Design vs Marketing: Why Collaboration is Key

Jessica Hammer - July 11, 2008

Good landing pages and e-mails can drive traffic, increase conversions, and promote branding. But these small, important snippets of your company promotion are a lot more work than they appear. The planning, targeting and design will provide fruitful rewards if they are approached in a well rounded and experienced manner.

Speaking as a designer, I am often tempted to jump right into a promotion, in an effort to make a beautiful creative off the bat. I want something striking, well laid out, and well, pretty!

However, what I often forget is the importance of closely collaborating with our Campaign Strategists, or Marketing team. They are the troops on the front line, the ones who are speaking with and studying, not only the client’s campaign every day, but general marketing trends. They have an up-close view on the client’s campaign, brand and other current promotion efforts. They also have updated knowledge on placement of elements, calls to action and effective headlines. Without all this important information, I cannot hope to make a creative that speaks to that unique client’s unique customer.

So although it forces me to bend my pretty design, add in content that destroys my white space and color buttons beyond my original plan, it is my job as a designer to resolve these issues, and work with a Marketer to make a creative that represents our client in the best, and most appealing way!