Webinar Resources

News you can use from Mark Rice+   I have been seeing a lot of faces pop up when I run an organic search in Google.  After a recent call with my account manager at Compendium, I discovered that I can link by blog with Author Rank in my Google+ account and my smiling face will appear next to my blogs.  Here is an example below that links the Google+ account of my account manager, Melanie Ramsey to her blog.  Pretty nice Melanie   I have got to try this..

Unfortunately, it takes a few days for the Google+ linkage to take effect.   I will check in later this week and do an organic search on MobExMe^TM which is a new startup we are launching.  St. Louis is becoming a hot bed for entrepreneurs in the last eighteen months. I believe the spark was ignited with the St. Louis Arch Grants program that was launched two years ago. There was a great program on our local PBS station that focused on entrepreneurial ventures in St. Louis and this video provides insight on the explosive growth of St. Louis startups.

We are reaching out into ways of delivering dynamic mobile and marketing automation solutions that amplify awareness, enhance the user experience and capture response at the right moment.   Stay tuned!

We recently designed and delivered a homepage "facelift" and social media "tuneup" for one of our customers.  We enhanced their website by adding rotating slides with call to actions on the homepage (the facelift) and added social media links to their website (tuneup).   The customer also had a few Brainshark videos that we produced and hosted on our site.

As we wanted visitors to stay on the video page, we were challenged with displaying several Brainshark presentations on one page.  The solution was to develop a menu selector that launches and displays different embedded Brainshark presentations in one embedded window.  You can see the embedded Brainshark menu selector here.  Now visitors to the customer video page can easily select the video they wish to view.  

This application resulted in a better user experience and freed up space on the customer's web page.   We also developed a mobile site and utilized a folder view to display the customer Brainshark mobile videos.

If you wish to learn more about our homepage facelift and social media tuneup services, reach out to us at http://mobex.me/mxus.

We have all received snail mail with our first name in an enclosed letter.  "Mark", you have won $1,000,000 dollars!.  How I wish.   However, marketers have used email marketing to capture response at the right moment by using personalization.   It is a known fact that recipients are more likely to open email that is more relevant and targeted towards their business.

We recently supported one of our customers with an email campaign with specific content that was targeted towards decision makers and influencers in their customer accounts.  Even though the content was personalized to to the specific persona, we did not see the open rate we anticipated.  After reviewing the results and content, we decided to include the company name of each recipient into the subject line.

The open rate for emails delivered with the company name in the subject line increased by 11.5%.   Based on this response, we determined that the use of the company name made the emails more targeted and relevant to the recipients. 

Capturing response at the right time is critical to breaking through the noise barriers created by competing marketing messages.  Use a variety of multi-channels and personalization techniques to increase reach and response with content that resonates with your recipients.

In my last blog post I described how I was planning a multi-channel campaign using Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, printed materials, QR codes, a mobile-optimized web site, my e-newsletter and postcards. I am using Google campaign tagging along with short urls to see which channels are the most effective.

To make use of Google Campaign tagging, first create a Google Analytics account for yourself if you don't already have one and put the Google Analytics code on your web pages.  Your webmaster can help you add the Google Analytics code if you need assistance.

Next, add a question mark to the end of any urls you want to track and add tags for "campaign", "medium" and "source" as in this example. There are five available codes but you can do a lot with just these three. (If the question mark does not work, try an & sign instead, that worked for me on one type of url.) The bold part is the campaign code added to the original url.

http://www.example.com/?utm_campaign=spring&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter1

campaign - is what you select as the identifier for the whole campaign. For example for my clearance sale I picked "clearance2013".

source - is where the traffic is coming from.

medium - is what type of media was used, for example two urls could be on the same web site but one is a banner and one is a link so I could use "banner" for one and "link" for the other.

Here are what two of my urls look like that are for the clearance sale campaign, coming from the web site www.sell66stuff.com but one is a banner and one is a link. The bold part is the campaign code added to the original url:

http://carolynsstampstore.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=48&utm_campaign=clearance2013&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=sell66stuff

http://carolynsstampstore.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=48&utm_campaign=clearance2013&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sell66stuff

For more help with Google Custom Campaigns, see the Google documentation.

Long urls such as those are fine for situations where the end user cannot see them, but for a printed advertisement or a social media post that is too long and confusing. You can use a url shortening service, such as the one offered by MobExMe^TM - QR Code Generator and URL Shortener, to generate one of the above urls into something like this: http://mobex.me/clearweb.

Once your campaign is underway, you can check Google Analytics to review and analyze detailed tracking data. Log into Google Analytics then go to "Traffic Sources", "Sources", then "Campaigns". You will see a graph of visits with a list of your campaigns below it. Click on the name of the campagin to see more detailed information. All of the parts of my campaign are not yet built but some parts are working already and have left a record in my stats:

This information will be very valuable to me the next time I plan a multi-channel marketing campaign!

My ecommerce web site, Carolyn's Stamp Store, is a real business but it also functions as a laboratory for testing out techniques and strategies to employ on behalf of our clients. I am currently running a Spring Clearance Sale campaign. I would like to share with you some ideas on how to plan your own multi-channel marketing campaign.

1. The first step in my planning process was to decide what the purpose of the campaign is - in my case, to let people know about my clearance sale and to recruit signups for my free e-newsletter.


2. Next I made a list of all the media, channels and tools that I wanted to utilize in the campaign. My list includes:
   • Carolyn's Stamp Store web site
   • Google Analytics campaign tags
   • Banner ads displayed on other web sites
   • Facebook
   • Twitter
   • Pinterest
   • Packing slips that go in outgoing orders
   • QR codes
   • Mobile optimized web site
   • E-newsletter
   • Postcards


3. As I brainstormed about how I was going to use all the channels and tools and how they would integrate with each other, I made a list of tasks I would need to complete for the campaign. I put the jobs in the order in which they would need to be executed. The list is too long to reproduce in full here, but here are a few examples to get you thinking of your own campaign ideas:
   • Design banner ads for web sites and e-newsletter
   • Create new mobile-optimized web site that includes space for advertising current promotions and e-newsletter signup form
   • Reprogram existing QR code already on printed materials and aim it at new mobile-optimized web site
   • Promote ad and links to clearance section on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest
   • Design postcard
   • Prepare mailing list and print mailing labels


4. With the use of a number of media in one project, it's important to get an idea of which strategies brought the best results so that your next campaign can focus on the most effective channels. Before beginning work, my last step in the planning process was to create a series of Google Analytics campaign codes and short urls designed to let me know how my campaign is progressing. In my next article I'll describe the process in detail to give you ideas for how you can use campaign tagging in your multi-channel marketing efforts.

Valentines Day's will always have a special place in our heart as we announced our QRCombo application one year ago today - http://mobex.me/2d2x.   This unique application combines mobile video and a call-to-action lead form in one QRCode. 

Since our announcement, we have discovered many new use cases for QRCombo and our MobExMe mobile platform.  Restaurants are now using QRCombo to drive traffic by combining mobile video with a menu of several options to reach out to them (that appears on the second scan).   Now that we have combined Brainshark's new HTML5 player with our QRCombo application, we can deliver relevant content and capture response at the right moment in one scan.

Businesses are using QRCombo to capture leads using lead forms from Salesforce, ExactTarget and our new ExactTarget partner, Pardot.   A whole new world of mobile automation is opening up and we are excited to bring our mobile mix to the market to build revenue, relationships and renewals.

So we thought it fitting today to develop a unique Valentine's application that is powered by QRCombo and ExactTarget landing pages.   Today we are announcing a new QRCombo solution that combines photo and mobile phone sharing capabilities.  We have wrapped it up in a QR code heart - http://mobex.me/QRLove.   Scan the QR code and share two unique photos with one unique person.   Be creative as you want.   You can upload existing photos or take live photos with your partner.   We have opened up the platform so it is open to your creativity and we have made it easy for you to create and share you own memorable mobile moment.   This is just the beginning of a our mobile roadmap and transformation into a new company - MobExMe ^TM - Mobile Media Made Easy ^TM.  Stay tuned!

Last week I subscribed to the newsletter of a non-profit organization and was very pleased with the welcome email that arrived in my inbox. I thought it did a good job of addressing concerns that people are likely to have when they provide their email address to someone.

• "Why am I getting this email?" - covered
• "What will I receive?" - covered
• "Will you sell my email address?" - covered
• "Will I be able to unsubscribe if I change my mind?" - covered
• "Who are you and how do I contact you?" - covered

I decided to create a new welcome email for our newsletter subscriber list that addresses those same concerns. Here is a screen shot to show you how it turned out.

In addition to making subscribers feel good about signing up for our newsletter, they will also get a look at what our email header graphic looks like when the act of subscribing is still fresh in their minds - hopefully this will increase open rates for our e-newsletter in the future.

A welcome email is also a good opportunity to deliver a special message or offer to your subscribers to thank them for their interest in what you have to say.

There are many benefits to a good welcome email - we recommend setting up a welcome email for all your subscriber lists.

In the past few years, marketing automation applications have become the marketing manager's tool of choice to nuture, score and convert qualified leads.   Marketing automation solutions like Eloqua, Marketo and Pardot have successfully captured market share and driven new opportunity and business for 1000s of B2B marketers. These solutions, however, are web-based and do not complement the use of the "second screen" that many of us carry as smartphones and/or tablets. 

Recent research from Google states that 90% of all media interactions are screen based.  This includes web-based viewing where visitors are commonly engaged in the marketing automation process.  However, Google further states that 38% of daily media interaction is consumed on smartphones.

This data is a reflection of all consumer behavior that also includes business people.  However, as many of the readers of this blog know, business people are equipped with smartphones and/or tablets.   How many of you are viewing this content on a smartphone or tablet right now?

Based on the Google research and other research we have found, it is evident that marketers are missing the "mark" if they are not including mobile users in their marketing automation plans.   We produced similar research on viewer behavior of recorded webinar content this year and found that 55% of webinar recorded views were on mobile devices.  We believe that similar percentages of prospects may be missed in marketing automation activities. 

Email is a component of marketing automation, but do opens and click-throughs of email content really constitute a response to a "call-to-action" (CTA) ?   With video the primary mobile content consumed by millions daily, how can you combine mobile video and a CTA to capture the mobile viewer response at the right moment?

The answer is mobile marketing automation.  Mobile marketing automation addresses the large percentage of mobile viewers that existing marketing automation users are missing.  You need a a way to connect, communicate and capture response at the right moment.

Webinar Resources has been an early adopter of mobile marketing solutions and we invite you to learn more about how we can help mobilize your companies' marketing automation efforts.   Contact us at http://mobex.me/mxus.

We thought we would use our MobExMe technology to support the community and provide a tool to amplify awareness of this important month - Breast Cancer Awareness Month.   All of us either know of a friend, co-worker or someone close that has been affected by cancer.  

You can share a simple message and pass on the word to others to remember this important month.

Just scan the QR code below or visit http://mobex.me/grams to enter and share your special message.  Scan the QR code with your smartphone or tablet using one of the many QR code readers that are available on Google Play or the Apple App Store.

You can save the QR code you generate and share it with others.   Just hold the image with your thumb and an option to save the image will pop up.

Take it along with you to events or gatherings that are organized to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month.   It lights up great at night. 

When the recipient scans your pink QR code, that will be able to see your special message.  They will also receive a link where they can create and share their own message.  Pass on the code and let's hope for a cure for cancer.

This application was built on the MobExMe and ExactTarget platforms.

With over 55.5 percent of 280 million U.S. mobile subscribers now owning smartphones, the opportunity to expand reach and response is significant.   These mobile subscribers are spending more time interacting with mobile video, texting, games and social media then they are in making calls. In addition, Google recently released fascinating data that 90% of daily media interactions occur on smartphones.   Consumers are also moving across screen platforms and using multiple devices at one time (TV, laptop, tablet and smartphones).

How many of you moved from your TV to your smartphone during the recent debates or the postseason playoffs to monitor hashtag conversations on Twitter?   Many consumers have multiple devices available for use to review and respond to information posted from friends, fans and followers.

By combining mobile video content with a relevant call to action, you have the opportunity to amplify awareness, enhance the user experience and capture response at the right moment.  Whether it is a donation, a purchase, a lead, an inquiry, location lookup or direct mobile call, there are multiple mobile channels available to you to connect and communicate with smartphone users.  Use a multi channel mix and deliver memorable and relevant mobile experiences that will initiate a call to action to create effective lead generation campaigns and customer acquisition processes.

You can learn more on how to combine mobile video with mobile response at:  http://mobexme.com/QRcombo

Many people have survived severe storms and we wanted to give these survivors a chance to share their stories. Hurricanes, tornados, floods, if you have survived these storms, share your story in a quick note. Tell us what helped you survive.

Google has also just launched a "crisis map" which is tracking hurricane Isaac. In our QRCombo application below, you can scan the QR code, learn about the survival of the Miami Zoo after Hurricane Andrew and scan the QR code again to share your storm survival story.

It was 20 years ago on August, 24th, 1992, when a category 5 hurricane rocked the South Florida area and residents and business felt the fury of Hurricane Andrew.  So what does that have to do with our business in providing customer acquisition and mobile marketing solutions?

We were approached by one of our #qrchat founders, Stephanie True Moss, to produce a special QRCombo application for the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew.   Stephanie and other former residents of Country Walk in South Florida, had their homes devastated by Andrew forcing them to relocate to other states.

Stephanie has planned a special reunion this weekend to remember Hurricane Andrew and to allow others to share their stories..   As Stephanie is one of the leading consultants and speakers on QR codes in the country, she decided to enable the exchange of conversation through QR codes and contacted us.   Her requirements were to mix existing compelling mobile content (about Hurricane Andrew) with the ability to also share memories online at the moment of viewing and reliving past memories of the hurricane.

This is a unique QRCombo application as it blends mobile video footage of the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew and a  "share your story" feature that captures "self-published" content in the second scan of the QR code above.   

Many of you know someone who has been affected by hurricanes, tornados and other natural disasters.  Please pass on this QR code so they can reflect and share their short story.   Our thanks to Miami CBS, Channel 4 News (WFOR-TV). who provided us the footage of the video, to Stephanie True Moss for her guidance and to @Pinstamatic for the use of their sticky note application.

This QRCombo application integrates Webinar Resources'  MobExMe mobile platform with @ExactTarget and @Brainshark, two of our strategic partners in our mobile marketing offerings.

We thought we would add a bit of fun and interaction in today's blog.   Sharkie, the mascot of our partner, Brainshark, is looking for some shark bites (short messages) to chomp on.  You can post a message from Sharkie and share it with friends through your own personalized QR code.

You can visit our Pinterest site to get started, scan the QR code below or select the image to the left.   Remember to keep your shark "bites" to about two lines.  Sharks don't digest too much text very well and you will see a bit of a delay before your message appears on your display.

What do you want Sharkie to say? 

Scan the QR Code to launch the Sharkastic app.   You can download QR code readers for free from the App store or the Marketplace depending on the type of mobile device you are using.

A Webinar Resources/MobExMe production.  Sticky note courtesy of @Pinstamatic (pinstamatic.com)   Sharkie figure and QR shark image courtesy of @Brainshark

Sometimes we have a little fun at Webinar Resources while also testing the waters for new solutions.   In this example, you will see how we can rotate Brainshark presentations with each scan of the QR code.

Meet Blue and Sharkie and join them in their end of summer adventures.

We thought we would provide a multi-channel mix this week of QR codes and shark related content. So Webinar Resources is going to host a daily blog of Brainshark presentations that we have produced that you can view on mobile devices and share with others. Enjoy the this Sharkfest video below.

Scan the QR Code below to view the mobile video on your smartphones and tablets,  Download a QR code reader from the App store or Marketplace.

I've noticed that when I immerse myself in creative projects for several days in a row, ideas come so fast that I have a hard time writing them all down much less executing them. But if I go a few days without anything creative happening, it's a lot harder to get ideas to come to me. If I'm having a dry spell, I have to go through some extra effort to get the creativity back. If you find yourself in a similar state, here are some techniques that are helpful to me.

1. Talk radio helps me concentrate when I'm doing something boring and repetitive, but if I'm working on ideas then I have to turn on instrumental music. Techno and classical are the most effective for me.

2. Being well-rested, well-fed, well-hydrated and in an environment with a comfortable temperature keeps me from being distracted by physical complaints.

3. If I start thinking about a project then do something that's kind of automatic such as chores, showering or driving, good ideas will often come to me because I'm not trying too hard. It's amazing how the subconscious will continue to work on a problem even after the conscious mind has taken a break. For example, in 2010 I attended a Route 66 festival where a vendor told me he had need of information on future exhibit opportunities. While driving home I made plans for a new web site - www.sell66stuff.com.

4. Physical exercise is excellent for getting the brain to work at peak level.

5. If there is no creative client work to do at the moment, I'll often give myself an assignment. There is almost  always self-promotional work that needs to be done and if I can't think of any I can always make up a project just for fun or something designed to practice a new technique.

6. Modern technology provides a lot of good ways to record ideas or inspirations quickly - for example I can take voice notes on my smartphone or use Pinterest to quickly make links to interesting things I see online. I also make heavy use of a low-tech way of recording inspirational images. I keep several three-ring binders for different areas in which I do creative work, for example, Jewelry, Rubber Stamps, Paper Crafts and Ceramics. I also have one called Design Inspiration for graphic design samples that I like and sample color schemes. I fill these binders with blank sheets of paper that I've put holes in with a three-hole punch and add some folder inserts. When I'm finished with magazines, catalogs or paper samples, I cut out things I like and tape them in to make a scrapbook. I can make impromptu sketches or notes on parts of the paper that are not covered with images. Sometimes I even include fabric swatches and ceramic glaze test tiles. When I was in college a design teacher had us do a similar exercise to help us develop our own style and taste. I've continued to do this ever since because if I'm stuck for an idea and I start looking through my idea book, I will inevitably come up with something. The finished product usually does not resemble the catalyst image or images in any way.

7. A variation on the scrapbook idea is to create an idea bulletin board in your creative space, or put shadow boxes on the wall with interesting collections in them.

8. I get the best ideas when my workspace is not too cluttered. If I have time, a good cleaning and organizing session is often the first step.

9. When I was in college, I studied glassblowing. We were provided with clear glass plus a small selection of colors such as white, purple, green and blue that were relatively cheap to mix up. If we wanted to use other colors we could choose to buy our own glass rods of color. Most of us, including me could not afford to do that, but one student in particular had a large collection. He was pretty enamored of them. One of the other students joked that he probably took them to bed with him at night. I do understand about getting excited about your art supplies. Once when a friend visited my studio he said "I think you have everything that Michael's sells in here." I don't have THAT much but I do love art and craft supplies and I do have a lot! If nothing else will work, looking at my art supplies will usually get me excited to start a new project. Color is a particular trigger - sometimes I can feel my heart rate go up by looking at a bunch of colored pencils, or my box of embroidery thread or some jars of beads...

Creativity is a mysterious process isn't it? It's difficult to force on demand, but if you create the right conditions it will flourish! Favorable conditions for you might not be the same as for me. Pay attention to what sparks your creative sessions and you can make your own list of creative catalysts to get you through those dry spells.

We see it time and again.  Another company fails at creating a useful user experience using QR codes.   QR Codes provide a bridge between the physical world (atoms) and the digital world (bits).  In his book "Being Digital", Nicholas Negroponte quotes the fundamental difference between bits and atoms.   Some companies like China, are in the atoms business as they move physical merchandise.  India, on the other hand, its in the bits business as they provide software services and outsourcing. 

Most of you reading this blog are in the bits business but print (atoms) is still a powerful medium to deliver content and QR codes are an effective tool to bridge information in bits through atoms printed on physical material.

Whether you are dealing with bits or atoms, the importance is to understand how to manage the delivery and the experience you wish to convey.  This is where many companies fail when they create and deliver their first QR code.  

Webinar Resources has designed a short learning module that will help you to understand how to create QR codes that deliver quick results - "How to Create QR Codes that Generate Quick Results"

• Learn more about creating effective QR codes by seeing examples
• Download recent and relevant content with your smartphone during training
• View recorded demonstrations of creating QR codes for Brainshark and YouTube mobile videos
• View recorded demonstrations of how to scan QR codes that launch Brainshark and YouTube videos
• Respond to questions in 5 different quizzes
• Create and track your own QR code using our MobExMe platform during the training session

So if you want to be successful with QR codes, then make a small investment of time and money and take this short twenty-seven minute learning module and walk away with knowledge and your own trackable QR code to promote your business.

One of our #qrchat colleagues took advantage of our QRCombo offer and created a QR code for her client, Spelman College. Webinar Resources reached out to SocialMMMDiva and worked with their social media team to further enhance the user experience for the QRCombo code produced for the Eighth Annual Spelman's College Women of Color Leadership Conference. You can scan the QR code to see the results.

The QRCombo code was published in the May issue of Black Enterprise Magazine. We are pleased to have supported this prestigious event. We have pinned the QRCombo code to our Pinterest site - http://pinterest.com/mobilemrice/qrcombo/

QRCombo is a unique QR code application that integrates mobile video content with mobile lead generation.  The Spelman College QRCombo code launches a Brainshark presentation with embedded video and a Facebook page on the second scan.  Tracking of the QRCombo scans is delivered through a personalized ExactTarget landing page. QRCombo is built on the MobExMe platform to support delivery of relevant content through reliable channels.