Posted by
Nick Ford on Mon, May 07, 2012 @ 08:42 AM
Free Mobile Website Builder With QR Codes and NFC Tags
There is now a free version of the Tappinn mobile website builder available that also allows unlimited QR code creation and tracking with NFC tagging compatibility. That’s right, ya’ll! The easiest mobile website builder in the universe just became accessible for free to anyone with an appetite for page building and mobile tagging.
The new free solution inlcudes (1) mobile page with unlimted QR codes and scans.
Mobile Website Building Beyond QR Codes
It’s hard to explain the roller coaster ride that we have endured over the past 3 years watching the mobile landscape unfold. From the beginning, it has always been about mobile transactions, not the QR code itself. QR codes are just one vehicle to deliver mobile pages in the physical world, but most of them fail because they lead to non-mobile generic pages. Our mantra at Tappinn is actually, “Beyond The Code”. So sitting idle and watching QR code advertising campaigns, one after another, break the fundamental rule of mobile engagement, has been difficult to say the least.
QR Codes That Win With Mobile Shoppers
We’ve always felt that people would love QR codes if they were just attached to something with value. The mystery that they exude combined with a raw fascination by consumers has had QR codes poised to be the “next big thing” year after year.
However, today as we write this, a majority of people still do not scan QR codes regularly. This isn’t due to lack of recognition or awareness, but mostly because they have a poor reputation with consumers. Too many QR codes are losers because they lead to non-mobile, irrelevant content. There is NO value! It’s time to change that and empower everyone, from companies to individuals, to create app-like mobile experiences that connect with QR codes. Like the great Bob Dylan sings, “the loser now will be later to win, the times they are a changing”.
We at Tappinn are so pumped to make mobile content building and QR code creation accessible to all. There are officially no excuses for QR codes leading non-mobile websites. Enjoy!
Free members are allowed all of the famous page features that premium members can access. The main difference is that free members are limited to just one page, but unlimited QR codes. Upgrading is easy!
Free Mobile Website Builder Features Include:
- -V-card creation for business card pages
- -PayPal mobile checkout option for m-commerce pages
- -Design tools with unlimited style customization
- -Dazzling button styles for mobile pages
- -YouTube video embedding
- -Facebook comments option
- -Twitter feed embedding
- -Unlimited QR codes with tracking
- -NFC tags creation tools and tracking
- - Submission forms with auto reply email
- -Social sharing
Posted by
Nick Ford on Mon, Apr 30, 2012 @ 07:05 AM
Product packaging is prime for QR codes
More and more brands are using QR codes on packaging to increase brand engagement with mobile shoppers. Packaging is often over looked as a carrier of valuable
mobile websites and promotions. This is exactly why we've posted some recent examples of QR codes on packaging. These photos illustrate opportunities to attract shoppers in new ways!
Brands that are using QR codes on packaging include, Sun-Maid, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Wrigley, and more! Check em out below.
Posted by
Nick Ford on Fri, Apr 13, 2012 @ 10:38 AM
QR Code 'Look Book' of Exclusive Photos
Proper QR code placement in advertising is an art form. Every artist needs inspiration from time to time. This is why we put together the largest private image collection of QR codes in advertising on the web. Draw inspiration from a 'Look Book' of over 200 images of QR code placement in advertising!
"The QR code 'Look Book' is designed to spark creativity and promote effective ideas for QR code placement"
QR Codes in Advertising 'Look Book' highlights:
- View examples of QR code 'looks' that get more scans
- 100's of high-res images of QR code placement examples
- Use to develop mobile strategy ideas
- Spark ideas about how to engage shoppers from 'print to palm'
Posted by
Nick Ford on Fri, Mar 30, 2012 @ 06:51 AM
Lexus and Wired team up to create the first mass-produced NFC print advertisement in the U.S.
The mobile-enabled Lexus NFC advertisement can be found in over 500,000 subscriber copies of the April issue of Wired. Readers simply have to tap their NFC equipped phone on the print advertisement to be instantly delivered to a mobile video demo of the 2013 Lexus GS Enform app suite on the dashboard.
No scanning or downloading an app required, the phone automatically detects the NFC tag when it is placed on the ad!
It isn't surprising to see NFC tags appearing in print advertisements already. Just last week, Berg Insight announced that shipments of NFC mobile phones increased ten-fold in 2011. The analyst firm expects sales to explode to 700 million NFC devices shipped in 2016.
Around 3 million people in the U.S. currently have smartphones with NFC capabilities.
We will continue to highlight early examples of NFC embedded in print advertising. Fusing the mobile web into print advertising messages is the essence of mobile tagging. Lexus has acheived this inside the pages of Wired. We are cheerleaders for anybody using NFC and mobile tagging to transition value from physical to digital.
Posted by
Nick Ford on Tue, Mar 27, 2012 @ 06:00 PM
Mobile Website Design Tools Easy For Everyone!
Tappinn already has the reputation of providing easy mobile website design tools that do not require programming knowledge to utilize. Our mission is to inspire businesses and brands that do not necessarily have a history of web development into becoming masters at publishing high quality mobile websites targeted at a new generation of digital consumers.
There are many creative companies that are heavily involved in visual marketing and strategy, but do not write programming code themselves, who can now blend mobile web design into their existing products and advertising.
"At Tappinn, we feel it is vital that all kinds of service providers are able to design and publish mobile websites, not just "web programers", which is why we strive to release features that creative departments can use"
New Design Tools on Tappinn's Mobile Website Builder
As an encore to the sucessful releases of PayPayl Express Checkouts and the image slide show feature, we are pleased to present two more dazzling new mobile website design tools that are now located inside the mobile website builder.
The new mobile design tools are called "Tile Canvas" and "Freestyle Canvas". They were developed to unlock an array of new mobile page design possibilities for members. All of them without programming knowledge required!
On the Freestyle Canvas, members can drag and arrange images anywhere and link them to places on the web, place them side by side, or adjust their size and layer them. Perfect for product galleries, QR code landing pages, coupon offers, and m-commerce shopping pages.
The Tile Canvas allows sorting images in horizontal rows across the page when they are uploaded to the canvas. To the delight of many members, this will enable images to be placed side by side and linked to separate places!
How it works: Drag the 'Freestyle Canvas' page element to your page and position it in the order you would like. Next, upload your images, choosing to give them round or square corners. Next, drag and re-size images wherever you would like on the canvas. Last, link images to anywhere on the web or to specific phone functions. More here
Out of all the mobile website design tools on Tappinn, the Freestyle Canvas and Tile Canvas offer the most design possibilities to date!
Design Tools To Build Mobile Websites For New Shoppers
A mobile web experience is vastly different than a desktop one. First, the screens are smaller, simplifying the page call to action. Second, audiences can access the mobile web anywhere, in a variety of new contexts through QR codes and NFC tags. Third, it seems smartphone owners prefer shopping on mobile websites over apps. Lastly, smartphone sales are set to out pace PC sales this year, and depending on the industry, about 40% off total traffic is now coming from mobile devices.
These primary factors suggest that many new kinds of creative facilitators will have opportunities to build mobile websites and create revenue around engaging smartphone users with value.
Who can exploit Tappinn's new mobile website design tools?
- Printers
- Graphics and communications companies
- Magazine and news print publications
- Freelance graphic designers
- Marketing and advertising agencies, ect.
- Realtors
- Artists, musicians, and freelance entertainers
- Franchises
Standard Web development used to be a lengthly process that would takes months to publish a single website. Not with the mobile website design tools on Tappinn. Publish high quality mobile websites lightning fast!
Additional benefits for premium Tappinn members include:
- Build mobile pages in minutes ready for commerce transactions
- Engage in two-way conversation with audiences using comments
- Generate and track Unlimited QR codes and NFC tags
- Build sign up forms and export the data
- Deliver mobile coupons by email
- Build engaging mobile experiences that feel like an app
- View full analytics in real time.
- Large gallery of stock images and button styles
- White label anlytics avaibale for re-selling partners
- Pages optimized for over 5,000 mobile devices including tablets
Posted by
Nick Ford on Tue, Mar 27, 2012 @ 02:29 PM
NFC Equipped Devices See Explosive Growth in 2011
Global sales of handsets featuring Near Field Communication (NFC) increased ten-fold to reach 30 million units in 2011, according to findings by Berg Insight, with total sales are expected to explode to 700 million units by 2016.
NFC mobile technology is a short range wireless point-to-point communication that had had a breakout year in 2011 among device manufactures, according to the analyst firm. Over 40 NFC-enabled devices were released by several of leading handset vendors including Blackberry, HTC and Samsung. Overall, 2011 saw an 88% increase in NFC phones shipped.
Below is a video of the first NFC poster advertisement in the U.S.
Already making a splash as the driving technology behind mobile payments through Google Wallet, NFC allows an array of applications that are likely to keep us busy for a few years. Based on existing radio frequency identification standards, smartphones can establish radio communication with each other, or with NFC tags, simply by touch.
“Even though it will take some time before the stakeholders agree on business models for payment networks, other use cases such as reading NFC tags and easy pairing of devices may well be compelling enough for handset vendors to integrate NFC in mid- and high-end devices already today” -Berg Insight
The Tappinn mobile tagging platform allows for generating NFC specific URLS's and ordering NFC tags with programmed URL's ready for advertising placement. Like QR codes, NFC will take some time for consumers to adopt, especially when its a matter of hardware, so we recommend running QR codes teamed with NFC tags to maximize campaign reach.
Posted by
Nick Ford on Thu, Mar 22, 2012 @ 06:21 AM
Smartphone Users Prefer Shopping on Mobile Websites Over Apps!
Mobile website design for m-commerce shopping pages is getting more attention these days from marketers, for good reason. It seems that smartphone owners actually prefer shopping on mobile websites over apps.
A recent study conducted by Nielson during the 2011 holiday season, revealed that almost half (47.8%) of smartphone owners preferred to visit mobile websites for shopping related purposes, while just 25.3% prefer gaining access to shopping content through native apps.
At Tappinn, we genuinely believe that browser-based mobile website design is essential for every company looking to attract smartphone shoppers, more so than building a native "app". As much hype as there is around apps, mobile websites can far exceed them with reach and efficiency, because they are open to all platforms and don't require a download to access. Mobile websites can also be delivered effectively through QR codes and NFC tags.
Not to mention that mobile websites are cheaper and much easier to develop , especially using a mobile website builder like Tappinn, where programming knowledge isn't needed to produce high quality mobile shopping sites.
To follow up on the findings by Nielson, Tappinn brings you a list of 6 mobile website design tips that all mobile commerce shopping pages can use.
6 Mobile Website Design Tips For Shopping Pages
- Button Design is Important - Make sure mobile website buttons are friendly on the eyes and large enough to tap. Keep contact buttons everywhere encouraging two-way communication with shoppers. Also, effective button designs and placement will make your mobile site feel like an app. Try using textures and shadows on buttons to encourage action that leads to transaction. Mobile Button design is an important visual component that shouldn't be overlooked on mobile shopping pages.
- Provide 'Buy Now' Express Checkout - Mobile Purchase is increasing with shoppers and is the holy grail for companies selling products online. Speedy and secure mobile payment checkouts are absolutely critical to conversion. Try becoming PayPal merchant for express payment checkout buttons to make commerce fast and safe.
- Include Conversation and Ratings - Smartphone owners love to weigh ratings and product feedback into their shopping decisions. Facebook offers a social plug-in that is ideal for encouraging authentic comments that are viral. Also, incorporating Twitter conversation into shopping pages can give you instant social street cred.
- Make Sign Up Forms Available - Shoppers will sign up or 'op-in' by providing contact information from their smartphone for additional content if they are offered value in return. Make sign up forms short and sweet to build mobile CRM.
- Image is Everything - HD mobile devices are storming the market and the screens are breathtakingly sharp. Too many early mobile sites have low res images that get exposed by new smartphones. Make sure you display gallery images in a horizontal mobile slide show format with auto movement, to transform mobile shoppers into mobile buyers.
- Think 'Out of The Box' - The term "Anywhere Economy" was coined by The Yankee Group because consumers can access web content from literally "anywhere". Take advantage of this new phenomenon by exploring 'out of the box' commerce opportunities in the physical world. Check out what Ebay and PayPal did by offering a pop up mobile storefront that let shoppers buy products in the windows completely from their smartphone. Brilliant.
Learn more about all of the new mobile website design tools on Tappinn by attending a free webinar on Friday, April 13!
Posted by
Nick Ford on Mon, Mar 19, 2012 @ 11:04 AM
New! Interactive Image Slide Show Feature For Mobile Website Pages
Introducing a highly anticipated new page funtion on Tappinn called an "Image Slider" designed to stimulate audiences with interactive side to side image movement, allowing members to rotate multiple photos within a single window on the mobile website page.
The shiny new feature is now available inside the mobile website builder on Tappinn for members to create horizontal (swipe friendly) image slide shows and add them to mobile website pages! Ask and you shall receive...
Mobile Image Slide Show For Advertising and Promotion
"Image Slider" is a dynamic way to exhibit up to 6 images that sequentially slide across the same window on the mobile page, letting audiences 'swipe to browse' images rather than scrolling down, best utilizing the mobile screen size. Each image can be linked to a separate web destination or phone function, perfect for broadcasting calls to action.
The horizontal movement of images enhance the visual value of the page, and opens the door to many new design possibilities for mobile website building!
How it works:
- Drag the "Image Slider" page element to your canvas and position it in the order you would like it to appear on the page.
- Next, upload the images for your slide show gallery in the pop-up menu, and link the images to their appropriate destinations.
- Finally, set the time for automatic slide show intervals.
- Showcase up to 6 images that rotate automatically or viewers can swipe through while remaining on the same place of the mobile page.
- It's that easy!
-Looking for a way to showcase multiple product photos whitout cluttering the mobile page?
-Want to add interactive motion to your mobile website landing pages that includes call to action links with value?
This is all made simple with the new "Image Slider" page element.
Key Applications and Highlights for The Mobile Image Slider:
- Ideal for mobile commerce product pages with multiple photos
- Company promotions and product announcements
- Mobile coupon offers
- Swipe motion feels like an "App" experience
- Images can be linked to separate web pages or phone functions
- Instantly connect to print advertising with NFC tags and QR codes
- Include up to 6 images in the slide show gallery
Mobile Websites: Swipe vs. Scroll
The up and down mobile page "scroll" has been a navigation staple on Tappinn to display visual content. The "swipe", however, is new, involving side to side sliding motion for viewers. The "swipe" was made poplar by the app experience and now Tappinn is bringing it to browser based mobile websites
Content navigation on a 3 inch screen leaves fewer options than a desktop, but a world of new possibilities. The "swipe" and "scroll" are the perfect teammates in mobile website design with the right content. We think you will enjoy!
Posted by
Nick Ford on Fri, Mar 09, 2012 @ 07:43 AM
New On Tappinn: Build Mobile Websites Offering PayPal Mobile Payment Checkouts
Mobile commerce (m-commerce) is growing quickly amongst consumers, which is why we are excited to introduce a new PayPal payment page element inside the mobile website builder that makes it historically easy to insert on mobile pages and sell products with QR codes. Creating mobile websites and QR codes that lead to mobile purchase is made simple by Tappinn and PayPal.
Here's how it works: If you are a PayPal merchant simply drag the PayPal element to the page of the product you are wishing to sell. Next, enter your merchant info with price and description for the product. This will insert a PayPal call to action on the page where you positioned the icon. See below
"In the U.S., purchases attributed to mobile shopping doubled from 2009 to 2010"
-Hot Trends in M-Commerce
PayPal is a service that enables you to pay, send money, and accept payments without revealing your financial information.
See how PayPal works video or sign up to become a PayPal merchant.
Consumers who are on the go do not have time to enter in billing info to make purchases from their mobile device, nor do they trust most shopping carts. With PayPal, its as easy as entering a PIN number like iTunes, and also allows regular credit card processing. The possibilities are literally endless for Tappinn members with this feature!
Tappinn Mobile Websites, QR Codes and PayPal M-Commerce
At Tappinn, we are continuously studying the mobile landscape to bring useful new page elements that we believe in and trust will perform. With the latest news about PayPal and The Home Depot, we feel especially comfortable that our members will benefit from the PayPal option on Tappinn.
Trust has been a thorn in the side of m-commerce. Thankfully, PayPal is breaking through by innovating new ways to conduct commerce, especially in mobile. PayPal is a service that Tappinn trusts which is why we are so excited to bring Members this dynamic new feature!
PayPal Benefits For Tappinn Members
-Instant mobile payment processing
-Place PayPal call to action anywhere
-PayPal is already setting the standard for mobile commerce
-Combine PayPal shopping pages with QR codes and NFC tags
-Scan to buy QR codes
Posted by
Nick Ford on Fri, Mar 02, 2012 @ 06:11 PM
New on Tappinn: Save and Organize Your Images in The Cloud
Members can access previously uploaded images for edits and page placement in a new gallery feature that's available. In an update to the 'image upload' page element, Tappinn users can now manage images that have been uploaded to existing pages by organizing them into folders. See below
Inside the mobile website builder, the image gallery feature appears after the ‘image upload’ page element is dragged to the canvas. Once an image is uploaded and inserted on a mobile page, it will remain available in the image gallery for future placement and edits.
"Saves time from having to upload the same image over and over again for placement on different pages!"
Members who are hosting multiple QR code marketing campaigns and mobile websites on Tappinn will love the new image gallery update because images can be organized into folders to segregate specific campaigns and sites. Perfect for managing several mobile websites, campaigns, and landing pages for QR codes.
BONUS! Stock images complements of Tappinn.
We are also happy to include a folder of stock images that we have found to be useful on Tappinn pages. Feel free to use them to enhance your mobile experience! See some below.
Benefits to Members:
-Access to previously uploaded images without having to re upload them.
-Create folders to organize and manage images.
-Folder of stock images designed to enhance your page presence courtesy of Tappinn.
-Interchange images across several pages and sites with one click.
To download the “how to” PDF document for the new image gallery feature click here.