Marketing Collateral: Service Offering UX
SoftServe is seeking copywriting assistance with customer-oriented marketing pieces that position our services offerings. In some cases, a 3rd party partner may be additionally positioned in select pieces. The deliverables must describe the key components of the new service offering (see attached for supporting UX materials), what the customer will receive, process-related steps and company credibility proof points. Samples of previous pieces may be provided to assist in comparing existing products or processes.
II. The Target Audiences
SoftServes primary audience is Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Organization Utilizing Software Strategically to Deliver Offerings. We typically sell to VPs, C-Level and Board members with key influencers/recommenders coming from the Engineering & Development organizations at the Manager, Director and VP level. Secondary audiences could include prospects, partners, internal employees, media/analysts, etc. Audience members are typically business savy, moderately-to-very technical, carry 10-25+ years experience in the software or tech sector, are from US-based companies, are very busy/tethered to mobile devices, and want the high points concisely. Additional details about SoftServe and the industry can be found in the SoftServe Company Overview PDF.
III. Objectives
Our primary objective is to build out the content library with polished, relevant marketing collateral that speaks to our target audiences and accelerates the sales cycle. Our secondary objective is to educate the audiences, provide credibility via our extensive library showcasing our experience and awards, and to reinforce our brand/create a lasting impression. Our collateral library includes:
Service Offering Datasheets
Company overview/backgrounder
Solution Profiles (case study in datasheet form)
Case Studies
White Papers
PowerPoint Slides/Presentation(s)
Website Copy
Newsletter Articles
Reference Program Pieces
These pieces will support our nurture marketing and website visitor conversion strategy as well as assist in installed customer base upsell and target audience education.
IV. Project Details
For the User Experience (UX) project, we would like to have a Datasheet & Solution Profile produced. Well cover areas such as:
__ Project details
__ Desired results
__ Stage of sales process when this piece will reach the target audience
__ Brand/company recognition
__ Call to Action/next steps for interested prospect
__ Most Important message for this piece
__ Voice: third person
__ Tone: Professional, Authoritative, Masters degrees, Hip & Savvy, Personal???
__ Company terminology: trademarks, acronyms, special capitalization, etc
__ Desired format (both piece layout and electronic delivery):
oWere thinking 11x17, folded = 11x8.5 panels
oNumber of pages dictated by content
oRequirements/Objectives by page/basic copy points & required graphics (see template example)
__ Best practices & quality goals
__ Process management tools
Data Points from the Product Owner:
Raw bullets/data points:
Why do they need this service or consulting product? Define the problem
What is the offering? What do they get (what do we produce, deliver, create, etc)?
Define the solution
How do they know if they are a candidate for this service? How do they proceed?
Who is the talent or the solution? SBU, SDO, consultant, multiple parties, etc How/Why do they decide to go with SS?
Where can they get additional information about this or supporting materials?
Underlying problem area:
Credibility - Solution Examples/Customer Examples:
Screenshots:
Quotes:
Key platforms or technologies:
Single motivating benefit aka Headline/tagline could be a word or short phrase
________________________________________
Internal Teams involved in fulfillment; client contact definitions, PM?
Timeframe for project execution (parameters); project plan
Best Practice materials pertaining to offering (both for internal & for the client) , project inception form, client dev method interview, assessment of current Agile maturity, etc
Inclusion of development project? Client team member methodology training?
V. Constraints on Budget, Schedule, and Design
__ Specific dates for completion of milestones such as: the analysis, design plans,
drafts, master deliverables, and reproduced copies/master file.
__ Implementation plans (locations: website, portal, print, etc; dates, PR, campaigns, etc.)
__ Budget: please tell us what you base your pricing on:
Cost per hour?
Word?
Falt rate per page?
__ Payment terms: what do you require?
Breakout fees for project specifics/milestones?
VI. Resources Provided
Please email mcarter [at] softserveinc [dot] com for the URL to the download site. We've got about 19M of supporting PDFs, docs and other files to assist in explaining the offering.
VII. Criteria for Evaluating Success
__ Regular progress reporting/metrics/milestones; development process & revision cycles
__ Penalties for missing milestones
VIII. Criteria for Selecting a Vendor
If you have not yet provided, please include the following with your response: samples of work, pricing, vendor understanding of the subject matter and industry, etc. We do not use a weighting system for evaluation at this time.
__ Timeline: proposals due no later than close of business December 15th, 2009
__ Decision date: week of December 18th, 2009
__ Implementation date: TBD
IX. Requests for Vendor Suggestion or Creativity
Were always open to suggestions, recommendations, and are flexible regarding design, layout, treatment and tone.
__ Timeline: proposals due no later than close of business December 15th, 2009
__ Decision date: week of December 18th, 2009
Thanks!
Contact: [email protected]
