When clients hire the Content Bureau to manage their massive, multi-asset marcom projects, it’s their ongoing engagement that plays a key role in the project’s success. In this post, one of the Content Bureau’s beloved clients, Kerry Anne Rothe, Senior Manager of Communications at PayPal, shares tips for how clients should partner with their copywriting agency on high-profile projects to achieve the best results in the least amount of time—and use their budget most effectively.
Allison: Congratulations on the launch of the new PayPal Large Enterprise microsite. Your project was a huge effort with a lot of moving parts—and you received big kudos for it. What was your goal?
Kerry Anne: The whole idea of the site was to offer an exceptional online experience for large enterprise customers. We wanted to provide targeted, relevant information with the latest data—presented in a way that’s easily consumed.
Allison: Tell us more about the content.
Kerry Anne: The infographics are a great example. With the Content Bureau’s help, we took complex information and distilled it into a very simple picture. The goal was to provide “snackable” and poignant pieces of content that leave the reader feeling smarter. I think the combination of infographics and web imagery, in addition to the beefier content we’ve created, provides a delightful experience for this audience.
Allison: There’s definitely a lot of delicious content on the site! You did a lot of planning for this initiative before bringing the Content Bureau into the process. Please explain how you prepared prior to the engagement.
Kerry Anne: We really took time to consider the audience:
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- Who are they?
- What do they need?
- What information is relevant to them?
- How can we package third-party data so that it’s in an easily consumable format?
- How would they navigate the site?
Then, we thought about how we’re already providing experiences to this audience:
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- What are our other touch points?
- How can this website be a complementary experience to what PayPal already provides?
- How can we deliver an exceptional experience?
Allison: I can tell you that the thorough preparation you put into the project was greatly appreciated by our team. Because you were able to clearly articulate a vision and direction from the start, every aspect of the project—from content creation to design—was more efficient. I’d like to know, of the most important tasks performed during the project, which did you prefer the Content Bureau to handle?
Kerry Anne: Interviewing is one. I loved that I was able to set your team up with the subject-matter experts, and could then rely on you to conduct professional interviews and work directly with the experts to come up with a solid first draft. I didn’t have to be the middleman—and that made things run very smoothly and efficiently. In addition:
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- Incorporating reviewers’ feedback on content was another important task for your team. You guys were great about listening to general feedback and making specific edits.
- I also think a defining moment was when we asked the Content Bureau to create all the infographics. The infographics really took the whole look and feel and experience of the website to a new level.
Allison: You have a unique perspective since you’ve also worked on the agency side. How did that experience affect how you managed this project?
Kerry Anne: It certainly helped. I’ve been in your shoes, and I always want to be a good partner to anyone I work with. A concept is worth about a penny. It’s all about how you bring it to life. My work on the agency side helped because I knew I needed to think through things first so that I could come to you with a more complete snapshot of what we were looking to achieve. But I also wanted to be open to your thoughts and ideas, too.
Allison: I think that’s a great point. The Content Bureau does its best work when we’re fully engaged in helping to shape the outcome of a project. Finally, what advice would you offer a client working with the Content Bureau to make sure they’re getting the biggest bang for their marketing dollar on a large project?
Kerry Anne: Go in as prepared as possible, with an open mind, and:
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- Know what you’re trying to accomplish.
- Know what your measures of success will be.
- Also, provide a good brief to the agency. The format doesn’t matter. Just write it down: What are you trying to achieve? Who are you trying to do it for? Why should the audience care? How are you going to deliver it? And then be open to what other smart people think about it.
Allison: Great advice! Thank you, Kerry Anne. The fantastic direction you provided right from the get-go really helped to make a winning combination between PayPal and the Content Bureau for this high-profile project.
