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Kevin C. Whelan

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November 26, 2019

Why good design matters in marketing

You’ve heard this before: people make buying decisions emotionally and rationalize them with logic afterward. It’s true.

No matter what we buy, whether it is a lawnmower, a new car, or a pack of thumbtacks, there’s a distinct emotional connection that happens at the point of purchase.

If it “feels good”, people will buy. If it doesn’t, they almost never do.

As marketers, this is a key insight to take into your strategy and decision-making process. Your goal should be to optimize for that “good feeling” people have about your company, products, and services as early as possible.

While that’s intuitive, a lot of people fall into the trap of focusing on the logic behind their offer and completely ignore the emotional part.

The good news is, there are lots of ways to get to that emotional decision faster.

One of them is design.

Good design, whether it’s your website, visual identity, or any other touchpoint, can make a big difference in whether people buy or not.

The design of your brand is your prospects’ first direct impression of your company.

If you believe that first impressions are important to get right and hard to change, then you’ll know how worthwhile it is to use the best design possible for your marketing collateral.

It may cost more, which may hurt your pocket in the short-term, but it will allow you to charge more and close more sales because you’re starting from a place of positive emotional connection, not undoing a negative first impression caused by poor design.

Optimize for emotion, invest in good design, make a positive first impression, then let the other areas marketing add fuel to the fire.

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