Peanut butter & jelly. Barbie & Ken. Marketing & UX. What would one be without the other? (Well OK Barbie would be fine.) But for any business, product or service that has any digital presence (so all of them), investing in UX is a crucial marketing strategy. Simply put, the quality of your UX, or user experience, can enhance or destroy consumer perception of your brand (and the likelihood of them recommending it).

UX as Marketing Strategy

Despite it being essential for customer acquisition and retention, UX is not always considered part of the marketing strategy. This is a mistake. While UX has other functions outside of marketing (like making sure people know how to properly operate a product or access a service), it is, and should be considered, intertwined with marketing. 

Nielsen Norman group defines this intersection well: “Marketing is about increasing the perceived value of a product through brand perception or special offerings that the company might have. UX is about decreasing the interaction cost, which is the sum of mental and physical efforts it takes a user to complete a task or accomplish a goal.”

The same user research that influences UX design decisions is relevant to building audience-centered marketing campaigns. Feedback gleaned from interaction with educational and promotional campaigns including preferences for certain images or messaging, can help shape user experience decisions to retain customers. And round and round it goes. 

Four Ways Good UX Impacts Marketing

For marketers trying to shift their thinking around the value of UX, or business owners wondering why it’s worth the investment, here are just four of the major things to consider:

1. User Experience (UX) impacts customer behavior: A well-designed user experience can influence how customers behave, interact, and engage with a product or service, increasing their likelihood to buy or engage. If their experience of your brand is intuitive, efficient, and enjoyable, their rate of satisfaction and loyalty is likely to be higher. Again, leading to more repeat purchases, positive reviews, and recommendations.
2. UX design drives conversions: When the rubber meets the road and its time to convert, optimized UX design can help get users there. A positive and simple buyer journey helps to eliminate fall off. 
3. UX design improves brand perception: A well-designed user experience can help to create a positive and consistent brand image, which can increase trust, credibility, and customer loyalty. This is where the marketing and UX collaboration is key. If you can align your UX design with your brand values and messaging, you can create a cohesive and memorable user experience that reflects your brand’s identity and resonates with your target audience.
4. UX design supports SEO: A user-friendly and accessible UX design can help to improve your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) by reducing bounce rates, increasing dwell time, and improving engagement metrics. By designing a website that is optimized for both users and search engines, you can improve your website’s visibility and drive more organic traffic to your site.

Collaborating on Marketing Goals When Designing UX

UX is all about meeting the user’s needs. Marketing is all about pushing the brand’s message. For a successful collaboration (and a more effective strategy), businesses need to find where those two things meet. Marketing teams should have a discussion with their UX colleagues about goals and objectives such as:

1. What are the primary messages we need to drive home where we can?
2. What audience(s) do we need to prioritize? 
3. What is the main CTA (on any given page/interaction?)

If the marketing team can be clear about these goals, than the UX designer can help to bridge the needs of the user with the primary goals of the brand without negatively impacting the user experience. If the marketing goals are not clear, or if too many goals or audiences are being prioritized, it can make creating a smooth user experience far more difficult. And when the UX is bad, the word of mouth is too.