Jun 6 2012
President Obama released a directive requiring all major government agencies to create and implement a mobile solution for two of their key services. And they need to create websites reporting on their mobile progress within 90 days. His reasons are simple:
“In addition, at a time when Americans increasingly pay bills and buy tickets on mobile devices, Government services often are not optimized for smartphones or tablets, assuming the services are even available online.”
In short: Your customers are mobile, so you have to be mobile, too. Smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops. If they use it, you support it. We’ve talked about this need to transition to responsive design (device omnipresence, if you will) more than a little, but it’s nice to have the backup of the executive branch.
This directive is no surprise from the first president who campaigned with a fully responsive website. Resize the window! It still works and it’s a government website! (In fairness to Romney, his website works on mobile devices. But it loses points for being a separate mobile site rather than a single, responsive site.)
Whatever your political flavor, the lesson is the same. The web is changing, embrace it.
Morrison is a hybrid marketing communications firm whose expertise is in helping clients market to intelligent audiences in complex marketplaces. Everything we do is driven to make sales happen. We call ourselves “Sales Acceleration Marketers.”