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9to5Toys Lunch Break: MagSafe 2 Power Adapter $34, Logitech Harmony Smart Control $75, Amazon Echo $100 (or less), more

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

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Apple MagSafe 2 Power Adapters for MacBook Air or MacBook Pro from $34 shipped (Reg. $79)

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Amazon Gold Box – Logitech Harmony Smart Control with App and Remote $75 shipped (Reg. $130)

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Amazon Echo Smart Speaker w/ free shipping: $150 or $95 for card holders (Reg. $180)

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13-inch Retina MacBook Pro 2.7GHz/8GB/128GB $1,080 (Reg. $1,299), 15-inch: $1,600 (Reg. $1,999)

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Implosion – Never Lose Hope for iOS goes free for the first time as IGN’s Game of the Month ($10 value)

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

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Twelve South HiRise dock for iPhone, iPad mini, Apple TV remote: $25 Prime shipped (Reg. $35)

BLACK FRIDAY AD LEAKS & NEWS:

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Best Buy’s Black Friday ad brings deals on Apple Watch, Macs, HDTVs, games & more!

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

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T-Mobile is discounting iPhone 6s/Plus by $100 when bought on an installment plan or outright

Huge savings on pre-owned Apple Watches, deals from as low as $261 shipped

Apple iPod Touch 5th gen 16-64GB sizes, multiple colors: $149-$199 shipped

Apple Magic Mouse 2 (open-box): $68 shipped (Reg. $80)

Apple iPad Mini 2, space gray or silver: $199 shipped ($70 off)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

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Yuneec introduces its own stabilized 4K action camera, bringing prices lower than ever before

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TP-Link introduces two new Wi-Fi extenders for home theaters, gaming consoles, and more

Filed under: Tips and Tricks Tagged: Amazon Gold Box, Amazon Prime, Apple MagSafe 2 Power Adapter, Best Buy, Black Friday, coupon codes, Cyber Monday, Deals, eBay Daily Deals, free, free shipping, Freebies, iPad, iPhone 6s, playstation 4, Staples, target, xbox one

Check out 9to5Mac for more breaking coverage of iPad, Tips and Tricks, and Best Buy.

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The Non-Techies’ Guide to Hiring Top Tech Talent [Infographic]

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

Ever find yourself with a ton of ideas that you don’t know what to do with? You can picture what you want to do in your head, but you don’t have the technical skills to actually execute on them.

You need a developer — someone with the expertise required to take all of your grand plans and actually turn them into something. Unfortunately, you don’t even know where to begin with coding, never mind finding a talented developer.

For non-techies, hiring top tech talent can be pretty intimidating. What skills should you look for? How much should you pay them? What are their needs?

To help you navigate this process a little better, check out the infographic below from the folks at Modis. They’ve put together a step-by-step guide designed to help you find the perfect tech match for your business. (And for more tips on working with developers, check out this post.)

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What are your best tips for hiring the right tech talent? Let us know in the comment section below.

learn how to hire an all-star marketing team

Apple devices will benefit from Bluetooth improvements for range, speed, & smart apps next year

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

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So many of Apple’s products either rely on or benefit from wireless Bluetooth connectivity these days that viewing Bluetooth’s roadmap is almost like viewing features for future Apple devices and accessories. Today the Bluetooth Special Interest Group has shared details on updates planned for the wireless connectivity technology in 2016 including improvements to range, transfer speed, and smart applications. Future and potentially even current Apple devices will certainly benefit as a result.

In its announcement today previewing Bluetooth advancements coming next year, the Special Interest Group specifically shared that Bluetooth Smart used for connected home accessories will see a range boost up to 4x in some cases. SIG explains that this can potentially create new use cases for smart home appliances as you could stay connected to outdoor accessories like a weather sensor while inside, something that is usually beyond current range limitations. Apple’s HomeKit platform currently relies heavily on both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for connecting iPhones and iPads to smart home appliances, as do many other accessories for its devices.

Speed is also set to see a big jump in 2016. The Bluetooth SIG says a “100% increase in speed” that doesn’t require an increase in energy consumption is on the roadmap, potentially benefiting medical devices and other smart accessories. Apple Watch relies on Bluetooth connectivity for transferring most data, so a drop in latency compared to the current speeds could make for a faster experience in the future with any apps that pull data from the iPhone as well.

Finally, delivering on its focus with the Internet of Things, the Bluetooth SIG says mesh networking is on the roadmap for 2016 and will allow multiple Bluetooth devices to connect together and potentially extend the range of accessories by creating networks that can reach entire buildings.

While the roadmap is only a preview for now, the Bluetooth SIG says it will share further details “in the coming months.”

Filed under: AAPL Company, Tech Industry Tagged: Apple, Bluetooth, improvements, range, SIG, speed, update

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Poll: Will iPad Pro replace your MacBook?

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

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Will iPad Pro replace your MacBook? With the iPad Pro officially going on sale today, there is lots of discussion about what this means for the iPad category. Can it be a true Microsoft Surface competitor? Does the addition of official keyboard and stylus companion accessories from Apple mean the company has finally changed its stance on so-called hybrid laptop/tablet devices?

While the majority of reviews praised the bigger form factor and pen input with the new Apple Pencil, many reviewers pointed out iOS as the limiting factor in making the iPad Pro a PC replacement or hybrid competitor. But does it need to be?

Apple’s marketing message for the new iPad Pro is unmistakably clear. The company is romancing pro users (like Disney and Pixar animators) for the launch of the new device with most of its ads and marketing material focusing on content creation possibilities with the larger display and new Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard.

But how will YOU be using the new iPad Pro? Will you attempt to replace your MacBook or other device in one way or another? Or will the larger iPad Pro simply complement your current lineup of devices and add new possibilities to your workflow? That’s the question we’re asking in today’s poll, and we’ll be continuing the discussion in the comments below. 

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Apple, hybrid, iPad Pro, keyboard, MacBook, Microsoft Surface, poll, replacement, stylus

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Keeping Up With The Joneses: 8 Ways to Stay on the Cutting Edge of Your Industry

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

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‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ has long been an idiom relating to the need to keep up with the latest and greatest gadgets, trends, innovations and benchmarks (mainly so as not to be shown up by your trendy neighbours). For marketing professionals, ‘the Joneses’ are everyone and everything from your customers, to your industry, to your competitors, to the latest developments in the marketing and media industries. What’s more, the lightning-fast evolution of technology and the always-changing behaviour of modern consumers make keeping up with the Joneses a pretty tall order for the average marketer.

Luckily, there’s more than one way to make sure you’re not falling behind your competitors or losing touch with your customers. Here are eight ways marketers can keep up with the proverbial Joneses:

1) Carry Out Customer Research

Keeping up with the times means making sure you understand what your clients really want from your brand; as well as what their current perceptions are. Good old customer research is an important part of making sure you stay educated on the subject. The research methods that are likely to be most effective will depend on your particular industry, but there are a whole host of options to choose from:

Without even having to leave your desk, simple email surveys are a good place to start. An email survey can be short and simple – simply asking customers to rate their last service transaction, for example – or take the form of a detailed questionnaire aimed at unearthing customer insights into the state of the industry.

Online polls likewise provide an easy way to gather customer data without setting foot outside of your office. Polls can be hosted on your website or on a customer extranet and allow you to gain quick insights into customer opinion and sentiment. Social monitoring – listening in on conversations relating to your brand, products and industry on social media networks – can likewise be a goldmine of useful insight and data.

Alternatively, you could go the route of focus groups, which involve gathering a targeted group of customers or potential customers and asking them a set of questions in a group setting. The interesting thing about focus groups is that you’re able to see not only how each group member answers each question, but also how members engage with and differ from each other.

2) Read… All the Time

If you’re a marketer and you’re not a voracious reader already, you better get ready to become one. The best way to stay abreast of the latest marketing trends and developments is to regularly scour the media for relevant content. Personally, I’m a devout reader of blogs like the Moz Blog, the Content Marketing Institute blog and the Kissmetrics blog. I also enjoy news websites like eMarketer, Business Insider, Mashable and research papers put out by institutions like Gartner and Forrester.

To save time, pinpoint a few really informative, on-trend websites as your go-to sources and open an account with a news aggregator like Feedly. Another good option is to follow relevant social media accounts and use HubSpot’s Social Inbox to aggregate your updates.

3) Pick your Battles, Outsource the Rest

For an in-house marketer, it can be tricky to stay on top of the latest developments in every corner. Sometimes, the smart move is to ease the pressure by outsourcing key elements of your digital marketing strategy to an agency. Outsourcing your digital marketing – or just parts of it – to an agency means you don’t have to worry about missing a beat on the latest developments in marketing technology. It’s the agency’s job to let you know which tech advancements are worth taking notice of and how best to implement them.

The benefits of outsourcing are obvious: you don’t break a sweat while a specialist team does all the hard work for you. The downside? An external party may never understand the industry you’re in or the clients you serve as well as someone within your business.

4) Leverage Sales Team Insights

Your sales team is a source of amazing insight – so make use of them. Remember, they’re at the coalface of your company. They know exactly who they’re competing against, why they’re winning or losing deals and what your customers really think. They’re industry experts. The idea behind the ‘smarketing’ movement is that when sales and marketing teams work together, aiming for the same set of goals, the entire process becomes more streamlined and effective. The sentiment shouldn’t end there, however; marketing and sales teams should collaborate and brainstorm around campaigns, products and industry trends too.

5) Share the Burden

Attempting to single-handedly track all the elements of your marketing equates to taking on a huge amount of work. Make the task more manageable by assigning specific team members to specific functions. For example, the team member assigned to demand generation just needs to keep up with trends and information around demand generation. A team member in charge of product development could manage your products, track developments in competitors’ products and deal with the implementation of new features your customers ask for. Your assigned marketing technologist would keep up to date with new marketing technology and help the team implement it.

6) Merge, Acquire and Conquer

Many large companies find innovation difficult. When you take into consideration the red tape and approval processes that need to be navigated before a single Tweet can be posted, for example, it’s not hard to understand why big companies tend to be slow-moving. The slow corporate machine often results in these brands becoming outdated and losing relevance in the minds of their consumers. In the meantime, start-ups with little capital start grabbing market share with their cool products and on-point evolved messaging. That’s why the Mergers and Acquisitions teams in big corporate companies are always on the look-out for these smaller, ‘cool’ companies because one way to keep up with the Joneses is to acquire them.

It’s worth noting that even highly innovative companies know that it’s a smart move to acquire smaller, way-ahead-of-the-curve companies, as was evidenced by Apple’s acquisition of Beats Music and Beats Electronics for $3 billion in August last year.

7) Adopt an Agile Approach to Marketing

In the past, marketers could develop their annual marketing plan in the final quarter of the year, then spend the rest of the year activating it. These days, industry trends and consumer behaviour change far too quickly for this kind of approach to work. In the world of software development, the agile methodology means that smaller, bite-sized chunks of code are developed and deployed so that solutions are delivered incrementally, tested along the way and even change direction as they are delivered.

This approach can – and should – be applied to modern marketing. On the agile model, your annual marketing plan is more of a guideline than a set-in-stone plan. As you deploy each strategy and action, test how the market responds to it and adapt it as you go. This way, you’re always poised to tweak your marketing strategy according to the ongoing evolution of your industry, competitors and customers.

8) Stay True to Your Mission

Keeping up with the latest marketing trends and developments is important if you hope to stay relevant to your ever-evolving customers. However, that doesn’t mean you need to force your brand or product into whichever mould is hot right now. In his keynote speech at INBOUND 2015, Seth Godin spoke about standing by your positioning and differentiation. Godin says that too many brands shave off their edges to appeal to a larger market, thereby alienating their primary market in the process. Sometimes – despite what everyone else in the industry might be saying and doing – it pays to stick with your original idea.

It might be a time-consuming (and sometimes mind-boggling) task, but keeping up with the latest developments in marketing technology, industry norms and consumer trends is non-negotiable. Today’s well-informed and web-savvy consumers expect nothing less.

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Image Credit: idealhr.net

Moxiware offers first elegant, upright Apple Pencil charging dock

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

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Accessory maker Moxiware is the first out of the gate with a dock for the new Apple Pencil stylus that launched today alongside Apple’s larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Apple Pencil, Apple’s first stylus launching today as a companion accessory for the new iPad Pro, charges using a built-in Lightning connector. But having the Pencil sticking out of the bottom of your iPad or lying flat on the floor or a desk with the included adapter isn’t ideal. Moxiware’s dock, however, allows the Pencil to stand upright while charging, not unlike a traditional pen stand.

As is the case with most early docks for new Apple products, this one doesn’t appear to include an integrated Lightning cable meaning customers will have to supply their own and snake it through the base.

It’s available in 4 models: aluminum and wood finishes in either a cone shape or a cylinder shape with an extra pen slot.

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The Moxiware Apple Pencil charging dock is available to order now from the company’s website with shipping schedule to start in December. The dock costs $30 + $6.95 shipping worldwide.

The iPad Pro officially went on sale today online in 40 initial launch countries with the device scheduled for shipping to customers as early as Friday. Some Apple retail stores are also reporting having stock of the new device today, while accessories for the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard companion accessories are shipping in 5-7 days at the time of writing.

Check out our roundup of the best iPad Pro cases, covers, keyboards, and other accessories here.

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: accesories, Apple, apple pencil charging dock, base, Cable, charging, dock, iPad Pro, Moxiware, Pencil

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Apple’s own design team always used paper, now starting to use the iPad Pro & Apple Pencil, says Jony Ive

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

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Apple’s design chief Jony Ive told the Telegraph that while his own team has worked using paper sketchbooks for more than 20 years, they are for the first time starting to use the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil instead.

Many of us in the design team have worked together for 20 plus years. We’ve always drawn in our sketchbooks, and for the first time – despite flirting with some alternatives a couple of years ago – I’m seeing people starting to use the iPad and Apple Pencil. Our personal experience has been that there are definitely affordances and opportunities now that you have a much more natural and intuitive environment to make marks, there are clearly things you can do sketching and writing on the iPad which you could never dream of doing in the analogue world.

He said that while he’d started off demonstrating it, he’d then found himself using it for his work … 

What I’ve enjoyed is when I’m just thinking, holding the Pencil as I would my pen with a sketchpad and I just start drawing.

When you start to realise you’re doing that without great intent and you’re just using it for the tool that it is, you realise that you’ve crossed over from demoing it and you’re actually starting to use it.

Ive told the Telegraph that ensuring that the Pencil felt like a traditional writing instrument had been both important, and a challenge.

We hoped if you are used to spending a lot of time using paintbrushes, pencils and pens, this will feel like a more natural extension of that experience – that it will feel familiar. To achieve that degree of very simple, natural behaviour, was a significant technological challenge […]

Every other stylus you’ve used is a pretty poor representation of the analogue world.

Tim Cook said earlier this week that the Apple Pencil, a $99 optional accessory that works only with the iPad Pro, was more than just a stylus.

Don’t expect to be able to get one today, though, even if you’re lucky enough to get your iPad Pro: most stores are saying that stock has not yet arrived.

Filed under: AAPL Company, iOS Devices Tagged: Apple Inc, Apple Pencil, iPad Pro, Jonathan Ive, Jony Ive

For more news on AAPL Company, iOS Devices, and Apple Inc continue reading at 9to5Mac.

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Opinion: The humble MacBook Air is a secret workhorse

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

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I’ve long recommended the MacBook Air to friends who want something a little more capable than an iPad but don’t need their machine to do any heavy lifting. But recent experience has now led me to go rather further …

I’ve written at length about why I’m doggedly sticking to my four-year-old 17-inch MacBook Pro as my main machine. The tl;dr version is that I really like working on a large screen, and I also like having all my files on board when travelling – something I can do because I upgraded it to 2 x 1TB SSDs.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that it fell victim to the GPU problem that has afflicted a number of 2011-2013 MacBook Pros. The first symptoms were everything slowing to a crawl when connected to my 27-inch Thunderbolt display, followed by random crashes and then the characteristic graphics distortion that confirmed the logic board as the culprit.

The good news was that Apple would fix it free of charge under its Repair Extension Program. The bad news was that it would take a week, during which time my second Mac – a Mid 2013 11-inch MacBook Air usually used exclusively as a mobile writing device – would have to take over all its duties. I wondered how well it would cope … 

I’m of course comparing a Late 2011 machine with a Mid 2013 one, but even so, the specs of the two are some way apart.

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In the office, I use a dual-display setup, apps split across both the MacBook’s own display and my 27-inch Apple Thunderbolt Display. That was, of course, immediate reason to be grateful I’d stuck to the Air rather than replacing it with the 12-inch MacBook, which has no ability to drive an external display. Given the number of apps I need open at once, the single MacBook display would have made it a complete non-starter.

The apps I typically have open include three different browsers (helps to keep things organized), Lightroom, Photoshop, Tweetdeck, Postbox, iTunes, HipChat and a number of smaller apps. Not everything was installed on the Air, so I did have to take care of that first, but soon had an acceptable mirror of my MacBook Pro dock.

Admittedly much of my work is relatively undemanding of processing power, but it does include both photo and video editing. The work can also be fast-paced, so I need a machine which doesn’t break sweat when it’s being asked to work quickly.

The MacBook Air performed absolutely perfectly. Virtually the only difference I noticed was that it was very slightly slower performing a few Photoshop tasks – but even there the difference was tiny. Had it not been for the small screen sitting to the left of my main monitor, I honestly think I might not have noticed the difference.

I’d long considered the MacBook Air to be Apple’s best-value product, offering an excellent balance of price and performance (especially when discounted). But based on this experience, I’d now go even further. I’d say that unless you need the larger screen or storage capacity of the Pro – or really want the Retina display – the Air is the only MacBook most people will ever need.

Filed under: Mac, Opinion Tagged: MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Air v MacBook Pro, MacBook Air versus MacBook Pro, MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro, MacBook Pro

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Project Sustainability Predators at Work

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

Project Sustainability Predators at Work
By Gratien Gasaba
Have you ever watched a movie concerning bush meat hunting as performed by the wild big cats such as lions and leopards? Have you noticed that these big cats use a range of tactics to maximize their chances of catching the prey? Have you noticed that these strategies and tactics […]

from Project Management Articles – PM Hut http://ift.tt/1iTX9pC
via pmhut.com

Impatient to get your hands on an iPad Pro? Some stores have them in stock today …

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

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While Apple had indicated earlier today that nobody would be getting their hands on an iPad Pro until Friday, it seems that some of you may be in luck and able to pick one up today.

When ordering through the app, AppAdvice noticed the pickup option allowed them to collect today from a number of Apple Stores. We’ve independently verified with Apple that this is isn’t a glitch – and they even have very limited numbers available today for walk-in purchases … 

We’re told that stocks are already low for some models, though, so we’d strongly recommend purchasing online or via the app rather than just hoping for the best when you reach a store.

Sadly the immediate pickup option appears to be limited to U.S. stores: when I placed my order and checked for pickup options, I could get the keyboard today but the iPad Pro wasn’t available until Friday – the same day Apple promises to deliver it.

I’m not expecting to keep mine: I just want to try it out for a week. Then again, I said the same thing about the Watch and look how that turned out. Keep an eye out for an iPad Pro diary series starting on Friday or Monday. In the meantime, check out our review roundup to see what others are saying so far.

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Apple Store, iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Pro availability, iPad Pro for sale, iPad Pro pickup, iPad Pro stock

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iPad Pro review roundup: Bigger is better, Pencil is great for drawing, iOS limiting factor as PC replacement

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

iPad-Pro-hero

The iPad Pro went on sale this morning and now the reviews are out from a wide variety of tech publications. The iPad Pro features a large 12.9 inch Retina Display, a powerful A9X processor, quad-speaker layout and more. The Pro starts from $799 and maxes out at $1079 for the 128 GB WiFi + Cellular model. However, the most interesting features are arguably the accessories, like the Apple Pencil stylus and Smart Keyboard, which run an additional $99 and $169. The accessories are almost more important than the iPad hardware itself in making this a true PC replacement and — ultimately — a compelling purchase.

We’ve rounded up the iPad Pro reviews from various publications after the break …

Walt Mossberg from The Verge says that the iPad Pro is a great consumption tool but the Smart Keyboard is lacking. He also mentions that despite the powerful internals, iOS continues to limit the true functionality of the device compared to a MacBook. He thinks the Pencil is good enough to appeal to real artists and the Pro form factor appeals to enterprise and business uses, but market for mainstream consumers is small.

You can get a lot more done with iPad apps than with the paltry selection of tablet / touch-first apps available for the Surface. But, because Apple hasn’t made a great keyboard, the iPad Pro isn’t a complete replacement for a great laptop like the MacBook Air — even for a tablet guy like me.

The iPad Pro will no doubt make a lot of Apple users happy, especially if they use it for graphics. But I won’t be buying one, and I don’t recommend that average users do so either.

Federico Viticci, from MacStories, who uses an iPad almost exclusively for his writing endorses the iPad Pro with high praise. I think the takeaway here is if you liked the iPad already as a work tool, then the iPad Pro just makes it even better. Viticci points out that multitasking on iPad Pro is almost like using two full-sized iPads in portrait, which is a big boon for productivity. However, the Slideover interface for selecting apps for the right-hand window is frustrating to use.

The device I’ve used every day for a year to get my work done for this site now seems tiny and limited, with small apps, less content shown on screen, and a constrained multitasking interface. I know that it’s only been a week, and I do believe that the Air 2 is a great device for lots of people, but I feel like all the work I’ve done on the iPad and iOS has led me to this point. I’m ready to take my iPad setup to the next level, and I think my workflow can benefit from improved hardware and a more capable version of iOS.

In the WIRED review, David Pierce puts strong focus onto the accessories. The Apple Pencil is smart because it has privileged access to iOS; pairing is as simple as placing it in the Lightning port. The Pencil accuracy is very good according to Pierce and claims it can be used for fine art, calligraphy and more — things that naive third-party iPad styli are just not good enough for.

However, Pierce is less impressed with the Smart Keyboard. He says its okay but third-parties will likely be able to replicate the same features and form factor without much difficulty. In fact, many have already done so with keyboard cases for existing iPads. Despite improvements in iOS 9, using a physical keyboard with an iPad remains a challenge.

A strange thing happens when you sit down at a 13-inch device with a keyboard, though: you expect it to work like a laptop. And the iPad Pro doesn’t. Its split-screen multitasking is handy, but only lets you do two things at once. The Smart Keyboard doesn’t support keyboard shortcuts in most apps, at least until developers add them. (Handy tip: press and hold the Command key in any app to see all available shortcuts.) You can Command-Tab to switch between apps, Command-Shift-H to go home, and Command-Space to open Spotlight. But why can’t you change the volume with the keyboard? Or turn the tablet off? Where’s the escape key? Why can’t you just start typing when you’re on the home screen to bring up the search, the way BlackBerry used to do it? Why isn’t there a search key that works in every app? Seriously, where is the escape key?

The iPad Pro A9X is definitely fast. CNET ran Geekbench scores that place it comparably against mid-range laptops. It’s just whether that power is put to good use on the iPad software side. It will be interesting to see this chip trickle down to smaller iPads in future, so the entire lineup can benefit from the speed.

But can the iPad Pro take on “real” laptops? Tests between PCs, Macs and tablets are necessarily more anecdotal, but using the Jetstream browser benchmark, a MacBook Pro and Surface Pro 4 came out on top. But when you consider that both of the computers were running full-on Intel Core i5 chips, the iPad Pro’s performance was quite good.

But speed, on something like an iPad, is relative. The iPad Air 2 still feels fast running iOS 9, even split-screen multitasking. I can get plenty of everyday work done on that, too. Speed depends on the specialized apps and tools that can take advantage of the iPad Pro’s power. There just aren’t enough optimized iPad Pro apps, yet, to determine what the difference could be.

Joanna Stern has a good summary of the mixed reaction to the iPad Pro, in how it’s a good laptop with a lot of edge-cases and many small limitations. The iPad Pro represents a weird dichotomy where for certain tasks it excels, like drawing, music creation or writing focused essays, but in other use cases — it remains primitive in power. Stern flags up the awkward iOS file sharing system and multitasking limitations (like being unable to put two Safari windows side-by-side) as outstanding big issues that hold back the Pro as a computer.

I brainstormed for my video using the Paper app, dragging in photos and videos, marking them up with handwritten notes. I edited a short video by cutting and moving around clips with my finger. I sliced off what looked like a real human leg in an app called Complete Anatomy.

That’s why answering “So… what is it?” is so hard. The Pro may seem wedged between iPads and MacBooks, but it will be your main computer in the future. As our phablets push smaller tablets into retirement, the big tablet and its accessories will do the same for our traditional computers. For now, however, it may be easiest to step back and see the Pro as a… really good, really big iPad.

Overall, the response to iPad Pro is the obvious one. It’s a bigger, more capable iPad … but it’s still an iPad with the accompanying iOS limitations. The iPad Pro is an even better consumption device thanks to the beautiful screen and impressive speakers. As a creation device, it can be used for real work for some people but it’s not a universally-useful product like a laptop is. Additions to the app ecosystem will help improve this. For accessories, the Apple Pencil seems like a big hit and should be very appealing for creative artists who want to doodle around on a ‘professional’ drawing tablet. However, the Smart Keyboard is somewhat lacking and doesn’t really justify its $169 price tag.

Let us know in the comments if you are planning on picking up an iPad Pro and what your intended use cases are … The first iPad Pro deliveries are due this Friday, although many stores have same day pickup options.

Filed under: iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: iPad Pro, reviews

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The Best Promotional Product Videos Ever (And Why They Make You Buy)

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

One of the wisest things I’ve ever read about product marketing came from the writer of a children’s book.

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea,” said Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, creator of The Little Prince.

The goal in crafting a perfect product video is not far off. If you want your video to resonate, it should be about more than just the product. It should be about the problem, the solution, the experience, and the larger vision of what you’re trying to build. 

Considering the right video can put a product on the map for the first time or reinvigorate a company that has long been stale, it’s important that marketers have a strong grasp on this. So to inspire your own efforts, we’ve collected a list of impressive product videos for marketing a product or new release. 

Learn the secrets behind the coolest product videos and other content in this free download.

7 Examples of Promotional Videos That Make You Want to Buy

1) Blendtec: Will it Blend?

I’m digging into the archives for this one, but in the world of videos that add life to a product, few have done it better than Blendtec. The company’s CEO, Tom Dickson, became a YouTube icon back in 2006 with the introduction of his Will it Blend? series.

Since then, Blendtec has expanded the tremendous success of these videos to other channels, enabling viewers to suggest things to blend on Facebook. The company even has its own Wikipedia page dedicated to the series.

The success of this video comes down to two things: a clear, unwavering message and a company with a personality. In seven years, the series has never changed. The point of each video and the underpinning of the product positioning is essentially, “Why yes, it will blend.”

For years, we’ve been watching this product blend everything from glow sticks to an iPhone. The videos are minimally expensive, product-focused, and garner millions of views. In a recent interview, Dickson explained the history and success of the video series:

“‘Will it Blend?’ was developed accidentally by a new marketing director hired in 2006. I have always been one to try to break my blenders to find their fail points and determine how I can improve them. George, the new marketing director, discovered some of the wacky things I was doing to my blenders … With a $50 budget, George bought a Happy Meal, a rotisserie chicken, Coke cans, golf balls, and a few other items, and they made five videos. Six days later, we had six million views on YouTube. Six years, 120-plus videos, almost 200 million views later, ‘Will it Blend?’ has been named as the number one viral marketing campaign of all time [by Ad Age].”

Here’s Tom blending a Facebook request: Justin Bieber. The video earned 2.8 million views (and counting) on YouTube.

2) Dollar Shave Club: Our Blades are Great

Dollar Shave Club also made waves with their first product video. I’ll warn you now: they’re not shy with the F-bombs or referring to “your handsome-ass grandfather,” so you may want to throw in the headphones before pressing play. Having said that, what’s singular about this product launch video is how well the company knows its audience and the problem it’s trying to solve.

Dollar Shave Club was trying to crack into a demographic of young, professional men who habitually purchase big-brand razors at local stores. The problem they attempt to highlight is the absurdly high cost of store-bought razor cartridges. Thus, the company needed an absurdist, well-targeted product launch video to match. 

CEO Michael Dubin, who studied improv with the Upright Citizens Brigade, wrote the spot himself and hired a comedian friend, Lucia Aniello, to produce the video. According to reports on Quora, the video cost approximately $4,500 — and yet, it got more than 11 million views and coverage on countless media outlets.

3) Purple Feather: The Power of Words

In tight marketing budgets, professional copywriting services are often the first to be cut. Instead of hiring professional copywriters, companies opt to take on the writing themselves, figuring it’s not all that different from other writing they do. They assume the words they choose won’t make much of a difference one way or the other. Based in Glasgow, Purple Feather is a copywriting agency that set out to prove that assumption wrong. 

Words matter. In fact, they can change everything. Purple Feather made that point exceptionally clear in this powerful video:

4) Google Chrome: Jess Time

The best product videos focus not on the product itself, but on the stories of the people who use it.

Technology writer and NYU Professor Clay Shirky has a great chapter in his first book about the pervasiveness of communications tools in our lives. In it, he explains that technology doesn’t truly get interesting until it becomes so ingrained in our lives it turns invisible. No product video shows this “invisibility” of really good products better than Google’s “The Web is What You Make It” series.

The video below demonstrates how seamlessly Google and all of its products have melded into our lives and become a part of how we interact. It’s a video about experience, not software, and that is arguably what the company truly creates.

5) Apple: The Only Thing That’s Changed 

Launch videos like the Dollar Shave Club video above have a bit of an advantage when it comes to resonating with an audience. They represent a brand new company, product, or idea. But what if your company has been around for a long time?  What if the announcement you’re making is really more of a set of enhancements to an existing product than a brand new launch?

This year, Apple tackled that challenge head-on with the following video. This video takes a collection of seemingly small enhancements and strings them together in a way that underscores just how advanced the total new functionality is. Take a look:

 

6) Google: Google, Evolved

This year Google introduced a new logo for the company and a new parent company, Alphabet. It was the perfect moment for retrospection. So the company took to video to show not only how much Google’s products have evolved, but how much progress those products have enabled in the world around them.

The brilliance of this video is that it uses others to tell the story. Whereas some companies may have pointed the camera at their own designers and developers (looking at you, Apple), Google put the focus on the users, media, and cultural leaders that have adopted and promoted the products along the way. The resulting video plays more like a historical chapter than a commercial. 

7) InVision: Design Disruptors

I want to end this list with a bit of an anomaly, because it pushes at the boundaries of what can be considered a product video and, as such, opens up all sorts of opportunities.

InVision, a prototyping, collaboration, and workflow platform wants to empower designers — their primary users. Much of their content strategy is bent on this mission. This year, InVision will launch a documentary on the role of design in the modern business.

Design Disruptors looks at how 15 top businesses prioritize design in their products and overall user experience. Unlike traditional product videos, Design Disruptors will run in theaters and on Netflix. And unlike traditional product videos, Design Disruptors never actually promotes the product. The goal is bigger than the product.

“We’re trying to bring attention to the increased importance of design in a company’s success,” explains David Malpass, InVision’s vice president of marketing. “A lot of our work is based on doing things that’ll create a positive effect on the design community and that will elevate the role of the designer within their organization.”

What do you think are some of the best product videos out there? Did they inspire you to buy from the company? Let us know in the comments section below. 

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2013 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

learn the secrets behind the coolest product videos and more

 
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Google Chrome no longer supports cat-based Mac OS X versions

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

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Google has announced in an official blog post that its Chrome browser no longer supports a number of older Mac OS X versions. Google initially prepared users a few months ago that a move away from these platforms would be coming by the end of this year. Today is that day, and Google Chrome will no longer get software feature or security updates on the following Mac platforms:

  • Mac OS X 10.6 – “Snow Leopard”
  • Mac OS X 10.7 – “Lion”
  • Mac OS X 10.8 – “Mountain Lion”

On the Mac side, it’s essentially everything before Apple moved to its California-inspired version names (or anything with a cat name). The company also announced that it’ll be ending support for Windows versions XP and Vista, so it’s not just older Mac users who will no longer get updates. The reason behind the end in support is simple: Apple and Microsoft don’t actively support those platforms any more, and so Chrome will no longer actively support them either. This doesn’t mean Chrome will no longer work, it just means it won’t get any more security or software updates on machines running these versions of the OSes.

If you’re still running one of the aforementioned software versions, Google encourages you to upgrade to a more modern OS, since there are now security risks (however small) attached to using them. If you’re not sure which version of Mac OS X you’re running, you can find out by simply clicking the Apple logo in your top toolbar, and clicking ‘About this Mac’.

Filed under: Mac Tagged: Browsers, Chrome, Google, software

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Apple bringing 1,000 new jobs to Ireland, where Tim Cook describes Microsoft’s Surface Book as “deluded”

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

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The Irish government has announced that that Apple will be employing an additional 1,000 staff in Ireland, the country where the company declares much of its revenue from sales throughout Europe, reports Reuters.

Ireland’s main foreign investment agency, the IDA, said Apple was to add 1,000 jobs to its office in Cork by mid-2017 from 5,000 at present. It said the company had also added 1,000 jobs in the past year.

There had been some concern about whether Apple would maintain a significant presence in the country if the European Commission investigation into Apple’s tax dealings in the country went against the company … 

Apple has an arrangement with the Irish government that sees it paying corporation tax of just 2.5% on the $109B profits it declared in the country over the past five years, just a fifth of the normal 12.5% paid by most other companies. It’s believed the government agreed to the terms in order to secure both jobs and tax revenues.

A decision on whether the tax deal with Apple constituted unfair state aid is due after Christmas, Finance Minister Michael Noonan told journalists on Wednesday.

Apple warned shareholders earlier this year that it could face “material back taxes” if its tax arrangements in Ireland were found to be illegal.

CEO Tim Cook, who is in Dublin today, said that “Apple is proud to call Ireland home.” He also promised that Apple Pay would be coming to Ireland, which is a separate country to the UK.

Cook also took time out to contrast the iPad Pro, which went on sale today, with Microsoft’s Surface Book, describing the latter as “deluded” by thinking it can be both a laptop and a tablet.

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: AAPL, Apple Inc, Apple Ireland, European Commission, European Union, iPad Pro, Ireland, Microsoft, Microsoft Surface Book, Tax

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Cómo convertirte en un lince en Social Media: el Test de las Habilidades en SM

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

¿Son tus competidores unos linces en Social Media? ¿O no tanto como parece…? ¿Te gustaría saber cómo piensan y actúan, y si muchas veces lo hacen mejor que tú por pura casualidad o porque realmente saben lo que hacen?

Si te dedicas al Marketing Online o a Social Media es muy probable que tengas unas habilidades que no tiene otra gente. Pero a veces no es suficiente con tener habilidades especiales: tenemos que refinarlas si queremos llegar más allá de simplemente publicar y conseguir seguidores. Es decir, si queremos conseguir resultados.

¿Quieres ser un lince en Social Media?

Por eso hoy quiero hablarte sobre un test que lanzamos hace unos días y que te dará respuesta a todas estas preguntas:

El Test de las Habilidades en Social Media

Test mide tus competencias digitales

Si no lo has hecho, te animo a que lo hagas antes de leer este artículo. No te llevará mucho y luego puedes explicarnos en los comentarios lo que te ha parecido.

En solo un fin de semana han realizado el test 549 personas distintas, y es esta una cifra lo suficientemente nutrida como para sacar una serie de conclusiones que te van a sorprender.

Cómo está pensado el Test y por qué

Si lo has realizado -y vuelvo a animarte a que lo hagas antes de seguir adelante-, verás que lo hemos basado en una metáfora: según cuál era la respuesta que dabas, te identificabas con un animal concreto y con las cualidades que se le asocian:

  • Koala. Generalmente los koalas son perezosos, es decir, al responder como un koala significa que, en ese caso, te dejas llevar por una respuesta obvia y sencilla.
  • Hormiga. Muy trabajadora, sí, pero a veces incluso demasiado. Una hormiga avanza a pasos pequeños, aunque generalmente lo hace cuando tiene una comunidad detrás. El problema es que, la mayor parte de las veces, estamos solos ante el gran esfuerzo que supone la gestión o incluso el planteamiento de una estrategia en Social Media.
  • Liebre. Es rápida, ágil y confía en sus capacidades. Pero a veces le falta método.
  • Lince. Está preparado, es astuto, tiene un excelente nivel técnico y es ávido buscando información. Con la metodología que tiene, puede conseguir lo que se proponga.

Esta representación facilita que veas gráficamente qué respuesta has dado en cada caso y que te puedes identificar con la actitud que has tomado en cada una de las respuestas.

Además, cada respuesta viene acompañada de una explicación que te permite valorar 3 cosas:

  1. En qué nivel te encuentras.
  2. Por qué estás en ese nivel.
  3. Qué deberías hacer para mejorar.

Es decir, se trata de un test planteado para pensar y entender en qué situación se encuentra cada uno y qué debería hacer para mejorar.

Algunos usuarios nos han enviado una retroalimentación muy valiosa -que les volvemos a agradecer- acerca de lo que les ha gustado y lo que no, pero especialmente sobre lo provechoso que les ha resultado para ayudarlos a pensar como linces.

Gracias a esto, en este post queremos compartir contigo un análisis, con los datos en la mano, relativo a 2 cosas:

  • Las respuestas que se han dado.
  • Algunos patrones de comportamiento que suceden este sector y que te resultarán familiares.

A continuación vamos a explicarte, punto por punto, cuáles han sido los resultados, qué aspectos son destacables en este análisis y por qué.

# 1. Cuántas personas han respondido a cuántas preguntas

Aunque 549 personas han contestado el test, no todas han respondido todas las preguntas.

De  hecho, 275 (el 50%) han respondido las 6 preguntas.

Esto nos hace ir más allá en la metáfora del lince: no se trataba de un test sencillo (había que pensar), y aun así la mitad ha respondido a todas las preguntas, lo que supone un resultado muy bueno.

Podemos hacer una lectura particular y decir, antes de empezar, que quienes pertenecen a ese 50% de los usuarios que han respondido las 6 preguntas, van en la línea de convertirse en verdaderos linces, puesto que tienen algunas de las cualidades necesarias: persistencia, dedicación e interés. 😉

En la Figura 1 puedes apreciar la distribución completa del número de usuarios por el número de preguntas que ha respondido.

El 50% que no ha respondido todas las preguntas, ha quedado del siguiente modo:

  • El 29% (80 usuarios) ha respondido la mitad.
  • Un 25% (69 usuarios) solo ha respondido una.

Los que han respondido 3 de las 6 preguntas han mostrado un interés muy positivo, aunque finalmente “su lado Koala” los ha hecho abandonar. ¡No hay que perder nunca la oportunidad de aprender, aunque parezca que lo que uno está aprendiendo ya lo sabe! Un verdadero Lince nunca perdería esa oportunidad.

En el caso de los usuarios que solo han respondido a una pregunta, sentimos no haber llegado a motivar su interés; ¡a la próxima intentaremos ser más Linces nosotros! 😉

Usuarios por pregunta respondida

Figura 1. Distribución del número de usuarios por el número de preguntas respondidas.

# 2. Patrón de los usuarios que han respondido al Test

La distribución del número de usuarios que ha respondido a cada pregunta se muestra en la Figura 2. En ella se refleja un claro patrón descendente: la mayoría de usuarios ha contestado a la primera, unos pocos menos a la segunda, y así va decreciendo hasta la última pregunta.

Esto muestra un comportamiento Koala típico: se empieza el test con interés pero va decreciendo a lo largo del camino.

Aunque resulte chocante, pensar es algo que cuesta y que hace que nuestro lado Koala nos lleve a abandonar antes de terminar.

Sin embargo el 50% ha luchado y vencido su “lado Koala”, y ha conseguido contestar a todas las preguntas.

Usuarios que han respondido a cada pregunta

Figura 2. Distribución del número de usuarios que ha respondido a cada pregunta.

# 3. ¿Qué animal eres en Social Media?

Vamos a darles una vuelta a los animalitos que han salido en cada pregunta.

En la Figura 3 se muestra el porcentaje de usuarios que para esa pregunta ha respondido como cada uno de los animales posibles.

Quiero recalcar -y esto es importante- que el objetivo del test no era buscar “la respuesta fácil de Lince”, sino hacer reflexionar sobre situaciones reales en las que nos encontramos y valorar distintas posibilidades para ver cómo, a partir de cada una de ellas, podemos alcanzar un nivel superior. De ahí que no siempre apareciera el Lince en las respuestas (únicamente aparecía en la primera), pues eso le permitiría al usuario replantearse otras posibles respuestas y analizar los porqués con mayor detenimiento, ya que “el verdadero lince” probablemente querría seguir abriendo respuestas hasta encontrarla.

Es decir, si has abierto más de una respuesta porque te has extrañado cuando no has encontrado el Lince que buscabas, ¡bingo!, has cumplido el objetivo del test.

De hecho, como verás en la última tabla, ha habido gente que ha respondido más de 6 preguntas, y en parte es debido a esto.

Aun así, en la pregunta 1, que es en la única en la que había un Lince, solo el 29% ha dado la respuesta adecuada.

Sigue quedando mucha Hormiguita que se esfuerza y se esfuerza y que tiene que dar un pequeño salto, echar la vista más allá de su día a día y pensar en divergente.

En la pregunta 3 dos de las respuestas son de Koala. En este caso queríamos medir la capacidad de descartar posibles respuestas pensando en que una de ellas debe de ser buena y centrar realmente en encontrar la mejor de ellas. En este punto no ha ido tan bien, pues el 77% ha dado la respuesta de Koala.

Por su parte, la respuesta a la pregunta 4 nos ha resultado muy grata, ya que el 41% ha dado la respuesta de Liebre, aunque el número de Koalas sumado con el de Hormigas es superior.

Porcentaje de animales por pregunta

Figura 3. Porcentaje de animales por pregunta.

 

# 4. Con qué animal se asocia cada respuesta

Seguro que te estás preguntando cuál es la distribución de animalitos por pregunta, es decir, cuánta gente ha respondido como un animal u otro, así que vamos a verlo.

En las Figuras 4, 5 y 6 vemos los porcentajes por pregunta para Koalas, Hormigas y Liebres/Linces respectivamente.

Koalas por pregunta

Distribución de Koalas por pregunta

Figura 4. Distribución del número Koalas por pregunta.

Podrás apreciar que el mayor número de Koalas aparece en la pregunta 3, debido principalmente a que hemos puesto dos respuesta Koala. Lo hemos hecho así porque, por nuestra experiencia, es una pregunta muy importante, y uno debería haber detectado que tenía trampa.

Recordémosla:

Si los mercados son conversaciones, ¿cómo sabrías de qué están hablando tus 3 competidores principales?

¡No puedes limitar la Escucha Activa a un solo canal como es Facebook, y menos cuando los mensajes se entremezclan de manera compleja! Y tampoco puedes centrar tu estudio en aspectos puramente SEO.

Hormigas por pregunta

En la Figura 5 vemos que el mayor número de hormigas se da en la pregunta 5, lo cual es muy significativo porque aquí también había dos respuestas de Koala. Es sin duda la que más se acercaba a la acción que podía hacer pensar en lo que un lince haría más allá del trabajo de la Hormiga.

 

Distribución de Hormigas por pregunta

Figura 5. Distribución del número de Hormigas por pregunta.

Liebres/linces por pregunta

Aunque solo había Linces en la pregunta 1, la hemos incluido en este gráfico para poder comparar.

Vemos pues que el mayor número de Liebres se da en la pregunta 4, lo cual es de nuevo significativo, pues la pregunta pone en una situación poco sencilla de resolver y con opciones que se podrían interpretar de manera semejante, aunque esta es la mejor respuesta.

Distribución de liebres por pregunta

Figura 6. Distribución del número de Liebres por pregunta

 

# 5. Cuántas veces ha respondido cada usuario a las preguntas

En la Figura 7 te dejamos el número total de usuarios que ha dado cada una de las posibles respuestas a cada pregunta. Aquí te puedes comparar y ver dónde te situas con respecto a los demás usuarios.

Como investigación es interesante porque, aunque la mayoría responde de forma significativa a una pregunta siguiendo el test, hay usuarios que prueban los resultados: aquellos que quieren saber más -los que han perseguido el objetivo que te comentaba al principio- y aquellos que probablemente se han entretenido en saber si habían dado la mejor respuesta.

En este caso queríamos que se pudiera volver sobre las respuestas porque este test está pensado para aprender, y nuestra intención era que, quien quisiera encontrar la respuesta correcta, pudiera hacerlo.

Número de respuestas por usuario a pregunta

Usuarios que han dado cada respuesta a cada pregunta

Figura 7. Número de usuarios que ha dado cada respuesta a cada pregunta

Conclusión

Como ves, queda todavía mucho camino por recorrer en este campo. Muchos de quienes trabajan en medios sociales son hormiguitas que van por buen camino pero que necesitarían dar un salto cualitativo para encontrar otras formas más eficientes de trabajar.

Por otro lado, el reflejo de muchas de las respuestas de Koala también hace ver que todavía existe un porcentaje importante de usuarios al que le conviene cambiar: muchos prefieren seguir haciendo lo mismo que ha hecho siempre. Y dar un salto es para ellos todavía más importante.

Al final del Test encontrarás la Metodología que te puede ayudar a dar este salto cualitativo.

¿Qué respuestas te han salido? ¿Qué te ha parecido el ejercicio?

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Facebook Retargeting Spend Increases: New Research

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

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Want to see a higher ROI from Facebook? Have you considered Facebook retargeting ads? Facebook retargeting allows you to reach your website visitors via custom ads on Facebook. In this article you’ll discover recent findings from studies focused on Facebook retargeting. Why Facebook Retargeting? While everyone has probably seen Facebook retargeting, not everyone knows how […]

This post Facebook Retargeting Spend Increases: New Research first appeared on Social Media Examiner.
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Guitar Hero Live now available on Apple TV, but you have to buy the guitar controller accessory to play the game

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

Guitar-Hero-Live_iPad_AirPlay_301As demoed by Apple on stage, the latest instalment of Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero Live, is now available on Apple TV. It’s just like classic Guitar Hero, a three-lane rhythm based game, but modernised with better visuals, ‘real’ band members, enhanced crowd reactions, and more.

On the iPhone and iPad version, you can play two trial songs for free or pay $50 via In-App Purchase to unlock the full game with 38 additional songs. However, on Apple TV, the game is completely non-functional without the controller accessory. You have to buy the controller for the game to work at all. Incidentally, you can buy the full game and controller on Amazon as a $99 bundle, for both iOS and tvOS.

Requiring a game controller peripheral is a controversial move, as it goes against Apple’s normal App Store policy for Apple TV games. In fact, it appears to defy the rules about game controllers laid out by Apple.

In the developer guidelines, Apple says explicitly that developers cannot make games that require an MFI controller. All games must be able to be played with the Siri Remote alone. This caused some discontent in the community as it artificially limits what kind of games can be made based on the capabilities of the ‘basic’ Siri Remote. Guitar Hero behaviour seems to defy these rules entirely.

We have reached out to Apple for comment but one possible explanation is that the Guitar Hero game accessory is not technically an ‘MFI game controller’. It is a completely custom peripheral that only works with the Guitar Hero game. This may be a bit of a loophole that allows Activision to require the peripheral as it doesn’t technically fall under the ‘no MFI controller exclusive games’ requirement … because it isn’t an MFI controller.

Perhaps adding salt to the wounds, on iOS, the game can be played in full without a controller accessory. Paying the $50 IAP unlocks the full game. It doesn’t seem very fair to extort additional money out of Apple TV users for the same game.

Still, if you are interested in Guitar Hero games, Guitar Hero Live seems like a fantastic addition to the series. You get a lot of tracks as well as access to the GHTV channels, which show 200 live music videos that you can play along with.  It’s just a shame you have to fork out $100 and buy the fake guitar peripheral the if you want to enjoy the game on Apple TV.

Guitar_Hero_Live_GH_Live_2.0.0

Filed under: Apple TV, Apps, iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: Apple TV, Guitar Hero Live, iPhone 6, iPhone 6s

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How to Create the Right Content at the Right Time: 6 Tips to Get You Started

by | Nov 11, 2015 |

Timing is everything. 

In fact, I’m willing to bet that you can think of a dozen instances where timing has been responsible for the success or failure of a particular task. For example, in cooking, it can mean the difference between a culinary triumph and a big, burnt mess. And in comedy, it can determine whether a joke falls flat or evokes a raucous laugh. 

The same applies to content marketing. In order for our efforts to amount to anything, marketers must be focused on delivering the right content, to the right people, at the right time, right?

But, how do you go about ensuring you achieve all of the above? To help, I’ve detailed six quick tips to get you thinking more strategically about the type of content you’re producing, and how timing might influence its success. 

6 Tips for Creating the Right Content at the Right Time

1) Get to know your audience.

Understanding who your customers are is the first step in ensuring any content created engages with the right people and achieves its objectives — whether that’s to raise brand awareness, increase traffic and conversions, or build quality links to improve your search ranking. 

Most businesses will capture data on people who have used their services or bought their products in the past to draw up a generalised picture of potential customers. (Check out this resource for free templates to help you build out your personas.)

Another way to gather data for your personas is to extract it from social media. Facebook’s Audience Insights is a great tool to simplify this process, as it allows you see the demographic of a business’ audience, as well as their gender, relationship status, interest sets, job niches, etc. It can even tell you the amount of time a specific audience spends on Facebook and the time of day they are accessing it. (For a beginners’ guide on how to access this data, check out this article from our social media manager, Naomi Parry.)

Another way to get a better understanding of an audience is through YouGov profiler. This tool allows you to search for brands, people, or things and — as long as there is enough data available — find out facts about them including political persuasion, favourite foods, hobbies and other brands they are interested in.

2) Identify opportunities for campaign alignment. 

There are many reasons a business needs to invest in content marketing. To get the wheels turning, here are a few examples:

  • Give their brand a voice/personality
  • Engage with their audience
  • Encourage upsell opportunities
  • Secure a higher ranking in search
  • Increase brand awareness
  • Build domain authority
  • Increase traffic and conversions

To shape your strategy, think about the content you are producing and which of the above you want it to achieve. For example, if you’re looking to drive traffic to an ebook to increase conversions, you may want to create supporting blog articles that link to the CTA. Thinking about how the content you’re creating (or plan to create) fits in with other promotion and campaigns you’re currently running will help you become more purposeful in your approach to content creation.

One of the best ways to align your marketing projects is to create a detailed content calendar. This should list content being worked on, campaign launch dates, and other events that your team should be aware of when planning content. For example, if you work in the gardening industry, find out when national events such as the Royal Horticultural Society Show are taking place, think about other national holidays and celebrations (Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, etc.) that could influence your customers, and make sure your content calendar details all the other promotional campaigns your business is involved in.

3) Figure out the right content mix and flow.

Once you know who you are talking to and what you want to accomplish, you need to think about the types of content that your audience/potential customers will want to consume.

Will they want downloadable, detailed ebooks and guides? What about short and snappy blog posts? Are they looking for in-depth articles answering specific questions? What about visual content such as infographics? What role will video play in your strategy? 

To cater to your buyer personas, you need to provide a mix of different content types. Think of your website as if it were a newspaper or magazine. Print journalism specialises in offering variety for its readers — from hard news stories to picture spreads to personality profiles to option columns. Make sure the content on your site offers the same.

4) Experiment with reactive marketing.

Often executed through social media channels, reactive marketing is one of the best ways to prove that your company is staying on top of industry trends and changes. To give you a better sense of what this approach looks like, check out some of these examples of reactive marketing in action:

This August, Arena Flowers reacted to the news that hackers had downloaded the details of 37 million account holders of the Ashley Madison infidelity site, by sending out a tweet announcing it was offering 10% off all ‘Apology’ flowers.

When Uruguay striker Luis Suarez hit the headlines after biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in the 2014 World Cup, Snickers’ marketing team sent Suarez the clever tweet above. This was retweeted more than 45,000 times.

Should’ve gone to Specsavers

Posted by
Specsavers on 
Thursday, July 26, 2012

When the wrong Korean flag was mistakenly displayed during the Olympics in 2012, the eye care company, Specsavers, seamlessly tied it into its “Should have gone to Specsavers” adverting campaign.

These examples prove that quickly taking advantage of a trending issue can be a very effective marketing tool. However, it’s important to note that you should be careful when selecting an event or trend to jump on. As a rule of thumb, avoid anything that might be offensive to people such as a religious instance or natural disaster. 

5) Stay informed. 

When I was a cub reporter for a regional newspaper, we used to get all the national press delivered to our office every day. As part of my job, I would have to read through the broadsheets and tabloids to see if any of their stories could be localised. I was a great way to stay “in the know.”

To ensure that your business doesn’t fall behind, it’s important that you’re regularly checking out news websites and industry blogs to see what people are writing about. Other websites such as BuzzSumo and Google Trends are also a great place to discover which topics, related to your business or customers’ business, get the most attention. 

Another interesting platform for this type of discovery is NewsWhip. This tool helps you track and predict the spread of stories on social networks and find what people are talking about. And Spike, NewsWhip’s pro-tool dashboard, shows what content is capturing the world’s attention in real time.

Content teams should use this emerging information to brainstorm more “forward thinking” pieces that offer a fresh perspective. And getting the timing right is particularly important here.

As soon as you notice a hot topic beginning to emerge, you need to act fast to avoid piling on. Similar to the reactive marketing examples above, the quicker you can deliver the content, the better.

6) Test different posting times. 

There’s a lot of research out there on determining the best time to send and publish content on social media, email, blogs, etc. While I’d always urge you to test these things for yourself, here’s some of the best advice I’ve come across:

  • Facebook. Research by Buffer into Facebook’s News Feed algorithm found engagement rates are 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays and 32% higher at weekends. The best times vary, with stats ranging from 1pm to get the most shares and 3pm to get more clicks; generally early afternoon is a solid time to post.
  • Twitter. A recent study by Twitter found that 81% of users are more likely to be on Twitter during their commute home and the highest time for retweets is early evening, while a huge piece of research by the Buffer team suggests that the best engagement comes in the early hours of the morning. Those that tweet between 2-3am earn the most clicks on average.
  • Emails. Research carried out by MailChimp, found that 8am – 11am and 12 – 2pm is the best time to send your newsletters for the best response rate but that timings varies enormously depending on audience.
  • Blog Posts. Track Maven analysed almost 5,000 blogs last year and discovered a high correlation between those that published posts on a weekend and a higher average number of social shares, putting it down to the lack of ‘competition’ for headspace and engagement.

Again, I recommend that you use these finding to inspire your own tests for determining optimal send and publish times. While they may have worked for these companies, you can often expect to see different results from different audience types. 

What are your favorite tips for posting the right content at the right time? Share them with us in the comments section below.

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