Content goals
With every piece of content we publish, we aim to:
Represent
Every content decision we make should keep in mind that we are representing Skai as a company. This company has clients, partners, and relationships that are incredibly important to this company’s future. We never want to undo the hard work that has been done to build a respectful company by not taking our word choices seriously. It doesn’t mean we can’t be playful or provocative at appropriate times, we just need to remember time and place.
Position
Whether it’s the words we use, the chosen topic, analysis, or best practice we offer, our clients, prospects, and the market will view these cues as signals to who Skai is and why we exist. We cannot be misaligned to the corporate strategy for the sake of a piece of content. In fact, we should use every opportunity we have to hammer home the value propositions we believe are most attractive and compelling to the market.
Resonate
Every content piece needs to have an audience in mind. If we build arguments on poor assumptions or draw conclusions that most people don’t understand, our content will fall flat. We must keep our pulse on the market to properly impress and inspire. Content that is dull, poorly written, presents worn-out concepts, or simply loses readers and viewers will have a negative impact on Skai.
Voice
Skai’s voice is always the same. It is unique to us, and every piece of content we produce should have a “Skai feel” to it.
Tone
Skai’s tone changes based on the appropriate way to treat the situation.
- An urgent tone can help an audience understand that there is something being presented that they should put extra thought into understanding
- A playful tone can entertain and take the dullness out of educating content
- A serious tone can underscore our research as being credible and vetted
- An informal tone can put the audience at ease so they can best digest what we are stating
Content writing guidelines
The basics
Write for all readers
Some people will read every word you write. Others will just skim subheaders. And, not everyone is a native English speaker! Accessibility is important.
Short set up
No need to restate things that people already know. Tell them what they don’t know, and get right to the meat of things. Attention spans are waning!
Scale back adjectives
Let the statements speak for themselves.
Subheaders tell the story
A reader should be able to scan the subtitles and learn something.
Be specific
Avoid vague language or generalizations without payoff. Cut the fluff.
Anchored in data
Don’t make claims that aren’t backed up with evidence.
Omit needless words
Keep it short and to the point.
Formatting
Acronymns
Unless you are sure they are universally known (e.g., HTML, URL, etc.), spell them out the first time you use them and place the acronym in parentheses immediately following. E.g., Demand Side Platforms (DSPs). For the rest of the piece, you can use the acronym.
Hyphens and dashes
Use a hyphen (-) without spaces on either side to link words into a single phrase, or to indicate a span or range. Do not use a hyphen when the first word of the phrase ends in -ly.
Use an Em dash (—) without spaces on each side to designate an additional clause or something you want to clarify in the middle of the sentence. Best practice is to use Em dashes in pairs.
For a time frame, use a hyphen with spaces to separate the range.
EX: 8:30 – 9:30 a.m.
Numbers
When it’s the first word of a sentence, spell out the number.
Within a sentence, spell out one through nine and use digits for 10 and above.
Ex: One hundred people attended the event. There were 100 people at the event.
Quotes
Use double quotation marks to attribute a direct quote.
Ex: “I love working at Skai,” she said.
Use single quotation marks to occasionally designate a specific term within a sentence. Use sparingly in this case, as most of the time the meaning is understood without them.
Ex: The term ‘best-in-class’ is the best way to describe Skai.
Punctuation always goes inside the quotation marks, even if it is not necessarily part of the quote.
Ex: “I love working at Skai,” she said.
Serial (or Oxford) comma?
Yes. In lists, use it.
Ex: Red, white, and blue.
Capitalization
For titles of blogs, case studies, articles, and events, use title case. As a general rule, use sentence case for headers and subheads, unless required for consistency or style/design. Proper names should always be capitalized (e.g., Budget Manager). Hot tip: You can find the correct spelling for Skai product names here.
Exclamation points!
Use sparingly or never at all.
Fractions
Spell out fractions (with hyphen): “three-fourths”, not “3/4”
Dates
Spell out months. Do not abbreviate.
Ex: January 24, 2012
U.S. Spell out months when used with a date or year. Use a comma after the year when the date falls in the middle of a sentence.
EX: November 6, 2021
EX: November 6, 2021, is my birthday.
U.K. Use day, then month, then year.
Times
For a time frame, you do not need to specify a.m. or p.m. in both times if they are the same. Use an En dash with spaces to separate the range
U.S. Use a 12-hour clock and not a 24-hour clock. Do not use :00 minutes when it’s on the hour. Use lowercase and periods for a.m. and p.m. To avoid confusion when writing anything with a national or international audience (not specifically local to your time zone), use time zone abbreviations.
U.K. Use 24-hour clock. Use .00 minutes when it’s on the hour. Use a period to separate hours and minutes. To avoid confusion when writing anything with an international audience, use time zone abbreviations.
Need more guidance?
Product categories
Platform
Skai is the omnichannel platform that connects data and workflows across walled garden media. All of the solutions we offer sit within the platform.
Solutions
Our solutions are made up of a combination of capabilities designed to solve a functional or vertical need i.e. Vertical Solutions (for CPG, Finance, Travel) or Channel Solutions (for Search, Social, Retail Media).
Capabilities
An aggregation of product features that allow users to perform a task i.e. Impact Navigator is a measurement capability; Budget Navigator is an optimization capability.
Features
A distinct, discrete piece of functionality that allows users to complete an action i.e. competitor identification is a feature of Competitive Insights; budget forecasting is a feature of Budget Navigator.
When to capitalize the channel
Capitalize the name of the solutions when speaking about our specific products
Ex: Skai’s Paid Search solution, Skai’s Paid Social solution, Skai’s Retail Media solution, Skai’s App Marketing solution
Lowercase the term when speaking about general industry concepts
Ex: Skai’s robust retail media network; Skai empowers mobile app marketers; a leader in the paid search industry
Features and capability mentions
Remove the mention of Skai in front of any features or capabilities.
Ex: Cross Channel Attribution, Ad Experiments, Collaboration Suite
Taboos
Age, gender, sexuality, disability, nationality
We are inclusive and avoid mention of these as descriptors unless there’s a clear use case that matters (and is positive) for the content piece.
Politics, religion, scandals, disasters, etc.
Stay away from these. No reason to go there. Pick something else.
Competitors
As much as possible, we avoid referencing them in our content and communication, and keep the focus on us. We certainly should never quote or use stats from their materials in ours. We do not go after them or put them in a negative light. No good can come from this.
