--- name: brand-voice-e88cbe7a6882 description: Apply and enforce brand voice, style guide, and messaging pillars across content. Use when reviewing content for brand consistency, documenting a brand voice, adapting tone for different audiences, or checking terminology and style guide compliance. --- # Brand Voice Skill Frameworks for documenting, applying, and enforcing brand voice and style guidelines across marketing content. ## Brand Voice Documentation Framework A complete brand voice document should cover these areas. Use this framework to help users define their brand voice or to understand an existing brand voice configuration. ### 1. Brand Personality Define the brand as if it were a person. What are its defining traits? Example: "If our brand were a person, they would be a knowledgeable colleague who explains complex things simply, celebrates your wins genuinely, and never talks down to you." ### 2. Voice Attributes Select 3-5 attributes that define how the brand communicates. Each attribute should be defined with: - What it means in practice - What it does NOT mean (to prevent misinterpretation) - An example demonstrating the attribute ### 3. Audience Awareness - Who the brand is speaking to (primary and secondary audiences) - What the audience cares about - What level of expertise the audience has - How the audience expects to be addressed ### 4. Core Messaging Pillars - 3-5 key themes the brand consistently communicates - The hierarchy of these messages (which comes first) - How each pillar connects to audience needs ### 5. Tone Spectrum How the voice adapts across contexts while remaining recognizably the same brand. ### 6. Style Rules Specific grammar, formatting, and language rules. See the Style Guide Enforcement section below. ### 7. Terminology Preferred and avoided terms. See the Terminology Management section below. ## Voice Attributes ### Common Voice Attribute Pairs When defining brand voice, it helps to position attributes on a spectrum. Here are common attribute spectrums: | Spectrum | One End | Other End | |----------|---------|-----------| | Formality | Formal, institutional | Casual, conversational | | Authority | Expert, authoritative | Peer-level, collaborative | | Emotion | Warm, empathetic | Direct, matter-of-fact | | Complexity | Technical, precise | Simple, accessible | | Energy | Bold, energetic | Calm, measured | | Humor | Playful, witty | Serious, earnest | | Innovation | Cutting-edge, forward-looking | Established, proven | ### Defining an Attribute For each chosen attribute, document it in this format: **[Attribute name]** - **We are**: [what this means in practice] - **We are not**: [common misinterpretation to avoid] - **This sounds like**: [example sentence demonstrating the attribute] - **This does NOT sound like**: [example sentence violating the attribute] Example: **Approachable** - **We are**: friendly, clear, jargon-free, welcoming to beginners and experts alike - **We are not**: dumbed-down, overly casual, or lacking substance - **This sounds like**: "Here's how to get started — it takes about five minutes." - **This does NOT sound like**: "Yo! This is super easy, even a noob can do it lol." ## Tone Adaptation Across Channels and Contexts The brand voice stays consistent, but tone adapts to context. Tone is the emotional inflection applied to the voice. ### Tone by Channel | Channel | Tone Adaptation | Example | |---------|----------------|---------| | Blog | Informative, conversational, educational | "Let's walk through how this works and why it matters for your team." | | Social media (LinkedIn) | Professional, thought-provoking, concise | "Three things we learned from running 50 campaigns this quarter." | | Social media (Twitter/X) | Punchy, direct, sometimes witty | "Your landing page has 3 seconds. Make them count." | | Email marketing | Personal, helpful, action-oriented | "We put together something we think you'll find useful." | | Sales collateral | Confident, benefit-driven, specific | "Teams using our platform reduce reporting time by 40%." | | Support/Help docs | Clear, patient, step-by-step | "If you see this error, here's how to fix it." | | Press release | Formal, factual, newsworthy | "The company today announced the launch of..." | | Error messages | Empathetic, helpful, blame-free | "Something went wrong on our end. We're looking into it." | ### Tone by Situation | Situation | Tone Adaptation | |-----------|----------------| | Product launch | Excited, confident, forward-looking | | Incident or outage | Transparent, empathetic, accountable | | Customer success story | Celebratory, specific, crediting the customer | | Thought leadership | Authoritative, nuanced, evidence-based | | Onboarding | Welcoming, encouraging, clear | | Bad news (price increase, deprecation) | Honest, respectful, solution-oriented | | Competitive comparison | Confident but fair, fact-based, not disparaging | ### Tone Adaptation Rule The voice attributes remain fixed. Tone dials them up or down based on context. For example, if a brand is "bold and warm": - In a product launch, dial up boldness - In an incident response, dial up warmth - Neither attribute disappears; the balance shifts ## Style Guide Enforcement ### Grammar and Mechanics Document and enforce these choices consistently: | Rule | Options | Example | |------|---------|---------| | Oxford comma | Yes / No | "fast, reliable, and secure" vs. "fast, reliable and secure" | | Sentence case vs. title case (headings) | Sentence / Title | "How to get started" vs. "How to Get Started" | | Contractions | Use / Avoid | "we're" vs. "we are" | | Em dash spacing | No spaces / Spaces | "this—and more" vs. "this — and more" | | Numbers | Spell out 1-9, numerals 10+ / Always numerals | "five features" vs. "5 features" | | Percent | % / percent | "50%" vs. "50 percent" | | Date format | Month DD, YYYY / DD/MM/YYYY / etc. | "January 15, 2025" | | Time format | 12-hour / 24-hour | "3:00 PM" vs. "15:00" | | Lists | Periods / No periods on fragments | "Set up your account." vs. "Set up your account" | ### Formatting Conventions - Heading hierarchy (when to use H1, H2, H3) - Bold and italic usage (bold for emphasis, italic for titles/terms) - Link text (descriptive vs. "click here" — always descriptive) - Image alt text requirements - Code formatting (for technical brands) - Callout or highlight box usage ### Punctuation and Emphasis - Exclamation mark policy (limited use, never more than one) - Ellipsis usage (avoid in most professional contexts) - ALL CAPS policy (avoid; use bold for emphasis instead) - Emoji usage by channel (professional channels: minimal or none; social: where appropriate) ## Terminology Management ### Preferred Terms Maintain a list of preferred terms and their incorrect alternatives: | Use This | Not This | Notes | |----------|----------|-------| | sign up (verb) | signup (verb) | "signup" is the noun form | | log in (verb) | login (verb) | "login" is the noun/adjective form | | set up (verb) | setup (verb) | "setup" is the noun/adjective form | | email | e-mail | No hyphen | | website | web site | One word | | data is (singular) | data are | Unless the publication requires plural | ### Product and Feature Names - Official capitalization for product names - When to use the full product name vs. shorthand - Whether to use "the" before product names - How to handle versioning in copy - Trademark and registration symbols (when required and when to omit) ### Inclusive Language - Use gender-neutral language (they/them for unknown individuals) - Avoid ableist language ("crazy", "blind spot", "lame") - Use person-first language where appropriate - Avoid culturally specific idioms that may not translate - Use "simple" or "straightforward" instead of "easy" (what is easy varies by person) ### Industry Jargon Management - Define which technical terms the audience understands without explanation - List jargon that should always be defined or replaced with plain language - Specify which acronyms need to be spelled out on first use - Audience-specific glossary for terms that mean different things to different readers ### Competitor and Category Terms - How to refer to your product category (use your preferred framing) - How to refer to competitors (by name or generically) - Terms competitors have coined that you should avoid (to prevent reinforcing their positioning) - Your preferred differentiation language --- Source attribution: YongjianWan Original project: https://github.com/YongjianWan/--agentskill/blob/dd6b55d8b6b1a7c2f6e56fb4dc7f0ededc3f9a18/skill/marketing/skills/brand-voice/SKILL.md License: Apache-2.0 License information: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub. ## Upstream license notice Apache License Version 2.0, January 2004 http://www.apache.org/licenses/ TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION 1. 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See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License. # Mega AI Hub resource metadata Creator / publisher: YongjianWan Original project: https://github.com/YongjianWan/--agentskill/blob/dd6b55d8b6b1a7c2f6e56fb4dc7f0ededc3f9a18/skill/marketing/skills/brand-voice/SKILL.md Attribution basis: Source repository record Fields of work: Content & Media, Marketing Roles: Brand Strategist, Content Marketer, Copywriter, Marketing Analyst, Social Media Manager Specialties: Cross Platform Tools: Tool not specified Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Source catalog labels Instruction SHA-256: 507b24f66c5fc819dd189e501c9b30d7fc916deeee8e142f8b97cc7e822ff652