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In a recent Search Engine Watch article, author Gerald Murphy predicted the rise of “responsive content marketing,” claiming it to be the next logical step in the Internet’s mobile evolution. This projected step could create a ton of work for apartment marketers, web developers, and writers if it ever comes to fruition, certainly causing a lot of headaches in the process. But before we examine how responsive content marketing could shake up the world of online advertising, let’s take a look at what it is and why Murphy believes we’ll all be hearing more about it soon.

What is Responsive Content Marketing?

Responsive content marketing is largely based on responsive design, a web development practice that allows a website to change its appearance based on screen size. Responsive design makes websites easier to read and navigate on smaller devices by increasing the size of key elements and minimizing any frivolous features. Without responsive design, many users would have a hard time reading text or clicking on links, creating a clumsy online experience.

Murphy’s responsive content marketing prediction is based on the premise that text, like design, will soon have to adapt to mobile devices as well. One day in the near future, according to Murphy, the text on a company’s mobile website will look much different than the text on that same company’s desktop website.

How Would Responsive Content Marketing Affect the Multifamily Industry?

Last year, Google’s ‘mobile-geddon’ announcement motivated a lot of companies, including many in the multifamily industry, to spend a significant amount of time and resources updating the structure of their websites. It’s possible that responsive content marketing could spur the same kind of activity this year. But due to the technical nature of changing text-based content according to device size, the work would be much more complex.

Should You Worry About Responsive Content Marketing?

The simple thought of having to completely overhaul your site less than a year after mobile-geddon is enough to cause some marketers to smash the nearest objects on their desks. Fortunately, we don’t think Gerald Murphy’s prediction will pan out.

First of all, ‘responsive content marketing’ is largely based on the premise that small nuggets of content aid the short attention span of the mobile user, who is typically emerged in a busy environment when using his or her device. While there’s certainly evidence that suggests the Internet has had a negative impact on attention spans, Google’s decision to prefer responsive design never had anything to do with attention. It was always about navigation. And if your website uses text-based navigational features, like headers that separate different blocks of content, it’s already quite easy for users to find what they need.

Furthermore, from a technical standpoint, Murphy’s ‘responsive content marketing’ idea creates a slew of opportunities for cloaking, a technique that Google has long considered to be a black-hat practice. It doesn’t make any sense that the search giant would encourage opening up that can of worms after spending years trying to eliminate it.

The Verdict

At this point in time, ‘responsive content marketing’ doesn’t seem like it’s something that apartment marketers have to worry about any time soon. However, as things tend to change very quickly in this field, it’s best not to discount the theory altogether. We’ll keep an eye on the development of RCM and let you know if changes are on the way.