Content Strategy for Western Union’s partnerships

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The company 

Western Union is a global company that allows people to send money worldwide and pay bills online and in person.

I worked as a Senior Content Strategist at Western Union for over 5 years. 

The project

Western Union partnered with the World Food Program and Mastercard to allow people to donate a meal to a school child in need. 
 
The first time a user will see the partnership message. They can click to learn more.

The challenges

How do we get people to use a specific card to pay for their transfers? Tug at their heartstrings. 

It wouldn’t be easy to get someone to change their intended payment method to a specific credit card.

The company CEO initiated this project, and the turnaround window was short. We needed to get the wording right the first time, as we wouldn’t have time to do any A/B tests or change the copy and UX if we found low conversion rates. 

We got daily feedback about our proposals and spent the next day adjusting to said feedback. 

It did help that the WFP is a reputable agency that does well all around the globe. 

The reminder to pay with your Mastercard to donate to the WFP.

The strategy

It’s all about the wording you use. We wanted to include language that would initiate an emotional reaction and help users feel good about a small gesture that makes a huge difference in someone else’s life. 
I worked closely with the project owner to better understand the ask and to learn more about what was expected.
 
I devised a short plan for copy, and then I met daily with the UX designer to edit and adjust content and design as needed. 
 
Seeing our daily work turn into something everyone was happy with was exciting. 
 
The app version with the learn more pop up.

The results

Despite the obstacles, we managed to push this live and see conversion rates of about 9% at checkout. Unfortunately, the project was short-run, only appearing for about 60 days.