Showing posts tagged marketing

9 Direct Marketing ideas to create UX that sells

In 2005 I had the privilege of attending a three day workshop by the D.M.A. (Direct Marketing Association).  I recently dug up my notes for a project I’m working on and came across this great list I had put together based on that workshop.  The list is still applicable today as I design UX that sells:

  1. Multiple offers in one promotion equals lesser sales.
  2. Direct marketing leads the customer to take an action.  Advertising is solely for building brand awareness.
  3. Broad based media like TV, Radio and Print are best used to find new customers.
  4. 40/40/20 rule:  Direct marketing success depends on 40% on reaching the right audience, 40% on the offer or promotion and only 20% on the creative execution.
  5. Features are all about the product.  Benefits are all about the customer.  Benefits are more likely to sell the customer.
  6. The direct marketing industry is highly prone to mistakes.  Expect to make a lot of mistakes.
  7. Find out what products your customers want to buy and make those, rather then developing a product and then try to find a market for it.
  8. Average creative can sell a great offer.
  9. Testing equals what, research answers why.

UX for retention vs. UX for acquisition

Last week’s post really got the gears in my head moving.  I’ve always thought of myself as a designer who gets business, but I really reached an epiphany this week on the topic.  To put it bluntly, when it comes to sales the principles of good usability go out the window and are trumped by the principles of sales.

Where good usability principles do fit though, are after you’ve got the user inside your application and you want them to stay.  Once you’ve got ‘em you want the design to get out of their way and let them do what they came to do.  When you’re trying to sell them though, you need to get in their way, which is to say your design needs to nudge them towards what you want them to do.

Couple Rules When Making Marketing Designs

At my job, because we are a very small company, I often have to shift between Interaction/UI designer and Graphic Designer for marketing materials.

When I am designing marketing materials they have completely different objectives from Interaction Design.

The marketing designs should:

  1. Stand out
  2. Be memorable

Memorability has a lot to do with emotion.  Things are more easily remembered if they are associated with strong emotion.

If you aren’t lucky enough to have a marketing person writing the messaging for you, then here are a couple rules in regard to messaging for your marketing piece:

  1. Propose a problem and how your product is the solution
  2. Clearly position your product in the marketplace