QR Codes: Best. Practice. Ever.

January 12, 2012

QR Codes work well, except when they don’t –  but they can!  Following my 2012 New Year’s Resolution to stop doing dumb things (wish me luck), and coming on the heels of multiple successes in which QR codes have helped me make money by helping my clients win new customers, I offer herewith my take on the value of QR codes.

What’s Cool

I love QR Codes and all 2-dimensional (“2D”) codes for two reasons.   First, they help to combine the best of the physical world with the best of the digital world.  Second, they make life easier by eliminating the need to memorize, type, or otherwise manually translate a URL in order to render content digitally.  The highest use of 2D codes is to bridge an excellent real world experience to an excellent online experience.

As of this writing, however, we are in a place where their use is not widespread, so be aware of situations in which your printed content and your online content probably should not substitute and, rather, might need to be a bit redundant.   Each version must still stand on its own, since the vast majority of people are not yet acclimated.

Marketers love QR codes because they make interaction with the physical world clickable and, therefore, measurable.  I get to do more of what I love, too: obsess about large CRM data sets, mining and combining it to detect the faint signals of user behavior that will help satisfy more people.  Everybody wins!

What’s Broken – Why QR Codes Disappoint

According to Forrester Research, however, those who do click on QR codes – primarily young, affluent males – generally hate them.  This is mainly due to the bumbling mis-steps of marketers.

Firstly, QR codes are ugly – - although plenty of people have found ways to fix that (read on).

Secondly, many people are confused about how to scan them.  This is exacerbated by the walled gardens created by competing companies.  Microsoft (just one example) has its own unique 2D code technology, which requires its own unique reader app.  How lovely.

Third: the various free downloadable apps required to read QR codes don’t all function the same way.

Last and worst: user disappointment.  Simply being redirected to the same byzantine website available via large screen device is uninspiring, to say the least.  People typically avoid browsing websites on a small phone screen, so why use a QR code to force them?  Effective QR codes don’t link to ordinary websites.  Instead, they link to an instantly satisfying, sharable experience – on a par with music, photos and email, or content that is uniquely useful wherever the QR code is displayed.

Try thinking of a QR code as new type of “share this” button, a way to augment enjoyment of the real world, and a delightful sharable experience.  That thinking alone should keep you out of the weeds, but to be thorough, here is a list of best practices.

How to Fix It – Turn QR Codes into a Viral Experience

Here are some basic items to consider when contemplating use of 2D and QR codes.

1. Audience awareness.  Again, most people are not acclimated.  Do the obvious: include instructions to help new users engage.  Even savvy users need to be informed on what rewards to expect.  For some examples, see the last page of this QR Code usage guide I created for a print / QR code campaign promoting an iPhone app.

2. Usage patterns.  If you plan to use QR codes multiple times for multiple campaigns, treat each as its own campaign – complete with strategy, goals, success measures, etc. Then, for each instance, caption each code with the URL, app instructions, Call to Action and reward info. Set the stage for fulfillment by setting user expectations before they scan your code. See the example linked in section 1 above.

3. Size and placement.  Your 2D code must be of sufficient size, placement and proximity to be easily scanned. This excludes TV (too fleeting), subway (no wireless signal means no way to access the online content) and Billboard (too distant; depending on which reader software you use, your own pulse may cause your handheld phone/camera to shake too much to reliably scan the code).  Ideal: printed material or flat surface, within arm’s reach. Up close and personal.

4. Visual Appeal.   You can beautify a QR code, either through free experimentation, or for a price using a reputable designer.  It’s not just a nice touch, it’s also a branding opportunity, so we can expect this beautification trend to increase.  Whereas the lowly barcode has faded like a footnote into the borders of package labels, the comparatively prominent physical placement of a QR code could harm the beauty of your content or its location – a slippery slope, indeed.  Who wants a future where a physical, beautiful world is obscured by electromechanical codes?  Fine for robots, not for me.  Moral: beautifying your QR code makes it buzzworthy and increases sharing.

5. Mobile-optimized.    Create an experience that is based on portability, location, SMS, sharing, or instant fulfillment and feedback – anything but an ordinary website.

6. Convenience.  Think: Is a 2D code the fastest, easiest and/or only way to access the content, share it, and/or fulfill some need?  If so, great; go for it.  If not, think about other ways to deliver content more effectively.  Again, an ordinary website, not mobile-optimized, is not a value-add experience and not a fulfilling one.

7. Engagement.   Make it memorable.  Reward users, rather than disappoint them. Make your destination content instantly useful and satisfying.  Include share buttons so your audience can tweet, email, post and rave about the cool experience you provide.  Want viral?  Do that!

My take on QR codes: end of a fad!  They are here to stay.  QR codes and 2D codes can help you create a satisfying customer experience and, done well, convert sales.

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Posted by Ed

The New Consumer Demand: I Want My MDV *

December 2, 2011

*MDV (def.) Massive Data Visualization

It’s my data.  Give it to me.  Oh, and help me leverage it, too.

This demand is customary in the business world, but increasingly it comes from the mouths of consumers.

How Did We Get Here?One way: be your own landing page link!

The consumerization of data analysis is not new. You could put your finger on any point in the timeline of humanity, as far back as the invention of the printing press.

A key inflection point in the 1980′s occurred when the mass distribution of personal computers made it possible for us to create  documents and spreadsheets and share them via email.  It continued in the 90′s with distributed networks and the advent of the Worldwide Web for searching and sifting, managing virtual folders, bookmarking, saving, copying, sharing etc.  In recent decade,  we built a habit of  tapping data stores for making decisions – in online shopping with its price comparison engines.  For most of us, it is now our first resort.

Today our social media tools help us to sort and manage our relationships, connections, conversations, and the statistics about those sorting processes, into visual and mental maps about our lives.   Is your organization generating customer data that’s worth sharing with your customers?

As Clay Shirky remarked in his book “Here Comes Everybody“, the problem is “not information overload, it’s filter failure”. We really can only care about the most meaningful data.  Which data is that? How do we decide? What tools are available?  I mention a few cool ones below.

The Tyranny of Time

That issue is inflated by the tyranny of time, in that we each only have so many waking hours in each day. Note to self: I booked a couple of hours this Saturday afternoon for some spontaneity, but I may have to time shift it to Sunday. Hmm, I’ll just mark it as Tentative on both days. We’ll see.

We have taught ourselves to prefer to depend on data.  Tainted by the fallacy of following a HIPPO (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion), as their instincts born of experience led us off various cliffs, soaring on the wings of faith, only to find that we left our data back at the cliff and are now flying blind, and just might be losing altitude, we are now looking over our shoulders and wondering if we could use that data right about now.   Meanwhile, back at the cliff, people are gathering more data to decide whether or when to jump and, if so, in what direction.  If you have used your smartphone to scan the merchandise QR code and compare prices, you get the value of massive data visualization on a small scale.

Who’s Doing It?

The new mantra is: Give me my data, in a way that helps me use it to make decisions faster.

One problem:  detecting the useful faint signals in all that data is still a daunting task, but usually is accompanied by a few “Aha!” moments, whether you are a consumer, producer or business.  A few people are making progress in this area, like Coloci and InMaps.  In the enterprise space, new entrants like Qliktech are invigorating the space long dominated by established players linke IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and Microstrategy.  Have you tried them?  Have you found others you’d recommend?

What are you doing to give people transparent access to their data?  Whatever you decide to to, it just might make you their hero.

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Posted by Ed

Why We Buy: the Science and Gamification of Loyalty

July 11, 2011
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Resized, renamed,...

Image via Wikipedia

Gamification is not just playing games online.  It involves an understanding how the science of game mechanics can motivate us to achieve our goals.

Being a Fan Foundry involves applying principles of human motivation.   Maslow’s ”Hierarchy of Need” suggests that once our basic food, clothing and shelter needs are met, we are free to satisfy higher level needs like belonging, learning and self-actualization.  We humans are a constantly striving bunch.

Sales and Marketing professionals have long studied Maslow, B. F. Skinner and others to learn how to recognize and interpret “buy” signals, improve the buyer experience, increase qualified leads and convert more sales.   Whether you are in retail, e-commerce, enterprise sales, education, politics, contract negotiation or consulting, a review of some basic principles might help you discover ways to  improve your results.

In this upcoming series of “Why We Buy” articles, we examine the science and review real world examples of their application, so you can consider how they may fit your own business challenges.

Use the “Keep in Touch” button (right sidebar, top) to receive monthly notices of upcoming installments in this series.

“Why We Buy” Topics (click live titles to visit articles; more to come)

  • Default (path of least resistance or effort)
  • Sunken Cost (good money after bad)
  • Aspiration (status seeking)
  • Achievement
  • Challenge
  • Reward
  • Progress tracking
  • Competition
  • Pride (emotional investment)
  • Reciprocity (tit for tat)
  • Status – (gain/loss)
  • Gratification (delayed or immediate)
  • Reinforcement (thanks, BF Skinner)
  • Resource Slack (tomorrow never comes)

More to come!

Related Articles:

Gamification: How Competition is Reinventing Business, Marketing and Everyday Life (Mashable)

Engaging Patients with “Gamified” Mobile Care (Healthcare IT Solutions / Perficient)

Gamification is Bullshit (Persuasive Games)

Persuasive Games:  Exploitationware (Ian Bogost on Gamasutra)

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Posted by Ed

Default: Path of least resistance or effort

July 11, 2011

from the Fan Foundry “Why We Buy” series  

Like water flowing downhill, human tendency is to take the easy way and the familiar way.   This has implications for website design, e-commerce, sales negotiations, marketing automation, training and fostering loyalty.

Design

In Web design, Recursive (repetitive pattern) Web navigation follows this principle.  It’s all about consistency and reliability.  Early Web designers borrowed print publishing navigation techniques, and today still use these familiar layout patterns to ease the user experience.  We expect websites to offer a top of page menu bar that persists as we navigate the site’s pages.  Minor clues such as changes to the menu bar’s colors or other features help us trace our journey of discovery through the site, so we can confidently concentrate on consuming content without losing place.  Some designers call it “breadcrumbing” after the children’s fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, in which the two lost children found their way out of the woods by retracing their trail of bread crumbs.

The usability motto seems to be: “Don’t make me think.  Reassure me.  Keep it simple, familiar and intuitive.  Don’t make me work more than absolutely necessary.  I prefer the path of least resistance and effort”.  Let’s not mistake this for laziness; rather it is an indicator of the fleeting nature of human attention, especially online, especially these days.

Captivate

While directing sales and marketing for Piehead Productions, I visited the Usability lab at Fidelity Investments, where every day millions of dollars in customer revenue are dependent on a pleasing, authoritative visual site navigation experience.  This dependency exists at every touchpoint in the customer experience – not just the website, but also in back-end fulfillment systems, brick-and-mortar locations, phone and email communications, etc.

Visual navigation science research at Fidelity tells us that the most important fields of information on any screen are – in exact order: (a) the top left, (b) the top center of the page (“hotspot”) just below the top navigation bar, and (c) the right column horizontally to the right of that center hotspot. Our eyes tend to focus our vision on these three fields, in sequence, when we first arrive at a website, seeking validation.   Of course, you could short-circuit this process by inserting a huge blinking headline somewhere, but then the site would be perceived as “busy” or “annoying.

According to Marketing Experiments, site visitors typically take no more than 8 seconds at those 3 fields to get  validation by answering the following questions:

  • Why am I here?
  • Did I get what I expected?
  • What else can I do here?

If your site content can promptly answer those 3 questions, people will likely spend more time on your site, value its content, and visit again. Conversely, if your site is confusing and cannot satisfactorily answer your visitor’s questions, then sadly the Back button often becomes the path of least resistance.

Design is part of Content.  Good content, supported by good design, including visual layout that supports visual navigation, convinces people to validate you as a worthy place to confidently transact business.

Convert

How does the Default principle influence and motivate transactions?  Landing page forms, Profiling and Configurator pages are a few useful examples.

Landing Pages. When preparing a landing page, conversation or other transaction setting, use Defaults to speed the transaction and improve convenience.  A website registration page, for example, might be default-set by you with the “I wish to receive email from you” box pre-checked.  The visitor would have to uncheck that box if they wish to opt out.  This might be perceived as tricky or manipulative – until you read the following true story.

Real World Example - Here is an actual current example.   At QVew, I performed an A/B test to determine an optimal approach to build an email list for a particular campaign.   I first configured the landing page form with the “keep me informed” box unchecked.  Very few visitors checked the box.  Later, I revised the form so that the checkbox was, by default, pre-checked, meaning any such visitor form submissions would result in those visitors being added to the email list.  Instantly we began receiving completed landing page forms with the “keep me informed” box checked – almost unanimously.  Visitors had overwhelmingly decided to do nothing and leave the box checked.  Fortunately, email recipient opt-outs are also low, thanks to some attentive follow-up marketing.

In the A/B test above, overwhelmingly people left the checkbox alone.  Checked or un-checked, it didn’t matter.   They followed the path of least effort.  Our subsequent marketing email “open” rates experienced a dip due to the abundance of new “sleepers”, but at least we earned the opportunity to cultivate a relevant relationship, and we subsequently converted some sales and are cultivating new relationships.

Profiles.  Just ask Amazon.  By enabling people to create an account and store a profile and credit card information, you greatly simplify the checkout process and increase the likelihood they will transact with you again.  Amazon, Expedia, Netflix and other large commerce systems “remember” you when your return.  Their Recommendation Engines “flag” you via email with notices about merchandise that match your stated preferences and past buying behavior.

Configurators.  Cell phone and computer sales sites enable people to sort and select product options like size, color, price and other features  options to determine availability of solutions that match their preferences and requirements.  Once done, it’s a simple matter to place your order.

Valuing the Investment of Time and Effort

Here is the important part – and it’s also a glimpse at a couple of additional ”Why We Buy” articles that deal with phenoma known as “sunken cost” and “time value”.  Once we have completed a configurator experience, we value that investment of time and effort by saving the page settings and any passwords, and bookmarking the page for quick retrieval.  In the few scant seconds it takes to make a buying decision, we are more likely to re-use a stored configurator page than to re-type our information into a new system.  Following user instincts gives you the opportunity to build loyalty by making people’s lives easier.

For more topics from the “Why We Buy” series,  click here.  Use the “email updates” button (right sidebar) to automatically receive monthly updates.

How are you applying knowledge of the human tendency to follow the Path of Least Effort/Resistance, or Default, to improve your audience experience?

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Posted by Ed

Mobile Email Formatting Tips

May 26, 2011

This article was originally posted on the QVew Tips site, for use by clients of QVew, a SaaS platform for mobile/social marketing.    

Smartphone sales have overtaken feature phone sales, which in turn overtook  laptop and PC sales years ago.   Every year that gap widens.  Almost everyone with an email account reads it on the go for at least part of each day, and some days the only device available is the mobile phone.  For decision makers, the mobile device is the weapon of choice.  Remember, however, than for every smartphone owner consuming our gorgeous new  multimedia phone messages, there are still 4 times as many feature-phone owners who get email mainly as enhanced text or HTML.  The moral: design your email messages to suit all mobile readers if you want good results.   Here are a few considerations.  As usual, I’ve included some resource links at the end of this post.

1.  Header fields (Sender and Subject)

On the small screen, it’s even more crucial to clearly identify yourself and your organization in the Sender and Subject field.    People often set their mobile devices to receive only header info, or they’ll visually scan the first few lines of a message,  then decide which messages are worth their time.  It’s the electronic equivalent of sorting your postal mail while standing at the wastebasket.  Ever done that?  Thought so.   Effective Sender and Subject information will vastly improve your open rate.

The Sender field should have a human’s name in it and/or your business name, if you are a business.     Example:  ”Jane Doe | XYZ Corp.”   The Subject field gets a succinct headline (40 characters max) front-loaded to convey the main benefits to the reader.  If you have more than one main message, consider sending a separate message for each, unless you can weave multiple subjects into a single theme to fit that brief 40-character Subject line.     According to Epsilon, who have tested millions of emails for the world’s largest companies, the top factor in improving email open rates is a short, sweet, front-loaded subject line – one that has been a/b tested.

Avoid gimmicks.  Example: the “re:” gimmick spoof.  The “re:” tag indicates a forwarded message – NOT one originated by you.   Gaming the audience’s inbox in this way is actually a frequent scammer / phishing tactic.  You don’t want that reputation.  ”nuf said.

2. Top of message body: Text, not Graphics

If you follow these two rules, you’ll stay out of the weeds:  (1) don’t make me think; (2) don’t make me wait.   Avoid placing graphics in the upper left corner of your message body.   Use that valuable piece of real estate for an impactful text message.  Get to the point quickly, so your readers can begin benefiting right away.  Leading your message body with a graphic instead of text can cause confusion and delay reading.  Users of devices set to text-only who clicked your juicy headline don’t want to find a blank screen (graphic placeholder).  Graphics-enabled users don’t want to see a tiny upper left corner of an oversized graphic – also very confusing.   Interrupting  busy people’s “flow” or confusing them with guesswork will result in fewer opens, clicks and conversions, and more deletes and unsubscribes.  Best practice:  lead with text, minimize use of graphics, and shrink the graphics to button size, thumbnail size, or narrow banner.   If your graphic is so large that no text is visible on-screen, shrink it.

3. Navigation and Conversion

Limit navigation complexity.   Width:  between 450 and 600 pixels is ideal, to minimize horizontal scrolling.  Use a single column format, not a multi-column newsletter format.  Height:  If possible, limit it to just minimal scrolling (max: one additional screen’s worth of content below the visible screen of content).  If you include a data capture form, avoid multiple required fields.  Just capture the bare minimum information to advance to the next level in your relationship with the reader.  Do you really need their mailing address if you already have their email address?  If the answer is still yes, then start by asking for just zip code  if you do location-based business.   QR codes are great for this purpose; NFC (near-field communication) is still a year off in terms of widespread adoption.

4.  Call to Action (CTA) links

Support your main topic or offer with buttons and text links.   Be sure your link supports the Subject line of the message.   Clearly state any time-limited offers or timeliness of the message to inject urgency.  Make your action button large enough so it can be reached by the outstretched thumb of those one-handed gadget-slingers.

Size and spacing of buttons and links are important considerations.   Buttons work great on smaller mobile touch screens because they can be larger than text and thus work better when fingertips navigate small touch screens.   Consider separating each text and button link by at least a line of text or equivalent blank space, to help your big-boned readers navigate effectively and avoid annoying misfires.

Equally important:  send your recipients to mobile-optimized landing pages.   Mobile-optimized means everything mentioned in this article, plus: narrow page width and brief copy.  Optimizing your website for mobile may mean providing alternate navigation – especially if your main website menu is of the horizontal drop-down type; they can be fustrating (finger-nav misfires).

5. Alt text tags

Every graphic element can have an alt text tag.  Think of Alt text tags as a “Subject”  tag or action phrase describing the companion graphic element.  These tags are becoming increasingly important as we see telecom carriers starting to charge mobile users for heavy data usage.   Expect more users to set their devices to download the text-only messages first, then decide to download graphics or view video based on the text and alt tags.  Write a compelling Alt text label for each graphic element and Action button in your message.   Your tags will still appear in a text-only message in place of the graphic, to let readers know what they’ll receive if they decide to download the graphic version.    Moreover, HTML 5 will let those alt tag fields function as live links – without downloading the graphic element – which is great for busy people who don’t want to pay or wait for the graphics, so use the Alt tag to help people decide when and what to click.

6. Visual text/graphics balance – the 80/20 rule rides again

At least 80% of your message should be text with text links, and no more than 20% clickable graphics.  This helps make certain your full message gets across quickly even if it’s the text-only version, and it ensures fast, successful downloads for people who want the full visual message.  Even 4G mobile download speeds are generally slower than desktop device speeds.  In fact, a good test is to first compose your email as a text-only version, to be sure that your entire message and action links are visually appealing, tell the complete story, and generate a response.

7. Social Media Buttons:  Share or Snare?

If you have Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other complementary accounts that might help readers get to know you better, include those link buttons.    If you opt for social “sharing” buttons, place them prominently alongside content your audience might wish to share.   Caution: while it’s magnanimous to provide social “share’ buttons so viewers can share your email with others, experience has shown that email readers generally would rather get more info themselves to facilitate a decision before they decide to share it.  With this in mind, it is actually more effective to have your social media buttons link to additional information to facilitate buying decisions.   Your own circumstances may vary; it is best to A/B test the social sharing / snaring button to determine which has best effect for your audience.

8. Consider using cascading style sheets (CSS).

CSS can help detect and change the size of image and text to comfortably fit different sized device screens.

9.  Testing!  Testing!

Our lifetime conversion rates exceed industry norms simply because we test our messages.   Does this mean that until email testing becomes more standard practice, you too can beat your competitors simply by testing?  Probably.

Send a test email to your own mobile email reader – or as broad a variety of email readers as possible – to check for visual appeal and link performance.   Some of the more sophisticated marketing automation tooling actually has this testing feature built-in.   After all the hard work you’ve done to create your gorgeous, compelling email outreach campaigns and acquire a faithful audience,  the few minutes spent testing gives your marketing ROI significant lift.   Conversely, if you ignore this step and send an error-laden email, don’t be surprised if people begin to ignore you and your results suffer.  Don’t be that person!  Make it count, grow your audience and build loyalty!

What has your experience been?  Any tips to share?  I’ll add them here and credit you.  Or you can discuss below, or just ask a question.

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Posted by Ed

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