Written by Olga Procevska, co-founder of Writitude
At Writitude we talk A LOT about consistency. Because it is what makes and breaks any brand.
Why brands need consistency?
Consistency in brand communication isn’t just about using the same logo or color scheme.
It’s about ensuring that every word, sentence, and message reflects the same values, tone, and personality.
When your audience encounters your brand, they should immediately recognize it, not just by visual cues but by the way it "speaks."
Inconsistent messaging, on the other hand, can confuse your audience, erode trust, and ultimately dilute your brand's identity.
A brand that says one thing in one place and something different in another sends mixed signals, which can alienate customers and hinder your ability to build strong, lasting relationships.
How inconsistency occurs?
Inconsistency in brand communication often occurs due to a lack of clear, accessible guidelines or the failure to enforce those guidelines effectively.
When different team members or departments are responsible for creating content, and there isn't a unified set of rules to manage these rules, variations in tone, style, and messaging can easily slip through.
As a result, one team might use a casual tone while another opts for a more formal approach (say hello to the legal department!), leading to a fragmented brand image.
Inconsistency can also occur when guidelines are not kept front and center during the content creation process.
Even when brand rules are established, if they are not automated, they can be overlooked or forgotten in the rush to meet deadlines or produce high volumes of content.
Without tools to automate and enforce these rules, small deviations can quickly accumulate, and over time, this lack of cohesion can dilute your brand’s identity.
This is why consistency in tone of voice is so critical. Your brand’s tone of voice is the verbal expression of your brand’s personality, and it should be as consistent as your visual identity.
Whether your brand is authoritative, playful, or compassionate, this tone needs to be present in every piece of communication—from emails and social media posts to customer service interactions.
Meet big C consistency and small C consistency
But that’s what we call big C consistency. It’s when you have a clear understanding of your brand’s tone of voice, you’ve defined it (and ideally, automated it with Writitude), and you follow it in every piece of copy.
But what if your brand has just started and you don’t have a distinct tone of voice yet? Do you still need consistency?
Yes, you do! You need small C consistency. While big C consistency is focused on the persistent projection of certain “character traits” of the brand, such as warmth, empathy, self-confidence, or playfulness, small C consistency is focused on language style.
Small C consistency is all about the precision in language that upholds the integrity of your brand’s communication.
This includes details that might seem minor individually, but together, they create a seamless, polished communication experience that subtly reinforces the brand’s character and contributes to the perceived professionalism and attention to detail.
Writitude has several rules that are “tone of voice neutral” — meaning they can be added to any tone of voice, irrespective of its character. Here’s what they are called and what they do:
1. Control am/pm Consistency
Whether you prefer "am/pm" or "AM/PM," consistency is key. Mixing these formats in your brand’s communication can create a jarring experience for your audience.
By maintaining a uniform approach, you reinforce your brand’s professionalism and attention to detail.
With Writitude, you can set a rule to standardize this across all your content, ensuring that no matter who writes, your time notation is always consistent.
2. Control the Usage of Percentage Sign
The choice between using the "%" symbol or spelling out "percent" often comes down to the formality of your brand's tone.
In technical writing, the symbol is common, while a more formal tone may call for spelling it out.
The important thing is to choose one and stick with it. This small detail might seem trivial, but it contributes significantly to a cohesive brand voice.
Writitude allows you to enforce this choice, so your brand’s communication always aligns with your stylistic preferences.
3. Require Consistent Word Capitalisation
Words like "strategy" or "sustainability" might appear in different contexts within your communication, and sometimes in different cases (uppercase or lowercase).
However, inconsistency in spelling can dilute your brand’s message. Ensuring that these terms are consistently capitalized or not, based on their usage, keeps your communication clear and professional.
With Writitude, you can automate this rule, making consistency a seamless part of your content creation process.
4. Require Hyphenation Consistency
Hyphenation can be tricky — consider terms like "pre-sale" vs. "presale" or "follow-up" vs. "followup".
While both forms might be correct, using them interchangeably can confuse your audience.
A consistent approach to hyphenation across your texts maintains clarity and uniformity, reinforcing your brand’s polished image.
Writitude’s rule for hyphenation consistency ensures that your brand’s texts follow the same pattern every time.
5. Require Quote Consistency
Quotation marks come in various forms — double, single, smart, or straight — and different types of texts often call for different styles.
But within a single brand, consistency is crucial to avoid confusing your readers. Whether your brand opts for smart quotes or straight ones, sticking to one style throughout all your communications maintains a clean and professional look.
Writitude’s quote consistency rule makes it easy to enforce this across all your content.
Automating consistency in communication
In the world of brand communication, consistency is not just a preference — it’s a necessity.
Whether you're focusing on the big picture by defining and maintaining your brand's tone of voice, or honing in on the finer details with small C consistency, every element contributes to the overall perception of your brand.
Writitude is here to help you master both.
By automating key aspects of your brand’s communication, from tone of voice to the smallest stylistic choices, you ensure that your brand consistently projects the right image, builds trust with your audience, and stands out in a crowded marketplace.
Hard-copy brand books won’t help you with that, because they lack the ability to enforce guidelines in real-time. They are prone to human error, which is how inconsistency occurs.
Digital tools like Writitude automate consistency by integrating your brand’s style rules directly into the content creation process.
This ensures that every piece of communication, no matter who writes it, follows the same standards.
Great. Now you have established the small C consistency and feel ready to define your brand’s unique tone of voice.
Check out this comprehensive guide to creating the guidelines and rolling them out.
Remember, it’s not just what you say, but how you say it — and with Writitude, you can be confident that every word, phrase, and punctuation mark aligns with your brand’s unique identity, because it has been properly automated and is upheld every time, in every piece of content.
