CRM

• Relevant Documents​

  • Reference strategic/creative briefs, copy matrices, event messaging deck, offer guidelines, delivery deck, brand claims, trademark spreadsheet, and others​

• Previous Executions​

  • Look up past FY sends/units and metrics​

• Cross-Channel Alignment​

  • Touch base with homepage, broadcast, or other CRM channels for alignment opportunities​

• Brand Standards​

  • Review the messaging direction and other asks to ensure they align with our brand, voice, offer writing guidelines, and AP style​

• Communication with Design​

  • Confirm templates, character limits, and creative formatting​

• Review Recent Work​

  • Check recent past sends/units to ensure coherence and avoid redundancy​

• Creative Coherence​

  • Verify that all URLs “match” the copy/offer (e.g., if we are speaking to savings, the link must click to savings)​

  • Ensure that copy and imagery align to tell a cohesive story​

• Questions​

  • Ask yourself questions such as: Does this offer require any legal language? Should we pick up copy from a previous unit / why or why not?​

PROMO:

The promo voice is the same as The Home Depot brand voice: genuine, authentic and straightforward.

PRO:

The Home Depot Pro voice is no-nonsense. We speak to them in a direct and efficient manner because we understand their time is valuable.  We are friendly and eager to share information that will benefit them, like time-saving devices, new products and tool technology. We are smart, but not clever. Cool, but not trendy. High-tech, but practical. Hard-working, tough, reliable and thoughtfully innovative.

HD Home:

HD Home maintains the overall authentic, genuine voice of our brand, but has a slightly less formal tilt to it, thanks to the creative nature of home decorating. The voice is knowledgeable about styles and trends, with a touch of playfulness and maybe a dash of whimsy.

• • Avoid exclamation points

  • Use of ampersand (&) is standard

  • Avoid “salesy” words like specials, deals, sale, bargain, etc. Avoid using the word "event" to refer to events.

  • Avoid “save/off” and “save on” language, e.g. “Save XX% Off” or “Save on Lighting”; instead, use “Up to XX% Off” and “Lighting Savings”

  • % Off messaging, including with event and Super Savings offers, can only be used for these categories in these specific contexts.

  • In general, use + instead of “over” or “more than” (e.g., “Free Delivery on 1000+ Items” rather than “Free Delivery on Over 1000 Items”). This helps conserve our limited space.

  • Next-Gen callouts are reserved for highlighting what makes a product unique. These callouts are not just for generic marketing copy (e.g., “ApolloPEX Pipe callout: Reduces Joints & Leak Points vs. ApolloPEX Pipe callout: Available in Red, White & Blue Print for Identification)

  • When offer dates are required, we write it as “Ends MM/DD.” (except for credit, which requires a date range vs just an end date; see examples below)

Message Center

• • Subject line character limit: 50

  • No apostrophes allowed in subject lines

  • Emojis are okay to use and only count as one character

  • Push notification character limit:

SMS

• • Character limit: 140 (technically the limit is 160, but 20 characters are automatically assigned to the URL)

  • Emojis count as 90 characters in SMS, so they can only be used with very short messages

  • “Reply STOP to end” and “Reply HELP for help” must each be included once a month at the end of a message*

  • Promo SMS always begins with “HOME DEPOT:”*

  • Pro SMS always begins with “HOME DEPOT PRO:”*

*This counts toward the character limit (note that all character limits include spaces).

Credit

• • All new/revised credit offers must be approved by both our legal team and Citibank's

  • Credit offers must always click through to the credit services page (existing card member) or application page (prospecting)

  • Always use the following date format: Valid MM/DD–MM/DD/YYYY. (with period)

  • Include standard credit legal language with the appropriate symbol on all email communication (Subject to credit approval. Terms and conditions apply.)

  • If the credit legal does not live within the creative, include symbols that redirect to the legal in the email footer. These are typically † (first offer listed) and ‡ (second offer listed, if applicable).