Business writing 101

What writing skills are today’s marketing graduates missing—and what types of business writing do you wish you had a chance to learn in school?

Simplified analytics for the non-IT user

Imagine, for a second, that all the pertinent information gleaned from your organization’s data was accessible to everyone—not just IT gurus.

Drowning in content? We’ve got a solution.

If your marketing department is drowning in content—yet still failing to keep up with the demand for more—we have a few tips that might help.

App, App and Away – Is your Company Ready for the Mobile Revolution?

The mobile Web’s walk is quickly catching up with its talk.  In fact, according to Morgan Stanley (http://on.mash.to/morgan-stanley-mobile): “Based on the current rate of change and adoption, the mobile web will be bigger than desktop Internet use by 2015”.  This has profound implications for how companies will plan and execute their Web marketing strategies into the future.

Over the last few years, we have worked with numerous clients on developing different types of content that reach their existing customers  and prospects, wherever they are and on whatever device they choose to use.  We’ve been big advocates of developing podcasts (audio content) as we discovered that many decisions-makers (B2B) and consumers (B2C) prefer to have multiple options when consuming content.  This rationale  is even more powerful in the mobile Web.  Today, people use smart phones and devices to do much more than send and receive email. As these devices become more pervasive, they are actually assuming the same status as desktops and notebooks – enabling people to view videos, surf the Web, read e-books, listen to audio content and more. As this trend accelerates, you will increasingly need to make your content available on mobile devices – not just to be seen and heard, but to ensure that the fast-growing number of mobile surfers even bother visiting or searching your Web site at all.

Here’s a real life example from one of our clients. Marsden Group is a well-regarded legal recruiter with a number of offices around the world.  We recently helped them develop a Web-based search engine for their site that lists the current law jobs they have available.  Once this engine was completed and received great feedback from their audience, they decided to take the next step and make it available on the iPhone.  The decision was driven by two factors.  From a client perspective (firms that are seeking talented lawyers), creating a mobile app ensured that the job opportunity drew a greater pool of talent – namely, the explosive growing number of iPhone users, particularly among the ranks of legal professionals.  Second, from  a candidate’s perspective, a mobile app delivers the convenience of being able to search for the next step in their career, anytime, anywhere, without being tied to their computer or notebook.  You can find the free app here – http://bit.ly/recruiting-iPhone-app

Mobile apps are no longer simply a luxury; they are quickly becoming an essential tool for business.  If you want to make sure you reach your audience where it spends its time, the mobile Web can no longer be ignored.