Category Archives: Eximo LABS

Looks Can Be Deceiving

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We had a caricaturist recently offer to do caricatures of the EximoLABS management team. Everyone thought it would be a great idea and lots of fun. General sentiments were that despite being in software, we thought we were a pretty good looking group of people. Then we got the results back. See if you can guess who each caricature represents. Compare them directly with the pictures on the Eximo About Us page!

http://www.eximo.net/about

Courtesy of Adrian Bighei – http://www.caricaturasunt.eu

Create An Effective Twitter Background

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We encourage all of our customers make Twitter part of their marketing strategy. Twitter is an extremely effective tool to communicate with your audience, build connections and promote your business. When most people set up their accounts they choose one of the default background designs for their page. While that’s fine to get started, take advantage of the fact that Twitter allows you to upload a custom background image – this is valuable branding real estate that should not be overlooked. Take this opportunity to provide additional information, showcase your product and reinforce your brand. Why have a generic looking page when you can stand out from the crowd with a unique branded page? Here are some ideas to help you craft an effective Twitter background:

Idea 1: Utilize the left side for additional information, branding elements, or calls-to-action

The Twitter content area has a fixed width of 765 pixels and is centered on the screen. With most screen resolutions at 1280 pixels or higher, plenty of the background image is visible on either side of the main content area.

The left side of the background is a great place for useful information that you can’t fit in the top bio area. Create a sidebar that contains your company’s phone, email, Facebook url, a blurb about the company, etc. Or, prompt the user to sign up or learn more with calls-to-action (unfortunately background images are not clickable, so make sure to include your contact info). I don’t recommend putting such information on the right side; we read from left to right so you want people to catch the information before their eyes move  to the Twitter feed. The left side can also be used to promote your company’s other Twitter accounts. Let’s look at some examples:

@AmericanAir

AA’s left sidebar contains a blurb about the company, their website and social media site urls. Lots of good information here but there is too much copy in my opinion. The copy welcoming people to their Twitter page can be eliminated and the blurb about the company can be shortened. When in doubt, less is more.

@UPS

UPS has about a dozen different Twitter accounts that are listed on the left. What I like about this background is the way they utilized the upper-left  for branding elements without cluttering up the page.

@Zipcar

Zipcar’s page uses the left side for a simple call-to-action to get help/join/learn more. Additionally, its background image is very effective in showcasing their product, which I will talk more about below.

Idea 2: Showcase your products/services with a photographic background

I love websites or Twitter pages that use beautiful photos to fill the entire background. A photographic background is a simple way to show your product. Furthermore, photos set the mood of the page and help communicate what it would feel like to experience the product. The Zipcar photos featuring happy customers feel genuine; they almost serve as visual customer testimonials. Let’s look at a few more Twitter pages that make great use of photos:

@HomeDepot

Home Depot’s background image provides a nice visual contrast, and the mood it creates is right on brand. The social media links in the upper left are cleverly incorporated into the photo.

@VirginAmerica

Virgin America’s cabin shot with their ambient lighting is very enticing; it makes domestic air travel look cool.

@IdeaPaint

IdeaPaint is a paint that transforms surfaces into whiteboards. The background photo shows the product in action.

Idea 3: Graphic background patterns

I recommend this if you are already using a distinctive shape or pattern on your printed material or website. Having consistent visual elements across your various branded experiences is good practice. And as an added bonus, reusing elements will save you a lot of time. If you must create a brand new background pattern, make sure it does not distract from your Twitter feed. I’ve seen many background patterns that have the unintended dizzying and annoying effect. Let’s look a couple of successful background patterns:

@Saks

Saks’ Twitter page reuses the same pattern seen on their shopping bags and boxes. Sometimes there is no need to create more work for yourself – use what you’ve already got to achieve consistency.

@Target

Target’s page leverages its iconic logo. However, had the execution been a little different, the background could have easily fallen into the “dizzying” category. The white space at the top is critical – it brings visual balance and prevents the page from looking busy. I also love the circular treatment of their social media icons to match the target icon.

Idea 4: Use the background to promote your current offers or new product release

Launching a new marketing campaign? Releasing a new product? Use your Twitter background as a free advertising space to promote. Of course this requires you to create a new background image, which sounds like a lot of work. But if you are already creating new visuals for your website or brochures, it may take just a few tweaks to make it work as a Twitter background.

@Nordstrom

Nordstrom is currently promoting their half yearly men’s sale.

Ready to revamp your Twitter page?

Hope you’ve been inspired to create your own distinctive Twitter background. Have fun with it, just remember the following points:

1. Be consistent with your company’s branding. Use your existing color palette and visual design elements.

2. Less is more. Don’t clutter it with too much copy.

3. Test it live. This is the only way to see how good the background actually looks. It might take you a few tweaks to make it perfect!

4. Change it up once in awhile. Just like your website, it’s good to give it a fresh new look every so often.

Social Media – Gotta Have It!

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The roots of major online social networks extend as far back as 1997 when SixDegrees.com first launched. As more and more people took to the internet in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, there was an increasing demand to make connections with others

online. Social network sites began to popup for different reasons – for personal connections, business connections, and dating connections just to name a few.  In the beginning there was LiveJournal, Ryze, and Friendster.  These sites gave way to LinkedIn and MySpace and it wasn’t long until Facebook, Twitter, and Google + forced their way into the mix. Even newcomer Pinterest has seemingly appeared from nowhere to make a big splash.   With all of these social networks vying for attention, it’s important to understand their impact on businesses.
You’d be surprised how many times I’ve heard business owners claim that they don’t have a business presence on any social network sites and that they don’t need one. When I hear this it usually takes all my energy to resist laughing out loud . Why would anyone in their right mind intentionally pass up the opportunity to market their company to a massive audience for free? After I’ve regained my composure I’ll typically engage in a brief Q&A that usually goes something like this:

Trevor: “Mr Client, do you play the lottery?”
Client: “No.”
Trevor: “Why not?”
Client: (Insert reason here) … usually “It’s a waste of money, I’ll never win, I don’t have time, etc”
Trevor: “What if it didn’t cost any money to play, you had the same odds as everyone else, and it required a couple minutes of your time each day?”
Client: “Well yeah, then I probably would.”
Trevor: “So you’re saying if you had a chance to make a ton of money with minimal effort, you would take it?”
Client: “Yeah, I suppose so.”
Trevor: “So, if you’re operating a business and had a chance to make a ton of money with minimal effort, would you take it?”

You can see where this is going, and while marketing a business via social networks is not exactly like playing the lottery, the obvious takeaway is giving a little to get a lot.

Studies show that as of 2010, 61% of internet users utilize social networks. As of last year, 71% of online adults were using Facebook alone* and that number is growing quickly. People are increasingly turning to social media for more than just interpersonal and business relationships.  I get my daily news updates via social media, and my wife always seems to stay up to speed with the latest news, steals, and deals for local businesses and restaurants via social media. Just last night on television I noticed several commercials where the advertising company listed their Facebook business page instead of their actual website.

The bottom line is that social media usage is on the incline and businesses are taking note. Failure to acknowledge, react, and adapt is the equivalent of sticking your head in the sand. Setting up a social media presence for your business will take a little bit of time up front, but is both quick and easy to maintain once in place. if used effectively, it’s an investment that can pay great dividends over time.

EximoLABS prides itself on working with small businesses to help them successfully establish and grow their online presence. Our small business technology experts are always available to answer social media, SEO, and technology questions in general.  Visit www.eximo.net for more information on our full range of products and services.

* http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Social-Networking-Sites.aspx
* http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/facebook-statistics-stats-facts-2011/

Going Mobile – What You Need To Know

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It’s old news that mobile apps are all the rage. Some app based startups are even worth billions (In case you haven’t heard, a cute little photo sharing app called Instagram was acquired by Facebook for a cool billion). Eager entrepreneurs are building companies based solely on an iPhone app. Established companies are investing more and more in mobile strategy and development. But before you dive into building an app for your business, let’s consider a few things:

A fragmented device landscape

There is a plethora of app platforms and mobile devices: iOS (Apple), Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, MeeGo, Symbian, etc.  It sure is great that consumers now have so many choices. Not so great if you are trying to cater to them all. Each platform has its own SDK (Software Development Kit) and unique set of user-interaction patterns. This means the designer has to study and comply with the design patterns of each platform and create multiple sets of design. The developers need to familiarize themselves with the various SDKs. Not to mention non-iPhone devices come in many different screen sizes. So if you want your app to look perfect on most devices it will require even more work. Then each platform has its own app submission process and rules.

mobile devices

After the initial cost of getting the app built, don’t forget the ongoing time and cost of code maintenance. Even if you never release new updates on your app, you will still have to keep up with OS software updates and deal with new hardware releases.

Big companies pour millions of dollars into building, updating and maintaining apps across multiple platforms and devices. It’s money well spent for companies like Amazon or the New York Times because they have millions of customers who shop and consume content on mobiles devices, hence it’s critical to engage them on mobile to remain competitive.

What about mobile apps for smaller businesses with much smaller budgets?

Mobile web apps as an alternative option

For small businesses that don’t have millions of customers, it may not make sense to invest the time and money in developing native apps. Sure, you might be able find some kid who will offer to build you an app for cheap, but keep in mind that a buggy, unusable app will probably do your business more harm than good.

An alternative to native apps is mobile web apps. Mobile web apps are accessed through the web browser on the device. They are HTML websites that have been designed, formatted and optimized for mobile devices.

The great thing about mobile sites is that you only need to design and build it one. As long as the design is smart so it looks good on various screen sizes and the code is cross browser compatible, you are good to go. Another great thing is you spare yourself from having to deal with the app submission process, which can be a huge pain. With Apple, you’re completely at their mercy. If the Apple app store rejects your app, you’re out of luck as there is no appeals process. With a mobile app, you deploy it whenever you want. There is no third party involvement. All of the reasons above make mobile apps a much cheaper, easier and more maintainable solution.

Of course, mobile web apps are not as sexy as native apps. You can’t incorporate device gestures like the swipe, flick, or access device features such as the camera. But chances are, as a small business owner you are not looking to build the next billion dollar app; you just want your customers to be able to access key functionality on mobile devices. While not as slick and fast as native apps, a well-designed mobile web app will get the job done and keep your customers happy (and so much better than a native app that crashes all the time!).

Will the open web be the future standard?

HTML5 already allows for a great deal of functionality: streaming video, animation, refined typography, etc. The YouTube mobile site is an excellent example of using HTML5 to create a comparable experience to its native app. There are still HTML5 cross platform compatibility issues with Blackberry and Windows browsers. I don’t see it as a deterrent because developers have always faced the same challenge in web development and usually workarounds can be found. Facebook seems to think HTML5 is the future as they have developed Ringmark, an HTML5 testing suite.


YouTube mobile site

Perhaps in the not too distant future HTML5 will allow us to swipe and flick in the browser while performing just as fast as native apps. As the device landscape gets more fragmented and costly for businesses to maintain their apps, it is conceivable and maybe even inevitable that the open web will become the standard for mobile apps.

Sales Lessons from Fox Network’s “Millionaire Money Drop”

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When is it frustrating to be given $300,000?… when minutes ago it was $1,000,000.

Fox Network recently introduced a game show that starts contestants out with $1,000,000 and then takes this money away from the contestants as they miss questions. This format is particularly maniacal because of our irrational aversion to loss.

Loss aversion is the theory that people are more strongly motivated by avoiding losses than by acquiring gains. The practical result: people may be slower to act and more conservative about decisions when an offer is framed in terms of what can be gained and, conversely, when an offer is framed in terms of what can be lost people are more likely to take action and potentially take riskier action.

In casinos, loss aversion is the force that compels people to take riskier and riskier bets in an effort to recoup loses. Loss aversion effects highly educated traders and portfolio managers on Wall Street who place daring trades to keep up with peers. And, of course, loss aversion is used in marketing and business negotiations to exploit our ability to think logically about losses.

How can this help your business? Consider how you frame your slogans, customer messages, promotions (and negotiations). The advertising landscape is littered with uses of loss aversion. Note and learn from things such as Bose using the slogan, “hear what you have been missing,” or realtors who emphasize the need to act now or likely lose the property in question. If you find yourself being sold to, or across the table from a savvy negotiator, keep in mind loss aversion is potentially being employed.

Next time you are flipping channels and stumble upon Fox’s game show, consider whether this format encourages contestants to be more or less risk averse… would decisions be different if contestants started with nothing and worked their way up to a million dollars by getting questions correct? Finally, why is this show so much more mentally taxing on contestants than other game show formats?

(Incidentally, if you want to help someone accomplish a goal, don’t offer them money. Instead, take their money first and give it back as they accomplish steps toward that goal. For example, instead of paying someone $100 not to smoke for a week, have them give you $100 and, if they don’t smoke, give them the $100 back. People hate to lose things!)

Social Media: Get the most out of Twitter

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Twitter is a micro-blogging service where strategic tweets can promote your business and create for endless inbound marketing opportunities. Updating a business’s Twitter with promotions, information about the business or anything new and exciting can gain a community of interested prospects. Gaining followers is step one in kicking off a successful social media campaign. The best way to gain followers is first to set up the online profile which accompanies each Twitter account. Include a photo (to promote branding), a unique and informative short description and most importantly your business’s location these simple steps will enable the 190 million users to find you. Using Twitter Grader will allow for a measureable, free analysis of your profile setup.

Creating a channel in this one way relationship or building a following can also be done by learning some Twitter tricks. Using #hashtags will enable your tweet to join a forum or group of common tweeters, which in turn will get your Twitter account recognized. Inserting the @ before referencing other Twitter users will allow a user to retweet. Getting in the habit of retweeting tweets that you think are relevant and interesting will also help to gain followers to your account.

Most importantly like all internet marketing, don’t try to cheat the system. Scams like Get Followers Fast (GFF) are sites that promote increasing your followers will actually send spam from your account. Do it the honest way, the way you would run your business by updating you Twitter account with useful, informative, noteworthy information.

Lost on what to tweet? Think beyond just “what’s happening.”

  • Attending any conferences?
  • Get a nice machine or new equipment?
  • Trying out a new product or service?
  • Have a new blog post? Like a website or an article on the web? Tweet it with url shortening services by bit.ly or goo.gl
  • Running late? Or ahead of schedule?
  • Have any industry news?
  • Are you running a promotion or competition?
  • Random thought?
  • Celebrating a milestone?

A Quick Lesson on SEO

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SEO is the practice of making your public website easy to find in search engines, which will result in more customers and increase your overall web presence. In order to achieve a high rank in the organic search results, as opposed paid search results, your website will need to follow certain protocols and include multiple factors. First, it is important to understand exactly how search results obtain relevant pages to “what you Googled.” Each search engine has a unique algorithm which in turn determines “pagerank.” Some of the known factors involved in the complex formula are:

  • Keyword relevance and unique, quality text content
  • BOT accessibility
  • URL structure
  • Inbound and outbound link structure
  • Sitemap protocol
  • Social media and viral marketing

If you seek to utilize Search Engine Optimization techniques to help increase your public website’s search engine rank it is important to formulate a strategic plan. If you do not want SEO to consume your time, follow these 6 factors when outlining your plan. This plan should include setting goals to help measure the success of your organic rank over time. A goal to increase awareness and usage of venue space will guide your link structure campaign to include your site on referral sites like bostonweddings.com.