3 Simple Ways to Boost Your Marketing with UX Design Principles

B y Ralitsa Minkova When you hear the word “marketing”, I bet you instantly imagine a sleazy salesperson trying to lure you into buying one more useless gadget you will never use. And even if your mental picture is not that tainted, you’d probably agree that marketing does not exactly have the customer at its center. After all, sales, ROI, and paychecks with big fat zeros at the end is what matters, right? Which, in turn, makes it even harder to imagine there’s even a remote connection between marketing and user experience. But for those marketers and conversion copywriters who know that the most persuasive words are the ones of their customers, the role of user experience in any successful marketing campaign is undeniable. From seamless online experiences and SaaS onboarding sequences that address the user’s core problems, objections, and anxieties, sales copy and marketing suddenly become more human. More genuine. And perhaps even more trustworthy. Because, the truth is, no one likes hype or claims blown out of proportion. Which is why integrating UX principles into your marketing can benefit your business in multiple ways. So, here are 3 simple ways you can boost your marketing efforts relying on UX design principles to create a superb online experience for your website visitors – no matter if you’re selling physical products, services, or software apps.

1. Always Start with Your End User in Mind

Without understanding the person you’re selling to, how can you expect to catch their attention? And no, I’m not referring to the obvious reasons why they’d want to invest in your coaching package, your innovative product, or the amazing app your team has worked so hard on over the last 6 months. I’m talking about the actual reasons underneath that semi-visible and completely logical layer that wraps around every buying decision we make. Because just as you don’t buy an iPad simply because you need a handy tablet to take with you on a business trip, you also don’t invest in a project management app just for the fun of it. With the iPad, you buy it for everything it stands for: the design, the aesthetics, the experience of owning an Apple product. As for the app, you’re probably sick of wondering where your time went and why you’ve made absolutely no progress with your projects. This is why you need to rely on a lot more than the dry (and often little helpful) demographics you learn about in business school (or any college marketing class you’ve taken in the past). You need to turn to targeted questions that offer you a real glimpse into who your clients, customers, and users really are, and what they’re struggling with the most. And, yes, you can do this with one-on-one interviews and surveys they’d actually want to fill out. You may not get as involved with research as a UX researcher would, but figuring out who you’re talking to and who’s going to be on the receiving end of your marketing message is what can make or break your marketing efforts.

2. Place Your User at the Center of Every Interaction

Without great user experiences, the web would be a sorrowful place. But what happens when what’s supposed to be a user-centric design suddenly becomes a tool leading users into a trap that only benefits the company behind the product being promoted? Pre-filled checkboxes, obscure pricing tables, and sneaky upsells that never seem to end, are just some common ways you can “trick” your users – and probably ruin your chances of building a relationship of trust with them for good. In UX lingo, this is usually referred to as “dark patterns”. So, what can you do to gain your customers’ and users’ trust with your marketing copy and your entire online presence? It’s simple: always put your ideal user or customer FIRST. This will not just encourage people to buy from you again but it will also motivate them to trust your brand, becoming your most valuable advocates in a competitive digital marketing landscape.

3. Adapt to the Ever-Changing Demands of Your Users

Marketing and sales copywriting still lean on what’s worked in the direct-response world for decades. And, frankly, there’s a lot of wisdom to glean from the master copywriters, even if seeing a yellow highlight on a sales page instantly makes you roll your eyes. But the web has changed, and so have our expectations of what it should feel like to use the internet. Things we may have heavily relied on while trying to keep our messaging at the forefront of every landing page or website is now a tendency that has started to fade away. As users, we want to be given a reason to stay and explore your site. And as much as I’d like to claim otherwise, I still haven’t met someone who’s excited to get bombarded with opt-in pop-ups that keep sprouting from every corner of a website. Sure, everyone tells you that you need to grow your email list to grow, but… what about putting some more thought into how you do that? Things like the language you use, how your potential users and customers navigate your website, or even how ready they are to for your up-in-their-face “Me, me, me!” message taking over their screen, are all elements that can drive people away from your website… never to return again. So instead of stubbornly sticking to what you know has worked in the past, make sure you leave room to confirm that is still the case: There’s a difference between diving into any new design or marketing trend you hear about and taking the time to justify every decision you make, based on what your ideal prospect or user actually wants from you. In the end, the goal to sell still take the No. 1 spot for marketers and business owners alike. But the way to get to the sale is powered by voice-of-customer data, understanding their users’ behavior, and creating customer-centric online experiences. So, perhaps marketing and UX design are not that far apart, after all.

Over to You

Anything else you’d add to this list? Drop it in the comments below and let’s get the conversation started!
  Ralitsa MinkovaRalitsa (goes by Rali) is a sales copywriter and digital strategist for visionary humans who want to make a difference with their professional services, courses, and SaaS products. True to her curious nature, when she’s not writing copy for her awesome clients, she’s teaching herself web development and UX design. Website: https://ralitsaminkova.com/  

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