The best way to create a content material model information [+ free guide & examples]

Each content material staff has a special thought of what ‘on model’ means — till you write it down. I’ve discovered that having a content material model information is significant to getting it proper with out a number of revisions or rewrites.

I’ve seen lengthy paperwork and cheat sheets, and each work so long as they clarify why you do issues the best way you do.

That’s the actual energy: realizing when one thing strengthens your message — and when it waters it down. Particularly now, with groups utilizing AI to put in writing sooner, it’s by no means been extra vital to practice each your instruments and your folks to sound such as you.

So, what precisely goes right into a content material model information — and why does it matter a lot? Glad you requested. I’m going to indicate you.

Desk of Contents

HubSpot’s free model information template is a good place to begin. Or pull inspiration from one of many examples on the finish of this publish and make it your individual.

2. Evaluate your model’s mission and values.

Not each model has a proper mission assertion or core values. And really, I type of adore it after they don’t as a result of it’s a fantastic dialogue and results in a session that creates a ton of readability for each inside and exterior communications.

Questioning what that appears like? I’ve discovered it could be troublesome to say what you wish to do, however determining what you don’t wish to be often creates a killer dialogue. Listed below are a few of my favourite inquiries to get this going:

• What drives you nuts in regards to the business you’re in?
• How do you not wish to come throughout?
• What do you wish to be sure by no means to do?
• What do you by no means wish to sacrifice?

A number of brief solutions to these questions will assist your content material model information come to life so your writers can rally behind why you do issues the best way you do.

What else do you have to take into account?

In case your model stands for transparency, your content material ought to keep away from hype and lean into readability. If inclusivity is a core worth, your information ought to mirror that in each language and examples.

If what your model says and what it practices don’t match up, readers can (and they’re going to, belief me) see the disconnect — it’s like watching a TV present with unhealthy lip-syncing.

Take it from Maddy Osman , founding father of The Blogsmith , who is aware of how significantly manufacturers ought to take conveying values like inclusivity by means of their content material.

“We needed our content material practices to mirror what The Blogsmith stands for, and wanted to discover a approach to get a staff with numerous backgrounds on the identical web page,” says Osman.

To nurture these values, Maddy bought the ball rolling by establishing clear-cut pointers in her model information.

“I sat down with staff members to brainstorm what inclusivity would appear like on paper — the issues we usually don‘t account for in day-to-day speech. Whether or not it’s itemizing alternate options to outdated phrases like blacklist or manpower or examples of people-first language.”

The underside line right here is that your model information is the way you specific your values.

3. Create purchaser personas in your target market.

Think about writing to a Gen Z purchaser vs. a Boomer. Similar product, completely totally different tone. That’s why I all the time embrace simplified personas in a method information — not full advertising profiles, however sufficient to floor content material creators in who they’re chatting with.

New to purchaser personas? I’ve completed the whole lot from semi-fictional characters with names to high-level descriptions of ache factors and messaging. Each are incredible. However in case you’re about to deal with this for the primary time, I like to recommend beginning with HubSpot’s persona generator.

Amanda Value , content material supervisor at Imagefix, can be completely on board: “Understanding who we’re speaking with is simply as vital as understanding our model itself.”

Value provides that detailed purchaser personas be sure a method information “stops being about summary guidelines and begins being a correct and useful gizmo to construct an actual reference to our readers.”

She’s proper. And when personas are included, your information turns into much less about guidelines and extra about relationships.

At minimal, I like to recommend together with:

• A brief description of the viewers
• Key ache factors
• Communication preferences
• Options your model affords
• Most well-liked tone (formal, conversational, and so on.)

If you happen to can go one step additional and embrace precise phrasing they use—or language that’s confirmed to win them over—you’ll assist your writers create content material that feels private, related, and often converts properly

4. Outline your organization’s voice and tone.

Voice and tone get combined up and ignored on a regular basis.

I’ve had various animated discussions in regards to the distinction with different copywriters. Which may say quite a bit about my persona… however it additionally speaks to how vital this part is.

As a result of in order for you your content material (or your AI output) to sound on-brand, you’ve bought to spend a while right here.

Right here’s how I break it down:

• Voice is your model’s persona. Your model voice must be constant throughout all content material.
• Tone is how that voice adapts to totally different channels or conditions.

Consider it like this: After I speak to my shoppers, I sound like me. After I speak to my household, I nonetheless sound like me, however the tone is usually very totally different. Your model ought to work the identical means.

To outline your tone, a whole lot of manufacturers reference Nielsen Norman Group’s 4 tone dimensions:

• Formal vs. informal
• Severe vs. humorous
• Respectful vs. irreverent
• Matter-of-fact vs. enthusiastic

That’s a stable place to begin. That mentioned, I often prefer to go deeper, taking my pal Justin Blackman’s strategy from Model Voice Academy. He begins with over 100 tone descriptors and distills a model’s voice into one among 9 kinds that fall into three classes:

• Authoritative
• Outlook-driven
• Accessible

It’s essentially the most complete (and efficient) strategy I’ve seen—and it really works superbly, particularly if you wish to outline a voice that scales throughout channels, groups, and AI instruments.

No matter what strategy you are taking, be sure to codify it with examples. Suppose “Say This, Not That.”

For instance, in case you’re a training model that trades on humor, however by no means desires to come back throughout as sarcastic or mean-spirited, you might need these:

✅ Messy begins rely. So do snack breaks.

✅ You don’t want one other planner. You want a plan that matches your life.

❌ This isn’t that arduous, you understand.

❌ You’re nice at quitting — congrats.

If it’s useful, it’s also possible to encourage folks to channel their internal [celebrity name here]. (For me, it’s all the time Robin Arzon from Peloton.)

Questioning what else to incorporate on this part?

• Most well-liked perspective: First-person, second-person, third-person?
• Writing model: Pleasant information? Trusted professional? Straight-talking peer?
• Favourite phrases: A number of go-to traces can assist writers (and AI instruments) seize your model voice sooner.

Particularly in case you’re utilizing generative AI, this part helps it study what “sounding such as you” truly means.

5. Determine on a reference model handbook.

Wish to cease arguing about em dashes and serial commas? Contemplate selecting a reference model and keep it up — and simply be aware any variations within the content material model information.

A number of manufacturers use the Related Press Stylebook (AP) Chicago Guide of Model. Personally, I discover AP a greater match for on-line content material — much less formal, simpler to recollect, and broadly utilized by media shops.

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Bernard Meyer, senior director of communications and inventive at Omnisend, shares that he prefers AP Model because it helps Omnisend come throughout as friendlier and fewer formal.

Professional tip: Get your staff a web-based subscription. It’s simpler to look — and more likely for use — than a dusty print copy.

6. Listing troublesome phrases and branded phrases.

This is likely one of the most sensible (and used!) sections of any information.

Embody:

• Correct formatting in your model identify (HubSpot, not Hubspot or Hub spot)
• Product names, slogans, or phrases with most well-liked spelling and punctuation
• Generally miswritten phrases (ecommerce vs. e-commerce, and so on.)
• Job title formatting (Director of Advertising vs. director of promoting)
• Diploma utilization (bachelor’s diploma vs. Bachelor of Arts)

Additionally make sure to make be aware of language preferences primarily based on regional utilization (coloration vs. color, condominium vs. flat) and inclusive alternate options (blocklist vs. blacklist, “first-year pupil” vs. “freshman”).

This part saves editors a lot time — and helps AI instruments get extra correct, too.

7. Set up pointers for graphics.

You don’t must rewrite your model design handbook right here, but when your writers are anticipated to supply, edit, or write for visible content material, you do want to present them some course.

Deal with frequent questions like:

• The place ought to pictures come from, and the way ought to they be attributed?
• What number of pictures per publish?
• Ought to pictures embrace alt textual content?
• What are the popular picture sizes, file sorts, and alignment guidelines?
• Are screenshots allowed?
• Ought to textual content wrap round pictures?
• How do you deal with video embeds?

When you have a paid inventory picture account, listing it. If you’d like all graphics to have descriptive alt textual content (you need to), make that clear.

Additionally, in case you count on writers to incorporate infographic content material for designers and you’ve got pointers round what must be included, I extremely advocate sharing that right here, too.

8. Share your formatting suggestions.

That is the place you forestall formatting chaos earlier than it occurs. At a minimal, cowl your pointers for

• Physique textual content: Most well-liked font, dimension, coloration (if relevant)
• Headers: What number of ranges? Use of title vs. sentence case?
• Hyperlinks: Ought to writers hyperlink entire phrases or simply key phrases?
• Lists: Bulleted or numbered? Punctuation on the finish?
• Styling: When to daring, italicize, or use citation marks
• Particular characters: When to make use of ampersands, em/en dashes, acronyms, and so on.

With constant formatting, your readers will be capable of skim and digest your data extra simply.

9. Describe your search engine optimisation necessities.

No want to incorporate your full search engine optimisation technique right here, however a fundamental overview helps writers keep away from key phrase stuffing or construction points. I all the time advocate masking:

• Key phrase utilization: The place to incorporate goal key phrases (title, headers, alt textual content, and so on.)
• Content material construction: The best way to use headers and manage concepts
• Linking technique: Inside and exterior hyperlinks, plus hyperlink density pointers
• Size expectations: Basic phrase rely ranges for key content material sorts
• Meta tags: If writers are anticipated to put in writing meta titles/descriptions, embrace steering

Along with these sections, I additionally embrace hyperlinks to exterior sources like HubSpot’s information to search engine optimisation to make sure writers can discover solutions to their questions from respected sources.

10. Add really helpful strategies to supply dependable information.

You’ve most likely seen that stat about people solely having an 8-second consideration span. BBC debunked it in 2017.

That’s the issue with counting on secondhand (or fifth-hand) information — as soon as it’s on the market, it spreads. So in order for you your model to sound credible, it’s essential be choosy about your sources.

As a result of “Belief me, bro” doesn’t minimize it.

Neither is that Medium publish that hyperlinks to a weblog that hyperlinks to a roundup from 2016. That’s lazy analysis and if you wish to be credible, it’s essential make it clear to your writers that it received’t fly.

If you happen to’re critical about belief and transparency, your model information must spell out what “good” seems like.

If you wish to create reliable, authoritative content material, you’ve bought to be choosy about what you cite and the place it comes from. And which means educating your staff — and your AI instruments — how one can inform the distinction between stable information and sketchy filler.

And AI is notoriously untrustworthy, each at following instructions and sourcing present information. Generally it makes issues up, too.

So make sure to name out sources you need, what to keep away from, and pointers.

For instance:

Examples of nice sources:

• Main information and research: Surveys, interviews, buyer analytics, unique analysis
• Prompt business research: Deloitte, Gartner, McKinsey, BCG, Pew, HubSpot Analysis
• Authorities + nonprofit sources: Census Bureau, World Financial institution, WHO, NIH
• Respected information shops and commerce pubs: Suppose Harvard Enterprise Evaluate or AdWeek, not your cousin’s Substack

“Sources” to keep away from:

• Aggregator blogs with no clear quotation path
• Roundups that quote roundups (if it takes 3 clicks to get to the supply, cease)

• LinkedIn thought-leader posts that hyperlink to nothing
• Sketchy information with no date
• Something that appears like: “In accordance with a latest examine I as soon as noticed someplace…”

You might also wish to embrace an instance of the way you need information cited.

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Whereas that helps deal with most data-sourcing questions, you’ll additionally wish to resolve if competitor statistics and information are allowed.

My normal rule is “sure!” if it’s dependable and reliable, however once more, you’ve bought to make the decision for your online business.

If you happen to’re nervous about SEO (search engine optimisation), Osman, who can be ranked among the many high 100 content material entrepreneurs by Semrush, shares that she’s not “in opposition to utilizing information from opponents. However you need to watch out from an search engine optimisation perspective if the info you’re referring to is a key phrase competitor.”

Past that, it additionally is determined by your model’s core values. Meyer prefers to incorporate “ useful information even when the info comes from our opponents” as a result of Omnisend desires to come back throughout as a customer-centric model.

11. Define prohibited matters.

Even when your staff has common sense, it helps to spell issues out — particularly for freelance contributors.

Listing any off-limits content material, together with:

• Politics or faith (except your model explicitly addresses them)
• Authorized recommendation (encourage linking to assets or consulting a lawyer)
• Controversial matters with out professional enter

Consider this as setting sensible boundaries — so writers know what not to the touch. And if there’s ever a risk of an exception to the rule, define the method for requesting that.

12. Give examples to solidify the writing model information.

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That is the part most guides skip — and the one which makes the largest distinction.

Meyer agrees, “The extra particular you can also make [your style guide], the higher your staff will perceive how one can undertake it successfully.”

Osman additionally prefers including examples. In accordance with her, “model preferences make much more sense to writers after they see them executed in reality — very like a case examine.”

Right here’s how I write content material model guides to indicate the staff what “good” seems like:

• Use do’s and don’ts. Add an incorrect instance after which mark it as much as present how a author may repair it.
• Embody visible examples. For formatting and graphics, I desire including visible examples to assist the contributors visualize what the model requires.
• Most well-liked textual content. I discover that writers are extra seemingly to reach nailing down the model tone and voice in case you present examples of it in follow.
• Editorial course of. What are the steps concerned from task to enhancing to publishing? You don’t want an in depth SOP, however a high-level overview of the circulate makes it straightforward for writers to grasp and ship on expectations.

Model guides live paperwork. The world isn’t static, buyer expectations aren’t static, so I really feel prefer it’s unrealistic to suppose you’ll by no means edit them.

Don’t attempt to do too a lot. I’ve shared a ton of issues you may embrace and that I like to recommend together with on some degree. However you don’t have to enter element on all of them. Right here’s what I like to recommend leaving out — or not less than linking to particular SOP paperwork.

Content material Operation Notes

Sure, content material ops are the spine of your course of. However issues like editorial calendars, request types, approval workflows, and publishing timelines don’t belong in your model information. Hold these reference hyperlinks in your undertaking playbooks. Your writers want writing steering, not a lesson in Airtable.

Visible Model Suggestions

That is a type of “your name” issues. I personally like to incorporate a web page with the corporate emblem, typography, and coloration palette. In spite of everything, they’re important for the model and it’s useful for onboarding new staff members.

However suppose high-level as a substitute of 6 pages on how one can use the emblem. As a substitute, embrace that element in a separate model and visible model information to convey the model id components.

Coaching Supplies

Keep as high-level as you may. If there’s vital data writers must confer with, embrace hyperlinks to reference paperwork or how-to movies within the model information, however don’t go overboard.

Rule of thumb: If it looks like a textual content, skinny it out.

Your freelancers received’t care, however you probably have in-house writers, get their buy-in and make folks really feel like they’re a part of the method. Even in case you don’t take all of their strategies, they really feel some possession in it.

The place potential, I prefer to give you two equally superior choices for various classes after which let folks weigh in on these choices. I’m all the time wonderful with no matter they select.

2. Make it straightforward.

Retailer it the place folks already work. Hyperlink to it in onboarding docs, pin it in Slack, and reference it in briefs.

Personally, I really like a dwelling doc with a desk of contents and quick-reference sections which are straightforward to skim.

3. Hold updating it.

It’s not a static set-and-forget doc.

Not everybody ought to have edit entry, however I do ask groups to flag questions or inconsistencies as they arrive up, and we evaluate and replace the doc recurrently. It doesn’t must be good on day one. Simply maintain it helpful — and make updates a part of your workflow.

1. Google

In Google’s model information, I observed that Google could be very specific in its purpose of making clear, constant content material. It’s damaged up into easy sections so that individuals can simply navigate what would possibly seem to be a sophisticated doc

What I favored: My absolute favourite a part of this information is the assertion, “This information accommodates pointers, not guidelines. Depart from it when doing so improves your content material.”

Any rule that claims “don’t comply with the principles” is a HUGE win in my guide.

2. Intuit

I nerd out over these things, so when I discovered issues damaged down into classes that spotlight what’s most vital to Intuit, I bought excited.

• Glossary — is smart to begin with tax and cash phrases since that’s Intuit’s bread and butter.
• Anti-racist language — to make it simpler to concentrate on inclusivity and avoiding phrases that could be dangerous
• Formatting — no model information is full with out it
• Voice and tone — which is, after all, what I’ve centered on right here. Whereas exploring Intuit’s model information, I discovered a prolonged glossary, which appears applicable since Intuit offers with monetary matters. Plus, their pointers concerning anti-racist language and formatting are on level as properly.

What I favored: Not going to lie – I really like this information. It’s superbly laid out and really easy to comply with. Plus, for regulars, it features a what’s new part so folks can simply see what might have modified.

3. Shopify

I discovered Shopify’s content material model information to be intensive. It walks the writers by means of voice and tone, inclusive language, grammar, and different style-related pointers.

In contrast to Intuit, I observed that Shopify was clearer about its voice and tone necessities — they even included dos and don’ts with examples to elucidate how one can match Shopify’s tone.

What I favored: Regardless of masking a variety of fashion preferences, I appreciated that Shopify included an instance for every idea.

4. Microsoft

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Like Shopify’s, Microsoft’s content material model information can be intensive, masking the whole lot from correct nouns to bias-free communications. I additionally favored the examples Microsoft included. That mentioned, Microsoft tried to remain minimalist and didn’t embrace examples for the whole lot like Shopify.

What I favored: I discovered Microsoft’s model information simpler to navigate utilizing the sidebar. You’ll be able to filter the listing of entries by title to search out stuff sooner. Plus, I really like their headline, “Make each phrase matter.” I feel it speaks to the significance of phrase alternative and readability.

5. Apple

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As a substitute of overwhelming writers with a laundry listing of do that, not that proper off the bat, it focuses the why behind every phrase. That mentioned, if folks wish to dig deeper, significantly on technical content material, they’ll actually dig into the A-Z of Apple’s model, beginning with AAC and wrapping with Zoom.

Moreover, it suggests customers comply with the Chicago Guide of Model and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

What I favored: Whereas many content material entrepreneurs won’t desire it, I favored Apple’s minimalist strategy since a method information is usually for issues the place you deviate from a reference handbook. Plus it echoes Apple’s “much less is extra” strategy.

6. Mailchimp

I’ve been curious to see how Mailchimp’s notoriously scrappy strategy would possibly change after its 2021 acquisition by Intuit. Whereas nonetheless playful and enjoyable, its language has turn into a lot clearer (not less than for my part). I’m undecided if I’d attribute this to Intuit or extra following what I’m seeing as a pattern within the business.

Whereas I’m usually not a fan of together with media-specific pointers in a method information, Mailchimp does a fantastic job. Since its model information isn’t primarily based on a single formal doc, it was in a position so as to add course of pointers with out overwhelming readers.

What I favored: I beloved Mailchimp’s glossary because it outlines precisely how one can deal with troublesome phrases in a minimalist means.

7. Yokel Native

This instance comes from HubSpot Associate Yokel Native. I really like its simplicity, which makes it straightforward for each in-house contributors and freelancers to comply with with out going into the weeds.

What I favored: Whereas Yokel Native remained minimalist, I beloved that it nonetheless included examples to assist writers get into the correct mindset.

Polish your editorial and content material model.

Model guides might seem to be a wierd factor to obsess over, however they make it a lot simpler for writers to choose up voice and run with it.

At any time when I work with somebody who doesn’t have a content material model information, I create one — formally or informally — as a result of it saves everybody time, frustration, and back-and-forth edits down the road. I construct it proper into the method, whether or not it’s baked into an announcement of labor or simply one thing I develop naturally throughout onboarding and early drafts.

It’s price it. Each time.

It saves a boatload of time and frustration for all events — together with the AI “members” of your staff (wink, wink). When everybody is aware of what the expectation is and why you utilize the voice and tone you do, you’ve got a cohesive staff.

Bear in mind — maintain it so simple as you may and concentrate on readability. The end result might be content material that feels and sounds such as you.

Editor’s be aware: This publish was initially revealed in Could 2015 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.