Voice. Tone. Style.

TOP STYLE TIPS

Keep the writing in the active tense. The active voice is immediate, succinct, and more likely to motivate someone to take action.

Use a consistent conversational voice. Your readers will recognize it and become familiar with it. The more familiar it is to them, the more effective it will be.

Let the facts speak for themselves. Don’t talk down to or past your audience. Be compelling, but not excessive. Customers get hype, and will associate the retailer’s brand with hype. Remember, trust is huge!

Do the research. Partner with product managers and CEMs to ensure the accuracy of new and edited content. Information from sources such as Pinterest, decor publications, and .com websites must be verified by alternate sources. Keep content accurate and timely.

When in doubt, leave it out. If the source material available on a product does not confirm an important fact, leave the information in question out of the content until the fact is confirmed. The customer and will lose trust in The Home Depot if we get it wrong.

Keep our brand promise in mind. Strong brands express the promise behind an organization – it’s the pledge we want to make to everyone about what they will experience when they come into contact with The Home Depot.

THE EDITORIAL VOICE

The Editorial voice corresponds with our brand tone to ensure that communication in copy across our Web and app channels is consistent.

The overall focus is to help our customers feel empowered and inspired to make purchases, take on projects, or utilize our ideas so they can get more out of their living space. Reinforcing our low-price guarantee and breadth of selection will help to retain customer loyalty.

The writing tone should be natural, genuine, friendly and fun, yet authoritative. We are on the same side as our customers and share their values. We don’t talk at them, we talk to them using a conversational tone.

When discussing tips, know-how or ideas, our message should convey a genuine sense of interest in our readers’ endeavors and should convey real value and payoff for the ideas and projects presented.

We should avoid hype, exaggeration, and stale lingo.

We are committed to sharing our expertise and helpful advice with energy and humility through insightful, down-to-earth and conversational language.

Copy should be written from the second-person perspective (the reader’s point of view) and be simple, clear and straightforward.

Our brand personality is “real, authentic and genuine,” and at times a little gritty. Encouraging. Supportive. Down to earth and conversational. Authoritative. Inclusive. Empowering. Friendly. Relatable. Informational, Nonjudgmental. Always consistent. Inspirational. Never assume something is obvious. Empathetic. Never smarter than the customer. Never commiserating. Meeting the customer where they are. It is the voice of the associate, the person who helps you in the store when you go to The Home Depot. – a survey from the Content Program editors, 2021

Correct:

Whether your taste is contemporary, traditional or somewhere in between, a vanity can provide a central focal point for your entire bathroom, offering both style and function.

Incorrect:

Here are ideas for updating a kitchen. Many people like to make updates based on their personal style: contemporary, traditional or somewhere in between. You can choose from our selection of vanities, which offer both style and function.

Our brand slogan is How Doers Get More Done. Brand, value and innovation are key focus areas for headlines and subheads.

Features should be accompanied by a benefit explanation. Do not assume the customer is familiar with vendor or industry terminology. A feature/benefit that cannot be conveyed concisely in layman’s terms should not be included in copy.

Our brand personality is “real, authentic and genuine,” and at times a little gritty.

All copy should align with THD's Readability Guidelines for clarity and compliance with ADA standards.

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