Customers are using mobile devices such as Smart phones and tablet computers at growing rates. The sales of mobile devices are surpassing computer sales.  Mobile devices are connecting customers and prospects to your business and sales people are using these devices help them sell. 

Consider these stats about mobile search: 

70% of all mobile searches result in action within 1 hour.

9 out of 10 mobile searches lead to action, over half leading to purchase.

61% of customers who visit an unfriendly mobile site are likely to go to a competitor.

These stats show an important trend. People are making decisions while using mobile devices to look for products, services, and your business information. Here are 5 key tips to consider what your customers want on the small screen. 

• Your website must be mobile friendly. 

This is the point many of my customers make a statement they are not ready to invest in a new website. I recommend to create a simple website landing page that has key information about your services and includes contact information. Include a mobile friendly website in your sales and marketing strategy. 

• Make sure your email is easy to read on mobile devices.

This is a key business communication tool. Whether your marketing or simply communicating with your customers, you need to think about the small screen. Keep your message subject line short. Your brand name and call to action should be high up on the screen so the viewer easily knows what you’re asking them to do.

• Customers want to find you. 

Your customers and prospects want to find you and contact you. Make it easy for them. 

Your address and a map that links to Google maps should be readily available.

All phone number need to be “click to call” enabled.

Is an email address easily available? This should also be “click to email” enabled. 

If your company uses social media, include links on your mobile friendly website.

• Content is king.

Content is king in any marketing and sales strategy. Your website should easily describe what you do and the benefit to the customer.  When a customer is looking at your website or email on a Smart phone the content needs to be refined as you have less space to get your message across. Consider using a content specialist to help you format your story and your message to fit across multiple screens.  Forms and downloads need to be mobile friendly if you are including them on your mobile website. 

• Mobile devices and Sales.

Your sales teams are using mobile tools to help sell your products and services. If they are not, your competitors are using them. These tools can include tablets that have online demos, PowerPoint presentations, documents and online brochures.  They are using applications such as email and sales management software to help them close business.  This should be part of your strategy to grow your business. It will help make you communicate more efficiently and connect you to your customers. 

To summarize, focus on your website. I believe this to be the center of your business operations. It doesn’t matter what business your in.  Serve up a website experience that is mobile friendly and allows customers to find you and contact you.  The smart phone is quickly becoming the computer of choice.  Companies that understand this will be poised to attract new business and strengthen their brand awareness. 

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Greg Olson

Co-Founder / Business Development at Growl Agency

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Companies are trying to figure out how to integrate social media into their trade show exhibits and events to achieve the best results. Trade shows and events are a great way to connect with customers, prospects and media. Social media can be used through pre- and post-event marketing to engage and attract attendees. It is becoming more challenging to keep up with the variety of ways your customers and prospects are interacting with your brand online.

A few items to consider before getting started:

• Determine the best social media channels and understand where your audience participates
• Educate your staff before, during and after your event
• Determine goals and measurements
• Assign 1-2 employees to manage
• Remember social media is ongoing
• Create a social media policy for your company

Let’s look at a variety of ways social media can help you along with a few ideas.

Facebook:
 Create an “event page” to promote attendees to come to your event. Follow Growl on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/GrowlAgency?ref=hl

Twitter: 
Research prospects, clients, media and competitors’ twitter accounts and follow them and their followers.

Utilize a tool such as Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, Crowdbooster or Sproutsocial to monitor your account and conversations. 
Have relevant and useful information ready to tweet, such as product tips or where to get a good cup of coffee at the tradeshow. Use the tradeshow #hashtag in these conversations as people are searching for them.
 Follow Greg Olson on Twitter. @digitalolson

Foursquare:
 Create a check-in location at your event and give deals such as coupons for coffee or drinks. Create a game when an attendee checks in and engages your sales team.

LinkedIn:
 Set up a LinkedIn event to promote your trade show exhibit or event program. Set up discussions and introduce your company experts.

Flickr: 
Open a Flickr account. People love pictures. Create a way to capture pictures of people within your exhibit. Have a fun give-away for an opportunity to take an attendees picture. Capture their email address and send them a link to the photos.

Pinterest:
 Create a Pinterest account for the trade show event showing your exhibit and products, as well as fun places to hang out in the city. This will help drive traffic to your site.

Video Chat:
 There are a number of ways to create a video chat in the booth. This is a very effective way to let prospects, or decision-makers who could not attend the trade show or event, learn more about what you are doing.

Blog:
 Connect your blog to your website. Come up with useful, relevant topics. I suggest articles with 3-5 tips as well interviews with key employees and experts in your company. Create a content calendar and share the content through your social media channels.


Mobile:
 Mobile is social. People are using their mobile devices to connect to information at a growing rate. Consider the following in your exhibit.

• Use a proximity device to set up a Wi-Fi signal with the content you want to display.
• Utilize SMS messaging. Provide a number for people to text to receive a link to important information and offers.
• Use QR Codes for people to obtain information about products and offers.


We have discussed many options and there are many more. The good thing about social media and mobile is that they are highly measurable. Remember to post any social media links on your website as well as your contact page. Start with a couple of options. Test them – then add to your social media plan as you become comfortable.

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Greg Olson

Co-Founder / Business Development at Growl Agency

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It is that time of year again when we find ourselves excited for change as we look forward to the future. We discuss new marketing plans and budgets, what went well in 2012, and what we want to do better in 2013.  Companies look for patterns and discuss what will work for the upcoming year to meet their goals.

It is important to look at what you want to achieve in the coming year – whether it is new customers, upcoming product launches, increased margins on accounts, or an increase in sales.  

Many of our contacts are tasked with reaching some big goals that sometimes seem unattainable. Management and Board of Directors are setting the bar higher than ever.  Our team at Growl has a few ideas on what you should think about this upcoming year.

1. Marketing Calendar. This is key to a successful 2013. A strong plan can help you to stay on track and elevate last minute headaches. Creating and updating a marketing calendar will keep your team and your management on track. Ask us about our 1.5 hour marketing calendar creation workshop.

2. Content will grow your kingdom. Your company is an expert in your industry and you have experts in your company that can help create content. This content can be written and verbal. Webinars, speaking engagements, emails, newsletters, or amazing case studies. Keep in mind that this content must be mobile friendly – to be viewed and read on mobile devices.

3. Your brand is now mobile. Do you feel like you missed the digital revolution and still need to freshen up your website? Make sure your brand translates well in the mobile environment. Now is the time to create a strong digital presence that is both social and mobile friendly.

4. Review and make a short list of marketing and branding items you can freshen up quickly.

5. Market to your customers. So many times companies are only communicating to prospects. Don’t forget to keep in communication with your existing customers.

6. Create sales enablement tools. We are in the age of the tablet computer. Make your products come to life and enable your sales teams with these tools. Using already developed apps such as SalesForce, you can empower your sales and marketing. Look at marketing automation tools to help you get your message out in a scheduled and timely manner.  Ask us about the 3 steps to marketing automation success.

7. Try something new this year. Have you tried QR Codes with your print communications? Think about testing SMS , SOMOLO (Social, Mobile, Local), or mobile advertising. Growl will create a custom QR code and mobile friendly content for you to use on your printed material.

8. Think about having a branding and mobile marketing workshop for your team. Even though we cannot solve all branding and marketing issues in a single session, these inspirational sessions are designed to focus on specific branding and marketing challenges and can help kick start a successful 2013. Work with a team that brings smart strategy and successful tactics.

We wish you a successful 2013!

Greg Olson and Alex Valderrama

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Greg Olson

Co-Founder / Business Development at Growl Agency

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Pirelli augmented reality experience at Milano Malpensa Airport.

Branding and advertising have come a long way in the digital world. As we explore digital mediums such as QR codes, near field communications (NFC), branded videos, websites meant to scale up or down depending on the platform being used, we find ourselves exploring new and fun mediums with amazing digital technology. Check out this video where Pirelli was able to use augmented reality to create intrigue and a fun-ness factor to their brand.

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Alex Valderrama

Co-Founder / Brand Architect at Growl Agency

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Every now and then I run into someone that has gone through a re-branding initiative with the expertise of an agency or a marketing consultant. Recently, a gentlemen I met at a social gathering shared his experience with me. 

 ”How did it go?”, I asked. “It was ok, we had a four-hour session and it only cost us several thousand dollars!”, was his reply. “What did you get for that?” I asked. “Well, I got a new tagline and a new company descriptor. We rolled out the new tagline and company descriptor several months ago and everything seems to be ok., though I haven’t really seen a big difference in our business”, he said. 

So the Quick Fix is in and for now the client appears to be happy. Unfortunately, what the client negates to understand is that he was sold a pre-packaged solution. Kind of a “one-size-fits-all” approach. There are many agencies and consultants that don’t really comprehend the complex issues with creating, developing and fixing a company’s brand. Their solutions are typically pre-packaged, bundled or sometimes composed of a quick four-hour seminar.

The reality is that most company executives are really smart people who rely on experienced professionals to help them solve complex issues and sometimes fall into the “Quick Fix” trap. Getting something quick and easy is usually not a better alternative to a more though-out, well-developed solution for their company’s problems. Is it solely their fault? No not really. I believe agencies and consultants bear some responsibility for selling this “snake oil” type of solution. Executives and marketing professionals must get further educated about the process of branding and learn how to avoid costly mistakes.

So you ask, “What is the right approach for solving major branding issues?”.

First, let me point out that every business is different. Each business varies by size, product and service offerings, leadership, organizational model, company maturity, core brand architectural components, region, competitor landscape, etc. With that in mind, you can then begin to understand that a “pre-packaged” brand solution and a quick half-day seminar are not sufficient to address these complex issues.

The right approach and a great place to start is to evaluate each company, gather pertinent information and perform a Gap Analysis. This process will help to identify core brand components, what the company has as an existing brand and identify the missing elements in order to complete a strong brand architecture. Once the missing components are identified, then we work through identifying, clarifying and developing these missing brand elements. There is no “Quick Fix” here. This process takes time and considers all influencing factors. Other elements that are either weak or not yet well-developed are also fixed. They are then summarized in a clear and concise document to be used by the internal executive team, marketing team, and advertising team. The overall benefits for correctly developing and creating a new brand messaging architecture are a clearer message to your customers, a stronger brand presence, a more memorable brand, a better return on your marketing and sales efforts, and increased brand equity.

I hope this article helps to clear up some misinformation and to set up more clear expectations you may have from your “Branding Company”. 

Next time you are entertaining hiring a branding firm to help you with a new brand initiative, or just sorting out individual components, consider a seasoned firm such as Growl.

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Alex Valderrama

Co-Founder / Brand Architect at Growl Agency

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Greg Olson of Growl and Big Footprint founder Nick Yorchak recently contributed an article entitled “Is Your Digital Presence Mobile Ready?” to Colorado’s own Advertising & Marketing Review, a publication serving the advertising, marketing and media industries across Colorado. 

IS YOUR DIGITAL PRESENCE MOBILE READY?

By Greg Olson and Nick Yorchak

The mobile revolution continues to escalate, fundamentally changing the way we search for and consume information.  Decision makers and consumers are searching on mobile devices, yet most companies are unprepared.

Studies from Google found that search volume from mobile devices is up 5x in the past two years (Google study Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona and ThinkWithGoogle).  In the U.S. alone, mobile’s overall share of web traffic has increased to over 9%.  Research firm IDC forecasted there will be more U.S. mobile web users than PC by 2015.

Despite this fact, less than 10% of the web is “mobile ready.”

So, how can you ensure your digital presence is “mobile ready?”

The first step is developing mobile friendly communication.  Remember, mobile search encompasses more than just one result type. Depending on whether the search query is from a feature phone, smartphone or tablet, a user will receive different results and presentation formats, and even different search results.

Use responsive design if you can, but if you can’t, understand the trade-offs and pitfalls. Responsive design essentially makes your web presence fluid, adapting the layout of the page to the viewing environment. Users across a broad range of devices and browsers then have access to a sole source of content, styled and laid out so as to be the most usable.

Consider implementing a mobile landing page with contact information and your address as a start if you can’t develop a mobile friendly website. Then, test it across a variety of devices and online mobile emulators to see the look and feel of your mobile presence. Make sure the text is to easy to read, and that the user can navigate with a minimum of resizing, panning, scrolling, etc.

Once your mobile presence exists in a user-friendly form, turn your attention to optimization. Remember to incorporate best practices of traditional SEO, properly naming web pages according to the content of the page.

Your mobile presence is more than just your own website. Optimize all of your digital assets including YouTube videos, images, news feeds and map listings for increased visibility in mobile search results. This will also pay dividends across other channels, not just mobile.

Integrate SEO into your mobile development process or involve an SEO expert to ensure your website follows best practices of “search engine friendly” coding and web development. Standard SEO ranking elements apply and are heavily determined by the desktop version of that webpage, as typically a mobile page is on the same URL as its desktop counterpart.

Accessibility is critical for mobile search and if you are hiding content from Google or Bing (intentionally or otherwise) you can incur penalties that will handcuff your online presence for years to come.  Google already provides the most variety within search results for feature phones via Googlebot-Mobile, which crawls for specific device types. Google even went so far as to say that your pages may be filtered from those results if they don’t render properly or declare an accurate mobile DocType. Enable user detection and minimize load time. Do your mobile due diligence; put the user experience and accessibility at the forefront of your mobile strategy.

Both Greg and I agree that the ROI on mobile advertising will increase as a result of what industry experts have called mobile’s greatest advantage over other channels, the “relevance of proximity.”

In the next few years, industry standards will evolve and platforms will exist as mobile display becomes easier to manage.  “Mobile Driven Spend” will emerge as a leading category that we’ll all need to consider.

About Nick Yorchak

President :: Big Footprint

Nick is the President and Founder of Big Footprint, a search and content marketing consultancy. A seasoned organic search expert, Nick has attained top organic rankings for a variety of B2B and B2C companies ranging from Fortune 500 industry leaders to local startups and non-profits. As a member of SEMPO and BMA, Nick has spoken at industry events and panels on the topic of search engine optimization, and his unique career story was featured in the New York Times.

About Greg Olson
Founder: GROWL

Greg is a BMA Colorado past President and currently is on the BMA National Board of Directors.  Founder of Growl: A branding and digital agency, helping clients connect to the digital world more effectively. Greg is an active speaker and author on combining technology and marketing to improve a company’s ROI.

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Greg Olson

Co-Founder / Business Development at Growl Agency

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Produced by LEGS MEDIA, this short video celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the GIF. I bet a lot of you in the advertising world have heard of the GIF (Graphic Interchange Format)?

You have to check out this short video. This video has it all. It is engaging, entertaining, animated well and does a decent job of educating us on the history of the GIF. 

A Short History of the Gif | Moving the Still from LEGS MEDIA on Vimeo.

Johnny Misheff, the Chief Council Member of Moving The Still - The GIF is one of the most recognized and well-loved forms of digital media in use today. We’re celebrating it’s 25th birthday this year… Everyone currently using the internet has seen a GIF. The last few years have seen the GIF rise to a level of prominence of epic proportions. Artists have taken to the medium with an incredible fervor. Businesses use them to send lighter, more compressed advertisements via email. The Net Generation has taken to the GIF in myriad ways, from fan art to the revolutionary meme. Perhaps more than any other medium, the GIF embraces a diversity inherent in its simple function. Plus, they are extremely fun and easy to make. The time for officially celebrating the GIF is long overdue and we are thrilled to celebrate it in this unique and totally groundbreaking way…Everyone seemed to agree this is the perfect moment and platform to properly exhibit the GIF, and to honor it by giving it its due place in a greater artistic conversation.

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Alex Valderrama

Co-Founder / Brand Architect at Growl Agency

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We recently ran across this amazing video showcasing the excellent illustration work by Supakitch and Koralie and just had to share! This time lapse video shows their extraordinary craftsmanship used in creating the huge wall painting. 

SUPAKITCH & KORALIE – VÄRLDSKULTUR MUSEET GÖTEBORG from elr°y on Vimeo.

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Alex Valderrama

Co-Founder / Brand Architect at Growl Agency

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Growl recently launched a new branding campaign. We are really excited about reaching out to our existing and potentially new customers. 

Be seen, get noticed, and reach your customers.

The campaign focuses on reaching businesses who are looking for a partnership with an agency that specializes in branding and marketing in traditional and digital mediums. We are sending out a set of postcards along with bi-monthly email newsletters. If you have received one of these fun postcards with the handcrafted illustration on it, drop us a line and let us know what you think. If you did not receive a campaign postcard, then you’re not on our mailing list. If you would like to be included SUBMIT YOUR INFO HERE. We will gladly add you to our nifty campaign and get a postcard out to you in a jiffy.

p.s. Please leave your contact information and complete mailing address in the message box.

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Alex Valderrama

Co-Founder / Brand Architect at Growl Agency

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Here at Growl we are always testing new devices that could be used by marketers and sales teams. I tested numerous devices and these two stand out. The devices are the iPad Mini and the Amazon Kindle Fire HD. 

Lets review a few items on the iPad Mini and the Kindle Fire HD by Amazon…

I like both of these tablets. The Amazon Fire HD is more of a consumer tablet. Great content, videos look amazing on the small screen and email works well. The browser is called Silk which is a custom browser created by Amazon. Silk is very fast when tested on a variety of Wi-Fi networks.  

The iPad Mini is a stellar tablet. If you are already using an iPad, then I expect you will love the iPad Mini – it is a great business tablet and a good consumer tablet as well. 

Portability:
The iPad Mini is a little taller but similar in size to the Kindle Fire. The iPad Mini easily fits into pockets, purses and sport coats.  It is very easy to hold and it is thinner than an iPhone 5. The iPad Mini is lighter in weight than the Kindle Fire HD – not by much but enough that you will notice the difference.

Screen:
The screen for the iPad Mini  is larger than other tablets of similar size. Working in a creative industry, we tend to use our iPad’s to sketch ideas. You may find the iPad Mini’s screen to be too small for creative use. And, I love the fact that you can get a screen cover from Apple. Covering the screen helps prevent scratches and damage from daily use.

Additional Differences:
Apple has consistently had a solid operating system. The iPad and iPad Mini seem faster than the Kindle Fire HD. In my humble opinion, Android’s interface tablets have always seemed to be built for programmers as opposed to Apple’s products which have a wonderful easy-to-understand user interface. However, the user interface on Android devices is quickly improving. 

Battery Life:
In regards to the battery life on the iPad Mini, it last longer than other tablets and seems to charge a little faster.

Another downside to the Kindle Fire HD is that not all Android Apps will work with this tablet. 

Content:
Apple and Amazon have wonderful content available – whether it’s books, magazines, apps or video content. The larger tablets make it easier for you to read magazines and newspapers, so consider how you are going to use the device. 

If you developed an Android app for a phone, it will not work on the Kindle unless you submit it to Amazon for approval. Understand the device parameters before developing or handing out applications to customers or sales teams. If you want an Android tablet for sales and marketing, I would suggest the Google Nexus or the Samsung Galaxy. 

Wi-Fi and Cellular:
The current model of the iPad Mini is Wi-Fi only. Cellular models will launch soon. 

iPad Mini Business Uses:
Because of the smaller sized iPad, the iPad Mini will be much friendlier to use for sales and marketing teams around the world. 

Field Use:
The smaller size is easier to use and handle. Although you should consider the need for Wi-Fi. A work-around is to set up your smart phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot to allow for Wi-Fi connectivity.

Marketing Research:
The size of the device makes it easy for people to engage in surveys.

Trade Show Exhibits: 
Using the iPad Mini for trade show marketing is much easier.

Sales Enablement: 
Enable your sales teams with your own mobile application that is tied to your CRM system. 

Gifts: 
Tablets make great employee and client gifts.

Quick Summary
The iPad Mini is not a gaming tablet due to the fact that it has the A5 processor. The newer iPad has an A6 processor and a higher resolution screen. However, for business use, the iPad Mini is very promising and works like a charm. It works well for email, web browsing, spreadsheets, word processing and reading. In my eyes, the iPad mini could be a big winner for business.

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Greg Olson

Co-Founder / Business Development at Growl Agency

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