What is a style guide and why should every company have one?

Many of you might already have heard of the term “style guide” or your company might even already have one. In this first post in my quality assurance series, I would like to take a closer look at what exactly a (linguistic) style guide is and why every company, no matter how small, should have one.

So what exactly is a style guide?

In very simple terms, a style guide is a writing manual for your company (although it can be much more than that!). It usually contains general rules that have to be followed when creating corporate content, such as grammar, punctuation, tense, how to address readers and more. But it also outlines company-specific rules, which could be tone of voice and wording (or which words or phrases to avoid) as well as rules for where the company would like to deviate from established language rules and conventions to create a unique voice.

Style guides are not purely linguistic though: they often also contain instructions for formatting company documents, colour schemes, branding and visuals, which help create a corporate identity.

They are used to make sure that all written and visual materials are on-brand and a style guide clearly communicates this to both internal and external (content) creators. It ensures that everyone is well-aligned in their communications and creates content with a consistent voice.

And what is it not?

But there are also things that a style guide is not. One thing it cannot be, is a miracle fix to any and all communications problems a company might have. A style guide needs to be actively promoted to make sure that employees and contractors are aware of its guidelines.

It is also not set in stone. Like many other things, the personality of a company evolves over time. It matures over the years and a style guide must reflect these changes. It should therefore be reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

One last thing a style guide is not, is a list of don’ts. Instead try and keep it positive and encouraging; this will also increase acceptance among your employees.

So why should you have one?

If, after having read the above, you are still not quite sure why a style guide is one of the most important documents for every company, here are a few good arguments for setting one up:

Consistency

A company that communicates with stakeholders, investors, customers and other people in a consistent manner, finds it much easier to differentiate from other players in the market. It can deliver its key message concisely and encourages loyalty because people know what to expect.

But don’t forget to include instructions for all used media outlets in your style guide—otherwise you might run the risk of sounding different on different channels.

Voice

A style guide helps content creators write in a way that will appeal to their readers. Company content has a great influence on the perception of a brand, which is the personification of the company, and therefore on buying and investment decisions.

Furthermore, a consistent tone of voice conjures a feeling of familiarity, which provides comfort for the customer.

Guide for external content creators

Even if your company is currently creating all its content internally, there might come a point where it has to outsource all or some of it. In this case, the contractor taking on this endeavour will need to know which audience they are catering to.

A style guide ensures that your brand identity is maintained even when content has to be created by people who are not part of the company culture. A good copywriter can adapt to your tone of voice and is even able to create a company style guide for you from past materials if you do not have set one up yet.

Guide for translators

Last but not least, style guides are one of the vital tools for translators when they help expand a company’s reach beyond its original language. It ensures that your brand identity is carried over to a new language and appeals to foreign readers—but beware: different cultures have different expectations. Your style guide might therefore need adaptation. A service that Cosmic Lingua is happy to provide.

How do you produce a style guide?

Now that you are more familiar with what style guides are and how important they are for your brand image, you probably want to sit down and get right to it (if your company does not already have one). How you go about creating a new style guide from scratch will be the topic of my next post in this series, scheduled for September 2022. Watch this space!