Success Story
Seeing it Through
Declaration helps SSDL complete its new website and then switches to provide in-country marketing support.
“Declaration is integral to our marketing activities. They are responsible for our marcoms and for keeping our website up to date, which enables me to operate at a more strategic level. I genuinely wish I’d met them 10 years ago.”
Established in 1989, Solid State Disks Limited (SSDL) is an OEM of solid-state-based, swap-in replacements for obsolete data storage drives, offers bespoke reverse engineering services, and is a distributor and value-added reseller of latest technology Flash and DRAM solutions for commercial and industrial applications.
A few years ago (before engaging Declaration), the company set about a much needed and ambitious revamp of its website: with the goal of better promoting its own products and, for the distribution side of the business, to introduce an online product selector tool.
For the architecture and functionality of the site SSDL was using (and still uses) a highly capable design and hosting company. What was lacking though was the bulk of the content. And this is a story we hear a lot: there are some great website developers around, but they just deliver an empty shell, and the customer is left to create the content.
SSDL had an important product launch coming up in early 2024, but if the new website was to be ready in time the company would need an experienced copywriter with an engineering background, because SSDL’s engineers were fully occupied finalising the new product design and preparing for its manufacture.
Saving the Day
A highly respected PR professional advised SSDL to contact Declaration, and following an introduction and initial discussion we were given access to the backend of the stalled development site to evaluate what would be needed in readiness for the product launch. Upon inspection, we realised the development site was just fragments: copy taken from the then-current site and others owned by SSDL’s parent company (the Reactive Group), as well as jottings and notes from people within the organisation.
We also evaluated the development site in terms of new pages that would be needed for long-term maintainability and how it could act as a sales funnel. A lot needed doing, but we felt it could be done.
SSDL engaged us under our Content Creation service, and the first thing we did was to develop a house style for the company. With material coming from so many different sources, consistency (in terms of tone of voice and the use of technical terms/expressions) would be key if the site was to have a uniform look and feel. Once the house style was signed off the web work began.
“Before we engaged Declaration, marketing was a struggle. Our activities were largely focused on product development and sales, as is the case for most relatively small engineering companies. We knew we needed a new website, but with our current one still live – although very out of date – it was difficult to find the motivation or resources in-house, despite the imperative of an upcoming product launch. Declaration saved the day.”
Project Management
About 100 pages were needed for the launch so we knew that tight project management would be needed if we and SSDL were to work together with optimal efficiency, and to guarantee an on-time launch and to minimise the risk of such a complex site launching with errors, such as missing links or dead ends.
We developed a hierarchical filing system that mirrored the new site’s site map. We then triplicated this to have versions for Under Development, To Revisit and Approved. Initially, everything existed within the first folder.
Each web page had a corresponding Word document, and both were developed in parallel. For every page, SSDL was sent a Word document, at the top of which was a link to the corresponding page under development. If SSDL approved the Word document, it was moved from Under Development to the Approved folder. Alternatively, if amended/commented version (with an incremented version number) was returned to us, it was placed in To Revisit folder: and the version that had been sent was deleted. The copy in the document was reworked, uploaded to the dev’ site and SSDL asked to approve.
When only the Approved folders contained copy and images, the site went live. On time.
How's Your Site?
Is your website acting as a sales funnel? Is it attracting and converting leads for you? Is it being constantly refreshed with new blogs, articles, case studies and news? Is it sharper than your competitors’ websites?
If you answered No to any of these questions, let’s talk. Your website is your shop window and repository of resources for your customers.
Presently
We are currently responsible for maintaining most of the content on SSDL’s website, and the beauty is that we still use the processes and hierarchical filing system we devised, though Approved is now called Live. Adding new pages and updating existing ones is perfectly managed, and extremely efficient.
Also, when the new product was ready, and thanks to the flexibility and scalability of our business model, SSDL upgraded (on-the-fly) from our Content Creation service to a hybrid service based on our Media Communications and Campaign Management services.
We wrote and distributed a press release, plus organised and implemented media briefings at the 2024 Southern Manufacturing & Electronics show. This resulted in not only considerable media coverage for the new product, but requests for articles.
Since the product launch, we have written and distributed other press release for SSDL, all achieving good coverage, and we have written and placed articles in trade press publications in the UK and the US.
We also write content for SSDL’s outbound emails, and we manage and deliver against a social media schedule we developed and manage for the company.
“I am based in Australia and visit our UK headquarters for only a few weeks each year. I rely on Declaration to do what’s necessary to keep our website looking fresh, to take care of our trade press and social communications, and to liaise with show organisers and advertising people on my behalf. They are my in-country marketing team.”
From Our Perspective
We love working with SSDL: a great engineering company with superb products and services, and the people are fantastic. They have openly welcomed us into their company, and we feel we are really part of the team.
SSDL is a relatively small company, so has no formal content and communications strategies in place for us to deliver against. Rather, we are trusted to develop, own and deliver against these ourselves, based on the company’s overall marketing strategy: which is driven by product launches (SSDL’s as well as those of OEMs they represent) and trade shows at which the company is exhibiting. We like that responsibility.
As is also typical with a small company (particularly in the engineering sector), everyone has multiple responsibilities and chipping in is par for the course. We like that too.
Richard Warrilow
Director of Content Creation, Declaration