The details matter at Tatem. Learn more about how we write and present the Tatem brand in copy.
At Tatem, writing is an extension of our vision to create a seamless, enjoyable, and memorable user experience. These are the guidelines we’ve put together for copywriting at Tatem.
The Tatem voice is an important part of our brand, and one that helps convey both personality and intent. Our goal is to create engaging copy and content which informs, guides, and relays information clearly and concisely. Our writing is an extension of who we are as a company, so it’s always direct, informative, and human. On occasion, we may include wit, puns, or satire. However, we always maintain a professional tone.
These principles help us uphold Tatem’s voice and tone, and align our copy across various channels. This ultimately leads to better, more cohesive experiences for those who interact with our brand. Our copywriting principles are as follows:
Be clear, leaving no doubt in the reader’s mind about what’s been said
Be authoritative, offering guidance and knowledge, where needed
Be human and approachable
Be professional and respectful of all readers
Be fun, where appropriate (we suggest reserving “fun” copy for marketing materials, social media posts, advertisements, newsletters, etc.)
It should go without saying, but it’s worth stating that offensive, demeaning, rude, unprofessional, or inappropriate language is never acceptable. This includes political comments, slang, profanity, name-calling, or anything else that would be unacceptable to send in a company-wide email.
Emojis should be used sparingly, and only in the right context. They could be thoughtfully included in customer emails, product emails, newsletters, social media announcements, or other customer communication in which something exciting is being shared or announced. They could even be considered for rare use in a product release or blog post. However, we never use an emoji in place of a word or phrase in a sentence.
Since the Tatem brand name is trademarked, we don’t use Tatem as a verb, or create words that include our brand name.
We most closely (but do not directly) follow the Associated Press Stylebook, and use the Oxford Comma. For spelling, use the first entry for a word in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary unless otherwise noted.
Guidelines for how we present dates and times:
Always capitalize “AM” and “PM,” as in: 9:30 AM
Do not use :00 for times at the top of the hour: 9 AM | 11 PM
For time spans, use an en dash: 9:30 AM - 2 PM PDT
For default display, follow numbers with a space: 7 AM, 10:30 PM
In text, use the same format: Taking place on October 7 from 8:30 AM to 1 PM EDT
Guidelines for how we present job titles:
Always capitalize job titles
Abbreviate CEO, CFO, COO, CTO, VP, Sr.
Don’t abbreviate uncommon job titles, like Chief Technical Operations Officer
Capitalize Founder and Co-Founder
In running text, we use standard punctuation (though we avoid using exclamation points). Phrase-length headers, sub-headers, buttons, and links should not have any punctuation. Headers and sub-headers that form full sentences should use punctuation. Unconventional punctuation (e.g. periods at the end of a phrase, “Meet Tatem.”) are sometimes acceptable within marketing materials. We never use punctuation within buttons or links.
As a general rule, we do not use ampersands (&) or plus signs (+) in place of "and.” Rare exceptions exist for copy within headers or footers. We use the Oxford Comma within all running text, and with discretion in sentence-length headers and sub-headers. However, we suggest avoiding sentence-length headers requiring the Oxford comma. We always set end punctuation inside closing quotation marks (e.g. “It just works.”)
When using em dashes, we insert space around them to denote emphasis or drama. In most cases, em dashes can — and should — be replaced by commas. We sparingly use em dashes.
We avoid using en dashes in nearly all writing. We use them sparingly, if at all. There is nearly always a better way to express a thought or sentiment without an en dash.
Guidelines for when we use hyphens:
For compound nouns that may not be read as one thought (e.g. merry-go-round)
For some prefixes and suffixes (e.g. ex-girlfriend)
To avoid confusion between cognates (e.g. He wants to re-create the mural at the recreation center)
To avoid having two vowels in a row (e.g. anti-ice windshield)
For dates (e.g. January 22 - 25)
At Tatem, we exclusively use the Inter family of fonts.
An overview of acceptable pronouns for use within Tatem’s copy:
1st person plural (we, us, our, ourselves)
1st person singular (I, me, my, mine, myself): These pronouns should only be considered for use in communication directly from an individual member of the team
2nd person singular (you): “You” is an acceptable way to address readers in our copy
3rd person plural (they, them, theirs, themselves)