Driving a consistent message

I was on Employee Benefit Adviser’s webinar this afternoon “Driving a Consistent Message” with editor Robert Whiddon and Bill Olson from United Benefit Advisors. We talked about the importance of having a strong brand and clear message for both external marketing efforts as well as employee communication.

One thing we discussed today, and that comes up all the time with my clients, is how to create consistency in message—how to actually execute against a brand vision once you know what you’re trying to create. Whether for employee communication or marketing efforts, a Style Guide and documented brand guidelines are key. This is definitely not the most exciting and sexy part of my job, but it is so important.

Whether you’re a small benefits consulting firm communicating to prospective customers or a large employer communicating to employees, you should have Brand Guidelines and a Style Guide that, at minimum, include:

• Logo usage
• Colors
• Fonts, font sizes and styles
• Use of photos and illustrations
• Description of tone (how formal or informal are you?)
• Key terms, including your company name and all industry jargon
• A cheat-sheet for often misused words/phrases and key grammar

Key terms

I use AP Style as a guideline for all communication and you can use that or diverge from that where you want to. The key is to be consistent in how you use words and phrases, even how you format phone numbers. Decide:

• How do you use your company name? Full name all the time or is there an abbreviation?
• Are you going to use e-mail or email? (Most style guides prefer e-mail but without the dash is just as acceptable and more prominent online)
• How will you use website or web site or Web site? (I see website most often)
• How will you use industry jargon? Will you follow AP style and use the full phrase on the first use with the acronym, or does your audience already know what HSA and HDHP stand for?
• For an employer, what are all of your legal plan names and how do you abbreviate them for employee communication?

Cheat!

No one except proofreaders has to be an expert in grammar. Make a cheat sheet for your key terms and phrases that are often misused and distribute it. Here are a few on my list:

Internet, intranet (Internet is capitalized)

Health care (not healthcare)

Spell out months except in charts or graphs

Use only one space (not two spaces) after periods, colons, exclamation points, question marks—after any punctuation that separates two sentences.

Spell out numbers from one to nine; use numerals for 10 and above.
Exception: Always use numerals with the word “percent” (1 percent) and with the percent sign (2%, 5%)

In body copy, spell out “percent.” In tables and charts, use the sign. With both, always use numerals (2 percent, 10 percent, 2, 10%).

Commas and periods always go inside quotation marks. Colons and semicolons always go outside quotation marks. Like this:

The company announced, “Employee training will begin next week.”
Last week you said, “I sent the package”; it still hasn’t arrived.

When using phrases or titles that are acronyms, spell out the entire phrase or title, then put the acronym in parentheses the first time you use it. Then, you can use the acronym for any future references. 
For example: evidence of insurability (EOI)

Use two commas to set off a year when it follows the month and day. 
The group gathering on June 11, 2008, was a nice event.

Job titles:
Always capitalize titles before the person’s name; lowercase after. For example: President John Doe; but Sally Smith, founder.

Lowercase an official or occupational job title whether it precedes or follows a person’s name, but capitalize official department or company names.