Accessing emails on a mobile device is a modern day convenience for many – allowing the ability to access and respond to emails from virtually any location. However, reading an unoptimised email on a mobile device can quickly turn into a nightmare with unmitigated amounts of finger-scrolling and blindly searching for relevant information.

Rapid changes in user behaviour within the email marketing industry are currently driven by the strong adoption of smartphone and tablet technology, particularly within Australia. The most up-to-date, authoritative report on mobile device use (ACMA’s Report 3 – Smartphones and Tablets: Take-up and use in Australia) noted that in May 2012 an estimated 8.7 million Australians aged over 18 used a smartphone. Within smartphone users, over 47 per cent nominated mobiles as their preferred device over desktop and tablet. It can only be assumed that figures have increased over the past months. With increasing user uptake, how can email marketing efforts adapt to retain user engagement?

Firstly, the most important principle to uphold is that of creating a seamless user experience across all communications. At the most foundational level, best practice principles for desktop email creation still hold true for mobile email optimisation. This means knowing the audience – optimal send times per industry; what subscribers are reading, and what they’re clicking on; crafting concise, tailored subject lines, and creating engaging marketing messages.

All leading smartphones are capable of rendering HTML code, to a certain extent. This enables email widths to automatically resize to fit the device’s screen. To make the most of this smartphone feature, some essential design principles are starting to become evident amongst digital leaders in email marketing. These are namely, the structure of single columns rather than two or three column formats, and the design of ‘finger-friendly’ buttons and links.

For a truly mobile-friendly experience, however, emails can be built much like responsive websites. Using code, email elements can be automatically rendered to fit the screen-type that opens the email. As well as resizing content and auto-formatting, coding for responsive emails can also hide navigation and content for mobile readers only, focusing messaging and catering for shorter attention spans. With the reader in mind, responsive emails are the all-encompassing solution to providing the most fluid digital experience across mobile, tablet, and desktop devices.

As the digital marketing landscape evolves right before our eyes, it’s important to note that email marketing is by no means, a declining trend. As the habits and behaviours of consumers change to meet technological advances, organisations must also adapt to continue to deliver a seamless user experience. While it’s comforting to note that the basics and best practice still hold true, it’s exciting to consider the possibilities for organisations when responsive email design is incorporated into their digital strategy.

Source: ACMA, Report 3 – Smartphones and Tablets: Take-up and use in Australia, May 2012

In 2013, we are proud to continue our work with speciality coffee brand, Campos Coffee. This company does not do anything without adherence to their rigorous quality standards; it goes for their products, it goes for their staff and, it goes for their digital marketing activities.

Their digital eco-system has evolved in the past 12 months to include a website, online store, mobile site (which includes the online store), Facebook page, and email database, as well as digital advertising and search marketing that complements all activities. This creates an opportunity for an integrated strategy and user experience that supports their digital marketing objectives. There is some sensitive information around these activities I cannot describe. What I can offer though, is insight into one digital priority for Campos Coffee in 2013 which leverages our highly integrated client-agency relationship.

eCommerce and mCommerce are important tools for Campos Coffee and it has been so pleasing as a digital agency to see them embrace both. We are constantly working to analyse, change and develop the online store to adapt to consumer behaviour and improve ROI.

We are always watching and always working.

The online store is managed through a custom built Content Management System (CMS) that allows their full range of products to be available online. It currently allows users to check out securely with PayPal, their credit card (Mastercard, Visa, AMEX) and watch this space…

Whether it’s purchasing a monthly recurring coffee purchase (plunger? espresso machine? maybe whole beans?), a once-off birthday gift purchase (wondering what a clever coffee dripper is and where you can get one?), a Coffee of the Month subscription, or booking a session at one of their three flagship stores’ Cupping Rooms, the website design and online store seek to provide a positive user experience that is reflective of the brand’s impressive quality standards.

These digital objectives go for not only the customer target audience, but for Campos Coffee staff.

The CMS is used nation-wide by the company’s various distributors, wholesalers and staff. Orders must be clear and easy to process at the store end, while Liquid Interactive must remain highly responsive to any queries. At the end of the day the online store is open 24/7 and therefore, it must always be fully functional with minimal down time. Technical support and risk management are not things the end customer can see, but are clear website development priorities for both Campos Coffee and Liquid Interactive.

There are all sorts of strategic decisions and digital marketing tactics I could talk about in the Campos Coffee digital eco-system. Of everything we do though, eCommerce and mCommerce have been stand-out activities that Campos Coffee fully utilises to grow their business.

We are delighted to have customers in the Campos Coffee online store be so self-servicing in their purchase process, in such a short amount of time. We will, however, continue to learn about audience behaviour and create features or adapt processes that will encourage customers to transact, maintain a positive user experience, and ensure everything works for Campos Coffee logistically.

There’s always more to do, and we’re going to do it.

I’m increasingly interested in the new ways stories and narratives can unfold across multiple devices and channels. The opportunities for engagement are vast and only matched by the mind boggling combinations of communications points that are available in our world today. The communications landscape is exploding, literally, and among all of these fragments marketers and educators have to find new pathways to connect with their audiences.

Interactive storytelling – whether it’s for brands, students or entertainment – is now combining social media, mobile apps, data and even audience collaboration, among many other techniques which are not normally considered part of this practice.

The connected consumer is putting the story together themselves and it’s our role as storytellers to provide them with the main ingredients. Far from being easier, the ability to develop a meaningful story arc, creating and sustaining drama, and moving people in emotional ways, is becoming more and more difficult.

Today’s stories involve the audience; they have to find and explore the story, put some of the pieces together themselves and actively choose to listen to your story. That’s the key difference.

In a world where the consumer decides where, when, how, and what they will engage with, modern storytellers are challenged by a daunting task. Creating cohesion, suspense and drama, through a combination of Facebook, YouTube and a mobile or web interface, is no easy task. For that reason it’s more important than ever that the consumer is passionate and engaged with your message – after all it’s up to them now to do the work.

I recently attended SXSW, in Austin Texas, where I went out of my way to explore these themes. The results were fascinating. Modern storytelling has less than ever to do with story arc, drama comedy and denouement, and more to do with data, interface, analytics and social participation.

A lot of the innovation that is being explored in this area seems to be concentrated in Europe. Projects such as the Cosmonaut, for example, rely on collaboration as a core element of the production, but also explores new ways of funding and distributing filmed entertainment.

This kind of digital disruption is just the tip of the iceberg. The IDFA Doclab project has dozens of examples of new and different ways for users to experience interactive documentaries in ways that are still experimental, but compelling nonetheless. If the session I saw that was presented by the founders of deviantART was any indication, then we have clearly reached the tipping point where new forms of entertainment, documentary and educational storytelling are almost mainstream.

For marketers, educators and entertainers that still see social media, mobile apps, and online channels as spokes in a wheel – think again! Check out Korsakow Institute and Florian Thalhofer’s work on SNU’s (smallest narrative unit) and POC’s (points of contact). These guys have developed software for interactive documentary style productions as have the people at Story Planet.

The key findings I made are that “all bets are off and anything is up for grabs” in this space. No two projects are the same. Whatever your message, whatever your story, success will come as much from which channels you chose to include, and the specific mix and tailoring of the mediums; as the passion and engagement you can give to or get from your audience.

• Storytelling is now collaborative, whether you like it or not
• Data, Analytics, and Social are as important as the characters of a story
• Pick the channels and platforms that best help you to tell the story and let the audience put the pieces together

Come and join us at EduTECH in June!

For the first time ever, Australia’s biggest education and technology conference is going to be held in Brisbane. We’re diving in head-first with a speaking slot and an interactive booth, so if you want to attend some presentations and panel discussions or just enjoy the conference buzz, make plans to attend!

What’s worth seeing at EduTECH?

EduTECH is a massive conference with dozens of presenters, hundreds of industry exhibitors and thousands of registered attendees. Across five separate congresses it covers technology in K-12, tertiary and corporate/government sectors. It has celebrity speakers (Ken Robinson, Sal Khan, Dan Pink), masterclasses (Stephen Heppell, Ewan McIntosh) and it’s a great opportunity to meet people, swap stories and sticky-beak at a range of technology and design companies.

The conference runs from June 3-4 (with masterclasses on June 5) at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

What will Liquid be doing?

Liquid Interactive will be up to all kinds of mischief during the conference:

• On Tuesday 4 June I will be presenting a seminar on the subject of changing complex behaviours using digital technology. The presentation will be a deep dive into the design principles behind three major projects that have all influenced social and emotional behaviours by using gamification, social interaction and mobile design. We’ll demonstrate what works and why, and give attendees some principles they can apply to their own projects.
• We’ll also be manning a cool interactive stand where you can come learn about some of our flagship projects, as well as find out more about Totara LMS (if you’re in the market for one of the world’s best learning management systems) and chat to Michael, Samantha and Emma.

We think this is going to be a fantastic event and we’re certainly trying to make a valuable contribution to the proceedings, and we’d love it if you stopped by. Keep an eye on our Twitter, Facebook or blog if you want more details on the conference and on what exactly we’ll be doing that’s of interest. Also, be sure to visit the EduTECH website to secure a ticket to the conference!

If you want to arrange a meeting during the conference, just send a quick email and we’ll get right back to you.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has typically boiled down to two key factors: relevancy and authority. The purpose of which is to drive quality traffic to your website. In a similar vein, social media activity aims to create and maintain long-term connections with visitors to your brand, and in many cases direct them to your website for engagement.

SEO is like the how-to-be-found of the search world, but when we only consider search engine rankings we miss out on the potential traffic benefits that can be enjoyed from a social web presence that has a farther (and more direct) reach. And vice-versa, a narrow focus on social media is likely to result in a loss of prominence by not having your content in the top search engine results pages.

Search engines do in fact take social media signals such as likes, views, shares, +1s, etc., into their page results ranking. Google+ is now far more integrated with organic Google search results, which is why the combination of SEO and social practices are so important – to maximise consumer touch points in an authoritative discourse. Similarly, Facebook is rolling out data sharing with Bing, allowing searchers to see what their friends have deemed as useful information.

However, the principal assistance that social provides to SEO is link development. Better yet, these links can become regarded as authoritative content that highlights a business’s core value proposition. Blogging is one of the key mediums to build links and authority. By writing consistent and high quality content that is useful to key demographics external links from within industry and/or consumer circles can be achieved. Moreover, this content develops a strong keywords focus that tends to rank well for long tail keywords, furthering content relevance.

The importance of social sharing, relevance and the authority of a recommendation in consumer decision making processes are supported by findings from Neilsen research. Neilsen revealed that 92% of consumers indicated an increased trust in earned media outlets, such as social media platforms, as opposed to traditional advertising. That is to say, links recommended by friends and family are perceived as being more valuable.

These examples are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Aligning SEO and social media efforts are essential practices in a unified digital marketing strategy. Doing these tasks in an amalgamated manner can really boost SEO performance and ensures that social media is maximising its efforts in traffic generation.

Devine and Leighton Property’s joint venture Hamilton Harbour project website was today replaced with a fresh, new, sophisticated site, to represent their luxury river precinct apartments.

The old website received a complete overhaul incorporating Hamilton Harbour’s fresh new branding into a vibrant, functional design. Liquid designed and developed the website responsively ensuring optimal usability for the property industry’s growing mobile audience.

Hamilton Harbour represents the complete river precinct living experience combining designer residential apartments, retail spaces and commercial offices. The web design and development focused on providing a simple browsing experience for the project’s largest target audience, prospective residential buyers.

Optimisation efforts included simplifying the old site’s complex navigation, restructuring the content following browsing behaviour patterns and rewriting the content for a time-poor digital audience. The site was also optimised for search ensuring maximum ‘findability’ in the competitive residential search market.

Good efforts from the whole team, with an awesome result!