Seeing the Goal for the Trees

Seeing the Goal for the Trees

As design and marketing become more interwoven, it’s important to remember that the goal of marketing is not just to create beautiful design, but to use design to inspire customers to act.

It can be easy to get caught up in tactics. Marketers today are bombarded with online galleries of beautiful design work from around the world, volumes of affordable stock photography and an abundance of eager designers.

They are also subjected to endless marketing trends that encourage exploration of new channels, new tools and new ways to advertise. Most people feel compelled to try them, for fear that they are missing out on the next big thing.

While design and marketing are moving faster than ever, the age-old wisdom remains steady: tactics are not a strategy, and marketing should lead to sales.

Beautiful branding, well-crafted websites and engaging sales materials are never the goal of marketing. They are really great by-products, but they merely exist to inspire customers to act. To get them to buy.

When planning marketing pieces, keep in mind how you want your audience to respond to the work you’re producing. We often ask clients, “When someone comes to your website, what do you want them to do?” Most people don’t know or haven’t thought about it. They’ve considered the tactic, but not the desired response.

It’s amazing how many websites, which are probably the greatest sales tool a company can have, exist to merely show the world that the company is in the category too. It’s like having a giant trade show booth filled with people, but no staff in it.

Remember to look at the big picture of marketing and conversion, and not just the tactics themselves.