UX for Marketing
at Piano and Uberflip
UX design is the process of defining and understand what users need and want. By incorporating it into Marketing, you are able to deliver greater user experiences.
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Here are a few examples of how I integrated UX Design into Marketing.
In 2019, I worked at Piano, a SaaS company known for its rules engine that delivers personalized and targeted messaging to specific audiences. Typically, Piano is used by news media organizations to prompt readers for subscriptions—if you've encountered a paywall on a popular media site, it was likely powered by Piano.
My team was tasked with exploring new, out-of-vertical use cases for Piano, recognizing its potential beyond traditional applications. This project also provided an opportunity to push the product’s boundaries and integrate UX into marketing strategies.
Unfortunately, I didn't capture screenshots of the product and campaign before I left. However, here is an example of one of the first user experiences built using Piano’s platform:
This campaign had many elements, multiple points of entry, and a variety of assets and media to consume. Careful planning was vital to maintain a cohesive story. The campaign centered around one particular event: Content Marketing World, which had a bright orange theme. We incorporated this orange theme throughout to tie the experience together.
Example of A/B Testing Two Different Banner Designs and Marketing Copy.
Continuing the Journey
Throughout the entire campaign journey, the key visual elements are carried across to create the seamless experience; the visual graphic of the isometric cubes and the orange theme is always present and can be altered depending on the campaign theme.
By also leveraging Piano AI, there were no dead-end journeys. The next related (or curated) article would display at the end of the piece of content while carrying the overall campaign theme. As long as the scripts were on the page, the personalized journey would continue.
Example of an Article with the Next Curated Piece of Content Based on user personas.
UX is foundational to all marketing efforts. When it becomes a focus in marketing, all your efforts will work better for you. Work smarter, not harder.
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A Complex Experience
While freelancing, I had the privilege of collaborating with a dynamic marketing team that consistently launched numerous campaigns. They were a bustling machine. However, the sheer volume of overlapping campaigns led to confusion and issues. To address this, I mapped out the entire user flow, helping everyone visualize the campaign as a cohesive whole.
This particular user flow centered around the main piece of content: the eBook (PDF), along with several supporting assets, including a 4-part "webinine" series (short-form webinars) that aligned with each of the four chapters of the eBook. This was a new and exciting challenge for me. Since users could enter the campaign by either downloading the eBook or watching the first webinine episode, it was crucial to have everything mapped out to ensure seamless progression to the next steps.
The team included a Social Media Marketer, a Senior Content Marketer, and a Demand Marketer, each with their own goals and visions for the user journey.
The Social Media Marketer envisioned social posts and ads with animations and bright colors.
The Content Marketer saw a dark and sophisticated look for the eBook.
The Demand Marketer in charge of the webinine series wanted a fun and playful theme.
Mapping out all the elements helped visualize the entire user journey, enabling us to agree on a cohesive overarching theme that complemented and addressed each marketer’s targets and goals.