What Product Designers Can Learn From Marketers
(Digital Summit Denver Recap)
If you are relatively new to a product design and got a chance to spend some time working on a real product in the real world, you’ve probably realized that behind the good product there is not only a pretty design and interactive user experience, there is a marketing strategy involved.
Designers usually don’t go to business schools, but product designers constantly deal with the business world, therefore it’s good to know what’s up.
When I started working on a product design, I began hearing the abbreviations like KPIs and ROIs, and words like content strategy and customer acquisition cost, and so on. That made me curious about what all those things are and how being aware of them can help me to improve the design process I am working on.
Recently I attended one of the non-designer conferences to get a new perspective on how we can improve digital brands. It was a conference for the digital marketing community, yet it was so informative and useful for product designers. It proves time and again that if products are designed in a better way, the marketing becomes a more pleasant experience for both the company and the consumer. If the product is truly good, the marketing teams can be true in their messaging. Therefore the customers will be more responsive to your company message, and being more open to your marketing message means being more open to your product.
With that said, I would like to share my top picks of what we, product designers, can learn from marketers. Hope you can find them relevant and most importantly, inspiring:)
ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
- Social media marketing is a curated visual experience of your brand that is creatively presented and strategically planned in order to build a relationship with your audience. Quinn Tempest — Digital Strategist
(Whether it is a successful Instagram account or a product, there is a strategy behind it.)
- Consistency is how you stand out. — Brian Fanzo —@ iSocialFanz
(# 1 rule in design.)
ON MARKETING:
- We have to market today for where they are going tomorrow. — Brian Fanzo — @iSocialFanz
(In product design the equivalent would be — “We have to design today for where they are going tomorrow.”)
“We have to design today for where they are going tomorrow.”
ON BUSINESS:
- Even truly successful people have to reinvent themselves. — Robert Rose, Content Marketing Institute
(I say — “Even truly successful products have to reinvent themselves” — talking about constant innovations and updates in product design in order to stay relevant today).
ON CONTENT STRATEGY:
- Every Product, Service or Technology enables human moment. — Heather Levy, Gartner
( We build technology for humans, not for robots)
- Characters and moments create emotional hooks help your audience remember your big idea. Heather Levy, Gartner
(How to get them to remember you, your brand, your story, your product.)
- We can’t force change, we must inspire and teach change. Brian Fanzo — iSocialFanz
(No one likes to be told what to do, but there are other ways to get them to listen to you.)
ON PRODUCT DESIGN:
- People with disabilities represent 1 Trillion USD in disposable income. John Thies, CEO — Email on Acid
(Made me think whether we put enough thought in making our products accessible…)
- Business storytelling must be architected in a way, so people will care about your content. Every successful business story consists of four main pillars: human sentence, goal sentence, resistance and truth. Truth serves as the core of your business story architecture. — Robert Rose, Content Marketing Institute
(#staytrue)
- Experience your product just like your customer. Mitch Lowe, Netflix
(If you don’t use your own product, why should others?)
LIFE ADVISE:
Be the one thing others can’t… #beyourself - Brian Fanzo — @iSocialFanz
Please comment and 👏👏👏 if you feel compelled :)
