One of the newest technology trends to develop over the last five years is something called responsive design. You may have just started to hear about this format, but it's been around for a few years now.
The point of responsive design is to allow universal digital formatting for multiple devices and screen sizes. The necessity of this advancement came about because of the development of mobile and tablet-based devices.
It is now conceivably possible for a user to be accessing a website on either a desktop, laptop, mobile device, or tablet at any given time. Businesses have to be ready and waiting to serve on-demand customers.
What does this evolution in design have to do with business cards? They have to be responsive too. Since this is a pretty fresh and innovative concept, Plastic Printers will walk you through how it works and what it looks like.
Taking Promotion to the Interactive Level
Industry insiders will tell you they saw this evolutionary stage coming from a mile away. What's the tech equivalent of a mile? About two years before everyone else. If you look back, you can see the very beginning of what would quickly become known as responsive design.
Look no further than YouTube circa 2011. Two years ago, this high-traffic data sharing website became one of the first online destinations to begin launching responsive design concepts.
You might not call 5% usage a wildfire, but fast-forward one year and usage grew by 20%. In 2013, it doubled again. If this trend continues, by the end of 2014 the majority of Internet users – 65% to be exact – will expect most businesses to offer both online and responsive capabilities.
The capability itself sounds like a micro-evolution in adaptive technology. The idea is to present adjustable formatting in one of two structures:
- A multi-level design concept that adjusts for desktops, tablets, and smart phones
- An all-inclusive platform that automatically adjusts to different screen sizes
An example of Youtube's responsive design on both a web browser and a smart phone.
Either approach is acceptable, it just depends on the consumer preferences for a particular business.
How do you discover what your consumer preferences are? Answer: the analytics and customer engagement data that is collected through loyalty programs and website development.
Surviving the Drop-Off
Starting to see a connection between websites and responsive business card design? We certainly hope so. To spell it out more clearly, here's how responsive design translates to promotional products, like business cards:
When we first launched the Plastic Printers blog almost a year ago, we talked about the importance of integrating some online compatibility into your business cards. This could be as simple as including a QR code or barcode on the back of your card, or as pinpointed as starting your own loyalty program using:
How you integrate this capability will vary depending on the nature of your business. The point is you need a way to engage the mobile market because it is growing exponentially. Changes in the way we interact with technology and business are coming, and they are coming fast.
Our advice: don't allow what is soon to be the majority of your customer base to drop off and stop utilizing your company. If you do, within a year you could be severing a meager 35% of the customers you once had. Stay ahead of the technological curve and prepare to serve the mobile majority.
Perhaps the best news to come out of this evolution is that we can help you prepare, integrate, and test your mobile promotion features. The more we serve our customers, the more we find that reluctance breeds regret.
There is no reason to live with that regret when we can help you brainstorm responsive business card design solutions at no cost to you.
It could be as basic as adding some features to a pre-existing business card, or maybe you want to start from scratch. Whatever approach you want to take; don't let a lack of know-how stand in your way.
Contact us through www.plasticprinters.com or speak to our online chat team and find out how we can help you embrace and profit from responsive design, even when your target audience is off-line.
Prepare for tomorrow's trends today with Plastic Printers design services. You'll be glad you did.
