It was only at a recent Econsultancy web project management course (yes, I can definitely endorse it) that “agile”, a meaningless piece of jargon to me before, gained meaning. It’s actually something I’ve known and practiced for years without knowing the name or theory.

For those that don’t know agile project management, it’s a way of getting things done based on repeated executions that steadily gain additional functionality. Imagine a spiral. You have a complete circle. Then you draw a similar but different (larger) circle. And continue.

It’s opposed to waterfall approaches, whereby all of the functionality of a project is the only target, and each part of the project is unlocked by completion of what (needed to) come before it. The waterfall approach gains its name from the look of the GANTT charts that it uses.

Most pieces of marketing collateral proceed, hand-in-hand with a happily obliging agency, as a waterfall. A project is established with a closed-ended contract for Z, and a project is established to get from A to Z. Ideally, Z is the end-all, be-all and everyone will be delighted when Z is delivered.

One of the big problems with this approach is that life intervenes. Somewhere between B and Y, things change. Or things get held up at D, and E can’t even get started. Many projects simply fail, far short of Z. Nothing is shipped. All is lost.

An agile approach would say “the simplest implementation of what we’re after is D. Let’s deliver that first.” Then, all stops are pulled out to deliver D – a fully functional, high-quality product that can be shipped. The client can start enjoying it. It doesn’t have E, F, G….Y or Z, but it does a job.

Then, once D is live, you reassess. Maybe E doesn’t make sense anymore after D is alive. Maybe you find that D is a huge success, but skipping straight to S makes more sense.

Let’s escape the alphabet soup and imagine an example: A company wants to create a demo for a new product. Why not do this in complete iterations? The first executions would be based on a series of professionally commissioned sketches, and used in the blog and on the web-site. Feedback to this demo subsequently influences the product’s development. The second demo is an improvement on the first, and demonstrates the change in the product. And so on and so forth, for a number of iterations.

This way of thinking has boisterous supporting arguments, among the best being Mark Suster’s brilliant JFDI defense. How many marketing departments freeze under the influence of analysis paralysis? Get something good enough out there. Ship it. Then study it. Reprioritize. Renew. Republish.

Even progressive journalists are adopting this kind of thinking. The most influential among them may be the Jeff Jarvis’s and Mike Arrington’s of this world – both of whom argue that journalism works best in an iterative, dynamic process. A news story remains dynamic and is edited and improved again, and again, and again, as facts come to light and understanding grows.

I’m applying this methodology in my work as a digital marketer, and not just on web-site builds. How? By developing fully-formed products that fit the bill (you have to keep clients happy), but then – crucially – studying the product’s performance, reporting on it and coming back with a reprioritization. “Based on what we know now, here is what we do next. Here is how we make things steadily better.”

Critics/competitors will say that this leads to sub-optimal results. “If Z is wanted, why not go for Z?”, they’ll ask. For some things, yes, like the annual report or something. You’re not going to iterate that product too many times.

Most marketing ideas and pieces of collateral, however, would benefit from a project design that delivers what is needed and no more, shipping it, then reassessing before you proceed.

© Ryan Skinner for Velocity Partners, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: digital marketing, iteration, Web Design, Web Marketing

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Interactive tools to help customers get to know you better, while you get to know them better, are the thing.

I’ve spent far too much time looking for it: Simple(-seeming) interactive tools that allow web visitors to self-select what they want from an information provider.

Yes, that is the basic function of web-sites, and the interactivity is simply navigating the site. But I’ve been eager to find something that doesn’t require a new page to load each time the user refines his request. That’s too slow, too clunky. Sometimes you need tighter controls and a more fluid experience.

Rapid, interactive decision trees or something like it, was what I thought. Not a wildly successful search, though. The closest I came was a decision tree developed by the FDA to help big pharma determine how to market new drugs. It did the job, but it was neither nice to look at nor to build (total reverse engineering job).

Google and YouTube, ironically enough, created an interesting interactive decision tree. This uses YouTube’s newfound interactive functionality to allow viewers to answer their way forward to the ideal information. Lovely google, they provide an extensive wiki and how-to so that you can make it happen.

Then there’s Jellyvision. They’ve already made a product that can be taken off the shelf, and – with the help of a design company and some AV expertise – turned into a first-rate interactive customer experience.

Like all great things, it’s deceptively simple. Just a guy chatting with you and asking you the occasional question to bring you forward constructively. At the end of the play, visitor leaves happy (presumably), with the specific information he/she was after.

Crucially, the host comes away even happier, with specific information about the visitor and his or her preferences. That kind of information greases the wheels of any marketing automation programme, which is probably why Eloqua, for one, has already used it for their own ends.

I’ve never implemented a Jellyvision story, sadly. I’d love to, for anyone willing to take the jump.

And, for those who’ve done it already, I’d love to hear their experiences. How many people who started a journey hopped off? How much time did it take to design the decision tree, and how much time to program the marketing automation that can track it? What was the final conversion rate like?

Lastly, obviously, as someone who spent far too much time getting here, I really want to hear about any other people’s experiences with other interactive tools. What have you seen? Anything even better that does the same trick?

© Ryan Skinner for Velocity Partners, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: design, web analytics, Web Design

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We’re big infographics fans so when LinkedIn launched their new LinkedIn Maps tool, we were first in the virtual queue to have a play. The tool generates a colourful, dynamic map showing all your connections and how they’re related to each other. It colour codes the clusters it identifies and lets you assign your own labels to the colours. You can zoom in on specific individuals and see where they fit in your world.

My network was pretty accurately clustered in these groups:

It would be nice if you could embed your map in a web page or blog post. In any case, the share-able version doesn’t let others see the names of the individuals in your cloud. Which is probably a good thing.

Go have a play.

inmaps.linkedinlabs.com

© Doug Kessler for Velocity Partners, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: B2B content marketing, B2B social media, Content Marketing, design, Innovation, LinkedIn, Social Media, Web Design

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The company offers the best Microsoft .Net CMS on the planet (running nearly 10,000 websites worldwide for almost 3000 customers), along with tools for social media, eCommerce, marketing and sales and event and meeting management. The result: some really impressive numbers over recent years:

–Average growth of 35% per annum over the last five years

–License revenue growth of 49% in 2009 in the teeth of the downturn

–Revenues a spit away from $30m.

The company entered the US market in mid-2009 and has developed a huge community of partners providing add-on apps, plug-ins and extra functionality via its EPiMore programme and an open-source-like community with over 8500 members, called EPiServer World. Best of all, they are really top people that we’ve enjoyed working with on positioning and messaging and thought leadership over the last couple of years.

If you’re looking to move your web estate onto a new platform, you should check EPiServer out.

© stan@velocitypartners.co.uk for Velocity Partners, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: B2B, B2B agency, B2B marketing, B2B marketing agency, B2B social media, B2B technology marketing, Content, Content Marketing, digital marketing, Social Media, Technology Marketing, Web Design, Web Marketing

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When we met them in 2009, IBS, the specialist ERP vendor, was in turnaround. They’d just finished a major restructuring to focus the entire global business on one sector, wholesale distribution, and asked Velocity to clarify their positioning, develop a new story and take it to market.

As part of this process they needed a swish new website and some fast thought leadership content and campaigns.

The Project:

The Consulting Bit:

We came in, made a lot of notes, drank a lot of their coffee, and listened really hard to what they (and their customers) had to say. Then we:

· Simplified and focused the story – to position the company as leaders in the distribution business

· Gave IBS a new language – so they can talk about their products and services clearly ad compellingly – including their new category name: Distribution Resource Management

· Rationalized their product portfolio – so customers know exactly what’s on offer

The Web Bit:

As the first step in getting the new story to market, we:

· Ran analytics and content audits – using personas to develop the site navigation, architecture and SEO

· Wrote and designed a new website – to work as a lead generation platform – all in 6-8 weeks. Which isn’t bad.

· Helped move to a new CMS – by EPiServer, the best CMS on the planet (and a Velocity client)

The Thought Leadership Bit:

Leaders share their views on the marketplace with their customers and prospects. We’re helping IBS with a range of content marketing campaigns including:

· Web pages that are more than just product descriptions – they offer opinion and views on the market

· A series of eBooks –the first one on ‘margin killers’ in wholesale distribution is just the start

· Web video –our perennial favourite — in this case for a user conference series. With more on the way.

The Future Bit:

The foundation is in place. Now it’s time to build:

· Lead nurturing – we’re exploring using tools like Marketo to automate campaigns, and build a marketing funnel

· A customer portal – a mini-Facebook for customers to share their ideas with each other

· Blogging and social media – to promote IBS and engage in the web conversation

· More video – because it really is a fantastic way to tell stories. Just ask George Clooney

The bottom line

It’s too early to report hard results but the new story is getting real traction in the market, the website KPIs are all trending (or leaping) up, and Neil can’t stop smiling.

We have to say this is our ideal kind of project –plenty of tough challenges to get our strategic and creative teeth into, working with great people who are really on our wavelength.

‘’As always with a website project, it wasnt just a website project. I wanted it to be the catalyst for lots of things; yes, a new website, but also a new message, to re-energise people, and to bring us into the 21st C. The Velocity team have been great. They quickly got under the skin of the market, helped us craft a crisp story, oh and yes they built a great website too.” –Andy Bailey, CMO

© lucy for Velocity Partners, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Add new tag, B2B, B2B marketing, B2B technology marketing, Content Marketing, Web Design, Web Marketing

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The launch is the latest phase of a six-month positioning and communication project with B2B technology marketing agency, Velocity Partners.  Part of the site’s remit is to communicate the new Return on Mobility™ message to key stakeholders.

Overall the site has been structured, designed and written to give customers fast, easy access to both the solutions and the thinking required to drive mobile workforce profitability.

“Our customers are used to tough environments but won’t find our site a challenge,” says Todd Boone, corporate communications director at Psion Teklogix.  “Like our mobile solutions, it has a single aim: to help our customers get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Stan Woods, MD of Velocity Partners, says: “The new messaging and website illustrate the challenge and rewards in keeping critical business information flowing.  The Return on Mobility™ story explores the technical expertise, industry know-how, business understanding and ergonomic feel found in every mobile computing solution.”

A research phase prior to the build highlighted the need to satisfy different customer personas.  Some users want fast access to products and support services, while others need detail on the value and role of mobile solutions.

“We needed a website experience for our ‘hunters’ and’ explorers’,” says Boone.  “Fast navigation to key product information is a core site function.  But we’ve backed it up with a series of story ‘lenses’ for an in-depth understanding of rugged mobile solutions and their value.  Everybody gets what they need.”

The site uses an enterprise content management systems (CMS) from the OpenText Web Solutions group.

© neilstoneman for Velocity Partners, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: web architecture, web build, Web Design

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ShipServ is the shipping industry’s #1 e-marketplace, and, as of today it’s also winner of the Red Herring 100 Award for European innovation.

It’s a very cool company.

Eight years ago the shipping industry was awash with e-marketplaces making bold promises of new beans for the ‘new economy.’ Today, only ShipServ flourishes (the others are toast). They got in touch with us towards the end of last year to see how we could help revamp their brand and their online presence.

Here’s what we did.

We took them from this:

…to this:

Along the way we’ve worked hand in glove with ShipServ’s VP of Marketing John Watton, and CEO Paul Østergaard to redefine their core positioning and messages, turbo-charge their corporate pitches and plan their next brave moves into the world of web 4.7.

So, we’re thrilled that the new site is now up and sailing.

Thanks to John and Paul for giving us the space and direction to do work that we’re really proud of.

Big thanks also to the extremely talented Ben at Jackfruit for his superior web development skills (Ben’s the guy who did the physical build); and thanks to Rob and the team at RMA for their work on another top drawer piece of design (they’re the guys who created the site templates).

…And watch this space – because there’s more to come.

© Roger for Velocity Partners, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: B2B, Branding, Clients, Identity, Innovation, Marketing, Petri Dish, Sites We Like, Web Design, Web Marketing

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‘Feel sharp!? Like a knife?’

‘No, like Motorola!’

….Ahh – sharp like Motorola. Of course. (Mutters ‘What the !!!***##@!! ????????’)

When it comes to web site design, much of our intent and language falls halfway between the creative and the prosaic. In your early discussions about how your new site should look you may have a technical guy in the room, a boss, a writer and a designer….but no common language with which to communicate other than half-baked hunches about what’s hot and what’s not. It’s a common problem.

To ‘feel sharp like Motorola’ might mean to have a sparse, corporate, but strikingly modern design packed full of crisp simple content nuggets for users. Or, it might mean to have a subtle use of the corporate logo, with more time and space given over to campaign led microsites (like ‘Hello Moto’). Or it might mean both. The first thought is a design thought. The latter is a functionality and branding thought.

Back to your meeting….

If you don’t nail design your vision in the five minutes before lunch, your site will fail. Without absolute clarity you are doomed to create a soupy mess of compromise between design and function. What started out as a language issue – Motorola, lost in translation – will very soon end up as a big fat usability issue.

Here’s the facts:

• Once it’s built, your web site needs to perform like an olympic athlete to grab your users’ attention. You will be competing against Manchester United and Scarlett Johannsen for their attention, not the competition next door.
• It’s likely that at least 50% of users will arrive via your back door rather than your home page as a result of search activity. (Google has a lot to answer for!)
• When they arrive, the vast majority of users won’t know you, trust you, or care for you. Their only assumption is that there’s a slim chance that you’re relevant to their needs… because Google told them so – but you’re just one click away from the ‘other’ 1,678,963 sites related to their search term.
• Contrary to popular wisdom, they won’t scan your page in any logical sequence (folks like to assume that they eye zig-zags down a page). Nope, the pupil does a crazy dance in a nanosecond and your first impression will be made.
• In addition, they’ll see your site like Mr Magoo. No sweeping panoramic views here (after all, they’re late for a meeting and their phone’s ringing). Just a squint. Then the mind’s made up.
• If they stick around then they’ll probably just wade in and muddle on through. No clean click paths, just a muddle. Whatever works to get them from A to B – usually via Z, F and M (in that order). If they make a purchase or sign up for stuff at the end of this process then it’s all credit to them, not you.
• Further, they may be drunk. Their mouse may have two years of fluff preventing them from scrolling right. They may be on a GPRS connection and they may be on a train where the line drops every two minutes as they pass under a bridge. Or they may even have disabilities which means they’ll be using a range of assistive technologies to view your site – screen readers, text-only browsers, that kind of thing.

The point is that, setting aside your functional and design ambitions, you absolutely do not have a common user to create a beautiful web site for. Instead, you have a schizoid, multi-limbed, technologically-challenged mythical creature who’s only consistent attribute is that’s she’s in a darn big hurry.

…So, talk of building a ‘sharp’ site like Motorola isn’t really going to help at the planning stage.

What you need is a sound grasp of web usability principles.

More on this later….we’re putting a paper together on the subject, because good usability is critical to the success of any public web site.

© Roger for Velocity Partners, 2007. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Branding, Usability, Web Design, Web Marketing

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Check out his yugop.com.

Full of fantastic, interactive, imaginative explorations of the web medium.

A favourite:

Clockblock.

Worth a visit. Promise.

© Doug Kessler for Velocity Partners, 2007. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Web Design

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