Welcome

This is our company style guide. It helps to ensure clear and consistent content across all teams and channels. Please use it as a reference when you’re writing for MarketMuse.

The MarketMuse Content Style Guide goes into depth on many subjects. It may be more information than you need. Here are the most important things to know.

We use the Associated Press Style Standards (AP Style Guide) with a few exceptions as noted in this guide. One of those is that we use the serial (Oxford) comma. Following these rules helps us keep our writing clear and consistent.

• Good content is clear, useful, friendly, and appropriate.
• MarketMuse's voice is human, familiar, friendly, straightforward.
• Where possible, include first person experiences to improve reader engagement.
• We aim to educate our users about our products without patronizing or confusing them, so they can get their work done and get on with their lives.

Writing About People

We write and create products with a person-first perspective. Being aware of the impact of your language will help make MarketMuse a better place to work and a better steward of our values in the world.

• Don’t reference age or disability unless it’s relevant to what you’re writing.
• Avoid gendered language and use the singular “they.”
• When writing about a person, use their preferred pronouns; if you don’t know those, just use their name.

Grammar and mechanics

• Some people will read every word you write. Others will just scan. Help everyone by grouping related ideas together and using descriptive headers and subheaders.
• Focus your message, and create a hierarchy of information. Lead with the main point or the most important content.
• Use active voice and positive language.
• Use short words and sentences.
• Avoid unnecessary modifiers.
• Use specific examples.
• Avoid vague language.
• Be consistent. Adhere to the copy patterns and style points outlined in this guide.
• Feel free to use contractions.
• Use the serial comma. Otherwise, use common sense.
• Headlines and subheadings follow Associated Press style where words with four or more letters are capitalized. Use Headline Capitalization to automatically apply the correct capitalization.
• When referencing title of books, articles, or journals, write the title as it is written. Do not change them to fit your style.
• Don’t use underline, and don’t use any combination of italic, bold, caps, and underline.
• When in doubt, read your writing out loud.

Readability

• We aim for a general readability target. This means that sentence complexity and vocabulary is appropriate for readers with a high school education.
• Create a hierarchy, with the most important information first.
• Place similar topics in the same paragraph, and clearly separate different topics with headings.
• Use plain language. Write short sentences and familiar words.
• Use active voice.
• Avoid double negatives.
• We typically create content based on MarketMuse Content Briefs. If you have been provided with one, use it!

This guide is modeled after the Mailchimp Content Style Guide, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.