Best Practices in Creating Mobile Websites: Live at #TMMC

The afternoon workshop at The Mobile Marketing Conference began with attendees identifying which aspects of mobile web design and development they were interested in. Interestingly, many attendees mentioned that they were relatively new to mobile and looking for a "crash course" from this workshop.

To provide a crash course to you our readers, here are some key takeaways from the session.
First, Stephen lead us through a quick vocabulary lesson, including:
Feature Phone
"Dumb Phone" - basic phone with some apps, but not many features
Smart Phone
Mobile web vs desktop web
OMA: Open Mobile Alliance
WAP: wireless access protocol
WML: Wireless markup language (In WML, sites are decks, a page is a card)
XML: Extensible Markup Language
XHTML/XHTML MP: eXtensible HyperText Markup Language and eXtensible HyperText Markup Language Mobile Protocol
Native Apps
iOS
Webkit: Layout engine that powers many mobile browsers

Next, we covered the rise of mobile:
First, the internet made the world a lot smaller by providing socialization, shopping and learning online, but that was still an activity. Mobile presented a shift by placing the internet out in the world. 80% of people use mobile during miscellaneous downtime. Mobile is now layered on top of activities such as waiting, watching TV, or shopping in store.
Technology and mobile are imposing behaviors on culture and society. People are now becoming brands: providing interesting content or experiences. For many around the world, mobile is actually the only connection to the internet. 3.6 Billion people have a smartphone, and by halfway through this year, half of America will have a smartphone. Mobile is now growing faster than any technology in history.

Next, we talked about the difference between mobile web, hybrid apps and native apps.
In a side by side comparison, mobile apps are less portable between platforms, apps are harder to link to from outside, and can face problems with distribution via the app store, mobile web needs less promotion and can be found on search easily, additionally mobile web development costs are usually lower than app development. However, apps do have some aspects where they are stronger. It is easier to have more control over design and functionality and users can usually use offline, if you can overcome the initial barriers to entry, the user experience is generally stronger in an app.
The takeaway: mobile web is more utilitarian and easier to develop. Native apps are better for usability or content delivery.

So say you are looking at mobile web, what browsers are popular? Safari for iPhone, webkit, Opera Mobile (which may work better on older devices), and UC Web are a few.
The platform and device diversity out there had eliminated the ability to present a "pixel perfect" experience. Content wants to move around, and brand presence as we once knew it is disappearing.

With this in mind, Stephen then presented the idea of "mobile first design."
Mobile first design leads to:
Simplicity
A consistent experience across multiple digital touchpoints
Innovation

"A Beautiful Boilerplate for Responsive, Mobile-Friendly Development" 

He also discussed responsive design, (such as Skeleton, pictured here) which allows for flexible layouts, dynamic images and and media queries to serve the same content over different devices. However, only a small percentage of mobile browsers can run responsive design. (In global brands with a large feature phone audience, this may be a deal breaker.) You need to decide what is the best strategy for you based on your consumers. Look at your web analytics to see what browsers and devices are visiting your site presently.

In the second half of the workshop, Gates discussed more mobile web design basics such as:
Key information about your users to gather (device, context, reason for use, time spent on site, level of interaction), develop personas for these users
How the design will be used - for example, how will the phone or tablet be held, portrait or landscape? Is the navigation easily accessible in this format?
How the site will add value - ultimately this is going to be a deciding factor in the success of a mobile website. Given the use circumstances, what value will it add?

When it comes to strategy, Gates suggests you "forget everything you think you know." Forget the latest hype, tool or technology, ask the hard questions about your business and your development capacity. Don't rely on preconceived notions,  ask your users in context about their usage. Don't convert, create and keep it simple. Put consumer needs first. Finally, don't get stuck on the platform or device, test what you build, and think about having a holistic mobile plan.

When it comes to content, we discussed some basics around the importance of content for mobile and the ways that mobile and social media have redefined the idea of content. Good content is:
Appropriate
Useful
User-centered
Clear
Supported (and Factual and Up To Date)
When it comes to the future of content Gates discussed the new "State Aware Experience Design" enabled app from Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG). For more on that, visit his blog or the press release.

Lastly, we looked at some examples of good mobile design. Commonalities included: minimal navigation, clear usability with easy-to-read, large icons, and app-like features.

The final takeaways of our afternoon workshop were:
Decide what devices to support
Invest in a content strategy and have a holistic plan
Test and use prototypes
Use state aware user experience design to build customer experiences
Traditional Design and Development techniques still apply (with some vaiations)

Determine user context and goals

For more live coverage from the event, check out the stream on twitter at #TMMC. Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a specialization in marketing. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com 

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Developing Brand Building Apps to Last at #TMMC

We kicked off the morning workshop at the Mobile Marketing conference by discussing the app spectrum: from information to info-tainment to entertainment. Rick Gardinier & Shaun Quigley of Brunner started off with a very important point:
Apps aren't for marketing, they're for people...who expect value.
Any app development initiative needs to fall somewhere on that value spectrum.

So, given that information, you've found your value and now you're ready to jump in and build an app. Do you build it yourself, do you partner/license, or do you use a vendor? Do you build an app or a mobile website?

Take a step back and look at the total mobile experience as well as your customer insight to answer these questions. What are the mobile searches that are being performed for your product? Customer service inquiries, location-based searches? What types of devices are they using? It's important to gather this level of research before jumping in and this information can inform mobile development choices.

Our first chunk of the morning workshop ended with a great mnemonic: Mind the G.A.P.:
What is your Goal, what are the business requirements?
Who is your Audience? Advertisers, stakeholders, competition and end users can all be members of your audience.
Lastly, what is your Platform? IPhone, IPad, Android, RIM, Windows and Web can add up to 6 separate projects. Educate your stakeholders about what this means and what platform(s) you will be targeting. A cross-platform app can cost in the neighborhood of $90,000, vs $30,000 for a single platform.

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Picking a Mobile Partner is like Playing Poker

As The Mobile Marketing Conference kicks off this week, we'll be featuring thoughts from some of our speakers, partners and attendees. This post is by Carrie Chitsey, CEO, 3Seventy.

Over the last four years of being in the mobile business, I’ve seen a lot of mobile companies come and go. Someone every day says, “Have you heard of “XYZ Company”?” There is a ton of money being invested in mobile technology and it’s very hard for a brand to know “who to go to the dance with”. Being an avid poker player I’ve come to realize that “picking a mobile partner is like playing poker”.

So I started to put myself in the shoes of our clients, prospects and folks we talk to on a daily basis. Several things have become very clear about brands that are looking to get into mobile:
1. They are in “research” mode and know what they’ve read or seen from competitors.
2. Someone has sold them or “tried” on whatever silohed solution they are selling.
3. A mobile strategy is rare and brand managers are usually tasked with a “mobile campaign”.
4. The database they are trying to build is really an afterthought and not a primary focus.
5. And if they’ve tried mobile before, they now know what they want this time, have goals and want a good partner, not just a technology.

We love the second time folks; they know a good mobile partner when they see one. These are great marriages.
So how does mobile strategy remind me of poker? It’s easy.

• Picking your table is key, if you end up or stay too long at a bad table, you lose all your money. Same is true with mobile, if you pick a bad partner, not only will you be unsuccessful, it leaves a bad taste.

• It’s ok to switch tables if you know you sat down to a bad table. If you aren’t seeing performance, technology is not what it cracked up to be and you aren’t getting mobile strategy and results….. move, time is of the essence in mobile you can’t wait 12 months to get a good mobile partner.

• The guy who wins the most hands is not the guy that wins the most money. Mobile is test and learn, not everything you do is going to be a huge success. Test, learn and repeat the good stuff. You need to build a foundation for success, anyone can win one jackpot but try hitting multiple.

• Don’t play games you don’t understand even if you see others winning by luck. There will always be something new and shiny in mobile. Innovation is good, but you have to learn the basics first. Going from not doing anything mobile to moving straight to an iPhone or Augmented Reality application is not a good move.

• Learn by playing the game, reading and theory are great but nothing replaces actual experience. Get going, time is now, pick a great mobile partner and throw in some chips, you don’t have to go “all-in”.

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Mobile Starts Monday + This Week's News

We're off to The Mobile Marketing Conference soon, where we'll be providing coverage of some of the most exciting sessions, interviewing mobile marketing experts, and live tweeting. Follow the stream next week at #TMMC on twitter for immediate updates from the event, or stay tuned to this space for session write ups and photos from the event.

Attending the event? RSVP on Lanyrd, LinkedIn, or Facebook and start connecting with other attendees now.

But before we fly off to Miami, let's take a look at what happened this week. ClickZ published a fascinating article about the "tendency to retrofit mobile into an existing marketing strategy." Entitled, "The Problem With Mobile Marketing?" author Derek Harding really hit the nail on the head, noting:

"Email and web are well established online channels in use for over a decade. Though much has changed in that time and there are areas where email in particular is less well utilized than it should be, they are mediums and they are well understood as such. Social meanwhile is the new kid on the block. In many ways little more than the latest shiny evolution of web-based services. Still and all, social is being well served. There are a wide range of specialist providers creating tools and services to support marketers and more media experts offering advice than any one person can reasonably keep with.

Mobile though is another beast entirely. The breadth of capabilities of mobile devices and the range of purposes to which owners put their devices is both astounding and daunting. When a marketer speaks of mobile marketing they could be speaking about location-based services, SMS, email on a phone, apps, or mobile web pages."

Ultimately understanding the many faucets that fall under the "mobile" umbrella and tailoring a strategy that is customized for whichever of those you choose to use is going to be the key to mobile marketing. "Mobile" is not just email or web marketing, but on a phone.

A good example of this? Millennial Media released a report this week identifying three trends as being the most influential for mobile marketers: local, video, and mass market reach. For any company to successfully participate in any of these trends, you'll need a specialized strategy. Local and mass market in particular sit at opposite ends of the mobile spectrum.

Whatever way you go, this interesting MediaPost blog included some sound advice from Chris Silva of Altimeter “A mobile strategy should not focus on demonstrating the means -- mobile platforms -- but on meeting the end needs of customers.”

With that in mind, many are still figuring out social customer experiences. Amex seems to have the medium mastered though, debuting their new "AmEx Sync" platform. AdAge asked "What If the Real 'Winner' of SXSW Was AmEx?" this week, exploring the new offering and it's predominance over Austin.

 Many other companies are busy trying to adopt the new Facebook Timeline format for their pages before the March 30th deadline so as to continue to offer a seamless Facebook experience for their customers. Techcrunch reported that 8 million Of the 37 million+ pages on Facebook already upgraded within 10 days of the Timeline becoming available, saying:

"There are some concerns about the removed ability to set a custom promotional app as a default landing page, but those are offset by eagerness for pinned posts, bigger photos, and more presentation flexibility."

Will that continue to be the case after all pages are forced to change on the 30th? Only 8 of the top 20 pages have migrated, many page owners have invested significant time (and money) in the old format and it's not certain that fans will become more engaged with the new. Have you switched over yet, what do you like or dislike about the change?

Like these updates? You can also follow us on Twitter or on Facebook for conference updates and industry insider news all week long.   

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Let's Talk Texting

When it comes to Mobile Marketing, you hear a lot of buzz about apps, mobile websites, QR codes and more, but what about the simple text message? A recent study by Columbia Business School’s Center on Global Brand Leadership and the New York American Marketing Association found that:

"mobile advertising (ads within mobile apps, or via SMS message) has been adopted by 51% of marketers. Financial services and travel/leisure were among the industries most likely to use it. Although still newer and less standardized than some other digital marketing tools, mobile-only ads have been adopted by 76% of the largest firms, with revenues over $100 billion annually."

And when it comes to SMS specifically, our partners at 3Seventy reported that "an estimated eight trillion SMS messages were sent in 2011. The Mobile Marketing Association released a report stating that the vast majority (97 percent) of SMS messages are opened by the recipient."

It's clear that SMS can be a very effective channel for marketing and engaging your community. One success story of SMS comes from The Mobile Marketing Conference featured company, DoSomething.org. As part of their mission "to build an army of doers 5 million strong by 2015." DoSomething.Org is speaking to teens via text.

In a November 2011 press release, Nancy Lublin, DoSomething.org CEO and chief old person was quoted as saying “While the message is primarily the same, the medium has definitely changed...With 72% of teens texting and 54% of them doing it on a daily basis, we want to beef up our SMS skills. Teens want things done their way, and we respect that.”

At DoSomething.org, this everyday platform for the masses is being used to drive both user conversations and offline action. DoSomething.org envisions SMS as the best way to reach their growing network of social change agents. The format is quick, direct and to-the-point: perfect for activating campaigns for crisis relief and pressing social issues. Forget newer, slicker technology: the most immediate and personal way to reach your audience is the seemingly unsexy text message.

To hear more about DoSomething.org's success with SMS and ideas for activating your audience, join us for "Next Generation SMS: From Message to Interaction" with Aria Finger, COO and Stephanie Shih, User Experience, DoSomething.org at The Mobile Marketing Conference.


Save 15% when you register with code TMMC12DIGITAL here.

P.S. Join our social media community! Our new LinkedIn Group is a place to share expertise and brilliant ideas on anything mobile marketing and you can also follow us on Twitter or on Facebook for conference updates and industry insider news. 
 
Headed to Miami next week? RSVP on LinkedIn to start connecting now: http://linkd.in/u0OC8e

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