what3words needs every business using its tech to make its own customers aware, and educate them on how to use it – but they often need a lot of help and ideas, which is time-consuming for what3words.
The Communication Hub is a self-service resource where businesses can access copy, images and ideas on how to announce, educate and drive use of what3words.
It’s a huge beast in terms of content and information architecture – it took several approaches to find a clear and simple structure. Initial results have been very good, and we are already iterating on it for v.2.
Helping an entire company to communicate on brand
In a startup, everything happens fast and individuals have a greater degree of autonomy. Communications hit the outside world every day – from presentation decks and developer docs to landing pages and job ads – and most aren’t written by trained writers.
A big part of my role as Creative Lead is to enable the entire team to become writers for what3words. Whether they’re in business development, HR or social media, I make sure they can communicate confidently in the what3words tone of voice, and using the clearest language possible.
Using Notion, I’ve distilled my four years experience writing for what3words in an easy-access guide for the entire company. Highlights range from grab’n’go explainer text to an inclusive language guide, which lays out our approach to writing about disabilities, or race and ethnicity. I also give regular ‘what3words uni’ sessions on writing and tone of voice, helping the whole company pick up new skills and communicate brilliantly.
The Squares: building an advocate community from scratch
In mid-2019 we decided to try something new at what3words – launching an advocate community. We’d noticed more and more supporters emerging who really loved our technology and wanted it to succeed, so it was time to give them a space to get more involved.
While many brands have ‘supporter communities’, ‘champions’ and ‘advocates’, I wanted to name them something unique, that could only refer to what3words supporters. The Squares was a controversial choice, but one that quickly stuck and began to roll off tongues around the office. It has some nice elements to it – there are 57 trillion 3 metre squares covering the world, each with a unique what3words address. Naming our community members ‘Squares’ conjured up a visual of a network that also covers the world. And then there’s the British connotation of a square as a geeky person. Well, we are a geocoding technology after all, even if we are making location cool. We’ll reclaim ‘square’ and own it!
The first 500 squares received welcome packs in the post, with a booklet introducing them to the community, and giving them immediate things they could start doing to help the what3words mission. They also received an eye-catching leather luggage tag, and a membership card, which a handy prompt on the back to help them explain what3words clearly to others, using just one sentence.
We followed up with exclusive webinars, and even an in-person Squares event at our office in London (with Zoom for international Squares). Meeting everyday users of our tech was fascinating – everyone had a different use for it.
We even parked a Mercedes A-class outside, so Squares could demo what3words voice navigation for themselves!
With over nine thousand members to date, ranging from TV celebrities to emergency service staff, the Squares is a crucial part of building love and support for what3words around the world. We’re currently working on a refresh of the community, including a move of our online space from Slack to the Tribe platform, so watch this space.