Modernizing America’s
most-trusted brand

My client enlisted me to work alongside a UX designer and user researcher to streamline the digital presence of one of their club brands. With so many product offerings, they wanted to capture the attention of younger generations, while maintaining the trust of their senior members. We had six months to complete it. How do we modernize one of America’s most trusted brands without losing the heritage that built its reputation for impeccable service? And then, how do we craft a narrative that lures members of all demographics to a compelling, thoughtful digital experience?

Scope

I was tasked to create:

• Website copy that considers the user journey from first impression, through their anticipated questions and hesitations, to a sale for the following lines of business:

  • Auto repair

  • Travel

  • Insurance

  • Finance

  • Cruises

  • Shopping

• Create a content style guide, glossary of terms, and brand positioning document.

• Craft an email campaign designed to introduce the new digital experience to existing members.

• Design and deliver a user experience writing workshop series to train their newly hired team of ~50 associates. (Hey, someone has to keep it going after my work is done!)

Does that sound like a lot of work for six months? I’m not daunted.

Research

Qualitative interviews with our target demographic—some of whom were club members and some of whom were not—indicated that most people see my client as a tow truck company. The leadership team wanted to be known for so much more.

This led me to team up with our user researcher to observe while users navigated the current club website to learn more about insurance and finance, two lines of business that leaders wanted to promote. Overwhelmingly, the feedback indicated that users were confused by the offerings. They didn’t realize my client offered so much more than towing and travel tips. “You do have to search a little bit. [You] need to familiarize yourself,” one member suggested.

To date, my client had been burdening users with the task of discovering their needs from an endless array of options. It disenfranchised members and prospective members. Some even said, gasp, it felt like spam.

My client and content strategy have one thing in common: they both succeed by building trust.

We cannot trust an offering until we understand it completely.

If we wanted to build a great digital experience, we needed to let the user complete tasks without thinking about them. We needed to anticipate their needs. We needed to appeal to the things that kept them up at night, the things that matter most to them.

I interviewed our target demographic to find out exactly what matters to them.

Discoveries:

• Safety - Unsurprisingly, safety is a big concern, especially for those who have children. However, I was surprised to see the role that psychological safety played in their decision-making. If a company came across as alarmist, folks were more likely to turn a deaf ear to them, citing that it took a toll on their mental health to be reminded of the possibility of fire, flood, or mine subsidence, for example.

• Convenience - Most were working professionals juggling full schedules. They prioritized services that offered fast, easy, mobile-friendly user experiences. Some favorites: Target Drive-Up, Amazon Prime, Instacart.

• Cost - I expected that people would care about saving money—don’t we all? But, most folks under 45 cared more about convenience than cost. They would use coupons if the coupon could be applied from within the app they used to make the purchase, like Amazon Prime does.

• Efficiency - Many realized that their car insurance company or dealership already offered a towing service. They couldn’t see the reason for a club membership if they already had towing benefits.

• Privacy - Younger folks are keenly aware of their privacy in the digital era. They saw my client as a broker of services and worried where their information might be shared with third parties.

Current, lifelong members agreed on most points, differing most dramatically when it came to cost. Senior members tended to prioritize cost savings over efficiency and convenience.

It was time to build a content strategy that earns user trust by balancing their top priorities with a design system that thinks the way they do. One that makes it easy to find what they need, and gives them the peace of mind they crave.

This is the bread and butter of great content strategy and I had to will myself to close my laptop for the weekend. I really, really wanted to dive in.

Content design

While the design team got to work building the layout of the site, I pared down the text to follow a simple framework: What are the user’s needs? What are they trying to accomplish? What gives them pause? And what makes this choice a hell yes?

Content strategy

To synthesize the vast pool of research from members, non-members, and club leadership, I employed a card sort. Writing key words from quotes on individual stickies, I identified common themes and, better yet, repeated words and phrases. I made sure to embed these into the website strategically. For example, everyone agreed that “peace of mind” is what they’re after. It keeps them up at night. Club leadership added that their century-long legacy of providing peace of mind is the fabric of their brand. So, I made a header out of it: Peace of mind for over 100 years.

To help users to accomplish their goals (and for my client to meet their sales targets), I chose simple, verb-led words to move the user through the site. Manage your membership. Insurance. Shop. Travel. Give a gift.

Because my client serves Americans of all abilities, I made sure that our copy met 508 compliance, WCAG, and a sixth-grade reading level. Besides, simple copy is easier to understand. And, remember, we can’t trust what we don’t understand.

Results

Our new design led to increased visits to the primary sections of our site:

• Roadside Assistance +41.5%

• Auto Homepage +62.5%

• Travel Homepage +62.7%

• Insurance Homepage +3.6%

• Money Homepage +40.0%

• Online Store +22.5%

Email campaign

Hold the champagne—we hadn’t launched our campaign!

With preliminary testing showing positive results for our redesign, it was time to thoughtfully craft an email campaign to introduce the new digital experience.

The email campaign would only reach existing members, the same people who were burned out by the “dated, basic, cookie-cutter experience.” (Real member quote.) We needed to show them that the service they trusted hadn’t changed, but the way they would access it just became a lot clearer.

Key considerations:

• Subject line optimization

• Provide value in each message

• Call to an action in each email

• Offer an unsubscribe option

I crafted a series of five emails, each with a scheduled send date and time designed to maximize reach. Members raved about the campaign, and leadership saw an uptick in site activity and new business.

UX writing guide, seminar, and ongoing support

My client’s team has what it takes to carry my content strategy into the future, collecting raving fans along the way. Why? Because I created a web copy style guide and a writing best practices guide made to fit their brand, their target audience, and their message.