Vacationist & Facebook: Great Progressive Registration Example

I write a lot about Facebook as more than an acquisition tool - it's a conversions tool, particularly through registration and activation. I bill it the "progressive registration" (read more here). Here is a terrific example from Vacationist. First, the registration box is done in a visually clever way: it hangs atop the background image and has six key fields (First Name, Last Name, etc). When the Facebook Connect button is clicked, the fields change, are all prepopulated except for zip code and the title changes from "Become a Vacationist today" to "Register with Facebook". All that is required to do is enter a zip code and press Register.

One other interesting piece: if I had any Facebook friends on Vacationist, they would appear directly next to the register button. Right now it just says "0 friends" (probably better to hide that!).

Make Your Content Accessible on Mobile - All Devices, All Formats. ESPN's Gamecast as Example.

I write a lot about tailoring your web experience for the environments where it is (and can) be used. That is particularly important for mobile which has its own UI needs, requirements, opportunities and challenges. Here is the latest example.

ESPN has done a good job creating product & content for specific environments and devices. Example here. While that is an effective treatment - this is not. When 'watching' an ESPN Gamecast on the iPad (which is an excellent product) - it requires you to watch it in landscape mode. There is literally no content and no experience otherwise. Even if ESPN believes that landscape is the best way to view Gamecast, you would think that they would either create a light version or showcase some other content? Very strange.

Amazon Applies Intelligence to the App Store. You Should Too.

I've long argued that Apple's iTunes and the app store are woefully unintelligent. They are akin to merchandising in a storefront... when there is data available to make the store experience more compelling and better converting. Here's an example of that argument beginning in 2009 (!). After a week with the Amazon Kindle Fire (more to come - hint: I love it), they get the storefront concept and execute it well.... as we have come to expect from Amazon. Rather than using Facebook data, Amazon uses your purchase and search data. Below is an example of the Kidle Bookstore and notice that it's not just a compilation of bestsellers. Theses are items specifically tailored to me based on what I've bought, what I've searched for, and what they consequently think I like (sports, health, tech, young families, etc).

What's this mean for you? You likely won't have Amazon's breadth of data and users profiling... but platforms like Twitter and Facebook do - and you can leverage them to personalize your experience specifically for your users. It's more compelling. It's differentiated. And it's therefore converts.

How to Leverage Facebook for Startups: Part I, Off-Facebook

Note: this article originally appeared on TechCrunch: 10 Ways Your Startup Can Hook Into Facebook, Part I: On The Web Part I: Off-Facebook Strategy Part II: On-Facebook Strategy

Having already covered how startups can use search and Twitter to find customers, here’s 10 steps for finding people on another key marketing platform: Facebook Facebook has evolved from a social network into the fabric with which much of the web is constructed: identity, product, data, experience and so on. Even if you chose to no longer use it as a social destination, you would still find immense value in it through your every-day web usage: registration, personalization, sharing, interaction, etc.

This is of course a huge opportunity for consumer-focused startups. Facebook plays a core role in touching each step along the standard product / user funnel:

- Acquisition: virality, referrals, paid traffic - Activation: conversion paths from new to active users - Activity: user engagement and retention

Below is a slide presentation with five ways to think about leveraging Facebook to affect those three steps on your web experience. Tomorrow I will share five ways to find success on Facebook.com.

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14 SEO Tips for Startups

Note: This article originally appeared on TechCrunch (“14 Steps to Successful SEO for Startups”). For startups, it is dangerous to entirely separate product and marketing – both strategically and organizationally. A great product isn’t overly useful without an audience. And a great marketing strategy can’t save a poor product. Product and marketing have to coexist.

So when imaging, building and eventually launching your product, it is important to also hone the marketing strategy. There are five core channels:

- Paid marketing (SEM, display, affiliates, etc) - Social & viral marketing - Search engine optimization (SEO) - Partnerships & business development - PR

For early-stage companies, advertising at scale is expensive and consequently difficult. Furthermore, PR and business development become easier efforts as the company matures. So where does that leave you as a resource-constrained startup?

Marketing needs to come from the product itself. Last week I explored the role that social and virals play. And while the tech world is fascinated with social media and major platforms like Facebook and Twitter, we shouldn’t overlook the role of SEO (and consequently Google). Like Facebook and Twitter, SEO is another opportunity to expand your funnel and increase your audience — without an advertising budget! Also like social, SEO is far more effective when built directly into the product (“from the ground up”). Here are 14 guidelines for thinking about SEO.

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Be Actionable. Be Different. Facebook Listen & Read Buttons & Google Offers as Examples.

Before the holiday, I wrote that Facebook was testing "listen buttons" in the Ticker. I commented that it was sure to boost activity and conversions... but what happens when the 'action' graph expands and there are buttons galore? A couple thoughts / notes on that: click image for full-size

1. This is the first time I have now seen "Read" buttons. They look exactly like the listen button - but clearly focused on different actions, publishers and canvas apps. It really stands out.

Again: what happens when the entire ticker is action-oriented? Is it too noisy? Is there new column? Unsure... but I like the fact that posts are action-oriented.

click image for full-size

2. Which brings us to point #2: it is a reminder to be action-oriented and to stand out... whether you are creating content, delivering emails or crafting ad units. Great example below from Google's own search ads.

The first unit is for Google Offers. It *of course* looks great and stands out: big branding, big imagery, etc.

The second is a little further down and is by Lonely Planet. The unit stands out because it is different and integrates ratings. The copy is action-oriented.

click image for full-size

How to Grow Your Brand on Twitter. 5 Overarching Guidelines. Tons of Examples.

Note: This article originally appeared on TechCrunch ("5 Ways for Startups to Grow Their Brands on Twitter”). Last week I began an effort to answer those questions I get asked most frequently, starting with how to create an early-stage pitch deck. Today, I address the next most popular question: how best to grow your brand on Twitter? Twitter is the ultimate marketing platform. But the scale of Twitter is so extraordinary (250 million tweets / day) that it is actually quite easy to get lost in the noise.

Separating yourself from the masses really begins with the recognition that Twitter is first and foremost a platform for conversation. If you believe that, you avoid the mistake most brands make: treating Twitter as a mechanism to push content rather than create engagement.

And once your goal is to foster conversation and engagement, you can follow these five guidelines:

1. Listen. 2. Be authentic. 3. Be compelling. 4. Find the influencers. 5. Extend off-twitter and onto your site.

In the below presentation, I breakdown these core themes and provides examples of people and companies successfully using Twitter to drive engagement and grow their brands.

How to Grow Your Brand on Twitter

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Facebook Moving Sponsored Posts Above Ticker? Always a Balancing Act

Last week I wrote a post about the the balancing act of revenue versus user experience. These tug of wars appear all the time, for instance - while at eBay, I used to think a great deal about the trade-offs of SEO as compared to usability / design... tough decisions. And we see it now with LinkedIn (who recently became a public company) - whose web experience has shifted a bit towards revenue (suggested by my anecdotal, personal usage). This is all a set up to the following screenshot of my Facebook homepage - which seems to have shifted Sponsored Posts above the Ticker and Birthday / Events alerts. Sponsored Posts are clearly the big revenue opportunity on the the homepage - and, by being above the Ticker, CPMs, conversions, etc all improve. Of course that affects interaction rates with the ticker and therefore my friends.

It's always a balance. And it's fascinating to watch.

How to Create an Early-Stage Pitch Deck

Note: This article originally appeared on TechCrunch ("How To Create An Early-Stage Pitch Deck For Investors"). It is the first in a series of posts / decks that I will be doing on those questions I get asked most commonly. Of course we will start with the question I get most: how to create a great pitch deck!

When raising capital, a combination of your company’s product, vision, team and execution are what ultimately attract investment. And while the pitch deck is ultimately less important than vision and product, it exists to convey both elements and get investors hungry for more.

Like other investors, I come across hundreds of pitches each month — some in person, others in email; some as PowerPoints, and others as full-fledged business plans. Your goal is to craft a deck that is both:

- crisp: succinct enough that it is easily digestible (in person, email, etc)

- and complete: thorough enough that it conveys the big vision and current traction

I looked back on many of the pitches I reviewed over the last couple years (good and bad) and compared it to public pitch decks of familiar, successful companies like Airbnb, Foursquare, and Mint. The output is this guide to creating an early-stage pitch deck. It’s intended for companies seeking seed and series A investments.

There are five core themes followed by a suggested structure:

1. Have a great one-liner 2. Know your audience 3. Keep it to 10-15 slides 4. Beware of the demo 5. Expect the deck to be shared

And remember: it’s the story and the conversation that is important – not the imagery and colors. If you can convey the passion that drives you (and your users / customers!), you will have created a powerful pitch deck.

How to Create an Early Stage Pitch Deck

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