Project Description
Zenbu helps companies like Toyota measure their social media efforts…
But their old website wasn’t telling that story (or effectively selling their product, for that matter).
So in 2018, Zenbu reached out to me to help them clarify their messaging and convert more clients.
But like a lot of my clients, they thought a beautiful design would solve all of their problems.
However, upon reviewing their updated designs, it was clear to me (and soon to them) that their design alone wasn’t going to help them explain what they do for clients and why their clients should pay for it.
So before we could even think about copy, we had to take a step back and put ourselves in their customer’s shoes.
But their old website wasn’t telling that story (or effectively selling their product, for that matter).
So in 2018, Zenbu reached out to me to help them clarify their messaging and convert more clients.
But like a lot of my clients, they thought a beautiful design would solve all of their problems.
However, upon reviewing their updated designs, it was clear to me (and soon to them) that their design alone wasn’t going to help them clearly explain what they do for clients and why their clients should pay for it.
So before we could even think about copy, we had to take a step back and put ourselves in their customer’s shoes.
Zenbu helps companies like Toyota measure their social media efforts…
Strategy
Luckily for Zenbu, I used to be a social media analyst.
This meant that…
(1) I was 50% of their ideal customer base (analysts at advertising agencies)
(2) I knew a hell of a lot about social media reporting — from how it works to the pain points of those who are actually pulling the numbers.
This gave us a competitive advantage when it came to understanding who we were communicating with and how best to persuade them.
But I didn’t just use my own instincts.
I walked the team through a strategy workshop where we discussed, in detail, things like…
- Who are your customers?
- Where are they coming from?
- What do they care about?
- What stops them from buying?
- What drives them to buy?
- And more!
Once we were both on the same page in terms of who we were targeting and what the messages needed to be, I took their current design and started chopping it up…
Page layout and copywriting
Because Zenbu had already been working with a designer to come up with a new aesthetic (a step I don’t recommend until we’ve worked together), I had to ‘Frankenstein’ the layout by cutting bits and pieces, moving them around, then stitching them back together with words.
In some places, the design worked as it was, but I still had to change the messaging.
For the designs that no longer worked, I had to not only change the messaging (and hierarchy), but I had to figure out which existing designs we could use in their places.
Like I mentioned above, the process is similar to a “monster surgery,” but the result is always clearer copy, a more connected narrative, and a website that’s optimized for conversion.
Once we had a clearer idea of what the pages would look like with the new hierarchy and content, I was able to complete and polish the copy, which was handed off to the designers, who made my suggested changes.
Zenbu now gets more clients with a clearer, conversion-optimized website
Once the updated copy and the new designs were fused, the result was magic. ✨
While the old site was unclear and uninspiring, the new site was exactly the opposite with…
- Clearer copy that actually explains what the product does and WHY you should pay for it
- A cohesive explanation of the tools and how they work together
- Persuasive success stories from big-name clients
- Specific language that appeals to both of their audiences: brand owners and agencies
- Head over to Zenbu’s site to see for yourself!
“We consider Annie an important member of our team”
“When we finally realized that conversions do not happen solely on the basis of fancy web design, we were very fortunate to find Annie. Her professional approach to building converting website copy based on target audiences and proven psychological models helped create a red thread through our website for the first time ever.
An additional bonus was that Annie happen to knew our domain quite well, which increased the quality even more. Being really flexible, honest and straightforward, makes it a breeze working with Annie. We are looking forward to working with Annie again and consider her an important ‘member’ of our team.”