differ across every mobile devices, with increasing devices being able to cope with full screen browsing I would be inclined to look at the build of the main site, optimise the pages for fast download and take a long hard look at the checkout.

In these early stages of online mobile development I would not rule out in investing in getting the catalogue onto mobile devices but possibly a PDF that can be opened on most smart phones with links to your recently optimised web pages is the way to go at this stage. Think about layout of the PDF, file size, usability and linking. This file will also have the added viral advantage of being emailed and viewed at leisure without an Internet connection.

Also see iPhone apps or Online apps? What is the future as new smartphones emerge?

Mobile Technology drives regular websites to use location data on their pages

I noticed the other day while looking online at the Cineworld website for local Cinemas that they had started to use location data in their web pages. I was on my iPhone and as I hit the Cinemas page the iPhone asked if it use my location. without physically entering a postcode or location the website displayed 3 closest cinemas. In this case I’m confident the website accessed the iPhones GPS hardware but as I discovered after a short Google, Geolocation browsing is just around the corner and uses IP address data to locate your position. I was quite surprised at how accurate this actually was, try Firefox Geolocation to see for yourself, also try out Google Latitude.

Despite in the example above, saving you one step in your browsing, making browsing and locating the data you need more efficient. Geolocation browsing has marketing and advertising implications. Like PPC Advertising with ability to target customers with specific advertising based on location, allowing websites to have your location data will mean the the adverts you will be presented with will be more likely to be of interest to you. From an advertisers point of view such as affiliate programs etc adverts will be served up more efficiently and improve conversion rates.

With websites such as Facebook and Browsers holding shed loads of information about you, Targeted Marketing is made easier and easier for advertisers. Already, as you browse through Facebook you will only see adverts based on your interest and keywords. Geolocation in browsers will make this more accurate and on the bright side, advertising won’t be so imposing on users as they surf the Internet. What’s next? instead of analysing your traffics data after they have visited you site, could you inteligently assess users as the page loads and dynamically serve up your pages based on their profile?

Also see post on Analytical Software.

Understanding the science of PPC digital marketing – Make Pay Per Click work for your business

Also see,
Pay per click marketing and purchase process

I’m often approached for some pointers in the area of Pay Per Click advertising and I start by explaining how varied the subject can be. I often read Googles guides, and other readings but don’t reach the end a whole lot wiser as every industry, every product even time of day, week or the weather effects a large campaign. I have decided my new advise approach should therefore be, how to not get PPC Marketing or advertising wrong rather than how to get it right.

So, where to begin? Let’s start with the setting up of the campaign as this is where you will begin. A common mistake from the outset is to follow all of Googles recommendations and have your advert appear for every associated word that refers to your product. It is good to think of every combination of words your customer might search but be careful not to include to broader terms especially if you do not stock the full range yourself. A brand that has a huge product portfolio will generate traffic but if you pull traffic through for broad terms there is no guarantee you will have to specific product at the specific price your potential customer is looking for. Broad terms often result in a low conversion rate. Having said this in an uncompetitive market this will be another story.

Ok, we’ve targeted our specific customer looking for a specific brand and a specific product in that brand range, the next thing they see is our advert on the right hand side / top of the search engine. All too often retailers go for a catch all advert for their entire campaign. This poses two problems, firstly, most customers want to know at the search engine stage if the retailer has the product and so this approach might lead to no click at all if a competitors advert supplies the required data. Secondly the customer clicks on your advert unsure as to what they might find, browses your site for a short while and then leaves, resulting in low conversion rates and a high spend. The odd wasted click here and there may seem insignificant on a small account but I have handled accounts from between a £500 to £2000 weekly spend, if these clicks aren’t turning into sales then you will soon be running at a loss.

Usability doesn’t just become important when the potential customer reaches your site, you are dealing with a savvy shopper that doesn’t wish to continue searching once on your website. You have used the right keywords, captured them with a good advert now clinch the sale by presenting them on a landing page with the product they’re after and at a competitive price.

Rather than just looking to the Google keyword tool as this will bombard you with every possible combination of key words know to man (well computer) you should use webmaster tools, google analytics and other 3rd party sites or tools to influence your choice of keywords. More detail on these in a later post.

All of the above should be done with measured targets in mind. Without bench marks there is no guarantee you are achieving a good ROI. I always stand by that PPC marketing is a short term fix and that the foe the bulk of the advertising or sales should not rely on PPC Campaigns. Your Pay Per Click should run alongside your SEO campaigns and other digital marketing, targets and goals should be set that work in synergy with a view to improve organic search conversions and digital marketing with a higher ROI. Remember some of the most innovative digital marketing costs virtually nothing.

If you have a large AdWords spend be sure to make use of your Google account manager, they are only at the other end of the phone and will work with you to improve your campaign. Be sure to provide a clear brief and if you doubt that they completely understand you brand do not ask them to make ad hoc adjustments to the wording of ads. They are extremely useful for performing repetitive time consuming jobs. Alternatively you can speed up your editing by using tools such as Google AdWords Editor, you can have more control over your adverts and if you are a whizz with exel can export and import files allowing you to work in a more familiar format.

Just a taster for now! But do ask more specific questions and I shall rage on additional posts.

What I learn’t about QR Codes, their success in Japan and their business application

Back in July 2008 a friend of mine, Joel returned from Japan. Knowing me he thought I’d be very interested in a breaking technology in Japan. Everywhere he went he said he saw little square barcodes and more importantly people pointing their phones at them. I quickly hit the Internet and discovered they were QR codes or Quick Response Codes, the codes were originally produced to monitor stock control on automotive production lines but given the recent technological breakthroughs of mobile phone hardware and the ability to manipulate this hardware with customisable software the code readers found their way onto your devices. In Japan QR readers are one of the most widely used applications on a mobile phones (here’s some stats) and have been embraced by businesses. So, what Are their uses and how are they being used? Well, following the success on tiny URL’s we see a need to fit into limited fields large amounts of information and QR Codes provide this without the need for a database of stored information or a connection to the Internet to decider a code, it’s all there stored in the code. Fortunately, unlike many software revelations the concept has been governed from the start to avoid deviation from the theory, read more on Wikipedia. This means that (in theory) although their a couple of different types of code, the reader you decide to install on your phone should read any code and their are plenty of tools to create your codes both on the Internet and on your phone / mobile device.

The function of the QR Code is to store large amounts of information in a small space. Much like tiny URL’s didn’t make much sense to us until the popular acceptance of micro blogging QR will probably not make much sense until industry shows us the application for real. Where this concept excels is the ability to automatically call a function on the phone, in times where we are continually trying to streamline our lives this really does pay dividends.

Functionality
The QR Code can automatically open your browser at a web page, open a pre filled text message with respondent ready for your to hit send, it can pass contact information including phone numbers, email addresses etc to your phone and place them directly in the address book. Like many innovations we are in a catch 22 situation without big companies swing the benefit to there use and investing in it users will not install the software and with limited downloads of the software business fails to see the ROI. So, outside of the box, what possible applications do we see. Again, like I always say, the greatest power comes from a combination of technologies. On a basic level, imagine you are at a bus stop and you see a poster for a movie you want to see. You scan the barcode which automatically launches your browser on your phone, a simple HTML page loads and you are asked if it can access you current location using the phones built in GPS, you are forwarded to another page and within a matter of seconds you know where the local cinema is, the showings and price, you could even request directions to see google maps launch and take you there. Of course this has advertising implications and data collection. You are reading the local paper and see an advert in the classifieds, rather than be restricted by the 60 words that will fit onto the given space, you scan a QR Code and navigate directly to more information and possible images of the goods, or even better directly to the sellers eBay advert where you can follow the transaction through to the point of sale. Again offering marketing opportunities and the monitoring of consumer habits. Final example as I don’t give away all of my ideas, your retail packaging is cluttered with nutritional information, health and safety advise and you are missing you marketing message through lack of space, a simple barcode might solve this problem, allow consumer to record what the look at, compare prices and much more. This requires far more than outside the box thinking to reach it’s full potential but hopefully I am getting that across.

QR + Existing technologies = A very powerful tool

So how does it work? the squares within the image allow the device to read it in 3D space meaning it is not required to be flat, software calculates the trim and tilt and works out what the square image should look like. The code must conform so that it can be read across readers, this also means that developers have the opportunity to exploit the concept, creating their own codes and not relying on a few software suppliers.

Devices
I first tested the software on a HTC Touch Diamond with great results, no need to take a photo and then analyse it, it automatically handled the code when it saw the image. The iPhone App store has recently seen the arrival of QR Code readers although many require you to take a picture first then ask it to be read.

Software Application
NeoReader
Kaywa Reader
QuickMark Mobile Barcode
zxing
…and more popping up on the iTunes store

Create your codes
Kaywa

Recent Changes in Digital Media viewing habits. How this affects Marketing and Advertising?

Remember when you used to have that conversation about how you read a book from left to right although pick up a magazine and flick through right to left? We know that marketing science suggests that the reader looks at a page starting in the top left, across the top and them down the right had side and we base our advertising on this. Have you stopped to think though how these habits have evolved since digital communication platforms and social media have appeared on the scene? My tweets arrive on my phone and I scroll them down, Reading from the bottom up but apply this to a forum and you confuse the reader, the reader of a forum expects to read the first comment at the top followed by the responses as they scroll the page. A controversial one, but use the same theory for a comments box under say a video or tutorial and the reader now presumes they will read the most recent comment at the top. I say controversial as I do hear a debate the other day on the way we should implement a video portal with this scenario. So you might think it stops there but like you often click on replies to threads at the bottom of a forum post to read expansion and replies to certain threads, now think about how you consume your reading on a wiki site. You read as normal but intelligent linking offers the expansion of information based on certain keywords. For those who don’t need to you carry on reading as usual but if the keyword suggest an area in which you need more data in order to support the overall subject of interesting you break the linear reading convention and branch of to better your knowledge, combine d with your browsers functionality you return to original subject and read on, a little bit wiser. This has brought a convention, if you visit for example the Apple development site the pages / PDF’s are written in this way. It’s clever, offering consumption choices one stage beyond that of the chaptering and contents in a book, improving the efficiency of how much we actually need to read.

So my first question is this, and probably one for the eye trackers! given the changing viewing patterns for the media how does effect the placements of advertising on a page? If the eye no longer follows a routine patterns and documents are viewed in very different ways, is the header banner or the right hand (column 3) the best place for the advert.

This becomes even more interesting when we add video or interactive graphics to the mix and this is something I learnt a lot about following the Chinwag forum for IPTV producers. Obviously the initial trend was to include pre, post and mid role adverting or possible and overlayed advert that reacts to a mouse action but to what extent does this put off the viewer and also with a page of content, how much does the viewers eye deviate from the video during playback? Is there a pattern or obvious place to place advertising on the surrounding page? Again one for the eyetrackers!

Just a couple of thought and questions for next time you conduct your digital marketing campaign!