Optism™

Welcome to Optism’s first blog acting as curator for the Carnival of the Mobilists. In our dynamic industry, we’ve found that keeping abreast of what ecosystem members are saying is critical to staying on top. That’s why we published our Permission Marketing in the News blogs for almost two years! Now, we’re happy and honored to be a Carnival of the Mobilists host — and we’ve got a great collection of articles to suggest to you this week.

Our favorite comes from mobileweb company’s Martin Wilson. Martin shared his thoughts on responsive web design and why he believes it is falling far short of what people need. According to Martin, responsive web design is “a lazy way to approach mobile.” It focuses on delivering content that suits the size, platform and orientation of the device in use, rather than the needs of the mobile user. Because the content is PC oriented, it includes information that is not relevant in a mobile context and bulky graphics that bog down the mobile experience. Worse still, the information the user is most likely to be interested in, such as store locations, is often buried under pages of this unwanted stuff. Mobile, says Martin, can’t be an afterthought. It’s time for businesses to think about “mobile leading their online strategy.”

Other interesting posts from this week:

MobileGroove presents episode 12 of m-pulse. This episode focuses entirely on apps and on delivering “information and insights essential to produce and promote engaging and effective applications.” The episode includes input from people like Arturo Toldeo, Senior User Experience Design in the Windows Phone Design Studio. Like Martin Wilson, Arturo Toldeo explores responsive web design. Both writers agree the emphasis needs to be on putting “the experience (and the person) before the technology.” In our multi-screen, multi-tasking world, this requirement becomes even more challenging. Other show segments include Rob Woodbridge’s take on Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram and a nod to Tomi Ahonen for his recent Largest Mobile Social Networks Today by Size of User Base blog. Going forward, m-pulse will continue to focus on issues of importance to the app developer community.

Christopher Reynolds at mobyaffiliates provides advice on how to Promote Your iOS and Android Mobile Apps. With hundreds of thousands of apps populating the app stores, it’s critical that your app achieve a high ranking to get noticed by potential users. Ideally, you want to reach the Top Ten, but even Top 100 is a big achievement. Christopher takes a look at the impact of Apple’s ban on incentivized mobile app downloads and what alternative strategies developers can adopt to boost their ratings. He provides an overview of who can help and how, and in some cases, what it will cost you. If you’re in the app business, you’ll want to check this article out.

UX Magazine’s Sachendra Yadav looked at how one app company uses onboarding as a strategy for acquiring new users in Wunderlist’s Cross-Platform Acquisition & Onboarding Process. Onboarding, Sachendra explains, “is the process of turning a first-time user into a repeat customer during the user’s first interaction with your product.” In his assessment of how Wunderlist has done, Sachendra applauds the company’s attempt to create a tailored-for-mobile version of the onboarding process, but notes areas for improvement as well. Sachendra believes companies must “understand the context of use in different channels and adapt accordingly.”

At Mobile Payments Today, Bruce Burke looks at “Numbers: the universal language of Generation M.” Revelling in the success of his recent “Social, Mobile, Payments” conference, Bruce considers how we can “marry social media, high-speed mobile networks and the idea that everyone can pay anyone, anywhere, at any time.” Bruce believes the key may be numbers, because “all transactions in some way break down to the basic universal language of numbers.” He goes on to explore this topic as it was presented at the conference by Ben Milne, CEO at Dwolla.

In another article on MobileGroove, author Michelle Manafy presents her take on digital natives in “Digital Natives Are Distracted; Why Marketers Have to Think Here, Now & Bite-Sized.” Michelle considers the implications of data reported in Time, Inc.’s recently-published study, “A Biometric Day in the Life.” A key takeaway from that study is that “Digital Natives…switch media, devices, and platforms about 27 times (!) per nonworking hour.” Michelle goes on to explore how marketers must adapt their content and delivery methods to accommodate this reality. Ultimately, she notes, “Content creators, marketers and companies that want to connect with Digital Natives need to rebuild their content construction strategy from the ground up.”

For a “tech-heavy trip down memory lane” – and to see just how far we’ve come in a very short time – check out All About Windows Phone editor Steve Litchfield’s article, “The Top 20 Phone Camera Innovations of All Time.” As Steve points out, we’ve only had cameras in our phones for ten years. Nokia has been responsible for many of the innovations in the phone camera world, but Sony and Apple have pushed the envelope too. Sony was first in 2005 to introduce a phone camera with an auto-focus feature and in 2006 to include a Xenon flash. Steve credits the iPhone 4 for its introduction of a built-in high dynamic range capture ability and the iPhone 4s for its accelerometer stabilization. Camera buffs will particularly enjoy this article.

Kerry Skemp, Marketing Director at SnapHop, writes an entertaining blog that is chock-full of inspiration for mobile marketers. In her latest entry, What Kids’ Bikes Can Teach Us About Mobile Strategy, Kerry uses a wild bicycle race in San Fransisco to illustrate his belief that it’s not enough for marketers to have mobile optimized websites. They also need to have implementation plans, guiding metrics, competitors and most importantly a “cadre of fans” to keep them motivated. Mobile marketing, says Kerry, should really be seen as a team sport.

Dean Bubley’s Disruptive Wireless blog explored the subject of rich communications suite (RCS), with particular attention paid to RCS-e and the services branded “Joyn” by the GSMA. It won’t take you long to work out that Dean isn’t a bit fan of RCS or the way it is being presented to the market. Still, for a review of the current state of RCS implementations and adoption around the globe, check out this article.

Elsewhere this week, Russell Buckley had some challenging ideas about the future for traditional middle class professions. In “21^st Century Careers and the Decimation of the Middle Class Professions,” Russell suggests parents and teachers revise their career counseling approach to take into consideration the profound impact technology is going to have on professions like banking, military, accounting, medicine, law and marketing.

That’s it for us. We hope you enjoy this week’s roundup as much as we did. Watch for more insights in the next Carnival of the Mobilists, coming to you from Beth Jurns and Advantix Solutions Group.