User design and interaction (UX/UI) isn’t just a trendy thing to talk about. It affects how your website communicates to your audience. One of the things we forget, as business owners, is that we are not our own customers. We’re too educated. We know our websites because we built them. In this episode, Michelle Keefer joins Bridget and Jason to discuss how UX influences your marketing strategy. Communicate, test, tweak. Rinse and Repeat!
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About Michelle Keefer
Michelle is a life-long learner and a classically-trained marketer. She has a background in psychology and human behavior. With a more degrees than a black belt, she’s taken her knowledge and become an expert at building a marketing team from the ground up.
Her passion for people and data is well-paired and the fruit of which has benefited many clients and employers over the years. She likes to think of herself as the “MacGuyver of Marketing.”
“Strategic Marketing means using the tremendous amount of data, tools, and resources that are at our finger tips to ensure our growth strategies align with a balance of vision and customer needs. There is absolutely no reason why organizations in this day and age should be operating without a solid understanding of how to utilize business data, industry trends, and digital analytics in their every day decision making and strategic development.
I eat, sleep, and breathe marketing and trying to understand consumer behavior. I’m making big transitions in my life and am narrowing my scope to aim my skills directly at product research and development. My design thinking skills are pushing me beyond the comforts of “marketing” and I hope to make a bigger impact by being the product manager every marketer wish they had on their team.” Michelle Keefer
Be sure to follow her on Twitter and say hi.
Four Pillars of Marketing
Before we talk about user experience (UX), Michelle wanted us to be reminded of the four pillars of marketing. If we don’t get these right, UX isn’t relevant.
- Product
- Promotions
- Positioning
- Price
“But you know what the other thing is that I always find really funny that people forget about the four pillars of marketing: our products, promotions, positioning, and price. And so, if you’re a developer and you’re building a product, like you’re 25% of what marketing is — the product.” Michelle Keefer
What is User Experience (UX)?
Understanding who your customers are what their goals are and designing in a way that enables them to reach those goals is UX.
In order to design for the right experience, you need research. This includes both qualitative (anecdotes) and quantitative (actual facts) data.
“People think they can do UX without research; you’re designing in a bubble.” Michelle Keefer
How Do You Teach UX?
UX is just as important as your product. How the consumer experiences your landing page or creamer container will determine conversion. Using analogies helps quite a bit.
“So I, I show them by storytelling and by just making really simple metaphors and analogies so people understand things.” Michelle Keefer
How Do People Fix Bad UX?
Bad design is bad design. The only way to fix it is to stop thinking that you’re the customer. Get your grandma or neighbor or uncle to look at that landing page.
“Assumptions are the number one culprit when it comes to bad UX. Research is the answer.” Michelle Keefer
Michelle even suggests, rather than using something like Hotjar, to invite people (5-10) on a recorded zoom call. Give them the exact same prompts each time. This is a live usability test that will give you quantitative data. It’s free and easy.
Bonus: UX in Email Marketing
Here are some great tips from Michelle on Email Marketing UX.
- Only have on CTA per email. “They’re only going to choose one thing.” If you have more than one CTA, “you’re actively diluting your conversions,” she says.
- Blue and Orange are the colors people click on most. Don’t be so stuck on your brand colors.
- Segment your lists. Identify your audience “Don’t assume they will identify themselves. Spell it out.”
“And that’s what good UX is, is you guide them through the process. And so don’t be afraid to spell it out for your audience. If you’re this person, I want you to click this button for this reason. It is okay to be that direct. Because it helps them filter out the noise. They don’t have to make as many decisions. So now you’re not fighting, decision-making fatigue and things like that. And you’re more likely to get the right audience to where you want them to be.” Michelle Keefer
Tool or Tip of the Week
This Tool or Tip of the week is brought to you by Fat Dog Creatives. If you’re a service-based business serious about growth, Rhonda Negard is your rebranding and web design thinker, a strategic design specialist. Check out her website at FatDogCreatives.com
Michelle recommends Zapier. It rhymes with happier. That’s their slogan.
Zapier makes you happier.”
Jason recommends CalZones app for your mobile device and smart watch.
Bridget recommends “Mediations of John Muir;” read something out of the area that you work/write.
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