Software
Traction Rec
Inspiring 29% more engagement time for a community center CRM website
How can technology truly serve to connect people? Traction Rec’s CRM software for community centers brings together all the diverse members of a community on one platform. Discover how we made their new site as warm and inviting as the communities they serve.
The opportunity
A CRM with open arms
Traction Rec provides community centers like YMCA, JCCs, and BGCAs, with an all-in-one member management CRM. But beyond the tech, Traction Rec offers ongoing support to make sure they can thrive using the software.
The Traction Rec team came to us for an elevated marketing website that would make it clear to prospective buyers how their technology meets community center needs, while laying a foundation for thought leadership. We were happy to oblige!
Our Strategy
The challenge
Simplifying technology for communities
Communities are incredibly complex organisms, but the technology needed to manage them needn’t be. Traction Rec products are built on Salesforce—a robust CRM technology that markets themselves as having a 360 degree member view. But Salesforce can be intimidating. Traction Rec asked for help to validate the functionality of their tech in a way that felt approachable so that prospects would feel comfortable enough to make the purchase leap.
But like living organisms, communities also change over time. In addition to being simple and approachable, Traction Rec’s solution also needed to be adaptable, with the ability to evolve functionally to living needs. We wanted to communicate that this CRM is designed to solve practical problems for real people—now and in the future.
The research
All alone with tacky UI
In an industry where people come first, we knew we had to go to the source. We interviewed some of Traction Rec’s current customers, whom they affectionately refer to as partners. We noticed a common thread. Decision makers at community centers absolutely loved the partnership and support they got from the Traction Rec team—from first contact throughout the entire implementation process.
Interestingly, in contrast, other big names in the community center CRM space left a sour taste in their mouth for lacking either support, functionality, or adaptability.
Competitors struggled with the same challenge—simplicity in the face of complex tech. They had tacky and complex UI pasted across their sites, along often-times overwhelming navigation structures.
We knew in order to stand out, we’d have to nail communicating Traction Rec’s genuine partnerships, showcasing simple UI, and offering a navigation that would be intuitive to different visitors.
The direction
Partners, not vendors
Considering what we heard from customers during our research, we wanted to tell an authentic story of partnership and community impact across the site. We started with a friendly, uplifting tone of community across all our copy, using language that would communicate “we’re in this together”, and “we’re here to do good.”
Then with our visual strategy we wanted to reflect the fact that communities are warm, welcoming and vibrant. We added people-focused imagery and videos, as well as secondary colours to foster inclusion and community.
We weaved in testimonials, customer stories, and stats across the site to showcase the impact Traction Rec makes on people and communities. Hand-drawn icon illustrations added an extra dash of human realism.
We also reorganized the navigation so that different community members would be able to find the information relevant to their needs.
Our Solution
The results
Virtual community growth
29%
engagement time per session
132%
more scroll down to bottom of the page
6X
form submits
The moral of the story
Amplifying the good
Warmth and inclusion isn’t normally what’s associated with technology, but we proved that it can be done with Traction Rec. Beyond their website, we took their community values even further into the physical world. We designed trade show banners, a notebook, and wrote and designed launch assets to help make sure their supportive values rippled into as many communities as possible.
“[One Net team,] I just wanted to take a moment to give a huge shoutout to every one of you. What started as a website project has turned into a brand that’s turning heads, winning hearts, and even attracting top-notch talent who want to work with us.”
Alysia Withers
Marketing Manager
at Traction Rec