Digital Business and Marketing - What Works?

Src: CNN/Money

1. "My" works better than "your." "'Start my free trial now' will get more clicks than 'Start your free trial now'," Atkinson says. "The word 'my' suggests to people that it's already theirs, so why not claim it?"

2. If your service is free, emphasize that. Adding "100% free" or "Get started for free" will always help boost conversion. When SumAll added "100% free" to its site's headline, sales jumped by 18%.

3. Reassure potential customers that privacy is respected. When asking for an email address, "make sure to clearly state that it's for your eyes only -- for example, 'We won't ever sell your information. We hate spam too'," Atkinson says.

4. Use active phrases on buttons. "Don't ever label buttons with the word 'Submit'. It isn't descriptive enough," said Atkinson. "Instead, make sure the button says something like 'Get instant access'."

5. Colors matter, and orange buttons encourage people to buy. The reason behind it is a bit of a mystery, but Atkinson thinks it's partly because "sites like Amazon and eBay have so popularized orange buttons that they've become what people expect."

6. Placement matters. On your homepage, make sure images and videos are on the left, while the call to action is on the right. "Western audiences tend to read from left to right, so this simple tweak is surprisingly effective," Atkinson said. At SumAll, this one change boosted conversion by 5%.

7. Personalize recommendations. Use product badges to indicate when something is "new" or a "staff pick" or "just for you." Small as it seems, it goes a long way toward encouraging browsers to buy.

8. Be consistent. Make sure the copy and design of your advertising matches the copy and design of your site, Atkinson advised. "Breaking this continuity, which is a kind of 'scent trail' between ads and online pages, can seriously hurt conversion."

9. Be cautious about using videos. "Those fancy videos startups love can cut both ways," Atkinson observed. SumAll has seen videos discourage conversion as often as they improve it, especially if they're too long. After about 90 seconds, potential customers tend to get bored and wander off.

10. Constantly test what works and what doesn't. Even basics like your company's slogan should be reevaluated. When SumAll changed the tag line on its site from "The world's best tracking tool" to the friendlier "All your social media in one place," conversions shot up by 60%. 

Why Google SOLD Motorola Mobility to Lenovo? Smartphones are a declining market

   With the announcement today from Google that they are selling Motorola Mobility to Lenovo confirms that the Smartphone market is not a growth area.  Lenovo is focused on a race to the bottom of the enterprise space but business smartphones are moving in that area.  The decline of the iPhone revenue further validates the general downward direction of the product space.

   The reason that Google can jettison Motorola so quickly is that the business is not core to the Google revenue model.  For Apple, that is not the case.  By reviewing the acquisitions by Google and the Google Ventures portfolio pipeline, you can see that Google is going in a very strategic set of "blue ocean" new markets.  Apple, on the other hand, must diversify into the iWatch and the iRadio and other ecosystems gradually.

   Google did two strategic moves to hedge against the China Mobile deal.  The first move was to sign an agreement with Samsung for patents and licensing and the second was to partner, essentially, with Lenovo to license the Android and ad platform of Google in exchange for a manufacturing partner in China and, ultimately, an end-destination selling point.

   It appears that without the Steve Jobs' intimidation factor, Apple is not in control of it's destiny.  Bullies are pushing around Apple and it takes an Icahn to be the defender of the company.  Given Cook appealed to AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint to change their carrier plans given the DROP in iPhone says projected going into 2Q2014 raises grave concerns about cash flow until the new product cycles kick-in.

   Google acquired Motorola Mobility to gain access to the valuable patents that it still retains.  After dabbling in the mass market appeal of the Smartphones given Apple-envy, it or rather the Board determined that hardware in the consumer market is not a strategic play given the smartphone marginalization.

So, is the Smartphone DEAD?  No.  Is it GROWING? No.  Is is DECLINING? Yes.