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When my father suffered a stroke last month, I found myself — someone with no medical knowledge — able to correctly guess what had happened. Why? Because of an infographic. The National Stroke Association’s recent stroke awareness radio campaign prompted me to visit their website, where I saw their “Warning Signs of a Stroke” infographic. When my father slurred his words and displayed obvious weakness on his right side, I recalled the FAST mnemonic. And I especially remembered the pictures in that infographic.

"Warning Signs of Stroke" used with permission from the National Stroke Association, www.stroke.org.

Being “visual learners,” we humans learn better with visual aids. So it’s no surprise that content strategists and content marketers are increasingly leveraging infographics — visual representations of information, data, or knowledge — to educate and influence target audiences.

What makes an effective infographic?

From a content strategy perspective, infographics are no different from other content. All good content is appropriate (for the reader, for the context, and for the business), useful, clear, consistent, concise, and user-centered. Good infographics parlay the characteristics of good content into an attractive design that answers a question or tells a story that’s better understood using imagery versus plain text.

Compelling infographics also share these features:

• Usefulness. Good content is user-centered, not blatantly self-promotional. Provide useful content in your infographic, and that infographic just might be shared on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or other social media sites.
• Eye-catching visual elements. Our eyes naturally gravitate toward colors and shapes. Great infographics use color schemes, typography, illustrations, charts, icons, and text to guide their readers.
• Simplified data. Infographics can distill a spreadsheet full of data into simple, meaningful relationships.
• Judicious use of text with graphics. Most people are glancing at the graphic and absorbing its information at a fast rate. Less is more where text is concerned.
• Original data sources. Credible infographics cite their sources. Readers wishing to see the raw data themselves can explore and verify.

The National Stroke Association’s simple infographic is clear, concise, with actionable content relevant to me, the daughter of elderly parents having stroke risk factors. So what did I do with this potentially life-saving infographic? I shared it on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, of course!

In my next post, I’ll share some resources for getting started with infographics.

SOUND OFF: What infographics do you find compelling? Why?

It sounds like the worst kind of idiomatic phrase to suggest that having a “Strategy for developing your digital strategy” is a good idea.  Yet, most marketers will tell you:  The way you gather, validate and present your digital plan to your audience is as important as the plan itself.  These tips can help you, the earnest strategist, navigate the pitfalls of effective strategy development.

1.       Focus

Metaphorically speaking, have you ever run down a dark alley blindfolded only to feel the crushing thud of a dead-end? Often, that is how digital strategies are initiated:  “Hey Bob, can you put together a digital strategy for taking our online stuff to the next level?  Three weeks enough time?  Great, let’s get a review meeting on the calendar.”

Can you say nebulous?

As digital continues to grow in percentage of marketing budgets for organizations, it’s also growing in discrete areas.  Focus should always be wrought on specific areas of digital strategic development:  Does “digital” to the requestor mean the web site, social media, mobile, advertising or any of the dozens of other areas in which a digital strategy can be developed?  Hone in on the area that is the true request.

2.       Get Alignment with the Expectations of your Audience … Ahead of Time

Strategy, the art of planning, is one of the most oft-abused words in the corporate dictionary.  Frequently, when a strategy is requested, what you’re really being asked to provide is a thoughtful and organized group of tactics.  It’s not a strategy as much as it is an improvement plan organized for review.

Seeking a shared understanding with the requestor and/or your audience on the level of strategic visioning versus executional framework is crucial to developing a plan that resonates.

Potentially successful ideas can be detoured when presented to an audience expecting an approach different than your chosen path.

3.       Provide Context

After you have honed in on the key area of strategic development within the digital realm and aligned expectations with your audience, even cursory research means you will have an infinitely greater command of the digital landscape in the strategic area than the folks to whom you are presenting.  Providing context is the art of positioning the conversation so it is understandable.

Take some time to think about your presentation from the point-of-view of the audience, and frame it in a way that lets you tell a story about solving a problem through thoughtful action.  The truism, “Details make a story interesting” is appropriate here, and just enough detail makes a story understandable.  Not acknowledging this and not breaking down your suggestions into a framework that is relatable will immediately detour your presentation into the great unknown, affectionately known as FUD – fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

4.       Talk with them, not at them

If you were a physicist, how would you explain the theory of relativity?  If you were at a conference of other physicists presenting a research paper, the way and type of information you communicate would be a lot different from talking with a group of laypeople.

Further, there is a reason that newspapers are written at an eighth-grade level.  Showing your inner geek with your superbly deep command of the subject that is well above the grasp of the people you are talking with is sure to erode confidence.

It is imperative that you understand whom you are talking with so you can pattern your information presentation to the knowledge level of the recipient.

5.       Always, Always Have Next Steps

Often times, in the first half of your strategic presentation, if done correctly, your audience will be ready to make the leap to, “What’s next?”  That is great, but “What’s next” (if it’s truly a strategic plan) doesn’t always match to your preparation to that point.  You are trying to validate an approach, and now you are being asked how it’s going to be done.

There may be too many what-if’s in execution to confidently match strategy to tactical execution within the scope of the same presentation so leave the Gantt chart out of your presentation, but do be prepared with a 15 or 30-day plan to take your strategy into the first stages of execution.

6.       People Judge Books by their Cover

Have you ever been suspicious of the well-regarded, extremely bright person who looks like he got dressed in the dark and took a time machine to the office from 1989?

In the same vein, it is hard to take the content in your strategy seriously if it is in a shoddy, visually inept format.  Readability and aesthetically pleasing formatting goes a long way to helping deliver your message.

Do not discount the value of spending time making your presentation look good.

Bonus

A.      Follow the Rule of 1/3’s

People on the front lines of execution have an incredible grasp of the challenges to moving strategic change forward.  Yet, it is in our nature to present forward movement within the scope of the best circumstances possible.  Don’t do that.

Whether it is a home improvement project or a large, unwieldy business initiative, projects usually take 1/3 longer you then anticipated, cost 1/3 more money and have 1/3 more challenges than planned for.  Yet, leadership really only hears the deadline and budget you set.  Plan and communicate accordingly.

SOUND OFF: What tips for managing the process of developing a strategy are missing?  Do you have lessons learned not represented here?

What is Caching?

When a user enters a web address in their browser, the browser makes a request to download from the web server the resource located at that address. The resource requested could be a web page, image or some other type of file. The web server sends back the resource as well as any assets required by the resource to the user’s browser for display.

Caching allows the browser to save the resources sent from the web server locally. This is known as browser caching. That way, if there is another request for the same resource, the browser can use the cached version that it has, instead of asking for it from the web server and downloading it again over the internet.

If you’re a website owner, how can caching help you?

There are two primary reasons why caching is used:

• Reduce latency — Because the user’s request for a resource is satisfied from the cache instead of the web server, it takes less time for the browser to display the resource. This makes the website seem more responsive.
• Reduce network traffic — Because the resources are reused, there is a reduction in the amount of bandwidth used. This saves money if you’re paying for traffic, and keeps bandwidth requirements lower and more manageable.

When can caching be a challenge?

While caching is perfectly acceptable for web resources that don’t change often, it is often undesirable for resources such as web pages whose content is updated frequently with new information.

Options for controlling caching

As a website owner, you may choose to configure your site to control how a browser uses cached resources. You can choose to:

• Instruct the browser how long to use a cached resource
• Prevent the browser from using a cached resource
• Prevent the browser from storing a resource locally
• Do nothing and let the browser and user control caching

Whatever options you choose, you need to give caching instructions to the browser through the use of META tags or HTTP Headers. META tags are included in each HTML document sent to the browser. Other resources such as images cannot be controlled in this way and should be configured on the server through the use of HTTP Headers. HTTP Headers can’t be seen in the HTML, and are usually automatically generated by the web server and sent to the browser along with the resource being requested. The use of HTTP Headers is the preferred method for controlling caching.

It is recommended that you configure your website to optimize caching in order to take advantage of the benefits of caching. Your user’s may have a more responsive experience while visiting your site, you will be able to have more precision over the management of site files, and you may have reduced costs associated with hosting your website.

Additional Resources

The following websites offer additional information on caching:

• Optimize caching – Make the Web Faster — Google Developers
• Caching Tutorial for Web Authors and Webmasters
• How to stop web browser from caching documents and other resources | web development tutorials
• HTTP Headers for Dummies | Nettuts+
• Cache-Control HTTP Headers
• How To Optimize Your Site With HTTP Caching | BetterExplained
• Cache Control Directives Demystified : Palisade

Social media is an increasingly mainstream form of communication. As a result, many companies are faced with the issue of how to handle this new medium. Even if your organization doesn’t have a company-wide social media presence, you might still be asking yourself: should we be putting policies in place to guide our employee’s actions online?

There are arguments both for and against implementing a social media policy and the same solution might not be right for every industry or organization. Here are four responses to the increasingly popular question: “Should we implement a social media policy?”

 “There are legitimate reasons to establish some guidelines for social media.” – Sharlyn Lauby, President of Internal Talent Management (ITM)

In her Mashable article, Should Your Company Have a Social Media Policy? Sharlyn Lauby argues that just as companies at one point had to define policies for email, they now have to figure out how to deal with Facebook and other new media venues.

“There is no reason to have a bunch of rules for employee posts on their own [social] networks.” – John Hall, CEO Digital Talent Agents

In a recent interview with the Washington Post, John Hall suggests that monitoring social media platforms is  unnecessary and a waste of time. According to Hall, “If anything… there should be only one rule – employees shouldn’t post things that can affect the company in a negative way.”

“We would be sending the wrong message if we told our staff that they can’t use Facebook during work hours, but only if we needed them to help us fill a position.” – Ilay Pozin, Founder of Ciplex

According to Ilay Pozin’s Washington Post interview, Ciplex doesn’t block sites like Facebook, because they feel that it is unnecessary to police employees. They also recognize the benefits of platforms like Facebook when it comes to recruiting for the company and want to leave those channels of communication open.

“No matter the industry, social media is being accessed all around us. As a result, every company must inevitably establish a social media policy.” – Elissa Nauful, CEO Ballywho Interactive

In her Social Media Today blog, Three “Must Haves” for a Social Media Policy, Elissa Nauful talks about the potential time employees could waste on Facebook and Twitter and how every company should establish a social media policy to help preserve employee productivity.

SOUND OFF: In this age of digital marketing, what is your take on social media policies? A must-have? A restriction of freedom? A waste of time? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

In business, we typically have no shortage of ideas to share with our customers about our services.  By contrast, we often fall short when it comes to directly acknowledging our customers’ pain points, recognizing their specific challenges and knowing how they might be searching to fulfill a particular need.

So before you create a digital marketing campaign, consider these four important questions to keep you in synch with your customers’ needs.

1. What are your customers looking for?

Do your research. Are your customers staring down a particular problem — an issue resulting from regulatory changes, new competitive forces in their market or perhaps challenges with sales force enablement? Are your customers seeing unique marketing communications trends in their marketplace? Or perhaps they are looking to solve a specific problem — like ants in their basement.

2. When do they need to know the information?

People have ever increasing expectations to have the information they need at the exact moment when they need it. The more you understand about when your customers are looking for answers, the more likely your messages are to be received. Work to have brand messaging intersect with the particular problem through search marketing, video advertising, content placement or other promotional outlets.

3. How do they like to get content?

Are your target customers more likely to engage in traditional communications like direct mail or billboards? Or are they more likely to search for your product or service on the Web? Either way, what digital marketing tactics will be relevant to your customer’s needs? Do they want to see product demos, how-to videos or simply grab a PDF brochure and run? And to add a layer of complexity, are your targets more likely to use a mobile device to get their content and if so is the user experience of your digital properties optimized for viewing through various devices?

4. What will most likely get them to engage?

Once you know what your customers are looking for and when and how they like to consume content, what will it take to get them to engage in using your product or service? White papers, research reports, coupons and requests for information are great ways to get direct contact information for your targets. But there are also more subtle ways to determine if they are doing anything of value in your digital marketing campaigns.

For example, if you provide weight loss and fitness programs, you might know from your existing customer base that people who complete a fitness self-assessment are more likely to sign up for a trial program. Therefore, you might consider offering an online fitness self-assessment combined with a sign-up promotion to engage your target customers. Analytics can show how many target customers started and finished the assessment as well as where they fall out of the funnel. These insights can help you streamline your marketing activities over time.

SOUND OFF: How do you answer the four questions?