Inbound marketing continues to be a powerful advertising tool, but to fully utilize its powers web marketers need to integrate these efforts with responsive web design.
Inbound efforts like SEO and white papers have banner ads beat by a long shot. In the early days of the web, outbound marketing like banner ads might take you to a page with relevant content, but as the commercialization of the web has grown, so has the attention of executives looking to get their brand plastered wherever it’ll go.
What does inbound marketing do?
What inbound marketing offers companies and customers is the ability to engage in a genuine conversation not based on pushing a brand message but on enhancing service.
Social media communication and well-constructed landing pages are a great way to reach the client because they speak to them at their level, not shouting a tagline or trial offer. Users now see the web not only as a transactional tool, but as something of a friend. It’s there for them when they need it and they don’t want it to be clogged with commercials like other forms of media. Inbound marketing satisfies this need while still bringing in leads.
That’s just the thing, though. It brings in leads!
What do you do with them when they get there?
Most people are now accessing social media, blogs, landing pages and search engines via their phones or other mobile devices. Constructing inbound marketing campaigns to attract customers via mobile without using responsive web design will turn these promising leads into precisely diddly squat. Your website isn’t the only thing that needs to be optimized for mobile, every one of your web marketing efforts needs to be laid out with this in mind.
Responsive web design isn’t just a way to keep the homepage accessible. It’s a way of life. Everything your marketing department does, from blogs to eBooks, need to be crafted with multi-platform capability in mind. Inbound marketing just doesn’t work without it. If a customer’s first interaction is seeing your webinar link via their tablet, but the video isn’t playable on the device, then you just lost that customer. Sadly, nobody waits for their information anymore. They want it NOW and they want it USEFUL. Verifying that your inbound marketing is functional and aesthetically appealing via mobile will carry you a long way towards meeting both needs.
Content creation, SEO, and social media campaigns aren’t going away. This new mode of marketing is likely to be a long-lasting one. But the technological environment is going to continue to change no matter what else stays the same. Using responsive web design in your inbound marketing keeps you moving with the culture, satisfies your leads, and will lead to greater mobile business for any smart company.