Get Your Apps in Gear! A Smart Phone Application Review

So you’ve had your smart phone for a while and now you’re thinking: “Where’d all the cool applications go?”.  Perhaps you’re running a business and thinking “What’s next in mobile?”

Mobile is moving incredibly fast and with thousands of apps being created and discovered everyday it’s difficult to have any idea about what’s going on. That’s why we at Smartt wanted to make things a bit easier for you. It’s time to get your apps in gear and get up to speed with the latest and greatest applications in mobile.

Pinterest has to be the most popular, over-hyped, and shared picture-sharing network on the planet. As annoying as it is to constantly hear about it, Pinterest is actually a fun and easy-to-use platform with loads of opportunity for businesses. Pinterest works like a multi-faceted dream board. It allows users to extract, save, and categorize their favorite online pictures. The Pinterest mobile application even allows users to snap photos on the go. Businesses can tap into Pinterest’s high frequency of sharing to increase site traffic. It also allows businesses and users to add product details and links so that if you stumble across a gift you like, purchasing it is just a few clicks away.

Banjo ensures you’ll never miss a coincidental meeting ever again. By scraping all public geo-messages and check-ins Banjo will populate a Google map of all you near-by friends. If you’re particularly close to a friend you’ll even get a little notification to make sure you know there around the corner.  The app also allows users to check-in using Foursquare and message to Facebook and Twitter. This makes sharing seamless. To some this, can seem like a stalker’s paradise while for others it’s fun and different. Users will be able to identify familiar faces in their area, or take advantage of local events they would have missed otherwise. It’s new, different, and definitely worth a download.

Zite takes the best of the best, of the absolute best online news and creates a customized digital-newspaper experience. Probably the best Flipboard alternative I’ve come across. Zite will actually learn your reading habits so that you don’t have to waste precious time sifting through countless irrelevant articles. Whether you’re into web design, technology, politics, art, or countless other categories, Zite has something for you. It’s really easy to use. To make things easier Zite has provided users with Twitter and Facebook sharing capability so users can continue to be social dynamos. If you’re anything like me do yourself a favor, download Zite and save your time.

TaxiNow makes grabbing a cab easier than easy. Say goodbye to being on hold and long, distorted elevator jazz music! Instead, say hello to just clicking a few buttons. It’s really that simple. TaxiNow will gather your geo-location, show you a map of all near-by cabs that are also using the app, and if you wish, alert them of a potential fare. If a cab accepts, the app will tell you how long you’ll wait, the phone number of the cab, and more.  What I found best about this application is that it gives an idea of how many cabs are in the area and if there aren’t any will give you the phone numbers of popular cab companies. As a bonus, most cabbies using the application are interesting, tech-savvy gentlemen who can carry on a conversation about smart phones, apps, and tech. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have that than the awkward silent type. If you’re a frequent cab rider make sure to check this out – I promise it ‘ll be a breeze.

Finally, Path is a personal journal network that allows you to easily capture and share the best parts of your life. What I find most interesting is that Path identified a major problem with content capturing – it takes way too long! So they created a user interface that makes navigation fast and easy.  To save even more time, it syncs with all the major social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc.) so that you only need to post in one place. You can capture and share locations, photos, notes, wake ups, good-nights, meetings, music with your closest friends.  The problem I see with most networks is that they’re huge, cluttered and overwhelming behemoths. Path isn’t. It’s a small, mobile-only network that makes sharing with a group of friends much easier. Check it out, and start saving your time.

Throw Out That Old-Style Press Release!

Remember those guidelines for writing press releases? Start with the most essential information in the lead paragraph: the who, what, when, where and how of why this is a newsworthy announcement. Then move on to information that substantiates the lead paragraph. In the days of print, this format made it easier for news editors to reduce word count by chopping text from the bottom up.

Now that online distribution of news has taken over from print, there are changes to this hallowed practice. Intel maintains a traditional format press release format, but summarizes the announcement with a few key bullet points at the start of the announcement. This concise version of the release is a real help to editors who have to wade through hundreds of releases each day.

Intel also places social media links prominently, right under the headline. The “likes” and votes show editors how much interest there has been in this announcement, something else that could be helpful.

Meanwhile, SAP has developed the “SAP Newsbyte”, a mini-release. The fact that a particular announcement is delivered as a newsbyte instead of a full press release means SAP has positioned its newsworthiness. Nothing ruins credibility with editors like sending out press releases that lack news appeal.

With the “newsbyte” approach SAP is keeping their audience updated, but also communicating that they know this is not a big news item. This helps a busy editor differentiate between major and minor announcements and who knows – if it’s a slow day, the newsbyte may get coverage after all.

But take a look at this press release from Oracle. Instead of a traditional paragraph style press release, information is organized by category and written as bullet points:

• News Facts: the essentials of what is being announced and why it’s useful
• Benefits: solution goals and how the target audience will benefit
• Supporting Quotes: more supporting statements, but expressed as quotes from senior management

If your conclusion is that savvy PR departments have streamlined their writing to be more digital media-friendly, you certainly would be correct. There is, however, another dynamic behind this transition.

Traditional industry publications are hurting, especially in the technology sector. Their value lies in providing news and analysis. In an online world where information is freely available, circulation and ad revenues have declined sharply. Where a magazine might have had several editors, each covering a different “beat”, they can no longer afford a large full-time staff to stay abreast of specific topics. Editors now cover a range of topics in an ever-more dynamic market, and most of them also have to blog. They don’t have time to dig deep and become experts in every topic.

The Oracle press release is an example of how a company has made it easier for editors and analysts to digest, understand, and repurpose news.

Is it time for you to make some changes to the way you write your online press releases? You may not need to adopt the Oracle style, but here are a few tips to consider:

• Keep it brief, keep it factual. This is not an editorial
• Use bullet points as much as possible
• Avoid long explanations and background information; use links to other resources or definitions to keep down the overall length of the press release
• Remember to optimize for keywords whenever possible – but not at the expense of good writing
• Include social media tags and make it easy to share
• Keep your company boilerplate (the final paragraph that describes your company) short. Link to a longer company description
• Include links at the bottom to other resources: other related information, images of products or people, videos; always include the email address of your company spokesperson

Climb Off the Digital Slush Pile: Content Marketing That Works

Literary agents have a name for the thousands of manuscripts that come through their door each day from hopeful authors. It’s called the “slush pile”. The agent’s job is to read through that slush pile and pick out the few that are worth taking to market. Thus, when we read a book, we trust there has been some quality control. Similarly, when a reputable newspaper prints an article, we trust the editor has checked facts and news sources; furthermore, he has curated the information by giving prominence to the article based on his assessment of its newsworthiness.

On the Internet, anyone can blog, tweet, and YouTube. As a result, the content out there is the digital equivalent of a huge slush pile, all of it competing for attention from your target audience. What can you do to increase the success of your content marketing efforts?
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