Professional services marketers are battling to exploit the opportunities brought about by the digital revolution. In most firms, that battle is taking place on two fronts.  Changing the internal perceptions of the need for digital marketing and working out how to take advantage of the plethora of new channels available.

Professional services marketing has always been based on partner relationships and the firm’s reputation but on-line delivery channels are now challenging these time-honoured ways of working.

Clients are become increasingly digitally savvy. The abundance of information, on every conceivable subject, means clients are now researching on-line to become better informed before engaging external expertise.

This is challenging traditional marketing for all profession services organisations. Firms need to engage with clients in a different way if they are not to be overtaken by this new world order.

The good news

The good news is that most professional services firms create great content. Lots of it. The challenge now facing marketing managers is how to best curate and deliver that content across the multitude of channels available.

The other good news is that most of that content falls into the fashionably named (although over-used) category of ’thought leadership’. It showcases the firm, demonstrates the skills and experience of it’s people and is exactly the type of content that clients are researching on-line.

Traditionally this content has been delivered via printed newsletters, a quarterly client magazine or perhaps an annual review booklet.

Most firms have made some progress in getting content on-line.

The most common way to do this is to create digital versions of the existing publications. So we create PDF newsletters that can be uploaded to the website and emailed to existing clients.

We also see the creation of “digital editions” or “page-turning” applications where the print magazine/annual review publication is animated on the screen.

Most websites now have a ‘knowledge’ or ’resources’ section but sadly most of these are just repositories of the exact same PDF files that we have emailed to clients.

We need to re-think the way we “bundle” content

Creating “issues” or newsletters makes perfect sense in print. The cost and logistics involved in delivering the content mean that you have to deliver it all in one package.

Having created this “bundle” of content, it would typically only be provided to those clients that were the most important to the firm. Because of the cost, the recipients need to be valuable enough to the firm to provide the content for free.

The quality of the content isn’t in question, in fact people value it highly. But the nature of the print medium means it is usually consumed as a “Lean back experience”, when the reader has time to read it from cover to cover.

Replicating familiar formats on-line is not the answer

New technologies often start out by mimicking familiar mediums from the past. When radio was first launched, it was used to broadcast plays rather than music and the original reason to go to the cinema was to see the works of Pathé news rather than Stephen Spielberg.

Thus far, this has also been the case with with digital content. If you think about it, what we’ve sought to do with our bundles of print content is to replicate the design/look and feel on screen that we are used to on paper.

“With digital edition platforms, we’ve even replicated the curled corner of a paper page and animated the transition as you move from one page to the next!”

Mike Barrett, Director, Compound Media

We see that in PDF newsletters, digital editions of client magazines and even in apps. In all these cases, we’ve taken the existing formula and sought to replicate what we are familiar with in print: -

But digital is proving to be different in a number of ways.

Digital audiences are different

The opportunities for using digital platforms are obvious. Without the logistics and cost of printing and distribution, it is possible to reach a much larger audience. This extended audience though are very different from our traditional readers.

They are of lower value to the firm. If they aren’t valuable enough to receive the newsletter/magazine then they are unlikely to be as interested in the totality of the content.

They are operating in a different mode. If you push the content to them via email then you are interrupting them. There is no guarantee that at the precise moment your email arrives that they have the time to consume even one or two pieces of content let alone a whole issue.

If they find your content on the web, they are likely in “research mode”, looking for a number of different angles on a topic. Your angle is just one of many.

The biggest difference in both the above scenarios is that the audience are time poor. They don’t have the time or inclination to read a whole issue’s worth of content in one go.

Digital devices are not like paper

In addition to this “modal” behaviour, digital audiences are are using a multitude of different devices.

A computer screen is not like a newsletter. They are vertical, people are “leaning forward” when they are using their computer not sitting back and relaxing with a whole “issue” to read.

Mobile phones are nothing like paper, the ultimate small screen experience is fast and easy to scroll through. Content formatted for A4 is clunky and difficult to read on smartphones even if you know how to “pinch and zoom”. Diagrams and charts are impossible to read scaled down to 320 pixels wide.

Even tablets, which have changed our digital consumption behaviour enormously aren’t like magazines. They are smaller and, from a commercial perspective, still represent only a tiny fraction of the overall audience for your content.

Stop replicating the past

What we have now then are a whole range of industries that have been built around creating sophisticated and compelling products that replicate the past. PDF publishing tools, digital editions and apps designed to help us keep the content formatted as it was in print, to stay with the familiar.

But, just as we wouldn’t got to the cinema to watch the news, they are ultimately replicating a way of thinking that doesn’t exploit the new opportunities of the digital medium.

More than 400 pieces of content were migrated to the new site, facilitated by the easy to use editorial systems.

All content has strong, measurable calls to action which allow Wright Hassall to monitor and interpret the user behaviour across the site.

More than 10% of the visitors to the site take some kind of measurable action after reading the content.

Since launch, “time on site” has increased by 42% and bounce rates reduced by 18%.

We have increased the number of enquiries from the site by 400%

I’m happy to say that it is. This will be my 10th Byte Night. Since 2002 I’ve slept out for one night a year so that others less fortunate than me don’t have to.

Me, a board member?

The first four years, I slept as part of a team from my old company, CNET, badgered into it by my esteemed colleague and Byte night founder, James Bennet.  When I left CNET I asked James if there was a way for me to stay involved and he suggested that I join the board.

I have to say I was sceptical. Me, a one man band on the board with Dell, Cisco and BT? What would I be able to do that would justify my presence in such company?  But what I’ve learned in the last 5 years is that size doesn’t matter when it comes to making a contribution.

It’s about ideas and contacts.

Ideas that generate new ways to recruit people, that make it easier for people to raise money, that help communicate to a wider audience.

And it’s about who you know. Who can you get involved? Whether as a member of your team or entering their own. You never know who might be interested unless you ask.

Dive in and have a go

Unlike the big companies represented on the board I can’t enter 5 teams or sponsor the event financially.  My philosophy has been to throw myself into anything, and everything, that I can think of.

As a result, over the last 10 years I’ve: -

• Been lucky enought to visit several projects and been humbled by the work that Action for Children does and the dedication of its staff.
• Been a surrogate team captain for individual sleepers and for celebrities that have supported us on the night
• Sold hundreds of pounds worth of raffle tickets
• Campaigned to reduce the individual sleeper target to £1000 to encourage more people to join us
• Recruited three new board members
• Instigated the initiative to get us a place on the IT Directors forum this year
• Been locked in a small room with Jenny Agutter broadcasting to 20 local radio stations.

Along the way I’ve raised over £15K personally and more than £50K collectively as part of my teams.

10 years and counting

Each year culminates with the event itself. By Christmas we know the total amount raised and then, on a cold January morning, the process starts again with the first board meeting of the year.  That’s when the passion and enthusiasm of James and Ken kicks in to spur me into action again.

This year, I’m hoping to convince some of my past team-mates to join me again to celebrate a decade of sleeping out. Ten individual nights that cumulatively have made a huge difference.

We’ve got a dedicated section on the website to promote the team and I’ve had some new business cards printed which will hopefully prove to be a conversation starter!

Why not join us?

So, if you’re thinking of getting involved but are daunted by doing it on your own, why not join us?  I’m living proof that even the smallest companies can make a difference and we’ll guarantee you a night to remember!

We’ve got a new section on the website to help raise awareness and give people a central place to come to find out what’s happening with the Compound Media team this year.

We’ve also had some new business cards printed (see above) which we think will be a great conversation starter!

If you’d like to be involved but are hesitating because you can’t get a full team together, why not join us?

I’m living proof that even the smallest companies can make a difference so drop us a line to find out more.  We’ll guarantee you a night to remember!

Today, users are consuming on-line content on an ever increasing range of devices.  The relatively new discipline of “responsive design” has a lot to offer publishers.  By designing a series of flexible grids, content can be dynamically formatted to automatically work on the widest range of screen sizes from the largest desktop displays through to the smallest mobile handsets. 

Developing sites in this way, although initially more time consuming, creates a future proof platform for publishers that far outweighs the cost of developing different solutions for each family of devices.

The challenges

The proliferation of different devices is a problem that confronts all web site owners.  Where once we could safely assume a minimum screen size, browser type and hardware, there are now literally thousands of possible combinations.

This introduces some tricky challenges in presenting web content in an accessible and interesting way across devices that may have completely different: -

• Screen sizes and resolutions
• User interfaces – touch screen/”rollerball”/keyboard
• Functionality – GPS location, compass, cameras etc.

What does this mean for publishers?

For content publishers, screen size is the most important element to be tackled. Users simply won’t engage unless we can provide a great reading environment regardless of device.

The iPad is reasonably straightforward.  It’s a great device for browsing and because of the large screen size, if you design sensibly, there is no reason why you shouldn’t direct users to your normal desktop site.

The rise of the smartphone has resulted in an exponential growth in mobile traffic. Social media has had a huge impact too, with more than half of all Facebook and Twitter activity now happening via mobile devices. With the majority of posts containing  links, this is driving increasing amounts of mobile traffic back to content sites.

To add further to the problem, there are a new generation of mid-size devices being launched. The new Kindle fire has a 7 inch screen, 33% smaller than the iPad but significantly bigger than even the largest smartphones.  How will we serve content to these users? Do we treat these devices as a small iPad or a large smartphone?

Until relatively recently, to serve all these users successfully, we would have needed to build custom solutions for each device format.  For publishers, whose main priority is delivering content to users in the most appropriate format, then responsive design may well hold the answer.

What is responsive design?

Luckily, the proliferation of portable devices has brought with it a new breed of browsers that are smarter than their legacy desktop cousins.  These HTML5 enabled browsers can dynamically check the screen resolution and adjust the layout to suit.

For small changes, these changes are quite gradual, resizing fonts and images to create the best reading experience.

Larger variations in screen size produce step changes by adding or removing columns to reduce the site width. We’re only using 2 columns here but reduce the width far enough and you’ll see that it eventually gives up resizing the elements and reduces the site to a one column design, perfect for mobile.

“Stacking” design elements

It does this by “stacking” the design elements into a predetermined list. It also changes to a more mobile friendly navigation unit suitable for use on touch screen or Blackberry devices.

A lot has been written about responsive design, if you want to find out more about the technical details then this e-book is well worth downloading.

Alternatively if you’d like the layman’s explanation, check out this great video from our partners at Squiz

Creating responsive sites

The good news is that if you already have a site built on a reasonably up to date content management system (CMS) then you can probably redevelop the front end to use responsive templates.

This works best if the site is relatively simple in design as in the new grid layout, the elements will need to “stack” elegantly and consistently.  This route also has the advantage of not having to migrate any content and allows you to continue with your existing editorial systems and processes.

The one potential downside is that more complex pages might need a major overhaul, especially for mobile screen sizes.

Building from scratch

If you don’t currently have a site, or are considering a full redevelopment anyway, there is even better news.

By building the site using responsive techniques from the outset, you will be able to minimise complexity and leapfrog the previous generation of legacy web/mobile/tablet solutions.

Start simple

The key to developing a responsive site is to start simple. By definition, you are forced to design with mobile and touch screen devices in mind from the outset.  This results in simpler, more elegant designs that are device agnostic and  ”touch friendly” from the start.

The big benefit for content rich sites is that text and images are relatively straightforward to deal with. Fonts and image sizes can be scaled proportionally to work well on all screen resolutions.  Video, if handled correctly, can be set to play natively within the device interface, removing any issues of screen resolution completely.

Add more functionality later

Once the issue of screen resolution is addressed, thought can be given to the different device interfaces.  For example, gesture support can be added to allow touch enabled device users to swipe through image galleries.  If you are using a touch screen device you can see this in action on the slider in the next section.

More complex functionality might require more effort. Complicated forms could require a little more thought and location based functionality would need an element of device specific development.

The holy grail?

That might be going a little far!  Responsive design still has it’s limitations and if you want to build custom functionality that has deep integration to the device capabilities then your best route is probably still to build an app.

However, for publishers who want to access to the widest range of users, across multiple devices, with the least amount of effort, we think that responsive design is a great place to start.

It’s certainly more cost effective than maintaining multiple website versions (or apps) and it makes it simple for editorial to publish once to many devices.

The users get a great experience regardless of the resolution of the device they are using and, unlike an app, the content is social. Links can be shared, and read by the recipient, regardless of  device.

Update – Jump suite is now responsive!

One of the factors that deters people from taking the responsive route is the time and cost of the initial planning and design.  That’s why we’re happy to announce that from today, responsive design is now an option on our Jump Suite web platform.

Just as with the “off the peg” Jump suite module, we’ve already been through the thought process and built a working template that will fulfil the needs of most content publishers.

We’ll have more details and a full demo site up and running soon but in the meantime, if you’d like to find out more about how we could help you transition your existing site or build a new one, please contact us.

Image by baldiri on Flickr

Kenton and I have know each other for a long time now and have been working together on an ad-hoc basis for several months on different projects.

Both our organisations have very strong strategic and project management experience in their specific markets.

Complementary skills, shared philosophy

By joining forces, we bring together Compound Media’s expertise in web UI and architecture and KentonFrank’s team’s wealth of experience in the design and technical fields.

More importantly than the complementary skills, we have a shared philosophy. This is based on improving not just the end user experience, but also the workflow of the editorial teams and business users that manage the sites.

We do that by creating niche, cloud based, CMS products with custom back end interfaces to ensure the most efficient use of business users time.

Cloud-based products

For us, that means our JUMP Suite platform for publishers, KentonFrank, have a variety of different solutions including membership based organisations with their MembershipCMS.

We’re both excited by the opportunities this opens up. For us, it means we have access to a dedicated design and development team that will allow us to continually improve JUMP Suite.

For KentonFrank, we can share UI and product development expertise to improve the quality of their products.

Shared development platform

Importantly, because we share a core development platform, it also creates opportunities for crossover projects such as subscription based publishing solutions and membership organisations that want to use content marketing techniques.

Last years Byte night was the biggest yet, raising over £180,000 more than in 2010, a massive achievement considering the challenging times we find ourselves in.

Over 800 people slept out at events in London, Cambridge, Thames Valley and Edinburgh. We were once again at the London event and a great night was had by all with the weather being kind to us so we were cold but not wet.

We’re already looking forward to next years event, if you want to see what it was like this year, take a look at the photos.

While Farrers have had a web presence for many years, the previous version of it’s website had been built more than 5 years ago. However, all websites need to be refreshed and updated periodically.

The style was “of its time” but had become dated. It didn’t properly reflect the more modern image of this 300 year old legal practice.

Improving the user experience

The firm wanted to build a site that would address some of the misconceptions about its brand through improving the user experience and refreshing the design.

The result is a site that is easier to navigate, more dynamic and provides a platform for thought leadership targeted to specific audiences.

Compound Media worked with the Farrer team to scope the project and manage the agency selection process. We led the site architecture phase of the project and then project managed the agency and Farrer teams through to testing and launch.

Web, mobile and email newsletters

The project included adding mobile capability and integrating a new email newsletter system into both the site and the firm’s CRM system.

The Farrers site is now live, providing a clean, modern showcase for the firm’s individuals and their areas of expertise.

The project also aimed to create a platform for the future. Now that the core site is complete, further developments will be launching over the coming months.

A full case study will be available shortly, in the meantime, why not take a look at the new Farrer site and let us know what you think?

We led the initial strategy and architecture phases of the project, the agency selection process and managed the internal team and agency relationships.

The project included adding mobile capability and integrating a new email newsletter system into both the site and the firm’s CRM system.

The result is a site that is easier to navigate, more dynamic and provides a platform for thought leadership targeted to specific audiences.  The site provides a clean, modern showcase for the firm’s individuals and their areas of expertise.

Since launch, “time on site” has increased by 38% and bounce rates reduced by 35%.

Do your target audience have smartphones? Are you already providing them with high quality print products? Do you want to connect with them digitally?  You should be thinking about using QR Codes.

What are QR codes?

Surprisingly, they have been around since 1994, originating in Japan to be used for tracking automotive parts.  QR stands for “Quick Response” and the best way to think of them are as printed versions of hyperlinks.

We’re all familiar with the way hyperlinks enable us to explore the web, QR codes allow us to extend this linking to the real world.

They work in a similar way to barcodes but with a lot more flexibility.  They can contain a wealth of information such as: -

• URL’s
• Geolocation data
• Text
• Phone numbers

Using a wide variety of freely available apps, QR Codes can now be scanned by anyone with a modern smartphone.  This provides an excellent method of eliciting an instant response from a user.

Scanned a URL? You’ll be taken to a website, a phone number? Dial it instantly, geolocation data? Show me the store on a map and give me directions.

How are they being used?

The possibilities are only just starting to be explored but here are some examples of how QR Codes are finding their way into our daily lives.

1 – Product information

They can provide quite utilitarian functionality such as this Japanese McDonalds packaging which has a QR code linking to nutritional and allergy information: -

Hint: - Most of the codes in this article (even the ones in the pictures) can be scanned from the screen using your smartphone (or clicked on) to link through to the destination URL.

2 – On-line shopping

Slightly more advanced, this Ralph Lauren example provides direct access to their on-line store: -

3 – In social media

Diesel are using them as part of an innovative social media campaign allowing people to “Like” real world products on Facebook: -

4 – As billboards

They have even been used as giant billboards on buildings: -

5 – A step too far?

Creating codes

There are several on-line resources that will help you to generate QR Codes for free.  As an example of how simple this is, all you need to do is add the required URL/text and kaywa.com will create a shiny new QR code for you.

If you’re using the link shortening service bit.ly then a QR code is generated automatically for each link you create.

By carefully coding your links (as we do in the Jump Suite Smart Tracking), then users that scan them will appear in your Google Analytics as having been referred from the related printed material, store collateral, building signs, etc.

What does this mean for publishers?

These examples are just scratching the surface of what’s possible.  To find out what this means for publishers, why not download an app to your phone now and scan this code to find out?: -

Alternatively, click on the image if you’re reading this on a mobile device (or if don’t have a smartphone to hand)