Rod Motta - User Experience Visual Designer » Social Media

Things to think about – designing the sign up experience

Rod Motta — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:28:09 +0000

These few tips on designing the sign up experience on your website are also the basic outline for Joshua Porter’s book designing for the social web. He has a lot of other very important info but I think these few really help the process of specifically thinking about the sign up experience:

Describe WHAT it is
Show HOW it works
Show the end result
Explain WHY
Give examples of WHO is using it
Use Testimonials or Case Studies
Get Specific
Give numbers

Quick thought on the “real time” web

Rod Motta — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:33:49 +0000

The best use for real time communications on the web is not to simply bring in the most recent information on a topic, but rather to make clear that others are experiencing or interacting with the same content at the same time.

How would sites or web apps be different if you could see who else is there with you in each moment?

Why smart people do dumb things: a lesson from the financial meltdown

Rod Motta — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:36:57 +0000

As we dealt and continue dealing with the fallout from so many executives making such terrible decisions, the simplest advice seems the most appropriate. Figure out what you care about and devote yourself to that purpose. Stay the course, even when your colleagues wander off course. And never forget that if something sounds too good to be true—from no-money-down-mortgages to instant riches with a hedge fund—it probably is. “When you run with the pack, what you generally see are other people’s backsides,” Arkadi Kuhlmann says. “We know why we’re here, and it’s not to copy other people’s bad ideas. Every person who tries to do real innovation is going to be tempted by money, greed, acceptance, being in the middle of the action”.

Sometimes, the most important form of leadership is resisting an innovation that takes hold in your field when that innovation, no matter how popular with your rivals, is at odds with your long-term point of view.

Words to live by.

Corporate Websites and Social Media

Rod Motta — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:29:03 +0000

As the dynamics of the Web 2.0 continue to evolve, we will see more and more consumers not only expecting, but demanding, to interact with companies and products. Corporate websites can sometimes be less than compelling… Perhaps a shift will come where corporate websites will become the forum for interaction rather than outside social networking sites…just a thought…

Do you see a shift at some point in the future where corporate websites will become arenas for that amount of dialog? Couldn’t it only be beneficial if that interaction was done on the corporate website? For example, rather than fans dialoguing on Facebook and commenting on the Wall there, do you see a point where a corporate website will have fan profiles and a corporate Wall? If so, do you think that would be detrimental to the company’s overall reach for exposure? It is interesting to see how social media forces the evolution of corporate behavior.

I personally love learning more about a company by hearing from its “fans” and consumers through social media rather than having a company website tell me who they are. On facebook, there are many ways to tell that story about your brand or company.

I noticed that VW ran a commercial with their facebook.com/vw website on the bottom right of that commercial. That was awesome!

Have you figured out how to market in the new age of conversation and community?

Rod Motta — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 01:42:16 +0000

The new marketing reality is all about relationships and according to the new marketing reality article, it’s impossible to create relationships from outside the circle.

Shouting your message to your audience in the traditional advertising way is still relevant but declining. Now it’s about getting involved in the conversation that your audience is having. Shouting is a one way conversation, talking is two-way and provides so much more value to your customers.

Your brand needs to join the party: be part of the conversation, listen, learn, contribute. Maybe even inspire and mobilize. But only if you’re there.

Is your brand in the new circle?

10 reasons why every CEO has to get on Twitter now

Rod Motta — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:24:00 +0000

Great article from Zappos CEO about it’s time for CEOs to get on Twitter.

It’s amazing that so many CEO’s still don’t get this couple of other thoughts and support points to the article in the link above:

One of the key reasons CEO’s and companies stay out of this space is time commitment, no excuse, but it does take time
Social media takes ROI from return on investment, to return on involvement to return on information — use social as an insight engine
Everything should be social — social TV, social banners,….
Leverage “Transmission Effect” — persons spreading your brand
Consumers do not adhere to a convenient linear path — they create their own personal path to the brand.

What is the ROI in Social Media Marketing?

Rod Motta — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:34:17 +0000

Are you using social media marketing? if so is it providing benefit to you and your company?

A new whitepaper called “How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses” by Michael A. Stelzner, has been written and distributed (one of the top retweeted updates on Twitter right now) that looks at how SMM is being used and what results are coming from social networking.

The whitepaper addresses:

The top social media marketing questions marketers want answered
How much time marketers are investing in social media
The benefits of social media
How time invested impacts results
The top social media tools

If you’re pondering starting social media marketing, these findings will help push you over the edge.

Embarrassing attempt at Social Media.

Rod Motta — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:09:37 +0000

Charley Schwab had an opportunity to create a true conversation about retirement built around some very interesting survey findings. They had the chance to create a social media community. Instead, they just plugged in some corporate talking heads and made it just another site selling IRAs.

Take a look at Rethinking Retirement, and see if you agree or not.

You can read more about this at Market Research Insights.