Over the past couple of years mobile-friendly websites have become a necessity due to the way people now consume content, but knowing where to start can be tough for traditional businesses.

​2017 is the year that accessibility, mobility and speed will really matter. Today, it is also essential that your website content is mobile-friendly-searchable to further improve your online visibility. 
 
Here are 5 basic points to consider when going mobile-friendly.
 
1. Quick and easy
A mobile website must be quick and easy to navigate. Mobile site users want to find information hassle free, so make things easy to find with clear buttons, icons and headings that guide and inform users. The less pinches, swipes and taps the better.
 
2. Short and simple
Users on mobile devices looking for products or services don't want to waste time, and really don't want to scroll, scroll, scroll through long paragraphs. Keep paragraph length to 3-5 lines. Use short, simple, targeted sentences that engage and help users find what they want. Sentence length should range from 10 – 20 words. Also, use keywords your target market uses to find what they are looking for.
 
3. Stay on message
Make sure your brand and communications (logo, colors, copy and style) are consistent across your desktop and mobile platforms. Brand consistency will ensure users develop familiarity with your business — familiarity breeds brand trust and loyalty.
 
4. Minimize input info
Mobile users are working on a small canvas, so limit the amount of information you require them to input when completing forms or purchase orders. Using drop downs instead of input fields will make things much easier. Also, make sure the input font size is readable at least 14 px.
 
5. Time to test
Once your mobile website is live — test it — across various mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets of all shapes and sizes. Also, make sure you test it across various operating systems like Windows, iOS and Android. Finally, when ready to go live, test your page speed with Google PageSpeed Insights.
 
Scopic works with you to build your business exposure online, contact us to find out more.

This shift away from traditional “celebrity endorsement” can boost product exposure and drive sales far more effectively and efficiently than traditional marketing.
 
Influencer marketing has three key benefits:
 
1. Relevance
Influencers communicate in a manner that is more relevant and targeted to a specific audience or demographic.
 
2. Authenticity
Influencers have pre-established credibility with an audience and more importantly across their social media platform.
 
3. Exposure
Influencers directly engage with a targeted audience and have already built an existing relationship through quality content creation that is — shared, liked, followed… 

Scopic helps businesses better understand and engage with their target audience, contact us to find out more.

As you have no doubt heard by now, online content marketing is the new currency of our digital age, and if done correctly, offers one of the most effective ways to communicate with your target audience.
 
But don’t let this shift in how we communicate and share information have you think that the old school Press Release or Media Release has had its day. Media releases should still be an essential element of your public relations strategy. They are an extremely effective way to share business achievements, product releases and event announcements with a wider audience via credible media outlets. 

Here are five tips to writing an effective media release for free.
 
1. Get picked up
The very first thing seen of your media release — just like your brochure content, magazine advertisement or online banner — must grab attention. Your media release headline and first paragraph need to be engaging, and attract the attention of the editor or journalist. Basically, make sure you cover who, what, where, when and most importantly why your media release should make news in the first paragraph. Remember to write in an inverted pyramid style — most important to least important, just like in the newspapers.
 
2. Keep things simple
Write in short sentences, short paragraphs and keep the information clear and concise. As a basic rule, limit your media release to one A4 page in content. This will have you focus of producing concise, compelling content — something time-poor editors and journalists are always looking for. If your media release is picked up, you will most likely get the chance to add more detail later if required.
 
3. Quote an influencer
People like to hear news from credible sources or experts in a specific field, so make sure to always include quotes. Using quotes from someone in your business, an industry leader, a local celebrity or a social media influencer will help make sure that your story is "newsworthy" and newsworthiness plays a central role in whether your story makes it to the presses or online.
 
4. Save your story
A media release is all about building positive public relations — trust — with your audience/consumer, so focus on the news first and keep a short "about the brand" to the end. A strong, trustworthy relationship between your business and media outlets is always mutually beneficial. 
 
5. Look the part
Make sure to have Media Release or Story Idea in the subject line of your email with an enticing headline. Editors and journalists will spend just a second or two deciding whether something looks interesting and should be opened up. Also, add an image or short video (30-60 seconds) that helps tell the story.

​Finally, editors and journalists will need to have your contact details in the media release to follow-up and ask questions, or to arrange an interview if required — for convenience, use the standard media release format below.
 
Head your media release with the following:
Media Release
For Immediate Release – (Date)
 
Close your media release with the following:
Media Contact:
Email:
Phone:
Media Release Ends
 
Scopic connects businesses and people through creative communications, contact us to find out more.