While it is important to use consistent branding throughout your website, it is just as important to incorporate your companies branding into your landing pages as well.

Using consistent branding in all of your marketing collateral is just as important online as it is in print. By incorporating your branding elements into your landing pages, your users will be able to easily identify that they are viewing another piece of your marketing collateral.

2. Message

When building your landing page, creating the proper message is the main goal in order to provide your audience with key information.

In order to allow your audience to digest the information quickly and easily, it is key to develop your copy in short paragraphs and or bulleted lists. By condensing the information, your audience will be able to understand the information you have provided them with along with the ability to

3. Questions and Contact Information

Asking the proper questions is key to an effective landing page. While the purpose of a landing is to request information, it is vital to ask only the questions, which are necessary.

By asking a limited number of the right questions, it will create the potential for more people to fill out and complete your form, which will provide you with the proper information that you are seeking to gain. Also, while asking the proper questions is important, it is also key to only ask the necessary contact fields for the same reasons.

For more information on creating an online form, check out “7 Steps to Create an Online Form.”

4. Images and Videos

Another way to break up the copy on a landing page is to incorporate images and videos. By using these design elements, it will allow you to use less text to get your message across. Also, by incorporating images and videos into your landing pages, you will also be able to create a dynamic and visually appealing layout for your landing page.

5. Submit Button

The main goal of a landing page is to have your audience members complete the form. However, once someone clicks submit, it is important that it is not the end of the interaction. As a result, it is key to include teasers of information to additional resources and information about other services that your company can offer your users.

Remember, your mobile users are typically looking for specific information, not just grazing and roaming from site to site. This doesn’t mean you have the green light to skimp on actual content. You want to give them what they are looking for. So the correct information is key, and not oodles of extraneous bits that you may naturally add on your regular website.

Not sure you’re clear on what I’m talking about? I’ve got a White Paper all about mobile content that you might be interested in. No cost to you!

Download Mobile Content 101 Today!

Imagine a little scale and on one side are words. The other side contains graphics. Which way is that scale tipping when it comes to your content?

Unfortunately there is no magic percentage that you should stick with in order to have your content balanced out “just right.” That would make it pretty easy. But you should be able to scan through your blog posts, your white papers, your social media posts, newsletters, etc. and see what is likely to be obvious. You are probably heavy on one (the words, perhaps?) and light on the other.

If you don’t have many graphics on your site and weaved into your content and materials, why not? Even if you don’t employ a graphic designer, you have many low cost options to help you with images ranging from clip art to infographics. Ideally, you should avoid using stock images unless you know exactly where they came from and what your rights are. Many images are copyrighted and do not give express or implied consent to be used by the general public.

One great way to achieve balance with your content is hiring a company to manage it for you. Having an outsider take a close look at what you’ve been doing, and evaluating what would work best can really take a load of stress off of your company. It’s hard to stay on top of content and social media profiles, let alone ensuring that your audience is being engaged with a healthy mixture of words and images. A company like Grow Socially is a one-stop shop that can provide the customized graphics and verbiage to keep you on top of your game.

The end goal is communicating effectively with your audience. You want to connect and engage and do so in a manner that reaches them and touches them in a way that establishes and later furthers, a relationship between you and them. The right balance of words and images – from infographics to videos to photos of the workplace – can get your message across.

Learn more about content creation and management here >>>

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Since mobile is all about being on the go, we looked at the 4 personalities as described by author Jeff Compton (http://www.thebasic4.com/ ) which include Drivers, Cruisers, Navigators and Riders.

DRIVERS

As anticipated, Drivers are in charge. They are natural leaders. Full of energy and ambition, Drivers take charge and are very task oriented.  But they have their downside as well. Drivers may get bored if things are not moving along with their mobile marketing efforts. While Drivers are okay with change, they don’t typically respond well to others being in charge, and if their mobile marketing plans don’t live up to their standards, or those plans suffer from setbacks, Drivers can get moody and difficult to work with.

CRUISERS

Those marketers who are extroverted and creative are considered Cruisers. While they get excited about new mobile marketing projects and campaigns, Cruisers may have a rough time with follow-through and staying on task. Cruisers enjoy competition, and are great decision makers, so they can be quite the asset to any marketing team. They enjoy fast paced marketing goals and can be extremely imaginative. But they can also be emotional and overly sensitive. Cruisers can take procrastination to a new level, which may frustrate others on their marketing team. And since Cruisers can be loud or aggressive, they may butt heads with others as well.

NAVIGATORS

The thoughtful, deliberate problem solvers of your marketing team are Navigators. They usually like to work independently and can be quite the perfectionists. While they can be good listeners and don’t get swayed or distracted by emotion, Navigators do not like to be wrong and can be a little tough to work with at times. Navigators do not make decisions hastily and can also be lacking in the communication department. They like to work with facts, and they don’t like to make educated guesses or take the lead role in many situations.

RIDERS

Do you have team members who are warm and fuzzy? Easy to work with and eager to please? These are your Riders. These are your more mellow and likeable team members. They have great observations skills and are quite curious, yet they also can be a bit weak when it comes to speaking their mind and taking a clear stance on marketing decisions. They are more concerned with feelings than facts and they are not leader material. But they can see all sides of a marketing issue, which can be highly valuable.

Do you see yourself or your team members in any of these personalities? Each one can be a valuable member of your marketing team and help create a mobile marketing plan that really packs a punch. And they can all balance each other out so that goals get established, details don’t go unnoticed and tasks get done.

We have got a handle on marketing strategies here at 21 Concord Street – learn more about what we can do.

However, this is not the time to make an all-you-can-eat buffet mobile marketing plan that shoots out in all directions. While the internet and internet marketing may cater a bit more to the “bigger is better” and “knowledge is power” mantras at times, the reality of mobile is that it’s a different beast. Users think differently. They act differently. And your content and the delivery of that content must reflect that if your mobile marketing plan is to be a success.

Take a minimalist approach. With your mobile website, you should carefully pick and choose what kind of information you provide. Remember, your mobile users are typically looking for specific information, not just grazing and roaming from site to site. This doesn’t mean you have the green light to skimp on actual content. You want to give them what they are looking for. So the correct information is key, and not oodles of extraneous bits that you may naturally add on your regular website.

Keep that minimalist approach in mind as you design your website. Navigation should be kept simple. Information should never be more than 3 clicks away. Buttons should be obvious. Scrolling should be vertical, not horizontal. Avoid using frames. And keep image use to a minimum, as it can bog down the load time and suck up bandwidth.

Remember that with mobile devices you can use location to your advantage. So your content should reflect that when possible. And delivery should also be coordinated with location when possible. Everyone loves a deal, right? So how about offering special pricing that can be made available when a user checks in to your location?

As you develop your mobile marketing messages, you want to focus on “shareability.” Meaning, you want it to be something that is worthy of sharing. You want your mobile users to think, “Hey, this is cool. I need to pass this along.” And then, make it as effortless as possible to either forward it via email, post on Facebook, tweet via Twitter or otherwise share it. Don’t be afraid to include links that encourage sharing…a lot of times, if you don’t ask, they won’t do it. So plant that seed of sharing and make it an easy task.

And never, ever forget the importance of mobile marketing metrics. You should be tracking your efforts and paying attention to what works and what doesn’t. Mobile isn’t the internet on a smaller screen. It involves different levels of responsiveness and buying patterns. Test and test some more. Tweak and tweak some more. You will find mobile success as you develop content that is tailored to the mobile audience in both the message and the actual delivery.

Learn more with this free White Paper from iFlyMobi.

As consumers change, so do the businesses that service them. There has been a consistent uptick in corporate mobile websites over the past few years, however it is far from being a comprehensive switch. A Google study from 2012 showed that while about two-thirds of companies surveyed had a mobile site, one-third of those did not allow for transactions.

Small businesses and industry observers alike are understanding the importance of a mobile site that allows for functional interaction as well as a pleasant navigation.

NetWaiter, a firm that provides online ordering capabilities to restaurants, has built itself within the framework of the mobile landscape. Tim Sunderland, a marketer for the company, spoke to the mobile revolution in the restaurant industry.

“This has been a quickly growing segment of the restaurant market for several years now and mobile phones are the quickest growing subset of this market,” said Sunderland. “Customers can access a restaurant’s menu online via their desktop, laptop or mobile phone, place an order and even pay for it using this technology. The orders are delivered to the restaurant through any of several different methods and are ready for pick-up or delivery.”

Understanding the importance of a mobile presence is only the genesis, however, for most brands. Making a decision about a mobile-specific site or responsive web is another crucial decision.

nuphoriq, a partner with Inc.com and a site specializing in branding for catering and event planning companies, weighed in on responsive web.

“Businesses need to have a mobile presence and responsive design is here to stay,” said Michael Larson, a web designer and developer for nuphoriq. “There are advantages to both the responsive and mobile specific approaches, so businesses must choose a method based on the requirements of the site and the needs of its users.”

Jenny DeGraff, a web and graphic designer at Search Mojo also addressed the decision-making process tied to mobile and responsive web.

“There is no hard and fast rule to whether a separate mobile site or a responsive design site is better for your business,” said Jenny, who went on to talk about user-experience, SEO and cost as determining factors.

“If you’re building a website from scratch, responsive design can usually be integrated into the development without significantly increasing the overall cost. However, retrofitting a large website can be time consuming and cost-prohibitive. Either way, once completed your site will respond to any device size used.”

John Barnes, a marketing blogger for TheCMOSite.com and author of 30 published books noted that, “the key to a B2B mobile site is that it has to do something better than the customer can do it by  any other way.  It has to enable them to do a minor annoying task in lunch line that would otherwise have eaten up precious concentration at the desk.

“And the one thing nobody needs done better is to be shouted at to buy something, so if all you have is ‘Buy our stuff’, you’ve got more thinking to do before going to mobile.  For B2B, if it’s not interactive, on the client’s feet, and urgent, you’re not done thinking.”

For more information on building mobile sites, learn more about iFlyMobi. For information on responsive web, visit our friends at Grow Socially.

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“The second screen strategy can turn a 30-second spot into a five-minute engagement if you deliver value to the consumer,” Mr. Martin said.

“That five-minute engagement could have a big impact on attitudinal metrics like awareness and intent,” he said. “But at the same time, your phone and tablet are great devices for making transactions.

“We saw an enormous lift in mobile purchases over the holidays, so I expect to see some Super Bowl advertisers trying to take advantage of this new behavior with discounts and offers that might, for example, expire before the end of the game.”

This is a somewhat significant shift. For years, the Super Bowl was a beacon of traditional media – the Mecca for advertising as we have come to know it.

Now, it is adapting the new technologies that have changed our daily lives – i.e. social and mobile. The “second-screen strategy” that Martin alludes to is the desire for marketers to present themselves to audiences on multiple platforms. The hope is that someone who watches a commercial on TV will willingly join a conversation on a separate platform – preferably mobile.

Marketers are operating on the assumption that mobile is inherently social. The article explained this idea further.

“For real-time events such as the Super Bowl, consumers take to social media to talk to their friends and families. A significant amount of this takes place on smartphones and tablets when consumers are likely not near a desktop.

As long as the messaging is contextually relevant to the game, mobile gives brands a great opportunity to inject themselves into social media conversations.”

Will you be participating in multi-screen conversation?

vs.

It seems like a no brainer that Facebook would win the mobile marketing race hands-down, right? Clearly, they have more users. Hundreds of millions of more users. Earlier in 2012 it was reported that Facebook had the highest mobile engagement just after Google. So it stands to reason that Facebook would likely do well in the world of mobile marketing and mobile ad revenue.

But, interestingly, Twitter recently made huge headway and surprised many in the mobile marketing world. According to a forecast by eMarketer, in the U.S., Twitter will earn almost double the amount that Facebook will – just over $129 million compared to just under $73 million for U.S. Facebook.

What does this mean for you? It’s a good reminder that not everything is clear-cut. You can’t just make assumptions that the audience is there and that everything will fall into place. For example, there are still other companies that are in the race for having the mass of mobile users check them out.

For example, Instagram had more daily engaged visitors than Twitter in August 2012, according to ComScore. Sounds exciting for Instagram (and for Facebook, which acquired Instagram), and it is. But like many numbers, they tell stories different than what you might expect at face value. Instagram did not have more mobile visitors than Twitter in August. But the visitors to Instagram were more interactive and engaged than they were with Twitter.

How does this translate for you, the marketer? Again, it means that you probably shouldn’t place all your mobile marketing advertising eggs into one basket. Choosing Facebook merely because it has a lot of engaged users may mean you miss out on some serious opportunities you can find in other social media platforms such as Twitter.

You may want to do some testing of your own to see which platform is the better place to spend those advertising dollars. And it also is a good reminder of balancing your social media time not in just one place, but across platforms, so you can reach the bulk of your audience wherever they are.

PayPal Here, Intuit’s GoPayment, Pay Anywhere by North American Bancard and more are all players in this market. When looking at these three in particular, as well as Square, many similarities become apparent, while distinguishable qualities also surface. The graph below shows a competitive breakdown of the four applications.

How do you think these applications match up? Which one provides your business with the most utility? Who reigns supreme? Sound off below or at our Twitter handle, @iflymobi!

But in the end, when it comes to mobile marketing, you know winning the “battle” is important. Winning means you turn prospects into customers. And one-time customers into long-term customers. And you want to win.

It’s easy to end up scattering your resources and failing to overcome obstacles, especially if you lose sight of your overall goals. But if you keep in mind some basic military tactics, you can stay on course and make headway as you march forward with your mobile marketing goals.

First off, you need to maintain your position and stay in control. This is not a time to implement a major overhaul of your brand, or change up all of your other marketing methods. Mobile marketing should help you expand your reach and further develop your relationship with your audience. It should not be divisive to your overall goals. Nor should it replace or eliminate other marketing strategies.

This is a time to figure out how to incorporate mobile marketing into your total strategy. You want to integrate it so as to make your position stronger. You want to stay in control of all of your marketing endeavors.

Next, you need to use natural cover and do some serious reconnaissance. What is your competition up to? How are they penetrating the mobile market? Check out their social media accounts and see how they are engaging the target market. Look at their offerings and how they are presenting them in order to build relationships. Try out their QR codes and check out their mobile apps. You should be evaluating all of their mobile marketing efforts in order to not only see what your “enemy” is up to, but to discern any flaws that you might be able to exploit. What weaknesses do you spot in their mobile marketing efforts that you can work to your advantage?

Using knowledge you gather through reconnaissance will allow you to secure your position. But be aware that just as technology has changed warfare over time, so has it changed the landscape of marketing. And mobile marketing is evolving at seemingly breakneck speeds. You need to stay on top of the technology in order to best use it for your advantage so you can win the mobile marketing battle. Thankfully, there are a lot of allies out there to help you stay on top of the technology part, and this includes iFlyMobi.com.

You can also use the element of surprise by introducing some fun or slightly different (different than your typical methods of operation) marketing messages into the mix. It’s important to not lose sight of your overall goal or to stray from your brand, but surprise can definitely help you gain some ground in your mobile marketing campaign. Contests, discounts, fun surveys and more can all be integrated into your goals to surprise your audience.

One military tactic that you should definitely steer clear of is deception. At no point is deception helpful to you in a marketing sense. It can only cause a severe blow to your reputation and you will have to battle hard and long to gain back trust with your audience.

Incorporating certain military tactics into your overall mobile marketing plans can help you gain ground over the competition and move forward toward your end game. Think strategically, secure your position and don’t over-do it with the element of surprise and you will find yourself reaching your mobile marketing goals.