By Jarrod Lopiccolo

In case you were wondering, I did not dream of designing websites as a kid.  Let’s be honest, the Web didn’t even exist really back then. 

Still, I can remember my inspiration to get into the tech world.  When I was 10 years old my best friend got a computer.  The day it arrived, I was no longer his best friend.  The gleaming Commodore 64 knocked me down a few notches in the friend pecking order. I was invited to be a “computer friend” on his terms often watching him play games and hack code over his shoulder.  I was turned off by the impersonal nature of this new friendship circle. 

Why couldn’t I join in? Why was it one size fits all?  Fast forward 20 years later and I now make it a passion to create compelling user experiences on the Web and find some way to maintain a personal relationship with your customers online.

We often find in our work with customers that they spend all of their time figuring out how to get customers and prospects to their website.  They spend big on advertising, PR, Social Media, even waving signs on a street corner. But, getting in front of the users is only half the battle. We find that very little time is spent making sure that users have the right experience with a website; let alone, actually studying the analytics to better figure out if website users are doing what you want them to do. 

The good news is this thinking is changing rapidly as more and more companies invest in online user experience.   How do decision makers justify the expense?  U.I. done right can lead to:

   1. Improved brand perception

   2. Increased conversion rates

   3. Greater customer loyalty and retention

   4. Increased customer advocacy

   5. Increased traffic and search ranking

Watch Jarrod Lopiccolo talk about the topic here:

This month’s AMASV luncheon will be entitled, “You got ‘em to your website – now what?”  I will give some examples of how you easily integrate usability into your digital marketing efforts.  Just be sure you don’t bring your laptop to the event.  I still get a little hurt when I fell someone is paying too much attention to the computer.  Damn, I guess the wounds from being a scarred 10-year old heal slowly.

About the Speaker

Jarrod Lopiccolo is a principal and Creative Director for Noble Studios.  Noble Studios is an interactive agency based in the greater Reno/Lake Tahoe area.  Jarrod drives strategy for many of Noble Studios leading clients including Autodesk, Inc. and San Francisco based Ammunition Group, named as one of the top five design firms in the world. Jarrod was recently named the 2010 Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the State of Nevada by the U.S. Small Business Administration and a 20 under 40 Award winner by the Reno Tahoe Young Professionals Network and the Reno Gazette Journal.

Marketing Sherpa asked more than 2,300 marketers to describe how social media was perceived by their organizations at budget time…here’s the breakdown:

Also, Marketing Sherpa notes that despite social media being at a very early stage in its lifecycle, a 7% confidence rating indicating it is producing measurable ROI and should be funded liberally is outstanding.

And conservative budget increases by half of all organizations at budget time, based on the promise that social media will eventually produce ROI, show another vote of confidence in the medium for the longer term.

And lastly, the 17% of organizations who still believe social media marketing is basically free — and should stay that way — are destined to get what they pay for.

AMA Brew It Up! Social Mixer

Happening Tomorrow, September 30, 2010

Join the AMASV for a free fun-filled networking event at Brew It Up! in Downtown Sac! Mix and mingle with professionals from dozens of industries and companies across the greater Sacramento area.

The networking mixer is sponsored by The Sacramento Business Journal and hosted by AMASV’s Young Professionals Special Interest Group (SIG). The first 40 registered guests to arrive will receive a free AMASV water bottle!

Please RSVP here to enter to win a free water bottle. Remember to bring plenty of business cards and spread the word about this free event to your friends and marketing colleagues!

A recent survey from ExactTarget suggests, “Yes.”  At least in the sense of how friendly they are to brands.

While falling under the broad “social media” marketing category, Twitter, Facebook, and email fans react differently to a marketing message, and marketers looking to utilize the most effective method must understand those differences.

Daily Twitter users who follow a brand are more then twice as likely as daily Facebook users to purchase from the brand after becoming a social media follower.

What’s more, the Twitter trend held when social media users were asked whether or not they would recommend a brand they fan or follow.  Twitter users were most likely to do so and Facebook fans were – as with the previous question – most likely to disagree.

The New York Times recently reported findings from a study conducted by The Nielsen Company (yes, the same folks that give us the TV audience ratings). 4,000 smartphone users were questioned on how they use mobile apps.

• 61% play games
• 55% check the weather

In addition to playing games and checking the weather, smartphone owners like mapping and navigation apps (like Google Maps), social networking programs that access Facebook and Twitter, and music-related apps (Pandora and iTunes).

The respondents rarely download instant messenger apps and those used to make Internet voice over phone calls.

Other interesting stats from the survey … people who have phones with Andriod operating systems are more likely to open an advertisement inside an app than are iPhone users.

Most users find new apps directly on their phones while others said they heard about new apps from friends and family.