It is always believed that efficiency will always be at the top of the marketing game however in the first volume of The SoDA Report, it was revealed that 77% of agency respondents shared that user experience, or UX for short, was the biggest shortcoming over at the side of the client.
What should one give notice to UX in the first place?
Though UX is still a new field to even take notice, many see this as insignificant because it opposes the core values of marketing which is to sell products to the customer while UX, on the other hand, focuses more on the needs. Some see it as impossible because not all products can cater to both.
Wally Olins used to say that marketing “is a question of persuading, seducing and attempting to manipulate people into buying products and services” which is true because marketing is the art of persuasion where one entices the consumer to buy their products without consideration on what the consumer’s experience is.
However, this is a changing world and consumers are starting to be more conscious of what they buy, thus purchasing products that are not just useful but also worthwhile, making it “worth the money”. The keyword to UX “empathy” where in the techniques used to see the end point requires one to test out their digital creations with their target market and use the comments about their products to improve user experience. The better the user experience, the better the profits become.
Given that marketing and UX are being fused by many to help boost their sales it is not strange to see majority of branded apps (about 80%) fail because they cannot satisfy their users and sell all at the same time, according to a study by Deloitte. Only 1% of these branded apps are able to reach a million downloads because they cater and listen to their user’s needs.
Seeing that there is money in UX applications, you must be wondering how is it possible to make a product that is both UX-friendly and marketable. It is if your product can answer two questions, (1) Will someone download this app?, and (2) Would they keep on using it? If you cannot answer these two questions then it is best to go back to the drawing board.
To further strengthen your brand’s app, Harvard Business Review provided a list of features that a successful app should possess. It should add convenience, offer unique value, provide social value, offer incentives, and it should entertain.
In addition to that, Forrester Research gives three features that could help define a successful brand application. Branded applications should not only be useful to the user, but they should also be usable and desirable. No one is saying that it is an easy feat. In fact, this is difficult to balance out at first but having your clients try out the product and provide feedback will most certainly help you meet all of these.
