Tone of voice
Connecting with language
It’s not just our visual tools that make our brand unique, it’s also our verbal style – our tone of voice – which has been developed to engage and connect to our community.
Tone of voice
How we speak
We’re all about providing inspiration and motivation. We’re a global community, socially and through our app, and we’re ready to support each other at any stage of the fitness journey.
So how does EvolveYou sound? How do we get this across in our communications?
Here are four principles to stick to when you’re writing communications.
Principle 1
Engaging
EvolveYou‘s communications should get customers excited about their fitness journey — and that starts from the moment they first engage with us. So we write with the active voice (ensuring there’s a clear subject for any actions) and use verbs to bring things to life. Use short sentences so readers don’t get bogged down, and try to use simple words wherever possible.
Before
Each week our #TransformYou challenge is structured completely differently. What happens in one week’s workouts will not be the same in week two’s. It’ll be hard, but you’ll be progressing.
Question?
After
Each week our #TransformYou challenge is structured completely differently. What happens in one week’s workouts will not be the same in week two’s. It’ll be hard, but you’ll be progressing.
Each week our #TransformYou challenge is structured completely differently. What happens in one week’s workouts will not be the same in week two’s. It’ll be hard, but you’ll be progressing.
Question?
Principle 2
Authentic
EvolveYou‘s tone is down to earth. When writing we use the real, everyday language of our trainers and community. Think about the words and phrases they use and how they can fit into your communications. That way, our workouts, challenges and meal plans will be appealing and easy to understand.
Before
EvolveYou‘s tone is down to earth. When writing we use the real, everyday language of our trainers and community. Think about the words and phrases they use and how they can fit into your communications. That way, our workouts, challenges and meal plans will be appealing and easy to understand.
After
EvolveYou‘s tone is down to earth. When writing we use the real, everyday language of our trainers and community. Think about the words and phrases they use and how they can fit into your communications. That way, our workouts, challenges and meal plans will be appealing and easy to understand.
Principle 3
Supportive
EvolveYou’s tone is positive and reassuring. We’re there for the journey, bringing energy and encouragement. That’s so we enable our community to keep things moving (even when it’s tough). Most importantly we need to be empathetic, so write using real examples, quotes and stories that our community can relate to.
Before
Each week our #TransformYou challenge is structured completely differently. What happens in one week’s workouts will not be the same in week two’s. It’ll be hard, but you’ll be progressing.
Question? Drop any queries in the comments below.
After
‘Take this opportunity to try something new’
Each week of @krissycela’s #TransformYou challenge is structured completely differently, which means what you’ll be doing in week one’s workouts will not be the same in week two’s but one thing is for certain: during every single workout you’ll be progressing.
Got a question about our newest challenge? Drop any queries in the comments below so we can help.
Principle 4
Friendly
Fitness should be enjoyable and fun, and so is EvolveYou. Even when things aren’t going the way they should, we’re friendly and welcoming. Use named contacts wherever possible in comms (first names are fine to keep it informal). And remember to use personal pronouns to make your writing feel personal.
Before
We’re announcing our Transform You Challenge! If you’re ready to level up your workouts, improve your consistency and reach your full potential this 6 week challenge is for you!
After
Familia, we’re SO EXCITED to announce our Transform You Challenge! If you’re ready to level up your workouts, improve your consistency and reach your full potential, then sis, this 6 week challenge is for you!
Tone of voice
Copywriting style guide
Our brand name: EvolveYou
We always use leading capital letters for Evolve and You when we write the brand name. And there’s no space.
Our tagline: For your fitness journey
This is our tagline. It simply and clearly explains exactly what we do and the benefit of being part of our community.
Headlines
Our headlines are always energetic and inspiring, but we have two main styles depending on where you’re using them.
Our short headline style consists of just two words and are designed to have maximum impact and energy.
Our long headlines are slightly longer and take more time to communicate an idea or concept.
Sub headlines
We have our distinctive shorter and longer headline styles, but sometimes you’ll need to create more descriptive sub headlines, particularly for longer copy. Try and keep them, short whilst also ensuring they’re descriptive and simply summarise the content that follows.
Numbers, dates and time
In general, we write the numbers one to nine: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and nine. From 10 onwards, we use figures: “Start your 14 day free trial now”. All numbers at the beginning of a sentence should be written in full: “Thirteen customers left positive feedback”.
For anything larger than a three-figure number, we use commas to highlight the value: 10,000, 100,000.
When using dates and times in communications it’s important that we use them consistently.
When writing specific dates use “1 January 2020” or “5–7 April 2020”. When writing in forms or online it’s okay to use “01/01/2020”.
Contractions and shortened words
To keep things human and conversational, use common contractions in your writing.
– l’ll, can’t, we’ll, won’t, you’ll, don’t, it’s, that’s, we’ve, you’ve, you’re, we’re, they’re, I’m, isn’t.
We can also choose to shorten longer words to make reading easier. For example ‘application’ can become ‘app’, ‘maximum’ could be ‘max’, you could use ‘legit’ instead of ‘legitimate’… you get the idea.
Contractions and shortened words
If a sentence has three or more listed points, then we use bullet points to break them up. If the bullets follow a colon, then punctuate them like this:
– lower case first letter
– no commas or semi-colons – but a full stop at the end.
If the bullets follow a full stop or a heading, then use the style below.
– Upper case first letter.
– Full stop at the end of each bullet.
And
Using conjunctions to begin a sentence is fine. And it helps to get across the informality and human nature of EvolveYou. After all, it’s how real people speak. It also helps to break long sentences up.
Etc
We try not to use ‘e.g.’ or ‘i.e.’ if possible because they can be confused. Instead, we use ‘for example’ and ‘such as’ for e.g. and ‘that is’ for i.e.
Also try to avoid ‘etc’ because it lacks clarity and shows uncertainty.
Quotes
Use single quote marks when quoting. And use double quote marks for quoted words within the quote. For example: ‘A single quote at the start and end, but double for the “quote” within the quote’.
Brackets
For brackets, we use rounded versions (like this).
(When a sentence begins in brackets then the full stop should be inside too.)