Your cousin's birthday is coming up. 

Unsure what to get her, you head downtown to check out a few local shops. After walking past a few, you find a cozy building that looks like it carries an assortment of products.

Upon entering, a pancake-sized spider-web greets you. As you push it out of your way, you realize the entire store is in this state. It looks like the owner abandoned it shortly after WWII.

While the products within the store appear to be new, everything else hasn't been touched in years. As a result, the signs on the wall are outdated and show products that they no longer carry.

It has for me. Just a few seconds ago, actually.

I was looking for decaf coffee to buy (for a friend…obviously).

I landed on the website of a local coffee shop. Their website looked eerily similar to a government webpage. (Maybe the same designer?)

Can you guess the outcome? I did not buy anything from the antiquated website.

And I can guess you wouldn't get your cousin anything if you were in the store described above. But why is that?

Maybe we don't trust stores (websites) that appear "sketchy."

Sketchy = old, scammy, poorly designed.

Maybe we associate our identity with the places we shop? For example, if I am a clean upper-class citizen, I would likely shop at stores that resemble that vibe.

Everything. I use a website in the example, but the same is true for everything that marketing produces.

A slide deck that looks like a 5th grader put it together while they were in detention during recess does not build trust, which leads to sales.

A website that looks like an Indian scammer (I'm sorry, but every YouTube video I watch about scammers includes scammers from India) will not get someone to give you their credit card info.

Great marketing can have "shitty" design, but it's usually intentional (90's vibe or Nintendo theme) and not due to apathy or incompetence.

The lesson: Upgrade your main marketing assets (website, slide deck, email templates) and watch as it creates trust leading to more revenue.

Do you believe, as I do, that poor design can dampen sales (marketing's impact)?

🧠 // JO