Table of Contents
Welcome to the pack 🐺 and to Whiskey & Wolf’s Official Content Style Guide! 🤗
This brief guide is intended to provide an overview of how we write. We understand that the way people talk makes a significant impact on how our customers feel about our product. The goal of having a content style guide is to guarantee our customers receive the right message and feel encouraged and empowered at the same time.
This content style guide applies to everyone in the company and how they write to each other, our products and in response to our customers.
Whiskey & Wolf is where men go to find strongly scented that bring back fond memories at an affordable price automatically each month.
Here at Whiskey & Wolf, we like to work with people that understand people. That means we like to use words we can understand, it’s not like we’re being slowly and stealthily replaced by evil robots bent on taking over the world, right?! 🤖
How many times do you start a sentence with, “however” when you’re talking to someone? It’s only natural to start a sentence with the words but, and, so and because. And other than your fourth-grade teacher drilling it into your head that you can’t, there’s no actual rule against starting a sentence with those words.
If we use it unconsciously in our conversations, why not use it to make our writing feel more natural?
| Voice | Do | Don’t | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural | Keep things casual and omit any formal language that makes you feel like it would come straight from the Principal |
Make the user feel relaxed and comfortable whenever they read our copy
Make the user feel engaged and encouraged with every word
Be transparent | Don’t fake friendliness, it’s noticeable right away
Don’t be condescending
Don’t over-apologize
Don’t be shady | The bottom line? We want to be the neighbor you can trust and confide in — not the overly expressive and fake salesman you cross the street to avoid. We want every purchase to feel good and every interaction to feel like a conversation with a friend. | | Positive | Encourage users to be adventurous and discover new scents they wouldn’t have looked at before
Find exciting ways to get the message across by using actionable language
Use an emoji or exclamation point here and there! 🎉
Use clear, concise and engaging language
| Don’t make the user feel bad about purchasing scented candles
Don’t overuse superlatives
Don’t be aggressive or insensitive
| We believe in our products and are proud of the products we produce. But as much as we want to be the best scented candle company in the world, we don’t want to get there by putting anyone down.
We know and understand the importance that we wouldn’t get anywhere without our users. We want to share that our products are born out of a love for our audience and that’s what drives us. | | Transparent | Take responsibility no matter if it’s a positive or negative situation
Be proactive and use the active voice
Use emojis to convey and express a message
Understand the specific interaction and use the appropriate tone (i.e. if the customer left a positive review or decided to subscribe to a monthly plan, you want to share in the excitement) | Avoid using the passive voice whenever possible
Don’t overuse emojis or use them to replace words
Don’t use an inappropriate tone (i.e. you wouldn’t make light of a situation when dealing with an angry client) | We’re not afraid to admit our mistakes and make amends in any way possible. |