Vox Fortis Communications

There seems to be an eternal struggle between creatives and marketers, and these differences manifest themselves daily. I could likely devote this entire blog to nothing but those slight differences in the ways both groups want to do things, and still be writing when I’m 95 years old.

Let’s dissect one of those otherwise miniscule things that I’ve seen create huge discord: button naming. It seems like such a small thing, doesn’t it? A button is a button, a link’s a link, whatever…you click and something happens. It should seem so easy.

Having been on both sides of this fence, and understanding the motivations for both, I have to weigh in on the side of the marketers this time. Let’s explore each camp’s viewpoint, shall we?

The creative stance: Let’s face it, web pages can get really boring. Same text on everything, same call to action…there’s a tendency to want to be clever because you CAN be and you figure it will stand out. I’ve been there, totally. Naming links something that was probably pretty witty (well, in my mind, anyway) and perfectly matched the theme, intent and feel of the page. Original. Different. Which you can sometimes confuse with engaging for a consumer/web site visitor.

The marketer/analytic stance: Web pages exist for a purpose. In the case of something like e-commerce, your intent is to convert to sale…any distraction from that purchasing path is a very bad thing. That said, button naming needs to be incredibly clear and straightforward. It needs to say what people are pre-programmed to believe it will: “buy now.” It doesn’t show off the company’s smarts and wit, but that’s not what the consumer is coming there for, either.

I haven’t dealt with this issue directly for awhile, but it was refreshed for me this week as I was doing some research. I was checking into how vendors are using things like community and consumer-generated content to further the reach of the brand, and was browsing around KitchenAid.com. I knew they had forums somewhere, but after scanning the home page, I couldn’t find them. I Google’d it and it popped up right away, so I knew I had to be missing something.

 I finally found it…on the home page, a link to the lower right that reads “Join others at KitchenAid Conversations.” I had completely glossed right over it. Even though I appreciate the language used as a writer, as a consumer this was very frustrating. I am already programmed to look for something that says “forum” and when it wasn’t evident I missed the fancy wording. Plus, how am I supposed to know what KitchenAid Conversations is? It could be a blog for all I know.

My point is, as both a writer and marketer, it’s important to know which hat to wear. Make sure you’re doing the same for your clients. Sometimes you want to scrath the creative itch so badly that you forget your company has a business need that needs attention as well. Always stay clear about the intent of the piece you’re working on, and be open to the knowledge your client has about what their audience will be looking for, and the keywords that will keep them engaged.