TaxExact
Case Study
How I helped TaxExact convert over 32% of their landing page visitors.
"Annie gets real RESULTS for her clients. I’d highly recommend working with Annie. Her services are WELL worth the investment and you’ll wonder how you ever did a project without her!"
Matt Olpinski
Founder of Matthew’s Design Co
Has your accountant ever made a mistake on your tax return?
- First, the majority of accounts rely on tax software that does not correct for human error.
- Second, using software means accountants don’t have to rely as much on their own knowledge of the tax codes, which can increase the chance of errors.
For Pat, this created a big problem because when accountants make mistakes, everyone — including the client and the firm — loses money.
To correct for this issue, Pat created TaxExact — the first tax verification tool that eliminates errors and dramatically reduces review time.
To get it into the hands of tax accountants everywhere, Matt Olpinski of Matthew’s Design Co hired me to help him create the landing page that would drive awareness, educate visitors, and ultimately, get them to sign up for the TaxExact waitlist.
(Psst! Matt and I also worked together on the FraudFindr project. Repeat clients for the win!)
OVERVIEW
Research & Strategy
STEP 1
- Who is the customer?
- How will they find this landing page?
- How likely are they to take action?
- What are their pain points?
- What would motivate them to sign up?
- What’s holding them back from signing up right now?
- And more!
Knowing the answers to these types of questions gives me a clearer idea of the audience I’m trying to communicate with, and how I need to structure the page and copy in order to persuade them to take the desired action.
I also conducted a series of customer interviews so I could not only understand the problem from the perspective of a potential customer, but to also get a sense of how they think, what drives them, what kind of language they use, and more.
From there, I put together an Insights Report, which outlined our customer and everything we learned about this person during the previous steps, including a description of our target persona:
From there, it was time to transform our learnings and insights into a landing page that would educate and convert visitors.
Information Architecture
STEP 2
Using the insights from the first phase of our project, my next step was putting together the Information Architecture, which is essentially a content wireframe for the page.
While creating the architecture, I was combining customer data with conversion best practices, persuasion techniques, and proven psychological principles, ensuring the page would be as effective as possible.
Once the wireframe was completed, it was easy for Matt, who was leading design, to start on a rough version of the page, as he already had all of the core components laid out ahead of time.
Copywriting
STEP 3
During the customer interviews, one of my goals was to collect “voice of customer data” (or “VOC” data) which includes words, phrases, and language from the customer that can be later repurposed during the writing phase of the project.
When I sat down to write, the first thing I did was look at my bank of VOC data to see if there were any great lines of copy that could be used as headlines, bullet points, testimonials, and more.
Pulling ideas straight from customer conversations typically results in copy that feels more persuasive and engaging than any other form of copy, which is why customer interviews are so important.
Beyond that, I also looked back at the Insights Report to make sure I was using the right terminology for the audience, which helps to create a sense of trust within the reader.
Once the copy was completed, it was up to the designer, Matt, to make everything look beautiful and flow together, which he did with flying colors!
Design
STEP 4
As the copy was being written, Matt was busy developing the logo, colors, fonts, and overall brand aesthetic for the FraudFindr brand.
Once the information architecture and copy was complete, Matt had the foundation he needed to create clear wireframes, and then more complete designs featuring illustrations, images of the product, and other visual elements that worked best with the content hierarchy and copy.
Having all of the messaging work complete before fully diving into his process allowed Matt to focus on creating a stellar look and seamless user experience (vs struggling to develop designs around missing copy or pages).
Matt also did a great job of working “around” conversion elements (like longer headlines, bulleted copy, and sections with multiple copy points), which is not something every designer can do.
The result is a marketing site that clearly communicates the product in a way that looks beautiful and modern while also providing a fast and streamlined user experience.
"Well worth the investment!"
“My experience working with Annie was second to none. From our first conversation to the final deliverable, Annie was a pleasure to work with. She communicated clearly and often while being patient and understanding through revision cycles.
Her strategic approach and process was so well established that I was confident in her abilities every step of the way. The best part is that she gets real RESULTS for her clients.
I’d highly recommend working with Annie. Her services are WELL worth the investment and you’ll wonder how you ever did a project without her!”
Matt Olpinski
Founder of Matthew’s Design Co
RESULTS
The TaxExact landing page converted at over 32%, which is more than double the industry average for email opt-in pages
The pre-launch landing page successfully collected email addresses in anticipation of the official launch in early 2020.
This allowed Pat to launch with confidence knowing he already had a pipeline of qualified leads he could notify as soon as the product became available.
While the TaxExact team has replaced the opt-in landing page with a more robust marketing site (as one does post-launch), you can still check it out via my Dropbox here.
