It’s been wonderful to be back in the office with the whole team. I’m a people person, yes, but it’s not just the human interaction that makes it wonderful.
It’s the strength of our whole team together that makes the difference.
We are in constant communication when we are in the office. Ideas are developed at our WIP, when you’re unpacking the dishwasher and sometimes when you’re just there. Individually, we all bring something unique to the business and to our clients. Collectively, we bring the best of breed to solving problems and finding solutions. The banter creates the strength; and the strength is Banter.
Valentina xxx
Google Search now factors in website UX
As our team of designers and developers already know, great UX (user experience) leads to better understanding of information and deeper engagement. It’s why our website builds start with content, not just pictures. Google’s latest announcement means intuitive, user-friendly page design is about to become even more important.
There are few things more annoying than a website that doesn’t work how you expect it to. Slow load times, badly designed (or intentionally misleading) interfaces, and pages that shift in place as they load distract from the content on the page, making it hard to get the information you need, not to mention just plain frustrating.
As part of a new set of best practices, Google will start factoring user experience into its search results 📉, as well as the top stories feature in mobile search. Google is no longer just optimising for information that’s closest to your keywords, but optimizing for a more delightful web.
The new ranking factor will combine quantifiable metrics related to speed, responsiveness, and visual stability with other criteria like mobile-friendliness, safe browsing, https, and no intrusive pop-up windows in order to provide a more well-rounded picture of a web page’s UX.
Essentially, pages should:
✔️ load within 2.5 seconds
✔️ users should be able to interact with the page within 100 microseconds
Google will still rank pages with the best information first, even if the UX is less than ideal. Remember, content is king 👑.
Facebook acquires Giphy
Facebook is beefing up its ownership of properties where mass penetration of users already exists, by purchasing the animated GIF search and creation engine, Giphy. Not a cheap investment at US$400m, but certainly a bargain compared to Instagram’s price tag of US$1b back in 2012.
Believe it or not, Giphy’s creative content is actually created by users, but owned by the company. Imagine that – everyone else creates content for you, for free. What a model (oh yeah, that’s also called YouTube and all the other platforms). The beauty of this is the user base… Giphy is already well integrated into the Facebook-owned assets (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) but also has mass user numbers across Twitter, Slack, TikTok and even dating apps like Bumble.
I suppose you might ask why they would bother with this acquisition? Good question 🧐.
Social platforms get tiring, and Facey’s been around for 16 years now. If they don’t do something fresh and interesting, users will just leave. Facey also tracks behaviour, and it turns out the world is in love with GIFs, so give the audience what they want and they’ll spend longer ⏰ on the platform. If users spend longer there, Facey can charge more for the advertising.
Oh, and lastly, Facey has US$60 billion cash in the bank as of last quarter. What else are you going to do with it? If only Zuck would choose to change the world with his US$60 billion… imagine just 60 global causes with $1b 💵 each.
Laava – Get The Real Thing
Laava is an Australian technology business that is partnering with brands in the fight against global counterfeiters and helping them engage with customers. Australian producers, such as leading premium cherry 🍒 producer Reid Fruits, are already working with Laava to help protect their goods and brand reputation by having a unique Laava Smart Fingerprint on every individual product.
Laava Smart Fingerprints are effectively the next generation upgrade to the QR code. Developed in collaboration with CSIRO, Laava Smart Fingerprints 🧬 are randomly generated, individual images, not codes, making them much more secure than a QR code will ever be. When consumers scan the Laava Smart Fingerprint they not only get confirmation of the product’s authenticity and provenance, but its digital platform also tells the rich stories 📖 behind the brand, and serves up opportunities to engage deeper.
Laava integrates with leading packaging, labeling, traceability and blockchain businesses – and is fast, easy and cost-effective to deploy. Laava is headed-up by joint CEO’s Gavin Ger and Patrick Michel, and is based in Sydney, with a very strong and experienced team.
We have been engaged as Laava’s strategic marketing partner 🤩, currently working with the management team on a comprehensive marketing strategy and integrated program of marketing activities.
Email Marketing: FREE 30 min webinars for you
If you’re keen to cut through all of the crazy and all of the noise out there to speak to (and sell to) your busy customers, ramping up your email marketing activity is SUCH a cost-effective and valuable way to do it.
Once a month, I’m hosting a free webinar in a special 6-part series focused on 📧 Email Marketing.
Email marketing is absolutely invaluable to the way you communicate 🗣️ with your current (and potential) customers. The first one is TODAY at 11am, all about creating Subject Lines that convert (which is easier than you think!). Register for one or all 6, and topics I’m covering are:
- First Impressions With Subject Lines
- Designing ✏️ Emails That Convert
- Finding Your Content Niche
- Brilliant Testing Techniques ⚖️
- Making Email Marketing Convert 💰 For You
- How To Grow Your Database
I hope you can join me.
10 Best Sustainable Buildings
Buildings generate nearly 40% of the world’s CO2 emissions—and since two-thirds of the buildings 🏢 that exist today will still be around by the middle of the century, architects 🎨need to rethink their design now to have a chance of meeting goals for a net-zero economy. The industry is shifting, and sustainability has become a standard part of architecture.
Each year, the American Institute of Architecture Committee on the Environment selects the 10 best designs and the hit list for 2020 is pretty interesting! There’s a library 📖 and a preschool 🚸 included, plus university buildings and a research 🔬 laboratory. It’s pretty cool.
Until next time, enjoy! 😀
