The Embellisher Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 1
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Transcript of The Embellisher Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 1
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OUR FIRST ISSUE
The cartoon for this months issue is from our own Ari Bernabei. Ari not only
does our illustrations for Embellisher eReader books, he can also create
special commix for you. If you need to spice-up your business newsletter or
website with a fresh and humorous creation, then just email our man Ari and
tell him what you need in the way of a topic. He can give you an idea of what
it would cost for a single-panel or multiple-panels strip.
What do you need to hear from us?
Just tell us!
5 WAYS TO PUBLISH
CONTENT ON MOBILE
AND GROW YOUR
BRAND
Everyone knows mobile is taking over. All you have to do is stick
your head out the window, snap an Instagram, and youll see it: Little
computers that we can hold in our hands are everywhere.
According to an Econsultancy and Adobe trend report, marketers see mobile optimization as the number one
opportunity in 2015; yet they struggle with executing on an effective mobile content strategy. And while there
are plenty of great studies out there that portend mobiles takeover of the web, theres not much information
about the best (and worst) approaches to publishing content that is mobile-friendly. Obviously, mobile is a
whole new ball game. So how do we play?
GET 10% OFF
Were offering a great deal on
the installation of our flagship
multimedia eBook delivery
system, the Embellisher
eReader App.
Our Open Source Partner
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To get you started, here is a list of five easy ways to deliver effective content experiences on mobile platforms.
Using real life examples, from McDonalds use of responsive design to Oreos awesome real-time and video
campaigns, there is plenty of useful advice to be gleaned from how the pros publish content on mobile.
#1: Make your content readable on mobile
This one sounds like a no-brainer, but too many businesses are simply failing to make their content accessible
on the small screen. One eye-opening study suggested 98 percent of small and medium business websites were
not ready for mobile. You know the feeling: Youre browsing the web on your smartphone, only to come to the
brick wall of an impossible-to-read website or worse, you encounter a big alert that tries to force you to
download an app.
The obvious solution here is to make your site fit for tablet and smartphone reading. One of the most popular
tactics for doing this is with a responsively designed website. Responsive web design simply means building
your site (whether its a blog or an e-commerce platform) with flexibility for all devices in mind. So when a
user with a smartphone comes to your site, the objects on the screen will automatically adjust to fit the screen.
You build once, and it fits nicely on all devices, from PCs to tablets and smartphones.
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Example from the pros: When McDonalds Canada put out its Your Questions campaign, it knew a huge
portion of readers would be accessing the interactive microsite from handheld devices. So the company made
the whole thing responsive to automatically adjust the screen no matter what device customers choose to view
the content on.
Takeaway: The result of a responsive web design means you just build once and can provide visitors with an
easily usable content experience.
#2: Make your site feel like a mobile site
Despite responsive designs huge benefit to marketers, an incredible mobile reading experience is so much more
than simply making your content fit on a smaller screen. Doing that sometimes feels like putting a radio show
on the television the content is all there, but you are missing out on something.
Mobile is an entirely new medium and it comes with a unique way for people to interact with content. Its all
about touch, swipe, and that feeling of a full-screen, laid-back experience simulating the couch surfing
vibe. This is why some content publishers opt for creating a social magazine-style experience, in the spirit
of Flipboard, to deliver content to mobile users in the most dynamic way possible.
The benefit of this approach is huge. Aside from providing a more familiar and enjoyable reading experience,
your readers tend to view more pages, and spend far more time with your content compared with other websites
that were built with click and scroll in mind.
An added benefit to this approach is that marketers are given a natural way to show full-screen ads and/or call-
to-action widgets. So, for instance, in between your full-screen articles, you can sneak in a white paper
download CTA or a newsletter sign-up request without interrupting the experience.
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Example from the pros: The Toronto Star, one of North Americas largest newspapers, built a great mobile-
first, immersive experience for its tablet audience. It created a totally swipeable, full-screen magazine web app,
which makes it incredibly easy for visitors to swipe to the next story, much like they would turn a printed page
to keep reading.
Takeaway: Boost page views and time spent on your blog or content site with a built-for-touch, laid-back
reading experience.
#3: Create custom, mobile-only assets
As you start to notice more of your readers are on mobile, another strong tactic is to build something just for
them. In contrast to optimizing an existing web property, customized mobile assets are all about putting together
a stand-alone content experience the user can only access through a smartphone or a tablet device.
Many brands are using this tactic to curate diverse content assets from around the web into a single, compelling
mobile product. Its a surefire way to give readers a valuable reading experience, while at the same time
unifying all your efforts (e.g., all your social feeds, video, and blog content can be rolled up into one awesome
experience), and potentially driving them to discover more content they otherwise might have missed.
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Example from the pros:
The Economists Electionism: When the U.S. presidential elections were just starting to heat up in 2011,
The Economist wanted to do something special for its growing tablet readership. The publisher
built Electionism, a mobile-only app that leveraged its editorial content on the U.S. election, social feeds, and a
curated news section from across the web.
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Softchoice: Softchoice is a leading B2B technology provider, as well as a group of laser-sharp content
marketers. The company recently put out a tablet and smartphone app that packaged all its various content
assets into a single, unified reading experience.
Takeaway: Assemble a custom mobile-online experience to drive more content discovery and build better
relationships with mobile readers.
#4: Go for web, not native (most of the time)
Three years after the iPads release, publishers are slowly starting to realize Apples App Store is not always the
best place to publish content. Apps have a modern, cool factor, and many content creators rushed out of the gate
to go build one. Unfortunately, apps also cost a lot of money and time to produce, and at the end of the day,
they dont always provide what readers want, as evidenced by a few tragic results.
When an app is only available through the App Store, it requires several steps for users to access it. Do you
really need to put up that much friction between your story and a users enjoyment of it? The answer is pretty
obvious. And the numbers speak for themselves: Twice as many mobile news readers prefer browsers over
apps.
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This is why a rock star caliber mobile content marketer often goes with a web app, or optimized website,
instead of investing time and money on building a closed-off native app. With the advanced web technologies
available, the user experience can be made to be indistinguishable from that of a slick native app. In addition, a
leading benefit of building for the web is that all your SEO efforts and existing social traffic continues to
contribute to your mobile visits.
Just one caveat: In some cases, you might want to create something a little beefier than a simple reading app.
Content marketing can come in many forms, and its not always just text and videos. In those cases, using the
more robust technology platform of native apps, as well as relying on the great exposure of an app store, might
be a highly visible way to launch your branded app.
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Example from the pros: Financial Times was the first major publisher to shirk Apples App Store (and 30
percent revenue cut) and go right to creating a web app, which it built using the mobile-
friendly HTML5 markup language. We at EMRE Publishing will be rolling-out our own Embellisher
Multimedia Creator Studio in the near future. This will allow you to create your own stunning ePub3 books and
install them directly into your Embellisher web app system.
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Native apps: Volkswagen wanted to do something big to launch one of its newest cars: It wanted to build
a native app for iOS. Now thats classy! And it probably couldnt have executed its content idea at the required
level of quality if the brand had chosen to go with a web app rather than one that was designed specifically to
optimize the mobile experience.
Takeaway: Most mobile content marketing is better served from the web but if you are building a big tool or
game, you may want to go native.
#5: Get on the hot mobile social networks
From Vine to Instagram, a number of social media sites are emerging that focus primarily on the mobile
channel. And they are gaining members by the millions members who are just waiting to be entertained by
great brand content. Search out where your audience might be hanging out on mobile, find their favorite apps,
and start entertaining, educating, and bringing your brand there.
Not only do these apps give you a great way to show the fun side of your brand, but they also can provide an
easy way to curate or share content that keeps brand conversations flowing during those times when you are
working to create more substantial content pieces.
Examples from the pros: By now, you might have heard of Oreos display of genius real-time marketing at
the Super Bowl by hammering out a single, perfectly timed Twitter pic during the blackout. But this isnt the
only time the cookie maker has stood out as an exemplary mobile content marketer. As youll see below, Oreo
has an incredible knack for entertaining and building its brand on mobile social networks. For example, Oreo
has a great Vine feed packed with tons of helpful and funny videos, including the one below, which shows how
to make an Oreo kebab.
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The Wolverine movie made history and the first ever movie trailer on Vine, a little video social network that
you might have heard of.
GEs also got an exceptional Instagram feed that showcases beauty shots of big, heavy machines. As its
follower count shows, people love it.
Takeaway: Popular mobile apps can be your ticket to publishing content that entertains and connects the
audience to your brand.
For more shining examples of branded content that works across multiple platforms, read CMIs Ultimate
eBook: 100 Content Marketing Examples.
How to Get 200+ New Subscribers From 1 LinkedIn Article
A Checklist for Measuring Your Content Marketing Success
How to Run a Content Marketing Campaign on a Budget: 5 Free Tools
Content Marketing Strategy 101: Make it a Game
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If you want ePub3 content that your clients
will interact with, just request a free quote
from EMRE Publishing.
STAY WITH US
We hope you enjoyed the first issue of The Embellisher. Our clients are
businesses, families and authors who understand the importance of mobile
publishing. Suggestions for article topics are always welcome.
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If you want to place your own ad in this newsletter, please contact the
publisher with your request. Hell send you the options and prices.
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Contact Us
EMRE Publishing, LLC
San Diego, CA 92120
619-286-8936
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