Copy Guidelines

These guidelines ensure consistent brand voice and messaging across all platforms. Adhering to them strengthens brand recognition and builds trust with our audience.

Capitalization

• Utilize sentence case for all text, buttons, field names, and descriptions.
• Use Title Case for all proper nouns (e.g. product names, client names, feature names)
• Use all caps sparingly – only for emphasis or established acronyms

CTA Words

Use these standard action words consistently across the product:

• New: Creates a new item from scratch (e.g. New deal, New slide, New message)
• Add: Includes an existing item in a given context (e.g. "Add a placement to a deal")
• Save: Commits unsaved changes
  • Use Update when the distinction between saving and updating matters
• Delete: Permanently removes something
  • Remove: Removes item from the collection but does not destroy it
• View: To look at something (e.g. View contacts)
  • Open: "View", specifically for documents, modals, and files
• Cancel: Exits without saving changes
• Dismiss: Closes a notification or message without taking action

Commas

Always use Oxford commas (serial commas) in lists of three or more items.

✓ "deals, placements, and messages"

✗ "deals, placements and messages"

Punctuation Standards

• No periods in headlines, buttons, or labels unless they contain multiple sentences or they are used for effect
• Use em dashes (—) for breaks in thought, not hyphens or double dashes
• Use double quotes ("") for primary quotations and quoted speech
• Use single quotes ('') for quotes within quotes
• Semicolons (;) only when joining related independent clauses; prefer periods or separate sentences

Numbers and Metrics

General Number Formatting

• Spell out one (1) through nine (9) in body text
• Use numerals for 10 and above
• Exception: Always use numerals with units (5 days, 3 deals)
• Large numbers: Use commas for thousands (10,000+)

Currency

• Format: $1,234,567 (with commas for thousands)
• Decimals: Show cents only when necessary ($50 not $50.00)
• Large numbers: Use K, M, B notation when space is limited
  • $1.2M (not $1,200,000)
  • $850K (not $850,000)

Percentages

• Format: 15.5% (no space between number and %)
• Decimals: One decimal place for precision, whole numbers when possible
• Ranges: 10%–15% (use en dash, no spaces)

Units of Measure

Area

• Square feet: 1200 sq ft
• Square miles: 5.2 sq mi
• Acres: 2.5 acres (spelled out)

Distance

• Miles: 15 miles, 2.3 mi (spell out in body text, abbreviate in tight spaces)
• Feet: 500 feet, 500 ft
• Kilometers: 10 kilometers, 10 km (when relevant)

Weight

• Pounds: 150 pounds, 150 lbs
• Tons: 2.5 tons (spell out)

Volume

• Gallons: 500 gallons, 500 gal
• Cubic feet: 1,000 cu ft

Date and Time

Date Formats

• Default format: Aug 27, 2025 (abbreviated month, no leading zeros)
• Short format: 8/27/25 (when space is very limited)
• ISO format: 2025-08-27 (for technical contexts only)
• Ranges: Aug 27–30, 2025 (en dash, no spaces)

Time Formats

• 12-hour format: 2:30 PM (no leading zeros, space before AM/PM)
• Time ranges: 2:30–4:00 PM (en dash, repeat AM/PM only when crossing)
• Duration: 1h 30m (no spaces around units)

Relative Time

• Recent: "2 minutes ago", "1 hour ago", "yesterday"
• Future: "in 5 minutes", "tomorrow", "next week"
• Always spell out time units in relative formats

Days of the Week

• Full names: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (in body text and formal contexts)
• Abbreviations: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun (in calendars, tables, tight spaces)
• Ranges: Monday–Friday (en dash, no spaces), Mon–Fri (abbreviated)
• Today/Tomorrow: Use "today" and "tomorrow" instead of day names when referring to current/next day
• Capitalization: Always capitalize day names and abbreviations