Ensuring Brand Consistency: The Role of Watchwords

In the dynamic world of content creation, there's no one-size-fits-all method for crafting compelling narratives and ensuring brand consistency. This is where Watchwords come into play! Curated lists of terms that users aim to avoid or replace in their content. Hence, safeguarding your brand's voice and message.
Micheál McGrath

VP of Marketing & Business Development

Published
Length
3 min read
watchwords

VT Writer enhances these Watchwords, offering flexibility for customization based on your style guides. You can tailor Watchword Lists to meet the specific needs of your organization. This will help you avoid industry jargon, product misinformation, and other pitfalls that can undermine your brand’s reputation. 

The Power of Customization 

Writers can benefit from Watchwords across various types of documents, including internal and external communications. With VT Writer’s Watchword feature, you can: 

  • Identify terms that need attention. 
  • Replace or suggest alternatives to ensure consistency with your brand guidelines.

The Benefits of a Structured Approach 

By assigning categories to group related terms, you gain a structured approach to refining your content. This strategic identification reduces ambiguity and enhances readability, making your content clearer and more impactful. 

Real-World Examples of Watchwords in Action 

Here are some examples of how customers from various sectors have utilized Watchwords: 

  • Healthcare: Avoiding technical jargon emphasizing patient-centric language. 
  • Government Contracting: Eliminating industry-specific terminology for clarity and accessibility.

The Importance of Tagline Accuracy 

Three words may be all it takes to achieve global brand awareness. Simply throw “I’m lovin’ it” or “Just do it” into a conversation, and nine times out of ten, people will know what brand you’re referring to. These taglines have become so ubiquitous that they have morphed into catchphrases embedded in everyday vernacular. Giving them meaning and significance even beyond the international brands that so cleverly coined them. 

However, imagine if you rashly improve a piece of content including the slogan “I’m lovin’ it” and an AI tool, like ChatGPT, “corrects” it to “I’m loving it.” This would be an embarrassing mistake, undermining brand consistency and recognition. Watchwords help prevent such errors by flagging these critical terms and ensuring they remain true to their original form. 

Automatic Suggestions and Replacements 

VT Writer’s recent update revolutionizes the Watchword experience by introducing automatic suggestions and replacements for flagged Watchwords. This means that once you have identified key terms, VT Writer will offer instant alternatives. This will help you maintain consistency across your content, streamlining the editing process. 

 

7 Tips on Creating, Identifying, and Using Watchword Lists in VT Writer 

To help you get started with Watchwords, we’ve compiled seven tips for a successful journey: 

  1. Improve Customer Language: Use Watchword Lists to enhance the language your customers use. 
  2. Combine Watchwords and Style Guide: Integrate Watchwords with style guide elements for comprehensive content improvement. 
  3. Use Descriptions in the Watchword List: Provide guidance on what words to avoid and suggest alternatives. 
  4. Language Preferences: Set preferences, including case sensitivity, to analyze content in multiple languages (e.g., French, German, Spanish). 
  5. Bulk Upload Watchwords: Utilize CSV files for bulk uploading, making it easier to manage extensive lists. 
  6. Leverage VT Writer Insights: Use data on usage and quality metrics to gain insights into Watchword effectiveness over time. 
  7. Analyze Your Words: Benefit from automatic suggestions for differences between US and British English.

     

Basic Example of a Watchword List 

A well-crafted Watchword List can significantly enhance brand consistency and accuracy. Here is an example of a Watchword List that addresses common brand-specific terms and their proper usage: 

Watchword 

Description 

Replacement 

Visible Thread 

Our brand name does not contain a space between Visible and Thread. 

VisibleThread 

Fergal Mc Govern 

Our CEO Fergal spells his surname McGovern with no space. 

Fergal McGovern 

Michael McGrath 

Micheál, our VP of Marketing, spells his name with the Irish spelling. 

Micheál McGrath 

VTDocs 

VT Docs should be written as two separate words. 

VT Docs 

VTWriter 

VT Writer should be written as two separate words. 

VT Writer 

 

This list helps ensure that brand-specific terms are used correctly and consistently, preventing common mistakes that could undermine your brand’s credibility and recognition. 

Watchwords: A Solution for Ensuring Brand Respect 

Ensuring writers respect your company’s brand guidelines is crucial in today’s AI-driven content creation landscape. Watchwords offer a perfect balance to generative AI editing by providing a human touch to the writing process. By identifying key terms and replacing them with alternatives, you can maintain consistency across all your published documents. 

 

Conclusion 

Watchwords in VT Writer empower users to master content creation. This tool ensures brand consistency while maintaining readability and clarity. 

Key Benefits: 

  • Enhanced Relevance: Aligns content with your target audience’s interests. 
  • Reduce Risk: Empower your writers with brand guidelines and technology that helps avoid mistakes. 
  • Consistent Tone: Maintains a uniform tone and style, building trust and credibility. 

Incorporating Watchwords in VT Writer has elevated our brand’s quality and respectability. By effectively using these keywords, we create compelling content that resonates with our audience and positions us as industry leaders. 

Article Readability

Long
Sentences

5%

Long Sentences (Aim for 5% or lower)
Keep Long Sentences below 5% to prevent complex statements from burying your message.
Split long sentences or use lists
as solutions.
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Passive
Voice

3%

Passive Voice (Aim for 4% or lower)
Maintain Passive Voice at 4% or lower for clear and visible messaging. Enhance clarity and directness, making your writing engaging and easy to comprehend by avoiding passive voice.
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Readability
Score

59

Readability (Aim for 50 or higher)
Target a Flesch readability score of 50 or higher to ensure accessible content.
Simplify through shorter sentences and simpler word choices.
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Grade
Level

9

Grade (Aim for 8 or lower)
Strive for a grade level of 8 or below to ensure easy comprehension. Simplify further with shorter sentences and simpler vocabulary.
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