Design 101
Design 101
Marketing Copy & CTAs
There are several points to master when creating and/or sharing marketing copy with design. The following ensures good brand stewarding and fewer rounds of revisions.
Who provides copy and CTAs:
Marketing or brand leads are responsible for providing copy and CTAs for all briefs.
Copy is NOT written or sourced by designers.
DOs
Reference brand guides for copy style/tone
Define a clear messaging hierarchy (Headline, Subhead, Burst and CTA)
Follow eRetailer guidelines (character counts, style, tone, case type)
Provide copy in a copy and paste format. This is required and ensures design does not introduce typos, misspellings, etc
Provide copy and CTAs in a format/case that is prescribed by the brand guide and/or eRetailer guide.
For example: If the brand guide specifies only lowercase letters should be used, DO NOT provide copy as ALL CAPS, Sentence case or Title Case
Include punctuation as prescribed by the brand guide
For example: punctuation is often omitted at the end of headlines
When writing for mobile (and it limited real estate) be as succinct as possible
Keep CTAs succinct (2-3 words) and indicate what the next intended action should be.
For example: "Shop Now" or "Learn More"
DON’Ts
DO NOT provide copy via any non-copy and paste-able formats (i.e. JPEG or PNG )
DO NOT share copy that does not conform to eRetailer character counts
Copy/Case Format Examples
In sentence case, only the first letters of the first word and proper nouns are in uppercase.
This is an example of sentence case.
Sentence case
In title case, only major words are in uppercase and minor words in lowercase (unless they are the first or last word of a title).
Major words: include nouns, adjectives, and verbs
Minor words: include short prepositions and articles
This is an Example of Title Case.
Title Case
In this case, all letter are capitalized.
THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF ALL CAPS.
ALL CAPS
In this case, all letter are lowercase.
this is an example of lowercase.
lowercase