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Voice and Tone, Mailchimp Content Style Guide

Mailchimp · Mailchimp Content Style Guide Free Beginner

This is the reference everyone quietly copies when they first try to write down their brand voice, and it is public, free, and readable in one sitting. It separates voice (the part that never changes) from tone (the part that shifts by situation), which is exactly the distinction a marketer, an agency, and a freelancer need to share so their work sounds like one company. Treat it as a starting point for structure, not a template to mimic word for word.

  • Write down your voice as a short set of named traits (Mailchimp uses plainspoken, genuine, translator, dry humor) so anyone new can point to what they were aiming for
  • Voice stays fixed while tone flexes by context, so document both separately instead of hoping people intuit the difference
  • Pair each principle with a rule of thumb (active voice, plain English, positive framing) that a reviewer can actually check against
Open on styleguide.mailchimp.com ↗

It answers 4 questions

  1. How do I make a no-code app feel polished and trustworthy instead of looking like an obvious template?
  2. How do I write clear button and error messages so users know exactly what to do next?
  3. How do I keep my brand voice consistent across the website, emails, and app when I'm the one writing everything and it all sounds different?
  4. How do I make sure our brand look and voice hold up as we add a marketing person, agencies, and freelancers who weren't there at the start?

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