We're all familiar with the call to action verbiage "CLICK HERE!" It's used in just about every online button, link, and email known to man. Some say it's being so overused that it takes the form of white noise to the end user. So what was once a clear, concise, universally understood action, is now becoming more and more useless and controversial.

The Click Here Controversy

Most email blasting services will flag "CLICK HERE!" in an email campaign as spam. That's because a majority of ISP providers are looking at that combination of words as typical spam vocabulary. Combined with using "FREE!" in your email, your campaign could get caught in a web of junk mail. Worse yet, you could become blacklisted by your email blasting service.

So what are some call to actions that work?

• Newsletters usually contain article abstracts or introductory paragraphs. The action, then, becomes “Read the full story.”

• Informational messages – newsletters, bulletins, updates – direct the reader to get the full story at the website. Again, you need to tell the reader not only what to do but what he can expect by doing it. “Learn more techniques to increase click-through rates” is both information and action-oriented.

Adding more call to actions, and using ones that are more clear and obvious, will make your email messages more effective in driving conversions - no matter what that conversion might be.

Make it easy for the recipient to understand not just where, but why they want to click through, and what they can expect on the other side.

Posted by 2MONSTERS at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

We always talk about branding your business, but sometimes take the basic fundamentals for granted. Let's go back to the basics for a moment.

Branding is a strategy that is used by marketers. Pickton and Broderick (2001) describe branding as Strategy to differentiate products and companies, and to build economic value for both the consumer and the brand owner. Brand occupies space in the perception of the consumer, and is what results from the totality of what the consumer takes into consideration before making a purchase decision (Pickton and Broderick 2001).

So branding is a strategy, and brand is what has meaning to the consumer.

There are some other terms used in branding. Brand Equity is the addition of the brand's attributes including reputation, symbols, associations and names. Then the financial expression of the elements of brand equity is called Brand Value.

There are a number of interpretations of the term brand (De Chernatony 2003). They are summarized as follows:

• A brand is simply a logo e.g. McDonald's Golden Arches.
• A brand is a legal instrument, existing in a similar way to a patent or copyright.
• A brand is a company e.g. Coca-Cola.
• A brand is shorthand - not as straightforward. Here a brand that is perceived as having benefits in the mind of the consumer is recognised and acts as a shortcut to circumvent large chunks of information. So when searching for a product or service in less familiar surroundings you will conduct an information search. A recognised brand will help you reach a decision more conveniently.
• A brand is a risk reducer. The brand reassures you when in unfamiliar territory.
• A brand is positioning. It is situated in relation to other brands in the mind of the consumer as better, worse, quicker, slower, etc.
• A brand is a personality, beyond function e.g. Apple's iPod versus just any MP3 player.
• A brand is a cluster of values e.g. Google is reliable, ethical, invaluable, innovative and so on.
• A brand is a vision. Here managers aspire to see a brand with a cluster of values. In this context vision is similar to goal or mission.
• A brand is added value, where the consumer sees value in a brand over and above its competition e.g. Audi over Volkswagen, and Volkswagen over Skoda - despite similarities.
• A brand is an identity that includes all sorts of components; depending on the brand e.g. Body Shop International encapsulates ethics, environmentalism and political beliefs.
• A brand is an image where the consumer perceives a brand as representing a particular reality e.g. Stella Artois Reassuring Expensive.
• A brand is a relationship where the consumer reflects upon him or herself through the experience of consuming a product or service.

Posted by 2MONSTERS at 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments

So, why is creating emotional design important and how does it impact your business?

Emotion is key in any user experience namely because it triggers an unconscious response to your product and/or services. Our feelings strongly influence our buying patterns and how we remember a company at a later date.

Let's take emotional design and apply it to website usability. When we think about emotional usability, we typically think of it as "user friendliness". In effect, we design websites with the goal of limiting frustration, annoyance, anger and confusion.

Design for a positive emotional response and your customers will come back for more...

You'll find some research below that supports emotion as an essential design requirement.

Example Number One: A well organized website with a professional look, intuitive navigation and task-oriented functionality influences the following emotional reactions:

-Perception of credibility
-Trust
-Perception of security
-Overall perceived ease of use(PDF)

Posted by 2MONSTERS at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments