Writing-Stencil Stop
role //
Unification of voice and tone across website, help center, marketing materials and seller platforms. Through this process, I discovered their biggest brand opportunity that changed the trajectory of their marketing and business.
summary //
A Sacramento, California based manufacturer and supplier of custom stencils of all sizes and designs. They connect with their audience by offering ongoing product support and how-to content.
challenge //
A bogged down website with hundreds of pages, products, and blog posts, and several email series, a help center and ads with inconsistent tone and voice.
Stencil Stop's website failed to effectively highlight their values and focuses and was inconsistent with how the tone and voice communicated their messaging. Although stencils can be seen as a fun, creative art supply, they have a technical component when producing them and using them. For custom stencils, the ordering process is more involved compared to ready-to-ship products. So the tone and voice throughout their large website and help center needed to be more consistent and clear for a wide range of customer types.
I identified 6 segments, including one that wasn't marketed to directly: other business owners. They were then able to expand their reach. As an offshoot of defining the target audience, I also created and implemented corresponding email segmenting flows and campaigns.
Stencil Stop's business goals were to increase clarity around its products, streamline its ordering process and website overall, and decrease bounce rates, which would increase conversion rates and online orders.
Based on Stencil Stop's media content and overall website messaging, the tone of voice dimensions were mostly funny, casual, respectful and enthusiastic.
I used those dimensions to create descriptors more specific to Stencil Stop, which helped further define what the tone is and is not. The is not portion identified what was not working in terms of tone used across the website.
To identify and further define the voice behind the messaging, I compiled Stencil Stop's mission, values and focuses their main SEO keywords from across the website, Google analytics and by conducting market research. And I created an in-depth guide on their branding voice and tone for future microcopy and content.
PREVIOUS COPY: CAPTURE YOUR IMAGE
Take a photo or send us a file of digital art.
FINAL COPY:
PLACE YOUR ORDER
Send us a copy of your art - any file, design, image or sketch. We'll transform it into a stencil.
PREVIOUS COPY:
FREE ONLINE PROOFS
Our design team quickly transforms your file into stencil form. review your proof within 48 hours and request changes until it’s perfect.
FINAL COPY:
FREE ONLINE PROOFS
Review your free proofs within 48 hours and request changes until they're perfect.
PREVIOUS COPY: DELIVERED IN A WEEK
Get your stencils quickly with 7 day average delivery time. free shipping within the united states on orders over $100.
FINAL COPY: DELIVERED IN A WEEK
7-day average delivery time. Free US shipping on orders over $100.
PREVIOUS COPY: None
None
FINAL COPY: GET SUPPORT
A detailed guide with every purchase and how-to videos and articles in our help center.
Customers can checkout custom orders on Stencil Stop's website without first contacting them for a quote. So once I reviewed screen recordings of customers using the website, I removed the Contact menu option. It restored the desired user journey, which was for customers to complete orders from the product pages.
I also revised the banner copy, highlighted an additional feature on auto-scroll after free shipping, and with a teammate, simplified how free shipping was applied.
