Business challenge
Raffetto Herman, a public relations firm with offices in Washington D.C. and Seattle, asked me to write web copy and consult on content strategy for a redesign of their website.
What I did
Content strategy
I first worked closely with the firm’s two partners and marketing director to clarify and document the firm’s market position, competition, brand attributes and messaging, as well as the site’s business goals, voice and tone for copy, and personas (visitor types most likely to bring in new business). I segmented the personas by their goals visiting the site and their attitudes towards public relations and my client in particular, which then guided the content and style of my copywriting.
- Deliverable: Content strategy document (9 pages)
Information architecture
Using the final content strategy, a review of the firm’s current site and their competitions’ website, I developed a draft site map which gave the partners a starting point for their discussions with the Web agency they had hired to design and build the new site. An “IA Details” document I developed from the site map, provided more page-level detail on content topics and character counts to guide my copywriting.
- Deliverables: sitemap (Visio – pdf) and “ia details” document (6 pages)
Web copywriting
Most of my work was copywriting. While writing about the company, its services and the industries it serves, I conducted 24 interviews of the firm’s partners and employees. The ten case studies I wrote required still more online research and interviews. Working with the director of marketing I developed bios of the firm’s employees, first recording interviews, then transcribing and editing them down to engaging first-person snapshots.
Writing samples
“Launch a Product or Company” (PR solution with multiple services)
“Working with Us” (what to expect working with Raffetto Herman)