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Creating smart design for the mobile web is one thing, but along with smaller screens, various devices, and the fact that users have mobile web on the go, the way we organize content for the mobile web must be different from the traditional web as well.

Information architecture is the way to lay out, organize, and structure content in order for it to be consumed by our users in the most efficient way possible. Because mobile users often times use their mobile devices for purposes entirely different than one would use on a non-mobile device, we must use information architecture in an entirely different way when we create our mobile websites.

In this article we'll go over the basics of why information architecture is different for mobile, and some best practices on how to create effective information architecture for this most modern era.

What would you say if you could add 5, 10, 100 or 1000 marketing reps to your team? For free?

What if these marketing reps would freely write about your brand and tell their friends and all they expect in return is recognition and access to insider information?

Who are these free marketers? Brand advocates. BzzAgent has recently released a new research study giving us the skinny on the habitat, behaviors and motivations behind brand advocates.

In inbound marketing, we talk a lot about optimization -- optimizing your content for search engines, optimizing your website for lead generation, optimizing your social media presence. But another very important thing inbound marketers must optimize is time. Yes, compared to outbound marketing, inbound marketing saves money and is much more effective. But you also need to put the time in.

However, marketers often spend too much time on strategies and tactics that don't make any real impact, particularly in social media. Don't waste your precious marketing time on things that aren't worth your time. Avoid the following 7 social media time-sucks at all costs.

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liked how it show them all in a map. definitely something I'll keep in my bookmarks

1.Firms are increasingly calling upon their employees to “be” the brand.  That is, represent their employer’s brand in new and increasingly personal ways through social digital expressions of themselves.

2. Meanwhile, there is a “social media miracle” mentality out there that needs to be debunked.  Most people don’t want to be “brand ambassadors” for their firms — it’s simply a fallacy that you can somehow easily convert them just by asking nicely.  And when you engineer programs based on the social media miracle mentality it will inevitably flop due to a lack of authenticity, participation or both.

3. The method by which companies select their social media spokespersons is often random.  Typically it’s ill-defined, undemocratic and –worst of all — lacking in mutual benefit.  Meanwhile, the traditional means to identify experts and spokespersons (through a PR department…an approach I call “editorial selection”) doesn’t scale to the demands of the social-internet

So the name of the game is this — can you (as a manager of a brand or someone interested in switching on the social-ness of your business) shape the culture, policies and platforms etc within your firm without alienating individuals?  Afterall, social media or social business inherently demands the participation of some people (um, “social” right?) so you would think your employees have to be there, no?

HG: How do you encourage people to engage in actions that benefit Dell (follow, fan, share, click, buy, etc.)? Can you give specific examples?

RD: Sure:

1. Incenting employees to create content is one thing: you can put hard metrics in their performance plans or propose a little friendly competition and the promise of something appealing. But incenting people outside your company can be a challenge. This requires companies to build brand loyalty - something Dell accomplished with its creation of CAP days. Dell's Customer Advisory Panel (CAP days) takes some of Dell's greatest supporters, as well as some of Dell's biggest critics, and brings them together to hash out what's working, what people like, and what they think Dell must improve upon. This breeds brand loyalty that goes far beyond a simple "like" or "share." While we realize this is a large-scale project and that not every company is capable of constructing something similar, the underlying goal can still be accomplished in much smaller ways.
2. Providing great thought leadership content on a regular and highly frequent basis encourages people to connect with us to get access to the content in their streams. Our Enterprise Efficiency and Tech Center communities do a great job of keeping customers engaged with great content.

HG: How do you think social media marketing drives revenue or saves money for Dell? Can you give specific examples?

RD:Sure, here are a few:

1. A McKinsey study recently found that 69 percent of surveyed companies gained measureable business benefits from social media, including product innovation, more effective marketing spend, lower cost, and higher revenues.
2. Social media drives people to our purchase process on our website. Social content on our website increases the number of people who convert to revenue.
3. Online customer support and communities reduces the number of people calling into our call centers.
4. B2B communities allow people to get access to experts to push them down the purchase funnel.