How User Experience (UX) Can Help Marketers
We’ve all been in a situation where our ideas are backfiring or not progressing through the team. For marketers, these frustrations often occur with those in UX teams that disagree on things such as content and user-interactions on a website.
This is because the nature of both disciplines gives rise to a natural conflict of interest that generates frictions and frustrations. In fact, many UX principles actually work directly against marketing and vice versa. Flashy calls to action, pop-ups, banners and ads, for example, are one UX designers trash and another marketers treasure.
Despite this, there are various ways that UX can help marketers. Why? I hear you ask…
Put simply, UX fulfils the promise of marketing. As marketers, we want to engage potential customers with our websites and our content – and we can’t do this if we’re deterring them with poor user experiences. Good UX creates valuable experiences that lead to retention and loyal advocates. The same goes for marketing, which aims to attract, engage and retain potential customers.
So, if marketing and UX both centre around the idea of driving in customers and enhancing sales, they need to be able to work together.
In this blog, we’ll take you through four key ways that marketing and UX relate to each other and can work together.
1. Microcopy
Microcopy is a great way to understand the intersection of UX and marketing. Often the responsibility of marketers, microcopy is very UX-y in the sense that it aids a user’s journey through an interface and the experience that comes with it. Too pushy and you’ll come across as desperate; too subtle and it’ll be completely overlooked. Marketers must therefore think about the experience that their microcopy is offering. It should be clear, simple, and not too loud to discourage potential customers.
2. Clarity
To win customers, you’re going to need to achieve the highest level of clarity on your website. Users should not come across your website and get confused by ambiguous messaging or pop-ups that have no relevance to the webpage at hand - this will never end well. Aim to make your website and all marketing materials as clear and direct as possible. I.e., What is the specific purpose? Where will your users go next? The clearer your message reads, the better the experience provided and the more effective your marketing efforts will be. See how they work together now!
3. Consistency
Consistency is just as much a marketing principle as it is a UX design principle. A usable and user-friendly design will always provide a consistent experience; users don’t have to worry about what will happen if things always behave the same. The same goes for marketing. If your target audience are being exposed to consistent core messages, visual branding and other brand elements repeatedly, they’ll start to build a strong brand recognition. Alternatively, when your content quality, quantity or schedule isn’t consistent, it can confuse your customers and blunder your marketing efforts.
4. UX scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours
A successful marketing campaign requires a firm understanding of the who, what and why behind your customer’s needs. And funnily enough, so does a good user experience. UX teams can help marketing teams access this data and apply it in various marketing scenarios. For example, data obtained by UX teams from user testing can be used to inform marketing teams about user behaviour. This information can then be used to adjust marketing campaigns for maximum effect.
How can we help?
At Novicell, we encourage businesses to focus on customers over transactions and to adopt user-centric design models, even in marketing. This means placing user experiences as the focal point of all company activities. We conduct scenario testing to run a series of user scenarios, applying the results to plot improved UX designs and marketing outcomes that better meet your criteria and success points.
We go beyond what any of your competitors are doing. This means doing some things a little differently but doesn’t have to involve risk. With over 20 years’ experience in UX design and digital marketing – we’re experts in what we do.