Wilson Sonsini
Role: Content Strategist
Project Focus: Copywriting, UX Writing, Voice Chart
Background
I lead content strategy and writing for the our Emerging Companies Practice (“ECP”) group. As we built out and launched a stand alone website for the group, I came on as lead writer, working on site navigation, landing, product, and industry page content design and copy. The target audience of the website included startups, entrepreneurs, and new investors. The goal of the site was to be a top of funnel tool, supporting lead generation and introduce the ECP group as a unique product offering.
The problem
Wilson Sonsini had a market perception that it wasn’t interested in working with startups. The opposite was true, but the company didn’t have a defined digital presence or strategy showcasing their startup resources. As a result, the company was losing startup business to competitors.
The idea: Build a website targeting startups, founders, and new investors, focusing on value added content that speaks to their unique needs.
The website was an opportunity to reintroduce the ECP brand, take control of the group’s narrative, and grow our market share of legal work for startups.
The challenge
Wilson Sonsini’s corporate site had content on technical expertise , but failed to offer actionable information for startups and entrepreneurs.
Our content needed purpose and a fresh voice.
Wilson Sonsini had undergone a recent rebrand, but the corporate website’s content remained the same. The fresh brand didn’t align with old content and was reflected in low monthly visitors. The corporate site’s content wasn’t attracting the ECP group’s target customers: startups, entrepreneurs, and investors.
Building a stand alone ECP site offered us an opportunity to start fresh and differentiate our offerings without straying too far from the corporate brand.
I refreshed content with new voice and style guidelines, closely aligning new guidelines with our ECP brand and users. Our new writing style was conversational and focused on clarity for improved user experience and brand engagement.
Research
User research provided informative context on our target audience, which informed content, voice, tone, and style choices we workshopped and iterated on.
My research focused on existing content, user needs, and competitor offerings. I also met with executive stakeholders and partner leadership to understand their needs and goals for the website.
Content audit
In reviewing the corporate website, navigation was difficult. It took nearly 30 seconds to navigate to the ECP group’s landing page. From there, users were met with over 300 words of content, displayed across two columns. There was no hierarchy of information, which resulted in a quick scan and page abandonment.
Readability of page content also dropped. The tone was formal, neutral, respectful, and matter-of-fact, based on NN/g voice dimensions. I analyzed copy readability based on ARI, which returned a score of 18.62, revealing extremely difficult to understand text written at a college graduate level.
The new ECP site’s design had been partially built out, so while information architecture was important, it was somewhat hindered. Focusing my attention on what we could do with word choice, I chose a more casual tone, fewer words, and lowered the reading level to match an expanded audience and improve user experience across the new site.
Market research
Wilson Sonsini’s competitors had websites targeting startups, entrepreneurs, and investors. I wanted to differentiate our ECP brand voice from competitors, without eroding trust or authority as a sub-brand of Wilson Sonsini.
My research documented competitor terminology, tone, and overall content structure.
All provided startup-focused information targeting entrepreneurs and companies at different stages of financing and across industries. A majority of sites used industry jargon, had high word counts, and lacked information architecture to support a seamless user experience.
Research revealed competitor sites had design and content shortfalls with infrequent site updates. Wilson Sonsini’s new website offered us an opportunity to deliver a better content and user experience to startups, entrepreneurs, and investors, serving as a differentiator to competitors.
Search terms and industry language
I updated the ECP brand voice to reflect the swiftness of innovation across industries and the role of legal services as a supportive facet of entrepreneurship in changing environments. Startups were a core business line for Wilson Sonsini, serving as a funnel to lateral practice areas. Our new voice needed to touch upon legal and industry terminology used on the corporate site to bridge the two brands. I analyzed search and industry terms on Google Trends, mirroring key terms and on the new site.
Stakeholder and user research
Our internal stakeholders had material interest in the new site affecting their business and client opportunities. We had unique industry practice areas which were not coming across on the corporate site and needed to be better articulated and positioned on the new site.
Stakeholder interviews indicated an evolution of target audience and client type. Our investment and venture capital group had split in two, forming a new sub-group of attorneys focused on smaller, seed and micro-seed stage investors. This was a key insight clarifying how the group wanted to use the ECP site to target a different investor type. Their message needed to change and adapt to needs of smaller investors — a sweet spot for the new group and a new source of revenue.
Next steps
Draft a PRFAQ to support site content needs
Create voice and style guidelines for updated ECP brand identity
Map content from old site to new with updated design and copywriting
Create content plan for future site iterations and practice needs
Voice characteristics
Wilson Sonsini’s ECP website needed a new, fresh voice.
A voice too casual and nonchalant wouldn’t fit the corporate brand, but we couldn’t ignore a changing market environment the company needed to succeed. Our voice had to connect with entrepreneurs who were beginning their journey and needed a helping hand.
Professional
(But not impersonal)
We do engage with the audience and maintain a personal touch.
We don’t maintain an aloof tone or disregard our audience’s feelings.
Example“As industry leaders, we blend expertise with a flexible approach.”Confident
(But not uncertain)
We do express certainty in the firm's ability to assist clients, handle various industries, and client needs.
We don’t leave room for doubt, give obscure or vague answers or commitments.
Example“Celebrating our clients' successes is a cornerstone of our practice." Approachable
(But not detached)
We do strive to be approachable, making complex services more relatable to a broad audience using a touch of levity at appropriate moments.
We don’t speak with indifference, forcing users to guess, infer, or work to figure out what we mean.
Example“Don't worry if startup financing seems confusing; we're here to help every step of the way." Respectful
(But not flippant)
We do maintain a humble tone toward the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and the diversity of our users.
We don’t mock, use sarcasm, or otherwise write in a frivolous way that diminishes the user or client experience.
Example"Hiring can feel like a competitive sport and we understand it's not always easy to find the right fit."Bringing it all together
New site pages
I applied our voice and style guidelines to 22 site pages, writing all microcopy and product copy. Here’s a sample of that work.
The new site design significantly differed from Wilson Sonsini’s corporate branding, voice, and style guidelines. I chose a balanced approach to update the ECP brand voice and style guidelines, merging aspects of our corporate branding with new ECP principles. Our new voice and style guidelines focused on accessibility and value-driven content.
I brought corporate brand familiarity to the ECP site through updated industry pages, mapping over the existing information architecture of our industry specialties, but updating and shortening copy to prevent user drop off.
Introducing investment services
Our other user type included investors. Interview data revealed a need to target early investors and those raising smaller funds.
I used storytelling to connect small beginnings with successful outcomes and signaled the company’s desire to support the investor ecosystem, no matter the opportunity size.
Voice: Professional, Confident | Tone: Formal with a touch of casual | Design: H2, web copy
The landing page
I wanted to introduce the ECP group with copy signaling relatability and trustworthiness.
It was important for our content to focus on user needs, reflecting back how we help.
I used copy to convey our deep understanding of startup life, speaking directly to the start-stop tendency entrepreneurs face when exploring and testing different ideas until one takes off.
Voice: Professional, Approachable | Tone: Respectful | Design: H2, web copy
Fund formation services
We wanted to inspire a new class of small funds. Using an aspirational headline to underscore hope and action, we led with enthusiasm to spur action and outreach.
The goal was to connect lively business goals with a steady corporate reputation; we wanted to shed the notion we were too big and established to work with smaller funds. Using approachable copy, we used a bit of cheek and empathy to convey the company’s openness.
Voice: Confident, Approachable | Tone: Gently enthusiastic | Design: H2, web copy
Introducing international expertise
Our copy addressed a possible misnomer that we only worked with Silicon Valley or US-based companies.
I shifted our copy to call out entrepreneurship’s global footprint and our role within it.
The ECP group was growing and recently opened an office in the UK. Our messaging needed to clearly showcase the company’s expansion to support international startups, entrepreneurs, and investors.
Voice: Confident, Respectful | Tone: Respectful | Design: H2, web copy
Updating industry experience
Our corporate site buried industry pages and did a poor job of conveying how we could help.
Introducing our industry expertise by cutting down text and designing content around timelines was a way to showcase expertise and highlight our clients’ successes across industries in a relevant way.
Voice: Confident, Approachable | Tone: Gently enthusiastic | Design: H2, web copy
Inclusion of a client timeline
As part of my content edits, I moved the messaging to focus on our clients for each industry page.
We were unable to feature company logos on the ECP website, so I recommended the H2 copy and a timeline component to highlight our clients’ major success points, which were all public, Wilson Sonsini deals.
In doing this, I was able to break up the text on the page, providing context to the work that Wilson Sonsini does for its clients, without taking the spotlight away from the companies themselves.
This content also served to reinforce the company’s experience and value.
Delaware law for investors and founders
While Delaware law wasn’t part of the ECP group’s mandate, it was an important piece of startup and investor relations. As a brand, our ECP group needed to showcase the company’s expertise and know-how in this area to build trust with users.
I used a punchier headline and a Billy Joel call back as a friendly nod to a diverse audience and client base. Incorporating wordplay kept a serious moment lively without ignoring the value of jurisdictional expertise.
Voice: Respectful, Approachable | Tone: Touch casual | Design: H2, web copy
Digging into our international footprint
For the site’s international page, I used a carousel design to highlight office locations, moving away from a bullet point list used on the corporate site.
Where possible, I used visual elements in lieu of text paragraphs to communicate with users.
Our messaging for U.S. Expansion legal services also parlayed well at this moment as it related our office locations to easily meeting with clients outside of our North American HQ.
Voice: Professional | Tone: Serious touch informal | Design: ticker component, H2, web copy
Aviation example
Instead of having long, wordy paragraphs of introduction text for each industry, I put character constraints on our industry pages.
This eased scanning for information, reduced page abandonment, increased page views, and supported easier navigation across the site.
Voice: Professional, Respectful | Tone: Touch casual | Design: H2, web copy
Voice: Approachable | Tone: Formal touch casual | Design: H2, timeline component, web copy
Writing for components
I also made sure site components were consistent and contained copy aligned to our style and voice guidelines.
Final thoughts
Project limitations
We had limited flexibility in site design and therefore and to maximize content opportunities to fit design constraints.
Opportunities ahead
Updating our voice and style guidelines to reflect our ECP brand and audience enabled us to add value through new types of content, without diminishing a strong core brand and client trust.