Web Design, Digital & Social Media Marketing in Singapore

Video : Print Designer’s Guide to Web Design

// May 31st, 2010 // No Comments » // Web Design

Print Designer’s Guide to Web Design from James Archer on Vimeo.

Interesting video illustrating the difference between Print and Web design. A great resource for print-based designers working on web design projects.

Is social media a cheaper way to market your products and services?

// May 25th, 2010 // No Comments » // Social Media Marketing

Since the time when social media marketing gained the attention of marketeers, it has always been perceived that social media marketing is free. You don’t need to pay Wordpress, facebook, flickr, youtube and linkedin (even though some of them have paid service) to get on the social media bandwagon. And again, viral is perceived as free since it is the users that is sharing, retweeting & forwarding content to their network for you, without asking you to pay them!

The truth is the tools are often free but the labour required to set up, manage and maintain the individual outlets are not. Social media marketing basically reallocates some of your budget for paid media to paid labour. Realistically, companies that are embracing the social web need to know it is not a short-term, tactical campaign. The true form of social media marketing is to engage, influence and eventually build trust and relationships to create brand loyalty. Having said that, the manpower costs incurred need to be audited and accounted for prior any long-term social media implementation. Manpower to manage this initiative should not conveniently be the marketing team. This will avoid the initiative being stalled or reduced to crawling speed when the allocated (or should I say ‘arrowed’) resources are busy with their primarily work responsibilities.

Here are some pointers to take note:-
1. If you’re into blogging, build an editorial calendar and identify the resources required to write the blog posts. You will see if existing company resources are sufficient in handling that.

2. If you’re onto social networks, know what you want to do and intend to achieve from these networks. Allocate sufficient time per day to monitor, respond and engage the community in these networks. Review if your existing headcount can handle those tasks.

3. If you’re into flickr or youtube, ask if you have the resources in content creation. It sounds easy to grab a camera or video camera to shoot and post but realistically, it takes time to do that and more than often, the post-editing part is 2-3x the time spent on photography/filming. Identify costs of outsourcing these if you intend to.

4. In a long run, you will need someone to manage your social media initiatives. Identify consultant fees, workshops/courses for internal teams, agency fees and even a dedicated headcount if things get bigger.

I’m not saying social media is going to cost you an arm or a leg, neither am I saying it is not worth embracing it. The key is to set the expectations right.

Video : Decision Modes: How People Buy

// May 25th, 2010 // No Comments » // Web Design

Decision Modes: How People Buy from James Archer on Vimeo.

A good look into the personas of buyers and how it can influence the way a webpage is designed.

Social Media Revolution 2

// May 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // Social Media Marketing

I like the part where it says (2.45 min)
“Do you like what they are saying about your brand? You better”

Anyone came across stats that are based on Asiapac?

Measuring success in social media marketing

// April 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // Social Media Marketing

Photo courtesy of Marco D @ Flickr.com

Year 2000 or earlier, campaign objectives revolve around customer acquisition. A decade later now, clients raved about customer retention – to retain customers, build customer loyalty, establish trust, increase referrals – all aiming at increasing profits for the client. In my opinion as a digital marketer being socially optimized will help the client’s business a great deal in retaining customers and increasing profits.

Digital campaigns that I worked on require some form of measurement so the client and I know what worked, and what did not. I am inclined to measure effectiveness of each campaign based on the level of engagement and interaction in each campaign. Here is a list of metrics that I used in some of the campaigns:-

The only logical way of measurement, to me, with a lack of statistical data over a significant timeframe, is to measure the above metrics over a period of time (3-6 months) and peg the statistics to actual sales figures or revenue. With that, I can correlate revenue growth vs metrics. This shows what worked, what do not. Again, I stress that the expectation in measuring success of a digital campaign needs to be worked out with the client so both digital agency and client is on the “same wavelength”.

Digg is 5 years old – Celebrates the power of consumers’ voice

// January 28th, 2010 // No Comments » // Social Media Marketing

TED : It is okay to lose control

// January 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // Digital Campaigns, Social Media Marketing

The part that hits me most is the summarizing slides:- “It is okay to lose control. Because you are no longer in control.” What companies and brands in Singapore need to know is the consumers have a voice louder than theirs and the way to go is to embrace and co-create the experience with consumers. One-way, top-down, monologue will not work in today’s environment (okay, it will probably work a little if you have lots and lots of budget).

Using personas of your target audiences to determine the contents required for your website

// January 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // Web Design

<A quick recap – inline with my belief that all websites must be built with the end-user in mind, contents that are placed on these web pages must naturally be what the target audiences want. As such, I advocate the approach to first understand who they are and deliver what they want.>

As a continuation of my earlier post on the 3 important things web designers need to know when designing a website, I am sharing with you the tools that I use when helping my clients decide what are the contents that are required for the website.

The tool that I use is called the Persona Chart where the target audience is identified, their purpose of visited established and the type of content they want is listed. Have a look and see if it helps you in your next project. If you need the MS Word version, just drop me an email. ;o)

3 important things every web designer needs to know before designing a website

// January 26th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Web Design

When designing websites for clients, web designers should always remember that they are not creating digital brochures. They are creating an interface where users interact with contents and eventually do something that the website owner wants them to do (be it an online sale, refer a friend, bookmark the website, etc). Here are 3 important things that web designers should know before firing up their photoshop and dreamweaver.

1. Know who are the target audiences

Don’t guess.  Don’t assume. Ask your client and they will probably start telling you ‘everyone’. It is our job to guide them on this. I will always ask my client – If anyone would be visiting your website, who will they be? Here, we are not trying to identify demographics like male/female, age group, etc. We are trying to identify specific groups of people. For example, if I’m trying to identify target audiences for a kindergarten website, it would be:

• Parents of potential students
• Parents of existing students
• Education partners
• Potential staff

2. Know what they want

Visitors come to your website with a specific purpose in mind. Seldom would people browse aimlessly, so you need to really know what they want. After establishing who the target audiences are, I will always ask my clients – If a parent of a potential student is to visit your website, what do you think will be their purpose in visiting your website? This question never fails to get my clients thinking the real purpose of the website – A place where their potential clients get what they want! To illustrate my point clearer, let’s see what the parents of potential and existing students of a kindergarten would want:-

• Parents of potential students want to evaluate if the kindergarten is suitable for his or her child. To do that, they will want to understand the curriculum, environment, enrichment courses, principal’s & teachers’ profile, testimonials from existing parents and enrollment details.
• Parents of existing students want to know upcoming events in the kindergarten, be updated on news and announcements, enquire on administrative matters  and to provide feedback.

3. Know what you want

Now that you know who they are, and their purpose of visiting the website, it is time to work on what your client wants from each visitor. It could be as simple as email enquiry, downloading of a factsheet, visiting the facebook fanpage or even referring the website to a friend. Help the client map out the website goals so you know the objectives of each webpage that you will be creating.

Honestly, this is just the beginning and I usually spend 1-2 sessions with the client just working on these 3 things. It is also the findings during these sessions that allows me to gather sufficient knowledge and information to start working on the information architecture, which ultimately, determines the layout (which will somehow affect the overall design).

What’s your methodology in creating websites? Share them here!

5 steps to generating leads from LinkedIn

// January 26th, 2010 // No Comments » // Social Media Marketing

Your profile is what you are

On LinkedIn (just like in any other social media spaces), you are what your profile says. As such, it is important that your LinkedIn profile is not only up-to-date but clearly reflects that you do and what you are good at. Put some thoughts into crafting a profile for the job you want.

If you are are a Business Analyst looking out for opportunities in the digital marketing space, changing your current job title to ‘Business Analyst (Marketing / Social Media) will put you within the search radar immediately. Integrate your blog and blog about relevant topics. Get affiliated with relevant groups and start participating in LinkedIn Answers.

Get connected and reconnected

Once your profile is up-to-date and is able to tell people clearly what you are doing and good at, start connecting with people that you know. Take the stack of namecards from your drawer and start searching for contacts that are on LinkedIn too.

Make it a point that whenever you receive a new namecard, do a search on LinkedIn and see if you can locate the contact. Build your network this way and see it grows! Remember to include your LinkedIn URL in your email signature, blog and any digital assets so you can be located easily.

LinkedIn groups – Be seen, be heard.

With new connections adding up, look into potential customers’ profiles and see what are the groups that they are active in. Join them and listen to the conversations that are happening within these groups. Not only will you be able to identify trends, you may even identify gaps in the industry where your expertise can fill. If there are specific conversations that falls within your expertise / knowledge, participate and contribute. That makes you visible to your potential customers.

LinkedIn Answers

As part of your personal branding, you should be actively participating in LinkedIn Answers, sharing experiences and knowledge with peers and potential customers. If there is a particular question that you would like to answer, create a blog post that is related to that question and blog about it. At LinkedIn Answers, give a condensed version of your answer and refer the reader to that blog post. That way, you drive traffic to your blog when answering the question.

Don’t Forget LinkedIn’s Profile Update

Many LinkedIn users skipped this which comes in handy when you want people to know your newly acquired customer, a new solution or product that you have launched or even a new project that you are working on. Keep your LinkedIn connections informed!