10 Clever Marketing Tricks Using CRM, Link Building and More

Want to master online marketing? There’s so much that goes into creating an effective strategy. But members of our small business community have plenty of marketing knowledge to share. Read on for some of their top tips for taking your online marketing to the next level.

Solve These CRM Problems

Customer Relationship Management is a key part of communicating with customers online. But every CRM system presents its own challenges too. In this SBA post, Anita Campbell explains some of the biggest problems businesses might run into when implementing a CRM system and how to solve them.

Change Your Social Media Mindset

There are some common myths about social media that could be hurting your online marketing efforts. In this post on Strella Social Media, Rachel Strella details what some of these myths are and how to avoid them to make your social media strategies more effective. BizSugar members also share thoughts on the post on the community.

Use These Link Building Techniques to Push Traffic and Revenue

Link building isn’t just a cheap way to bring in customers via search anymore. It involves actually building relationships with other bloggers, businesses and site holders and then nurturing those relationships with visitors once they get to your site. Moosa Hemani of SETalks shares some link building tips here.

Generate Sales Through Social Media

Making sales doesn’t mean you have to have individual salespeople push your offerings onto different consumers. You can actually use social media to generate sales. Neil Patel outlines some tips for doing so in this post.

Pay Attention to Bounce Rate

Your website’s bounce rate is a stat that measures how quickly people leave your website after clicking on one  of your pages. To improve your website and this rate, you need to first understand what it is and why it’s important, as Mike Allton of the Social Media Hat details here. You can see further discussion about the post over on BizSugar.

Boost Your Ecommerce Sales With Email Marketing

Email marketing can let you communicate and form relationships with lots of different customers. Even if you have an eCommerce business, you can use email marketing to boost sales. This post by Vanhishikha Bhargava of Exit Bee includes tips for doing just that.

Create Interactive Content Your Audience Will Love

If you look at content marketing as just a way for you to share a specific message, you might not be getting as much out of it as you could. Instead, creating content that lets your audience interact with you can be more helpful for both your business and your audience, as James Pointon explains in this Right Mix Marketing post.

Master the Time Zones for International Marketing

Marketing a business online means having the potential to reach consumers all over the world. But if you want to actually reach those consumers when they are likely to act on your messages, you need to master the time zones. Bettina Specht provides some tips in this Litmus post. And the BizSugar community shares input too.

Learn From Abandoned Shopping Carts

Running an eCommerce business means providing a very specific type of customer service. You have to create a positive experience for customers on your site. So when they do things like abandoning their carts before completing a purchase, there’s usually something to be learned from that. This post by Leslie Simpson on Carts Guru includes some lessons you can learn from abandoned shopping carts.

Send the Most Relevant Emails to Recipients

Perspective customers on your email list don’t want to receive canned emails that look like they could have been sent to anyone. If you want to provide the best online experience for all of your customers, you need to know how to send only the most relevant emails to each of your customers. Scott Heimes explains more in this Marketing Land post.

 Source : http://bit.ly/2aK2HRt

4 Ways to Turn Marketing Ideas Into Engaged Customers

Having engaged customers is, of course, the holy grail for marketers. Some may argue that increasing sales would be the ultimate goal but I would argue back that the most engaged customers are the happier they are and in turn the more revenue will be generated.

A recent global survey of 255 executives across a range of industries and functions from both the brand agency sides of the aisle conducted by Forbes Insights and sponsored by Oracle Marketing Cloud, identified four (4) keys to success in translating marketing visions into more engaged customers via a better relationship between brands and agencies.

1. Successfully mine all of the today’s rich sources of data. 

There is, of course, no shortage of data available. In this context, however, attribution is essential for understanding the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and knowing which investments will deliver the best results. 

Lisa Donohue, CEO of Starcom USA says they tag all the digital media used in each campaign, whether the channel is the Internet, mobile devices or television. “This helps us understand who is clicking on the ads and what do they as a result. Ultimately, we can then tell if they have made a purchase, which puts us in a better position to track the efficacy of the strategy that we implemented.” 

However, Kevin Koh CEO of DDB Group Korea cautions marketing organizations to not lose sight of the art and science of the profession. For example, he sees great value in information that can help convince clients of the efficacy of a new campaign. But while important, the wider use of data analysis shouldn’t be allowed to quash creativity. 

2. Capitalize on the latest technologies for understanding customers and managing marketing programs. 

Survey results revealed that marketing executives express a widespread understand- ing that the latest digital technologies are powering marketing efforts for agencies and marketing organizations alike. 

Survey results also showed that brands and agencies are relying on a range of technologies to further their customer- engagement efforts. Among the most widely deployed applications are social networking tools, web analytics, digital advertising platforms, marketing automation systems and multichannel campaign management programs. 

3. Enhance professional and personal skills.

 New demands mean agencies and brands require new skill sets to be successful. This includes finding people with a broad understanding of businesses, not just the marketing function. “As corporations rethink the role of marketing, we’re seeing deeper integration not only between marketers and their agencies but between marketers and peers in the operations, technology, product and finance departments,” says Patrick Adams, Head of Consumer Marketing, North America. “What makes a stellar head of marketing today is someone who not only has the marketing skill-set but who can also flex across technology and product/merchandising. That skill-set makes for a great marketing leader and will ensure success in the future.” 

4. Balance local and global imperatives. 

Mindful that brands have a global reach, marketing executives must pay attention to regional differences across various international markets. Top local considerations, according to the survey, are what existing technology foundations are prevalent in a target country and the cultural characteristics that must be addressed. 

Executives say brands can’t effectively connect with local customers without a strong regional presence in important markets. Adams says PayPal relies on marketing teams dedicated to overseeing consumer experience in local markets and those teams interact frequently to discuss performance results, new product launches, and other initiatives. 

Source: http://bit.ly/26I4EF9

5 marketing quotes of the week

11 Common Blogging Mistakes that Waste Your Audience’s Time

Quick question: Do you know anyone who doesn’t suffer from information overload?

We live in a world full of cheap information. At the push of a button we can get our eyes on far more ideas, blog posts, and news stories than we could ever possibly consume.

It’s hard to remember — or imagine, if you’re a lot younger than me — when information was a scarce resource. But time is a scarce resource. It always will be. And with information everywhere, it is imperative that you treat your readers’ time with respect when they give it to you.

Especially if you want to build trust with your audience so they give you more of their time in the future.

Nowadays, words can seem cheap. It doesn’t really cost anything to publish more blog posts, send more emails, share our life with even more social media updates.

But the idea that pixels don’t cost much is flawed.

Occupying more pixels means taking up more time from potential readers. If you’re not adding value with those pixels, you could be wasting the time of your readers.

And time is an irreplaceable resource. Time is precious. We all know it.

So avoid the 11 common blogging mistakes below at all costs. They waste the time of your readers by contributing to information overload without offering value in return …

Blogging Mistake #1: You love complexity

It’s often thought that complexity is a sign of academic achievement, intelligence, or sophistication.

But the opposite is actually true.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

~ Leonardo da Vinci

A sophisticated blogger uses metaphors to illustrate abstract ideas. She tells simple stories to explain complex concepts. She appreciates the time of her readers.

Next time you write, see how you can simplify your message. There’s no need to dumb down your ideas. Just help your readers process your post and be inspired by you in less reading time.

Blogging Mistake #2: You’re self-indulgent

Let’s not pussyfoot around it.

The harsh truth is this: Your readers aren’t interested in you, your life, or your stories.

As a blogger and content marketer it’s your job to help your readers, to guide them, and inspire them. Talking about your experiences is fine — it can add color and personality to your posts — but only if it helps your readers become healthier, happier, or more productive.

When you want to write a story about your life, ask yourself this: What’s in it for my readers? How can my experience help them?

Blogging Mistake #3: You think you need to publish daily

Are you clogging up people’s inboxes with your announcement of yet another post? Or are your readers excited to see another email of yours arrive?

When you publish blog posts without adding any value to conversations, you end up wasting space. You waste precious pixels.

Don’t waste people’s time with an endless stream of blog posts. Only write when you have something to say. Your audience would rather read one post that inspires them than 20 crappy posts with recycled content.

Blogging Mistake #4: You write purely for SEO

Writing exclusively for Google will bore the boots off your readers. If you’re onlywriting for robots, then you might be wasting human time. Your readers aren’t interested in regurgitated keywords that exist for crawling robots.

Don’t allow Google to turn you into a keyword-processing machine. Don’t allow Google to kill your creativity.

Always write for your audience first, then optimize for search engines later.

Blogging Mistake #5: You focus on word count

Does this sound familiar …

You’re staring at your computer monitor. At the bottom left hand corner you see you’ve written 537 words. You wonder what else you can write.

The idea that more content is always better has been heavily promoted by some, but this is wrong. The task of a writer is not to write more “text”. The task of a writer is to communicate a message in the length it takes to fully communicate that message.

Got your message across in 537 words? Well done. Now, try to do it in less than 400.

Blogging Mistake #6: You don’t write in plain English

Jargon, gobbledygook, and bombast slow your readers down.

Jargon requires your readers to stop and think about the meaning of your words. Gobbledygook takes up their time without adding meaning. Bombastic sentences slow them down because they’re full of unnecessary words.

When you cut excess words from your sentences, you’re doing your readers a favor. When you replace long words with simpler words, you’re delighting your readers.

Make your posts as easy to read as possible. Write as if you’re writing for a 12-year old. Show your readers you value their time by writing in plain English.

Blogging Mistake #7: Your conclusions are stale

It’s an easy mistake to make.

You’ve poured all your energy into writing your post. Now you’ve gotten to the end, and you wiz through writing your conclusion so all is done.

But serving up an uninspiring conclusion is like presenting the cheapest supermarket ice-cream after a lavish home-cooked meal. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Don’t disappoint your readers with a bland conclusion. Try writing your conclusion first. Or write it the day after you’ve written your post.

Put all of your enthusiasm into a conclusion that inspires, motivates, and energizes your readers.

Blogging Mistake #8: You don’t know who you’re writing for

The idea that you’re writing for hundreds (or thousands) of readers may sound great, but it can kill your writing voice … fast.

When you don’t know who your audience is, your blog posts become generic. They end up speaking to no one and just taking up space.

Instead of addressing a crowd, write as if you’re having a conversation with your favorite reader. If you’re not sure who that is, make up an imaginary friend:

• Write down what she’s dreaming of and what keeps her up at night
• Consider what you can do to help her realize her dreams and take away her worries
• Write down at least 20 ideas for how you can help in your blog posts

Having lots of people read your posts is great (of course!). But when you write your next blog post, just think of one person. Your post will instantly become more personal, more conversational, and more engaging.

Blogging Mistake #9: You don’t care about your topic (anymore)

If you don’t care, why would your readers care?

Boring text slaughters people’s appetites for reading. A good blog post is written with passion. When your enthusiasm shines through, you invigorate your readers.

But how can you get excited when you’ve grown bored with your topic?

• Talk to clients and understand how you can make their lives better
• Find a good salesman and ask how he or she would sell your ideas
• Look for an expert and learn about fascinating details
• Explore other topics and see how they can be related to yours
• Challenge yourself to write your most inspirational post ever
• Take up a writing challenge—come up with a new metaphor, write an ultra-short post, or write a poetic post

Write when you feel enthusiastic. Get blissfully happy and share your excitement. Get angry and passionately argue your case.

You can’t make a dull draft exciting, but you can improve the structure and polish a text dripping with your enthusiasm.

Blogging Mistake #10: You edit your posts in less than five minutes

Are you a super-writer who writes almost impeccable posts in one go?

Most of us can’t even edit in one go. Consider at least four rounds of editing:

• Review the flow of the post. Can you remove any paragraphs without impacting your story or argument? Does each paragraph naturally follow the paragraph before it?
• Take out the funny asides that aren’t funny or aren’t relevant.
• Polish each sentence. Cut overly long sentences in two; replace difficult words with simple ones; and cross out redundant words.
• Correct any grammar or spelling mistakes

The more effort you put into editing, the easier your post becomes to read. Your message becomes clearer, and your readers will be grateful.

Blogging Mistake #11: You don’t show your personality

Let’s be honest.

Hundreds — maybe thousands — of bloggers write about exactly the same topic as you. What makes you different? What makes you stand out?

When you share useful tips without letting your personality shine through, you become interchangeable with any other blogger in your niche. You become a “me-too” blog, a commodity.

How can you let your personality shine through and increase the value of your blog posts?

• View topics from a fresh perspective
• Present arguments to suggest an opposite approach to what most people believe is right
• Share your personal experiences to guide your readers
• Entertain with your unique sense of humor
• Develop your own blogging voice that speaks strongly to your tribe
• Share a glimpse of who you are to bond with your audience

Your personality, your experiences, and your voice make your posts unique. Your readers don’t just come back for more useful tips. They engage with you because of who you are.

The harsh truth about blogging …

Your readers don’t need another blog post.

Your readers don’t need even more tips.

What your readers need is you — your wisdom, your ideas, your unique stories on your chosen area of expertise.

Never take your readers’ attention for granted. Their time is precious. Use it wisely.

Source : http://bit.ly/1phEAiW

5 Leadership Strategies That Get Results

Leaders are often thrust into their positions. They are promoted; they are entrepreneurs whose businesses grow and require the employment of others. All of a sudden they must lead others, and that can be a scary prospect. If this is you, relax. Over time, you will adjust and adapt and get the help you need to become a good leader. For the moment, however, there are some things that you can do to survive. While great leaders all have a large repertoire of skills and traits, they all also incorporate these 5 strategies into their leadership approaches. So, here are those strategies – you can implement them right now if you stay mindful of the behaviors that they require.

1. Integrity

While this may not be considered a strategy per se, the behaviors that come from having integrity are. Leaders with integrity are honest with their team members. They do not cheat; they do not cut corners; they do not slough off while all others are busting their butts. Instead, they have a set of principles for work that they model for their subordinates, and then they can expect the same from those subordinates. For example, if a project is going to have big challenges and require extra hours to meet a deadline, the leader is right there, working along with his/her team. And ordering the pizza or the Chinese goes without saying. A leader with integrity is admired by his subordinates.

2. Time Management

Strategies for time management should be a big priority. How do you schedule your day? Do you have a plan? Has that plan resulted in a prioritized list of the tasks to be accomplished by the end of the day? With each new project, time management comes into play. What is the timeline for project completion? How will it be broken down into manageable tasks that are then assigned to team members? How will you monitor the time management of others as they fulfill their responsibilities? What resources can you acquire that will streamline mundane tasks and help your team members streamline theirs as well? There are many facets to time management but they all begin with one thing – a plan.

3. Communication

Like time management, there are a number of elements in effective communication and each is a strategy that you must incorporate:

• Holding regular meetings with your team will be critical to forming good relationships with them. They need to understand your priorities and expectations, and you need to know what they need to do their jobs. When in the midst of a project, everyone needs to share his/her update. If there are issues or challenges, meetings in which everyone has an opportunity to make suggestions and team members can collaborate in creative problem-solving serve to solidify relationships among team members. And your willingness to listen endears you to them. They need to have a stake, and having the ability to be totally open with you will encourage “ownership” in all that the team must accomplish.
• Meetings with individual team members is another critical element. First, you need to get a “feel” for each member’s strengths, challenges, likes and dislikes. You also need to communicate that you care about each individual on a personal level. You want them to feel comfortable addressing any issues with you openly; there are times when employees’ have personal circumstances or crises which may impact their performance. They need to know that you are a leader with empathy and a willingness to be flexible when necessary. This is how you gain loyalty and trust.
• Praise is an element of communication too. When there is a job well done, an employee wants to know that you recognize and appreciate that. Be honest about praise and provide it when warranted. And if you are not able to hand out a material reward, then give that employee something else – half a day off will do nicely.

Leaders communicate with words and behaviors. Make sure that your communication strategies are encouraging openness, an atmosphere of trust, and confidence in team members’ abilities.

4. Delegation

To have leadership skills means that you have the ability to delegate tasks appropriately. These are the strategies that you must implement:

• You have taken the time to know each team member as an individual. And because you have done this, you have the information you need to delegate tasks. When you break down a project into smaller task responsibilities, assign them according to strengths and taking into account what members like to do.
• If you find skill deficits as you monitor task completion, see to it that the individual has the opportunity for training and coaching. This sends a strong message that you are invested in your people. When they know this, they will work harder and invest themselves in what needs to be accomplished.

5. Being a Servant

Employee morale is something you never want to damage. And a large part of keeping morale high is your willingness to be of service to your team. It is your responsibility to ask them what would make their jobs easier. It is your job to find the resources they need and to work alongside them when “crunch” time comes. It is your job to turn their complaints into problem-solving opportunities. When you do these things, then you can keep your expectations for their performance high and they will do what is necessary to meet those expectations – they are loyal and committed because you are to them.

Source : http://bit.ly/1OpWOmO

How to Use Snapchat to Its Full Potential

With over 100 million active daily users, Snapchat is an extremely valuable tool that brands can use to market themselves. However, if your brand does not know how to properly promote, engage or talk to those users, then the popularity the social app has does not matter. By effectively promoting and posting the right content, brands and influencers can utilize Snapchat’s large amount of users.

Send snaps to your Snapchat friends

This may sound like a silly no brainer, but sending snaps to your friends on Snapchat is the most basic, yet effective way to engage consumers. In 2013, Taco Bell caused users to ‘fan-girl’ over the snap of a new burrito and its release date. It was a secret announcement made only to Taco Bell’s Snapchat friends.

Promote on other social media

A simple way to promote your brand on other social sites is to post your Snapcode or make it the accounts’ avatar. QR code-like images that are scanned by the app encourages consumers to follow your Snapchat account. The Huffington Post, Cinnabon and Toys “R” Us are just some of the brands who have changed their profile pictures to their Snapcodes.

Upload posts to other platforms.

Keeping on the idea to use other social media sites as a promotional tool, put Snapchat posts on other platforms. If your brand has a larger following on Instagram, save the clip from Snapchat and upload it onto Insta. "For now, the most efficient way to grow your Snapchat audience is to post your Snapcode on your other social channels,” said Victor Pineiro, vp of social media at Big Spaceship, “Or else tease some of your brand's best Snaps to other channels with a strong call to action and your username."

Utilize Stories

Send snaps to your friends, but don’t forget to post to your story. Stories push your brand through the “one-to-one” limitation sending snaps can create. That “one-to-many broadcast is familiar and your brand can market to thousands of followers at one time.

Post behind the scenes

When you post Stories, give consumers a look behind the scenes. Everyone loves to feel special, and getting a peek behind the scenes gives a sense of exclusivity. Free People uses their Story to give showroom tours and show models during photoshoots. They also personally snap users and ask questions like how their weekend went. All of those elements combine to gives Free People’s Snapchat followers a valued relationship.

Promote your social channel outside of the social space

Last year to try and get more followers on Snapchat, Sprite Brazil printed Snapcodes from 15 social media influencers on its cans. Snapcodes are functional, and allow users to find your account with ease.

Host Giveaways

Free stuff always draws attention. When Groupon first created their Snapchat account, the company gave away stuff for an entire week. Groupon caters to an older audience than Snapchat normally draws in and the contest help get their consumers onto the social site.

Keep ads fresh, short and fun

Consumer do not like to watch ads, therefore when they do see one, especially on Snapchat were it can easily be skipped, it should be fast and fun.

For a recent Dunkin' Donuts and ESPN campaign, with internet celebrity Brandon Armstrong after shooting the duo, “picked the clips that would work best on Snapchat,” reported Ad Age, “which meant the ones that focused "less on specific Dunkin' Donuts products, and more on engaging the audience through fun, playful shorts," said Scott Hudler, VP-global consumer engagement at Dunkin' Brands, in an email.”

 

Source : http://bit.ly/20knoqe

10 Reasons Why Brands Should Be on Snapchat

There is no denying Snapchat’s growth. Since November, the messaging app has gained another billion views bringing it to seven billion views, Business Insider reports. The number of views has been growing exponentially for the brand, which has tripled its views nearly six months earlier. It is still just shy of Facebook’s 8 billion video views a day, but with Snapchat’s growth points that they will be passing Facebook very soon. As 2016 gets underway, it is clear that Snapchat is one of the social apps that marketers should have their brands on.

So what should you know about Snapchat before diving in?

1. Everything is short-lived; Snaps and stories only last one day on the app. Snaps are individual pictures or 10 second videos; while Stories are the compilation of the day’s stories. The ephemeral nature of Snapchat means users are continually checking in on their favorite channels and users. Users create about 800 million snaps and videos per day.

2. More than 60% of smartphone users, between 13-34 years old, use Snapchat. 37% of Snapchatters are between the ages of 18-24 years old.

3. There are at least 200 million people using Snapchat; about 100 million users are snapping daily. They are highly engaged and they are staying with the product. Snapchat thrives on engaging their users through user created content that never stays the same.

4. Snapchat Discover allows brands to get in on creating their own content. Like Stories, Discover allows brands access to 24 hour storytelling for their company. Snapchat’s layout of vertical videos and full screen layout are conducive to easy viewership. Brands like Food Network, Refinery 29, IGN and Wall Street Journal are just a few brands that are taking advantage of Snapchat Discovery.

5. Snapchat Live is a unique feature that curates user created content. Users who are at the same event location have an opportunity for their snaps to become part of the Snapchat Live story. In Brixton, London fans spontaneously gathered to celebrate David Bowie, and the snaps and videos were curated as a tribute which runs through the end of January 12th.

6. Snapchat counts video views that are less than a second; however, the user has to proactively play the video for the tally to count. Other social media giant, Facebook considers three seconds to be a view, but their videos will automatically begin to play as the user scrolls past. According to Business Insider, 90% of all brand advertisers are repeat advertisers. While it is still difficult to really monetize the ROI with Snapchat, the audience keeps bringing advertisers back. Why? It is the “in” place to be. As we said before, Snapchat tripled its video views per day in six months, and added another million views per day over the holiday period.

7. Lenses and filters are two ways that marketers can reach users on user created content. Lens is a type of feature that allows users to change their appearance. Brands can sponsor the 24-hour lens, like Beats did on Black Friday. A lens will cost a brand about $500,000-750,000. Filters (geofilters) are tied to a location or event and allow users to put a sticker, frame or drawing that overlays their snap. McDonald’s created one of the first sponsored filters which allowed users to add a burger and fries to their snap whenever they were near a McDonald’s location.

8. Snapchat is growing quickly outside the US. In the UK, Snapchat users account for 25% of smartphone users and in Norway 50% of smartphone users. The app itself is also expanding offices to the UK and taking along some powerful social media presences with them. The former director of agency partnership at Facebook in the UK, Claire Valoti, and former members of Twitter, AOL and Buzzfeed have, joined the Snapchat UK offices.

9. Snapchat is building an application programming interface (API), according to Digiday. This will allow advertisers more precision and better execution with their marketing campaigns. While the API maybe a few months off still, Snapchat has made advertising growth their focus for 2016. “Snapchat’s ambition going into 2016 is to have many more opportunities for e-commerce on the platform and other stuff that is more about building audiences,” said an ad agency executive with direct knowledge of the plans.

10. The numbers do not lie. Snapchat has set themselves up to be one of the strongest contenders in 2016. Their quick growth and their highly engaged users make Snapchat a great place for marketers to stretch their creative muscles, and tap into that hard to reach 13 to 34 year old market. With their promises of stronger e-commerce opportunities for the upcoming year, Snapchat is where marketers want to be. 

Source :http://bit.ly/1OxpDio

Web Design Trends of 2016.

Web design is constantly changing. Even the hottest trends of 2015 may not survive in 2016 – a saddening fact that we will call the circle of life.

But the good news is that the internet is still evolving and developing. Fresh and new ideas are always popping around us. If you would like to know the web design trends of 2016 then just continue reading.

1- Motion Animation

Did that photo just moved now? No need to check your eyes. Those subtle animations that make you to look again are called cinemagraphs and they are the new trend in web design. Cinemagraphs are a series of videos or images edited into a continuous loop.

Cinemagraphs in other words, can be said as a mix of photographs and video- which gives us the benefits of motion storytelling, all without buffering. When you look at how Kevin Burg and Jamie Beck, the two photographers who invented the term “cinemagraph,” use this trend in their website design, you can see that they have a background picture of Paris on constant loop and that the entire cinemagraph is less than 3 megabytes only. This even shows that you can load cinemagraphs on your mobile device.

If you want to know how to do cinemagraphs through Photoshop then here’s an awesome tutorial.

2- Background Video

Although cinemagraphs are great, don’t overlook the beauty of background video, which got into this list before.

While I love cinemagraphs, they are quite difficult to produce – it takes some sweat, tears and blood to produce those three seconds of beauty. However with background video there is minimal effort or error. Watch The Go Go Boys:

Notice how the background video changes between multiple mini-scenes. These background videos help brands to share their unique stories in a way that go beyond still photos.

3- Friendly Micro-Experiences

Internet in the early years was so impersonal. Words and phrases like “fatal error,” “submit,” and “invalid input” didn’t help things. Everything was functional and not very good … or human.

But fortunately nowadays the trend is moving towards human and user friendly experiences. It’s completely okay to add some humor and flair into your website. Creating “micro experiences” or playful little moments on your site will delight your visitor and encourage them to engage more.

Sprinkling personality throughout your website is what will make you stand apart from your competitors. Don’t be reluctant to use everyday language to humanize your brand.

4- Parallax Scrolling

If you have played an old school Nintendo game, then probably you are familiar with parallax. Parallax is the visual effect that you see when the background image moves slowly than the foreground image. It creates a sense of depth, which is really great because you are looking at a 2D screen. For example, check out this game of pet prince Borisz Kutya:

5- Smoother Opt-Ins

Opt-ins of the pop-up variety is really annoying right? Yes and no. If you are researching all day like I do then it can be annoying, but if you are a casual surfer like most, then it can serve as an effective way to get information freely. An opt-in that pops up when you are reading something may be unsolicited, but that doesn’t mean that it is not welcome.

Pop-ups are not the only type of opt-ins trending these days but applications like Welcome Mat helps you to customize it with images or video to make your visitors feel special.

6- Illustrations

One of the more pleasant design trends is illustration. Instead of photos and videos there is also a move towards including hand-drawn doodles, even if they are done in Photoshop. This type of illustration is unpretentious and folksy. It is an alternate to the digitizing of the web.

7- Mobile-Friendly Design

In April this year Google made a decree that all websites should be mobile-friendly if they want to rank higher in search engines. And that brought about the death of Pinch to zoom.

This is actually a good thing because 50% of the people use mobile to access the internet as against desktop computer. Chances are, a large portion of your users are visiting your website through their tablets and smartphones. Are you making them to double tap and struggle? So if you don’t want to lose your users to your mobile-friendly competitors, then make your site mobile-friendly.

Get Ready for 2016

Web design is fluid. One year something is hot and the next year it is a cold leftover but you don’t have to keep up with all the trends instead follow what is best for you. In this way you will both feel comfortable as well as satisfied.

Source : http://bit.ly/1mZFyPA