Going the Distance: Four Ways to Build a Better Customer Loyalty Program for Your Brand

It’s easy enough for a customer to join your loyalty program, especially when you’re offering an incentive such as discounts. All your customer has to do is give out some basic information, and voila! They’re in the fold, a brand new loyalty member with your company. From there, it’s happily ever after. You offer the perks; they stand solidly by you, bringing you their continued business. Simple. Or is it? In reality, just how many of those customers are act ively participating in your loyalty program? Do you know? Sure, loyalty program memberships are on the rise according to market research company eMarketer, having jumped 25 percent in the space of just two years. However, that figure may be a bit misleading. The truth is that, while loyalty program sign-ups may be more numerous, active participation in such programs is actually in decline. At the time of the study, the average US household had memberships in 29 loyalty programs; yet consumers were only active in 12 of those. That’s just 41 percent. And even that meager figure represents a drop of 2 percentage points per year over each of the preceding four years, according to a study by loyalty-marketing research company COLLOQUY.

When discounts just aren’t enough

So what’s a brand to do? How can you make your loyalty program worth your customer’s while—as well as your own? After all, gaining a new loyalty member doesn’t mean much if your customer isn’t actively participating in your program. Consider this: Does your customer loyalty program offer members anything different from what your competitors are offering? Chances are your program includes discounts. That’s a given. And what customer doesn’t appreciate a good discount? But when every other company out there is providing this staple benefit in comparable amounts, it becomes less and less likely that customers will remain loyal to any one particular brand. Frankly, it’s all too easy for customers to get lost in a sea of loyalty member discounts. They’re everywhere. In fact, just under half of internet users perceive that all rewards programs are alike, according to a 2015 eMarketer survey. The key to success, then, is to differentiate your business from the crowd. If you can offer your customers something unique and valuable beyond the usual discount, chances are they’ll be more likely to stick with your brand. Here’s some inspiration from companies who get it.

Virgin: Reward more purchases with more benefits.

That’s not to say you need to get rid of discounts entirely. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Customers still love a good discount. The goal is to be creative in terms of the loyalty perks you offer. Take the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, for example. As part of its loyalty program, the airline allows members to earn miles and tier points. Members are inducted at the Club Red tier, from which they can move up to Club Silver and then Club Gold. Here, it’s not just a discount. It’s status. And people respond to feeling important, elite. Still, even where the rewards themselves are concerned, Virgin is motivating loyalty customers with some pretty attractive offers. At the Club Red tier, members earn flight miles and receive discounts on rental cars, airport parking, hotels and holiday flights. But as members rise in tiers, they get even more. At the Club Silver tier, members earn 50 percent more points on flights, access to expedited check-in, and priority standby seating. And once they reach the top, Club Gold members receive double miles, priority boarding and access to exclusive clubhouses where they can get a drink or a massage before their flight. Now that’s some serious incentive to keep coming back for more. Discounts are still part of the equation – but they are designed with innovation and personal value in mind, elevating them to more than just savings.

Amazon Prime: Pay upfront and become a VIP.

What if your customers only had to pay a one-time upfront fee to get a year’s worth of substantial benefits? It may not sound like the smartest business idea at first glance. But take a closer look. Amazon Prime users pay a nominal $99 a year to gain free, two-day shipping on millions of products with no minimum purchase. And that’s just one benefit of going Prime. It’s true that Amazon loses $1-2 billion a year on Prime. This comes as no surprise given the incredible value the program offers. But get this: Amazon makes up for its losses in markedly higher transaction frequency. Specifically, Prime members spend an average of $1,500 a year on Amazon.com, compared with $625 spent by non-Prime users, a ccording to a 2015 report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

Patagonia: Cater to customer values.

Sometimes, the draw for consumers isn’t saving money or getting a great deal. The eco-friendly outdoor clothing company Patagonia figured this out back in 2011, when it partnered with eBay to launch its Common Threads Initiative: a program that allows customers to resell their used Patagonia clothing via the company’s website. Why is this program important to customers? And how does it benefit Patagonia? The company’s brand embraces environmental and social responsibility, so it was only fitting that they create a platform for essentially recycling old clothing rather than merely throwing it away. The Common Threads Initiative helps Patagonia build a memorable brand and fierce loyalty by offering its customers a cause that aligns with deep personal values. OK, so their customers get to make a little money, too. Everybody wins.

American Airlines: Gamify your loyalty program.

If you’re going to offer your customers a loyalty program, why not make it f un? After all, engagement is key to building a strong relationship with your customer. And what better way to achieve that goal than making a game of it. American Airlines had this very thing in mind when it created its AAdvantage Passport Challenge following its merger with USAirways. The goal: find a new way to engage customers as big changes were underway. Using a custom Facebook application, American Airlines created a virtual passport to increase brand awareness while offering members a chance to earn bonus points. Customers earned these rewards through a variety of game-like activities, from answering trivia questions to tracking travel through a personalized dashboard. In the end, participants earned more than 70 percent more stamps than expected – and the airline saw a ROI of more than 500 percent. The takeaway: people like games.

Stand out from the crowd.

Your approach to your customer loyalty program should align with your overall marketing approach. Effective branding is about standing out, not blending it. Being memorable is key. To this end, keep in mind that loyalty programs are no longer a novelty. That means that yesterday’s strategies won’t work moving forward, so look for ways to rise above the noise, setting yourself apart from the cloying drone of countless other cookie-cutter programs.

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Viva La Viral! Takeaways From 10 of the Web's Mega-Popular Moments

For much of the population, computer and mobile screens have replaced water coolers as the gathering place of choice for conversations about cool stuff. But rather than rehashing what happened last night, people are sharing links, congregating in office cubicles and clustering around smartphones to view the most compelling content over and over again. Score one for the Internet.

The Web is winning.

In fact, score one billion for the Internet – and counting. The Web's most-watched video of all time, South Korean pop music artist Psy's over-the-top production for his song, "Gangnam Style," became the first ever to reach one billion YouTube views in December 2012, and its total on YouTube now stands at more than 1.5 billion. That’s more tracked encounters with a single piece of content than the world’s all-time #1 TV broadcast, top movie and most-played radio song combined. By comparison, London newspaper The Times reported that a verifiable audience of 984 million tuned in to some portion of the 2008 opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics – the highest rating ever recorded. Average viewership during the ceremony was 538 million. According to Box Office Mojo, the most attended movie in history is “Avatar,” with approximately 270 million tickets sold worldwide. In 1999 BMI, the world’s largest music publishing rights organization, touted "You've Lost That Lovin’ Feelin,” as radio’s most played song of all time with more than 8 million plays. More recent estimates put that number at between 9 and 10 million total plays as of the end of 2012. These aren’t strict comparisons; one play on a radio station has thousands of potential listeners in a metro area, and a movie like Avatar’s DVD sales, rental and broadcast figures are not accounted for above. But one thing is certain: The Internet holds its own when big audience numbers are thrown around, and with every passing day, it’s wooing more of people’s time and attention away from more traditional media outlets.

“Going viral” has gone viral

To be sure, those outlets have taken notice. Watch an hour of network news or scroll through the headlines at any major online news source, and you’ll soon see a pattern: Whatever’s hot online is reported and given weight equal to other pop culture and business stories such as world tour announcements and new product releases. Viral Internet content has become a regular source of news in the standard media cycle. For example, a glance at Yahoo.com’s home page, which includes the day’s top stories in a rotating slideshow format, usually yields at least one article on a viral Internet event, such as this feature of a young athlete gaining attention for his incredible moves on the basketball court. 14-year-old Seventh Woods’s “highlight reel” on YouTube clocks in at about two and a half minutes – and amassed more than 5.5 million views in just five days. You’ll notice the story lead-in states “more than 3 million views.” Just a day after this item was first posted, the video had gained another two million-plus views, no doubt due (at least in part) to media coverage on Yahoo and elsewhere.

The common spark

Of course no one can predict the next billion-view video. But as more companies take a serious interest in the potential of viral content, there are lessons to be learned from the best the Web has to offer. In recent weeks online outlets have featured – and fed into – several viral occurrences we’ll examine here. We’ll also consider other content that has rocketed to Internet fame – some ubiquitous and familiar, some with more of a niche appeal. What they all clearly have in common is a spark that makes people want to tell others they saw something cool. It is this “shareability” that has the potential to take your brand to another level – whether that brand centers around a product, service or personality. Read more: The Anatomy of Viral Marketing

A word about numbers

Viral content has long since arrived as a pop-culture phenomenon, but as the Internet continues to evolve as both a marketing and entertainment platform, it is only natural that smart companies are figuring out better ways to crunch the numbers and quantify viral success more accurately. Measurables are in high demand, for good reason, as brands look to spend effectively in the ever-shifting Web marketing landscape. And it does get complicated. Any truly viral content pollinates all over the Web across thousands of outlets, from a singular genesis out to hubs like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Youtube up to news feeds and back down to countless personal blogs, emails and text messages. To add another layer of meta-marketing, you’ll often see YouTube ads featuring one leading viral piece from a big player (say, Dove’s “Beauty Portraits” docu-ad) inserted at the beginning of another, more organically generated one (such as up-and-comer Woods’s clip.) “Views” and “likes” are a good start, but new metrics like True Reach™ (which, according to AdAge, “includes clips uploaded by audiences across the web, showing the complete impact a campaign or viral phenomenon has online”) have emerged to give a more accurate picture. Using the True Reach™ metric, “Gangam Style’s” total approaches 3 billion actual views. It’s also worth noting that active-user metrics like shares, pins and re-tweets, while usually much lower figures than likes or views, are rapidly gaining respect among brands and ratings entities like Nielsen and Klout. The motivation to move content down the line is at the core of a viral event. That momentum originates from an accumulation of individuals, which then gains critical mass and enters a “feedback loop” as news outlets pick up the story and create waves of audience growth. Some of the numbers included below are given as an effort to highlight the first-generation element that really gets things rolling. So without further adieu, let's get to the list, in no particular order:

Oreo Super Bowl blackout tweet

Impact

Retweets: Over 16,000 (6,000+ Twitter favorites) Hashtag trends: #Oreo got a huge initial bump, and #DunkInTheDark is still active. Facebook: Almost 7,000 shares, over 21,000 likes

Takeaway

Be ready to seize the moment. Oreo’s smart and timely reaction to the power outage during this year’s Super Bowl was a big win for the brand. The tweet and accompanying photo garnered instant raves and extensive coverage across the Internet and traditional media, with tech and marketing leaders’ immediate tweets followed up by a flurry of blog posts, articles and news spots in the days after. This story highlights the power and marketing potential of real-time social media, but it couldn’t have happened without an initial audience of some size to spread the word. Oreo had an established presence on Twitter (thousands of tweets and over 70,000 followers) and a Facebook page “liked” by more than 30 million people at the time of the blackout, which provided the opportunity to fire off this simple ad and watch it spread. Build your audience today, so you can harness its power to seize the moment tomorrow.

Dove: “Real Beauty” sketches

Impact

YouTube views: 26.2 million (89,000 likes) YouTube comments: Over 8,000 Facebook campaign video views: 1.7 million Hashtag trend: #wearebeautiful (Dove’s non-exclusive preferred hashtag), 1,900 Twitter uses, April 21-24 – up more than 500% from the week prior

Takeaway

Use your brand to make a statement for the greater good – and attract an audience who cares. Is there a compelling cultural element that relates well to your brand? Think about ways to engage directly in an effort that makes sense, rather than a “cause” that looks good but may not fit. Dove has created a unique space for itself in the beauty industry with previous campaigns like its successful “Real Women” series, which featured confident, striking women with body types and looks that don’t necessarily fit the Hollywood standard of attractiveness. Expanding on the themes of self-esteem and self-perception, last week the company launched a new set of documentary-style “Real Beauty Sketch” ads that immediately went viral. Dove has maintained an active channel on YouTube for more than two years, but more than 75 percent of their total overall channel views came in the week following the launch of this new series. While not all reaction has been positive, the ensuing coverage has been a noteworthy addition to the collective global debate about what constitutes “beauty.” With body image and appearance issues contributing to suicide and self-harm rates for girls and women around the world, Dove is to be applauded for this (albeit possibly flawed) effort to counteract stereotypes. The rapid spread of this ad series online and the ensuing media coverage are proof that Dove is contributing to a conversation that needs to happen.

Honda’s “Pintermission” campaign

Impact

Pinterest hits: More than 4.6 million people were exposed to Honda’s #Pintermission boards Repins: 5,000+ (nearly 2,000 likes) Media impressions: Over 16 million

Takeaway

Find a great fit for your brand in a new place. Seek out the places where people gather around shared interests that reflect your brand’s aesthetic and values, and carve out a niche for yourself there. Pinterest has exploded onto the social media scene in the last 18 months, reaching 10 million unique visitors faster than any standalone Web site in history in early 2012. As users come across lifestyle elements of interest on the Internet, they pin the items onto their personal Pinterest board. Many users take advantage of Pinterest’s instinctive environment to plan events and brainstorm remodeling ideas. The site’s uniquely aspirational feel lends many user’s pages a beautiful, collage-like look – perfect for any brand wishing to highlight its classic appeal and reach out to affinitive audiences. And here’s another fact that bodes well for Pinterest as a marketing platform: About 80 percent of pins on the site are actually repins. Compared to just 2 percent of Twitter content being retweets, that is some serious viral mojo. Just as Pinterest was reaching unprecedented momentum, Honda launched its presence in February 2012 on the site by engaging five prominent users who had garnered large followings. In other words, Honda identified people who created definitive Pinterest experiences and found a way to become part of that fabric. Honda invited these users to each take a personal “Pintermission” and live out some of the hopes and dreams adorning their Pinterest pages. Who could say no? Millions of hits and mounds of goodwill later, Honda stands as a cornerstone brand using Pinterest in a truthful, relational way that feels less like marketing and more like lifestyle collaboration.

Virgin Blue’s Twitter near-giveaway

Impact

1000 tickets: Sold out as fast as they released them, all through Twitter Lasting influence: Mainstay on “best-ever viral marketing campaigns” lists

Takeaway

If you’re thinking of offering a discount or giveaway as a way to gain lots of exposure, go big or stay on the ground. Make your deal memorable, accessible and easy to execute. The goal is to engage all the people who just miss out on your fantastic deal and keep the conversation going from there. As a way to celebrate its ninth anniversary and bump its brand’s profile, Virgin Blue airlines (now Virgin Australia) offered 1,000 tickets exclusively through Twitter for the unheard-of price of $9.00. People responded by the thousands in a flash, and the tickets quickly sold out. This one’s an oldie but a goodie, having taken place in 2009. It’s worth mentioning for three reasons: First, it helped establish the power of Twitter by taking place as an ad campaign exclusive to the site, then a young platform with more reach than proven value. Second, the discount was hundreds of dollars off a high-demand item – a combination sure to attract attention, raise brand awareness and drive motivated traffic to desired points of contact. Third, it went off as smoothly as it could have. The transaction tech worked flawlessly, and customers who were lucky enough to get in on the deal were left with a positive, seamless experience from end to end. That’s the kind of brand encounter that creates loyalty and trust.

K-Mart: Ship My Pants

Impact

YouTube views: 15.1 million (70,000 likes) in two weeks True Reach™: Over 20 million views YouTube comments: Over 13,000 Twitter: 8,600 uses of #shipmypants, virtually all of them occurring since the clip launched Related media: More than 30 official Kmart clips, each enjoying a mini-viral piggyback benefit

Takeaway

Yep, folks like to laugh. The key here is to get people laughing about your brand without…ahem…tainting your larger point. Sure it’s a little cheap, and plenty of folks are wrinkling their noses at this huge hit’s unsavory implications. But the risks seem relatively low and the comedic shock value has clearly translated into higher brand awareness for this traditional bricks-and-mortar mainstay. This clip accomplishes two things Kmart can really use during this uncertain time for big box retailers. First, the humor shows that Kmart knows how to laugh. Wide, bland product selection and longstanding customer familiarity may have led Kmart into a bit of brand fatigue – aka the shrug syndrome. “Ship My Pants” shakes that up. Second, the focus here is on easy shipping; this is Amazon and eBay territory. If Kmart wants to break into that market in a big way, it needs to alert its substantial customer base that they don’t need to look elsewhere for such options. And maybe, just maybe, those customers will share the good word even as they spread the...er…pants shipping.

OK Go’s Needing/Getting Chevy clip

Impact

YouTube views: 24.8 million (233,000 likes) Comments: 26,000+ Google+ shares: 5000+

Takeaway

When done well, collaboration can bring your brand to a whole new audience. If a raucous rock band can turn a shiny sedan into a musical instrument, your brand can find an unexpected partner and make a little marketing magic too. And you thought there were no more original ideas. OK Go seemingly breathes creativity, having released some of the Web’s most-viewed and most-beloved viral videos (at least six more of their clips have garnered more than 2 million YouTube views each). Chevrolet was smart enough to underwrite one of the best examples of brand synergy the Internet has ever produced. OK Go seriously upped its public profile by way of Chevy’s Super Bowl ad purchasing clout, and Chevy showcased its product to a young, hip online demographic that trusted OK Go to create another slice of awesome. Mission accomplished all around.

Cake resignation letter

Impact

Retweets: 7,000+ Twitter favorites: More than 2,300 Facebook: 6,000+ likes, 6000+ mentions Media coverage: Well over 100 features in major online news sources around the world

Takeaway

Serendipity is sweet. If your brand is captured in a candid moment that turns into a showcase, make sure you’re ready to meet expectations. And if you inject those moments with a little natural marketing flair, so much the better. On the brink of his 31st birthday, Chris Holmes decided to go all-in on his then-sideline dream job: creating fabulous cakes. So he did a classy thing and added a little smart marketing on top (note his business handle and Web address in the icing above). His genuine gift of a cake to his soon-to-be-former employers made a hard day a little easier and left co-workers with a great last impression. Then the Internet got involved, with a little help from Holmes’s brother-in-law. Dozens of interviews and thousands of retweets later, Holmes finds himself riding a nice wave of goodwill and publicity. And he was ready for it. A well-done website, a Facebook page with big, ooh-aah photos and a Twitter page stocked with more than 1,000 tweets before the cake photo went viral all add up to something built to last long after the sugar rush of headlines and hashtags wears off.

Seventh Woods highlights clip

Impact

YouTube views: 5.5 million (22,000+ likes) Comments: 7,600+

Takeaway

Do what you’re great at. Capture it. Then let the world take a look. If your brand is about sheer brilliance, the Internet is built to show it off. What would your highlight reel look like? We may well be witnessing the birth of a brand. This one’s too fresh to show up on a True Reach™ chart, but rest assured: it will be at or near the top in a matter of weeks. This clip is a great example of niche appeal (sports) transcending genre and breaking into the general culture. Woods’s age is surely a factor, as is his remarkable ability to soar above his peers. It is likely that many people are opening the clip because of his age, but staying through to the end and sharing it because the clip delivers on its promise of something spectacular.

Psy’s “Gentleman”

Impact

YouTube views: 214 million (1.7 million likes) True Reach™: Over 300 million views

Takeaway

Don’t repeat yourself, but don’t leave the ballpark either. If your brand recently enjoyed a bump in positive recognition for any reason, it may be time to play off that momentum in creative ways. Talk about a feedback loop – Psy’s global moment spilled over to his latest video almost by default. But he didn’t waste the opportunity. Psy established a worldwide identity with “Gangnam Style.” Given that the vast majority of his audience had no idea who he was before his rise to viral glory, it would have been foolish for him to release a folk ballad for a follow-up. Here Psy keeps his signature visual style, introduces another upbeat dance and ramps up the humor. The results gave Psy YouTube’s single day viewing record (more than 38 million views the first 24 hours) to go along with his top total views mark for “Gangnam Style.”

Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign

Impact

Backers: Over 91,000 Money raised: $5.7 million Facebook: 227,000 likes Twitter: 25,000+ followers, 14,000 uses of #veronicamarsmovie YouTube channel: 16,000+ subscribers, 450,000 total related clip views Instagram: Over 11,500 followers

Takeaway

If your brand’s core demographic can be described as a “fanbase,” source that crowd and do something incredible – they could be waiting to fuel your vision. If your audience isn’t filled with fans yet, woo that crowd. Make something amazing that creates demand for a sequel. This is a great piece to end on: cross-platform synergy galore, record-breaking numbers on the crowd-sourcing website Kickstarter.com and a just plain fun project to learn from. Plenty of fine TV shows have shut down too early to suit their small but loyal groups of superfans. Most of the time things fade out in a dwindling cloud of blog posts and awkward, sparse comic-con flash mobs. Not this time. After enduring seven long years since the show’s cancellation, the “Veronica Mars” fanbase remained so committed to its creators and actors that, when finally presented with an opportunity to get involved with making a movie based on the series, they swarmed Kickstarter and shattered every record the burgeoning crowd-sourcing movement had previously posted. In less than 11 hours, backers had committed more than $2 million dollars to the project. 30 days later, the final sum stood at more than $5.7 million, and 91,000-plus backers record had jumped on board. To be sure, the show and the Internet are a perfect fit. “Veronica Mars” is the kind of show that’s rife with sharable clips (which have been endlessly passed around every known platform in the intervening years), and its central star, Kristen Bell, is adorable, funny and tech-savvy. Her enthusiastic involvement and level of fame (more than a million Twitter followers) fueled the campaign in a way few others could. But crowdsourcing didn’t appear out of nowhere when Kristen Bell posted her first tweet about this movie. Kickstarter, Indiegogo and other similar sites have hosted thousands of campaigns in the last few years, most of them raising modest sums that fund less glamorous projects. But every one is a passion piece. Every crowd-sourcing success story starts with a few believers. Who knows – your brand could be one Kickstart away from the next level. *Twitter hashtag statistics obtained using Topsy.com

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Website Design for a Multi-Device World

The array of devices through which people interact with online content is larger and more diverse today than ever. To underscore the point, try this little exercise – take a look around your house and find every device you own that can access the Web. For me, the list looks like this:

• Desktop computer
• Laptop computer
• Netbook computer
• iPod touch (x2, each a different generation)
• iPad
• Kindle (x2, each a different version)
• Android phone (HTC EVO)
• Gaming system (wii)

Each of these devices has a different screen size, and the experience of accessing web content is different on each.

That’s why, if you want to ensure that your website will provide an experience that truly engages your audience, it must be designed specifically for this multi-device world in which we all live today.

The multi-device user

The multi-device world is populated by multi-device users. While a staggering variety of devices are, indeed, being used to access web content today, it’s also important to remember that the same user is often using multiple different devices to access your website – and they expect that site to work well regardless of which device they happen to be using at the time.

To illustrate this point, let’s consider the scenario of an average everyday activity that occurs on the Web: mom planning the family vacation.

As she starts her day, she does a quick search on her iPhone and starts to peruse a few sites that strike her interest as she enjoys her morning coffee. Later she takes advantage of her lunch break to continue her research. She visits many of the same websites as she did before, this time reading more and delving deeper each one now that she’s seated comfortably in her chair behind her desk and has more screen real estate to work with. That evening she shares her findings with the family, flipping between sites on her iPad as they unwind on the couch. In each instance, she visits many of the same sites, and she expects them to perform just as well no matter which device she has in front of her.

More than just mobile phones

You have likely been introduced to the concept of “mobile websites” and have been told that your company needs one, but as the scenario above illustrates, the multi-device landscape encompasses much more than just large desktop monitors and small handheld phones. There are many devices and screen sizes in between, and your website must be equipped to work well on all of them. That’s why a separate “mobile-only” site is not the best way to serve the needs of the multi-device user.

A mobile-only solution relies on technology that detects when your website is being accessed via mobile phone and redirects the user to a completely separate version of your site – one designed specifically for the typical screen size of a smartphone. These mobile websites often feature less content and fewer features in order to minimize both navigational complexity and load time.

The problem with the mobile-only approach is that it only addresses the needs of one specific type of device. Large desktop computers get the “normal” browsing experience while mobile phones get a smaller, more streamlined version.

But what about the multitude of devices that fall between these two extremes? How do we serve them effectively?

Going responsive

There are a number of deficiencies with a mobile-only approach, but the inability to serve today’s broad array of devices is the most detrimental.

If the mobile version of your website offers less content and fewer features than your desktop site, you run the risk that a user will be looking for content that you have decided to eliminate from your slimmed-down mobile site. This is a problem, because when a user comes to your site looking for something specific and they can’t find it, their natural response is to go looking for it somewhere else – which usually means your competitor’s site.

After all the effort your put into attracting users to your website, anything that drives them away – like a user experience that is not optimized for the device they are using – runs counterproductive to your goals. So how can you embrace this multi-device world and ensure that your website can succeed in it? It’s time to go responsive.

What is responsive web design?

Responsive web design is an approach that has gained much favor and momentum in the web industry in the past few years – in part because it offers a solution to many of the limitations that mobile-only websites face.

A responsive website is one that intelligently rearranges its layout based on the size of the user’s screen. For instance, let’s say your site normally presents its content in three columns. The smaller a screen gets in size, the more problematic this layout can become, as the columns become so narrow that their content is unreadable and their buttons are un-pressable.

With responsive design, when a visitor is using a tablet in portrait mode or a laptop with a very small screen, those three columns reflow into a two-column layout that is better suited to the dimensions of those screens. For handheld phones, the design shifts to a single column of content with text and links that are large enough to be easily read and touched even on a very small screen. In this way, you have one website that “responds” to the multi-device user, adjusting its layout based on the particular device they are using – hence the name responsive design.

The benefits of responsive design

Efficient maintenance

It’s hard enough to keep one website updated with timely, relevant content; updating content across multiple websites is even more challenging.

When you go the mobile-only route, you end up with multiple websites to maintain. With a responsive approach, however, you have only a single website to manage. This makes it easier to keep your content consistent, because anytime you make a change to your website, that change is seen by all visitors regardless of the device they are using.

Zero gaps

As we saw earlier, supporting the multi-device user means being able to accommodate more than just large desktop screens and small handheld devices.

A responsive web design approach does indeed address these two extremes, but it also fills all the gaps in between, adapting its layout to perform seamlessly on the widest range of screen sizes and devices possible. This is especially helpful for those users that jump from device to device, as described earlier, because the site will adjust to their needs and present them with a consistently good experience regardless of their choice of device.

Adaptability

Because a responsive website design will reflow based on the screen being used to access it, your website will be equipped to support not only those devices that are popular today, but also those that we don’t even know about yet.

As new devices are released – some of which will undoubtedly also introduce new screen sizes or resolutions to the market – you can rest assured that your responsive site will do its best to present an optimal experience by “responding” to whatever type of screen it might be presented with.

Go big

While much attention is paid to how your website will handle smaller screens such as those on smartphones, there is another end of the spectrum to consider: large devices.

A responsive website can not only reflow its layout to present an optimal experience for small screens, but it can also do the same for very large screens. Large screens are often neglected in website design because even sites that are engineered for desktop monitors are not built to suit many of today’s widescreen displays. However, a responsive approach can allow your site to stretch its legs a bit in order to better fit bigger screens, making use of the additional space to better communicate your organization’s message.

Cost effectiveness

Since responsive design means you need only a single website, deploying this approach can often be much more cost effective than developing separate websites for different devices. This cost effectiveness is compounded further over time as you save the added expense of having to update, maintain and host separate sites for desktops, mobile phones, tablets, etc.

The challenges of responsive design

While there are a number of advantages to responsive design, there are a few challenges as well.

First, responsive design is not a feature that you can simply tack on to your existing website. To be done right, a responsive approach requires you to redesign and redevelop your site from the ground up so that responsive logic can be built into every aspect.

Another challenge of responsive design is that, if not done properly, it can result in loss of performance for users on devices where bandwidth is a concern. Often the small-screen version of a responsive design does away with some of the elements that exist solely for aesthetic purposes (large background images, for example). When such elements are “turned off” for smaller devices, if not configured properly, they might still be sent to the device anyway, meaning those devices are required to download excessive and completely unnecessary data that negatively impacts performance. To avoid this pitfall, make sure you’re working with a team that’s experienced in responsive design and has the technical expertise necessary to ensure that your site tailors both its layout and performance to deliver an optimal experience for any device.

Embracing the multi-device world

Traffic to websites from devices other than desktop computers has risen dramatically in the past few years, and industry analysts predict that number will continue to soar in the coming years. Looking at the hundreds of websites that I help maintain and manage, I am seeing an average of about 30 to 35 percent of all traffic coming from mobile devices of one kind or another and even a few sites where mobile traffic is nearing 50 percent.

As we head toward a future where more than half of our website traffic will come from visitors not using a traditional desktop computer, now is the time to ensure that your website is armed to compete effectively in a multi-device world.

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