Running a small business comes with a few notable benefits, namely, ample flexibility and independence. And it’s these benefits that often times allow business owners to make decisions independent of larger parent corporates which can be immensely satisfying and rewarding. Small business owners have the luxury of developing and being able to personalise their own products and services without the hassle and delay that large corporations often face due to their “slow to implement” processes. But the trade-off for this kind of freedom means having to settle for a small team who is more than likely time-strapped, has limited capacity and has no choice but to work within the confines of a small budget. As such, a small team cannot spend the required time needed to refine and improve upon every aspect of the newly established small business. Nevermind communication, which is arguably the most important aspect. The good news is that a style guide can do the job just as well.
What is a style guide?
A style guide is a document that works to point teams in the right direction with the objective of maintaining a consistent style of communication throughout the company. It does this by outlining specific rules and guidelines that specify the correct voice, tone and style that teams should use when communicating either internally or externally. This helpful document is specifically made to help small teams consistently craft clear messages that sound similar to one another when speaking with customers. Style guides especially shine when used to create and publish content! Referring to a style guide helps small teams to maintain a consistent brand voice throughout when communicating with anyone who engages with the business.
Why have a style guide?
A style guide can be extremely useful and valuable to a small team because it keeps all messaging consistent which is important to the business for a myriad of reasons. It can also be referred to again and again in order to assist with all customer-facing communications.
A well written and structured style guide has the ability to set your business apart from the competition and serves to unify all business communications. It can be relied on by small team members to set the tone of the company’s voice, making all communications consistent and predictable. This puts customers at ease because it lets them know what they can expect from your business time and time again.
Style guides are helpful for teams who work together with freelancers or other agencies as they help to fast track the process of contractors and freelancers getting acquainted with your business’ writing style, enabling them to write seamless content that lines up with your existing brand voice, tone and style. Encouraging writers to follow a style guide saves time because it reduces the amount of editing needed per content piece.
What should your style guide include?
Every style guide should have at least 5 of the below components in order to be useful to those who require it.
1. All team members should have access
Style guides aren’t just meant for marketing teams. Everyone who is involved in the business should have access to the company style guide. It’s crucial that the whole team understands the guide because everyone has an important role to play and something to add, especially if the team is small.
In order for the resource to be effective, leaders must explain the style guide’s importance, share it with everyone and regularly encourage teams to make use of it every chance they get, thereby enforcing a habit. The style guide should be the go-to document for teams whenever it’s needed to give direction and inspire confidence when writing on behalf of the business.
2. Proper grammar
Even the most seasoned writers can make grammar mistakes from time to time. That’s why it’s important to include concise and helpful grammar rules within the guide that are considered the most important and applicable to your business. This will give all writers who work for the business a chance to get content right the first time around. Examples can include commonly misused words like effect and affect, whom and who, and so on.
3. Correct punctuation
All companies have a certain punctuation style that they prefer to use. For instance, using compound words with or without hyphens or including the Oxford comma in sentences. Punctuation rules can vary as a matter of style, so a style guide is useful for setting consistency and by extension, a clear standard throughout the company.
4. Brand voice and tone
A company’s style guide needs to include a specified voice and tone as part of the business’ communication style in order for team members to communicate in a correct and professional manner. A consistent voice and tone in communications can go along way towards making a good impression on customers. Sticking to the right voice and tone will work to bridge the gap between all pieces of content throughout the company. Whether an individual crafts a blog post, writes some landing page copy or replies to a customer on social media.
The style guide is essential to guide communication and must exist to let teams know which tones are preferred and acceptable and which styles of language should be avoided. The style guide should also work to define the business’ ideal voice and tone. Your business’ ideal voice, for example, can incorporate a mixture of friendliness, approachability and professionalism. The tone should preferably be established at the very beginning in order to define early on how you want to sound to others and how you want them to feel when communicating with your brand.
5. Guidelines on your ideal customer
Knowing who you are talking to helps a great deal when communicating on behalf of the business, and even more so if you are chatting to your ideal audience. Small teams usually have some background on who their ideal customer is, but may also be in process of discovering and refining in an effort to find out who their core customer is.
Having style guidelines will help to identify the business’ ideal target audience. It will assist in the personalisation and customisation of any communication with the objective of speaking to customer’s needs and pain points.
Defining your audience can inform your style guide and at the same time, help writers to steer clear from industry-specific buzzwords when writing emails or social media posts. It can also empower writers to understand the customers that they are talking to. When teams begin to understand their audiences, they can start to create custom experiences in order to impress and attract new customers.
How to create a style guide of your own
1. State your business’ mission, values and goals.
2. Define your audience (these are the people who you are looking to engage and do business with).
3. Decide on your company’s voice and tone. Use it to direct all your internal and external communications.
4. Identify the elements that make your business unique. Use them to explain why they make your company better than others out there.
5. Identify your competitors to maintain your unique value proposition (this doesn’t need to be extensive).
6. Decide on your company’s copy (writing) style. This will help your teams correctly navigate chosen word use, grammar and punctuation.
