In today’s digital world, recognition of the importance of User Experience (UX) has multiplied. It can make or break customer engagement with your product or service. But what is often overlooked is the connection of UX to marketing and how they must be combined to achieve a cohesive customer journey.

Why Are These Concepts Important To The Customer Journey?

A consistent customer journey is essential to build trust, establish brand loyalty and increase conversions. But creating such a journey requires a deep understanding of the user’s needs and desires at every touchpoint. This is where UX comes in.

UX aims to create meaningful experiences that align with user needs by designing to user scenarios based on feedback, behavior, and empathy. It focuses on usability, accessibility, and product/service processes to decrease friction and increase user satisfaction and loyalty.

However, UX/UI (design) are not enough to create an engaging, consistent customer journey. They are only part of the process. They must be combined with marketing efforts to create a seamless and holistic experience for the user.

Marketing focuses on communicating value to the user, building brand affinity, and increasing customer engagement through messaging and multiple touchpoints. It includes promoting the product/service through advertising, social media, email marketing, etc. A successful marketing campaign not only attracts new customers but also retains existing ones through targeted campaigns and personalized content.

Some simple examples of the marketing and UX connection are:

• An email promotes new summer colors. When users tap through to the website, do they see new summer colors promoted? Is this regional? Should there be a separate landing screen for the sale?
• If a communication is urging a customer to pay their bill, does the customer land on a login screen or the homepage? Is there an opportunity to prefill any fields or facilitate the payment process?
• When a sale code is used, that field should populate automatically if the customer is logged in. If that customer needs to log in for the sale, how is that path presented?

How Can You Combine UX And Marketing Efforts?

By combining UX and marketing, you can create a consistent experience throughout the entire customer journey. Here are some ways how:

Align UX with Marketing Goals

To create a consistent experience, both UX and marketing strategies should be aligned. UX teams must work closely with marketing teams to align the conversion path with marketing communication, business goals, target audience, and brand voice. This will ensure that both parties work towards the same objective and that the customer’s experience aligns with the marketing efforts.

Use data to personalize the Design

Personalizing the user experience is essential to create a connection between the user and the product/service. UX designers can incorporate personalized content in the design by using user data such as purchase history, user behavior, etc. This can help create a sense of familiarity and reinforce brand identity.

Content that Resonates

Marketing teams create campaigns that resonate with consumers by understanding their needs and pain points and reflecting that in visuals and messaging. UX designers can incorporate this content into the digital product design to create a seamless experience. Basic consistency, such as headlines, colors, or images, can reinforce trust and establish brand loyalty.

Consistent Branding

Every touchpoint is an opportunity to reinforce brand identity. By coordinating the product interaction around brand guidelines and marketing touchpoints, you can create a consistent brand experience. This sense of familiarity and trust can reduce customer hesitation.

What Happens If We Don’t Combine UX and Marketing?

A disjointed customer journey will show up as a mid, or bottom-of-funnel drop in conversions, abandoned carts, and reduced repeat customer conversions. Overall, it will have a noticeable impact on the success of your product or service.

When managing a customer journey, remember to coordinate UX and marketing efforts. Although it is more work to maintain as marketing messaging shifts, it will help create an engaging and consistent experience that resonates with your target audience and leads to increased conversions.