Role: Technical Marketing Writer (2010–2013) and Technical Writer (2013)
Need: Webtech Wireless is a hardware/software company that helps long-haul and delivery trucking companies, snow removal fleets, and government agency fleets track vehicles (GPS), improve vehicle efficiency (AVL), and remotely control equipment (doors, de-icing in spreaders, engines). To help with their Sales initiatives, Webtech needed a way to translate complex technical information into simple and compelling writing.
Solution:
Initially brought on to catch up with marketing content development, I soon found myself writing and editing a vast array of company documentation:
- Corporate website (managed in-house website and liaised with third-party service providers)
- Social media (weekly blogs, media monitoring)
- Annual and Quarterly Shareholder reports (editing, formatting)
- Training documentation (training guides, installation guides, job aids)
- Technology award applications
- Video scripts (corporate marketing videos)
- Marketing materials including brochures, Sales presentation, technical specifications, trade show signage, and more
As content editor responsible for proofreading, restructuring and adapting writing from subject matter experts and Sales staff, I also oversaw third-party service providers (translation, graphic design, printing, videography, SEO) and leveraged my knowledge of HTML, CSS, and XML to create and measure SEO-friendly web content (keywords, landing pages, campaigns).
In 2012, Webtech Wireless celebrated its first technology win (Adoption of Technology award celebrated at the 2012 Technology Impact Awards (TIAs)). A key part of this win was the award application itself, which I researched and wrote. When interviewing the CEO of our client company (who adopted our technology), I listened for the key words that would secure our win. Finally, the CEO said “With Webtech Wireless, we’ve doubled our revenue.”
I also assisted the Training department by proposing a radical new approach to training guides. Knowing their audience of truck drivers and trucking fleet managers, I asserted that we needed to take a more visual approach, and one that favoured reading on in-cab portable devices. So instead of a thick user guide with reams of text, I applied a single-source approach, removed about 20% of custom-build information (the Help Desk could handle that), and employed a responsive design approach in InDesign (to improve readability on tablets and portable devices). The Training and Development teams loved it!
Tools used:
- Quadrant and Interfleet (GPS/AVL fleet tracking software)
- SalesForce
- Adobe Create Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Framemaker, Dreamweaver, Acrobat)
- WordPress
- Microsoft Office (Word, Excel…)
- SharePoint (a Microsoft enterprise file-management tool)