We have all worked with designers or team members who favor fancy animations or designs that are meant more for the design awards, than to resonate with our users.

And to add to the pain is that look they give you when you suggest something that essentially has nothing to do with looking beautiful.

It is imperative that we understand that the end goal of any video, infographic or landing page is to get the user to perform the action that we want him to. After all it took us some effort to get him to interact with our graphic in the first place.

So how exactly do we bridge the gap between the designer and the marketer?

After little research and lot of brainstorming, we came out with three basic steps to brew them together. And they are:

• Prepare a simple brief
• Words are picture of our thoughts
• define the common goals

Prepare a simple brief:

Refer to the recent brief you handed over to your designer! What all did you include in it?

Does the visual content align with the copy you sent in the brief? Does it have the intended CTA (call to action)? Did it include the intent of the page or the audience being targeted? Oops, no?

Now imagine being in a position where you just have these 5-10 lines of copy, without any other directive.

Do you really blame the designer to go wild in his thinking and try to use the latest technology to create that cutting-edge design?

So before you send out the brief, ensure you include every minute detail for your designer. This will allow him to create something that is aligned with your thoughts.

Most result yielding brief include:

• Focus Elements:
  What are the key elements that you need your designer to focus on? Or in the case of a landing page, what is the visual hierarchy that needs to be followed?

• Create user identity:
  Have you invested in creating profile for your brand? This allows the designer to create imagery suitable to the audience being targeted. And, it wouldn’t be a bad idea at all to include your designer in creating the same.

• Objective of the page:
  More often, our visuals have a clear pain point that we are trying to resolve. A video might be our answer to low understanding of the product; an infographic might be created to increase engagement. These are clear directives that need to be shared with the designer so he creates a high performing product.
  Providing the designer with these directives opens a communication channel that eventually leads to a more effective product.

Words are pictures of our thoughts:

Communication is the key to simplification. Both (the Marketer and the Designer) are essentially working towards the same goal, striving to create an engaging and interesting product that leads to growth in business. So bridging the gap between them by getting them into talking is solving half the problem.

Let’s look for few things that both need to understand before initiating the project:

1. Difference between User-centered and Conversion-centered design:

User centered design is about letting the user navigate through the page in the easiest possible manner.

Conversion-centered design is about minimizing friction in the path of the user towards a goal that is pre-decided. For example: an e-mail share.

While the former is about enabling the user to perform an activity, the latter is about persuading or convincing the user to perform an activity.

Thus, it’s essential for designer and marketer to understand the difference between the above.

2. The answer lies in the story:

A user responds to your story- yours, your brands. But who really created that story? Was it you or your consumer?

Well, before you give yourself a pat on your back, it wasn’t you. It was actually your consumer.

So get them talking. Let them tell you about your brand. Extract stories around your product, your brand, your category, anything! It’s all gold. And in that goldmine lies the success of your design.

3. It’s not always about the design:

Sometimes pretty graphics are not what convert. In fact, most of the times it doesn’t matter how beautiful that infographic is or how perfect that video looks.

What matters is the efficacy. So, the designer needs to understand that the success of the visual doesn’t really fall on his shoulder alone. It’s a joint effort of the researcher, the copywriter, the traffic source, the actual product and the offer.

4. Encourage your designer to talk:

Your designer has many success stories to his credit. That’s what gives him the confidence he exudes.

He likely has just the right questions brewing in his mind. He just isn’t talking. And the reason could be you. So actively solicit their feedback and encourage them to share their opinions.

Once you and your designer start talking the same language, you can together create a product that will perform exactly as you intend it to.

Let’s define the common goals!

Once you have bridged the communication gap, it’s time to arrive at combined goals for the product being designed.

So what are the goals that you should have your video or your infographic and how should you be working towards it?

Here are 3 goals to keep in mind while working on the project:

Goal 1- Bring the Story alive

This isn’t possible if your graphic designer just gets passed that 200-word story. It will only be possible if your designer is a part of the creation of the concept.

Goal 2: Don’t confuse the user

There needs to be a single goal for each product that you create. This intensifies focus of both the designer and the marketer, multifold.

Goal 3: Unnecessary Images

There is no need to add all the images in one go, save some for later. This would help you maintain the nuance in the later stage when you upgrade it and also save you from the clutter.

CONCLUSION

A higher conversion rate on your contact form can mean big things for your business and blaming the design team/designer alone for wiping it out will be unfair.

Be ready to correct your own mistakes, listen to constructive criticism from others, and always focus on improvements. You have the tools for success; now all that matters is how you use them.

By: Sadbhav Shah

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