Branding Strategy Style Sheets: Brand Consistency Put Into Practice Elizabeth Holloway Branding 8 mins read August 25, 2025 Blog Branding Style Sheets: Brand Consistency Put Into Practice Style Sheets: Brand Consistency Put Into Practice - Table of Contents So, what exactly is a style sheet, really? What happens when you don't use a style sheet Creating a living document What should go in your style sheet? How to get your team to actually use your style sheet What’s the takeaway? Something we talk about a lot internally, and here on this blog, is the importance and impact of consistency in your brand communications. We’ve probably said this before but it really is the secret sauce for creating a strong and memorable presence across channels. Now, it’s one thing to pay lip service to the concept, but the reality for most brands is over time you’ll have too many cooks in the kitchen making a thousand different editorial decisions and your messaging will start to drift. So what’s the solution for that? How do you keep your communications aligned? Do you stop working with freelancers and restrict the number of team members responsible for communication and marketing? Or do you turn your style guide into a massive 40 page document trying to account for every little thing? How about none of the above. We’ve got a much simpler and easier to use solution: you need a style sheet. Not sure what that is? Or how to go about creating your own? That’s what we’re getting into today. We’ve got explanations and advice for building and using your own. And we’ve even got a template to help you get started that you’ll find linked at the bottom of this article. So, what exactly is a style sheet, really? The best place to start is by talking about what a style sheet is not. Importantly, your style sheet is not the same thing as your style guide. (Although, it can contain some of the same information, but more on that later.) Your style guide is going to have all of the high-level decisions about tone, voice, and manner. The things that shape your brand identity. Your style sheet, on the other hand, is a log of all the little editorial choices that get made on a day-to-day basis. Not only does this make it easier to keep track of the little details that create a more consistent brand presence, a style sheet becomes a single source of truth for all of the stylistic choices you’ve made. This is particularly useful for settling internal debates over how to apply grammar rules or which spelling to use. What happens when you don’t use a style sheet When you skip the style sheet, little cracks start to show. One page says “nonprofit,” another says “non-profit.” Your welcome email calls people “clients,” but your social post calls them “members.” Maybe you are fine with commas, but someone else loves extra punctuation flourishes. None of it feels like a big deal in the moment, but together it makes your brand sound a bit all over the place. Here is what that inconsistency does: It confuses people: They are not sure if they are hearing from the same brand. It slows you down: You keep fixing the same things in review after review. It wastes energy: Time spent on edits could be spent creating something new. It turns people off: Mixed messages can push potential supporters away. A style sheet keeps everyone on the same page, both literally and figuratively, so your voice stays clear, consistent, and trustworthy. Creating a living document The biggest feature that sets a style sheet apart from a style guide is that it is designed to be regularly and routinely updated each time an editorial decision is made. The scope will vary in terms of what those decisions are, but this system of logging as you will help streamline your editorial process, especially when pieces go through multiple sets of revisions, or just get passed through multiple people. Instead of all that information being buried in meeting notes, chat histories, and endless email threads, it’s all right there on your style sheet. So, rather than firing off yet another message asking “did we ever come to a consensus on…” your team has a central place to find the answers. This saves them time and lets them focus on the more important stuff. What should go in your style sheet? What’s great about style sheets is that they’re very easily customized and tailored to your specific needs. That said, let’s take a look at the kinds of things that are useful to have as a quick reference since “editorial decisions” is pretty vague. Here are some examples of what to include, to help you get started: Brand-specific terms: How you spell and capitalise product names, program names, and key phrases. Tricky punctuation or grammar calls: Oxford comma use, hyphenation rules, or whether to write “percent” or “%.” Tone and style notes: Words or phrases that feel like “us,” and those that do not. Inclusive language guidelines: Preferred alternatives for outdated or exclusionary terms. Formatting preferences: How you write dates, times, numbers, and headings. Platform-specific tweaks: Slight tone shifts for social posts versus formal reports. The best way to figure out what will be the most useful to include is to consider what information you would want to relay when onboarding a new team member or briefing a new freelancer. Or even just what are things you are tired of repeating. And obviously, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Nothing on your style sheet has to be set in stone. Add entries when questions come up, remove ones that no longer serve you, and let it evolve with your brand. How to get your team to actually use your style sheet We’re all familiar with this: whether it’s organizing your closet or maintaining a file database, a system is only any good if it gets used. So, once you’ve built out your style sheet, how do you get your team on board with using it? While it might take a bit of time to get in the habit of using a style sheet, making it both easy and convenient goes a long way. Here are some tips to help make it stick: Put it where people already work: Use a shared platform like Google Docs, Notion, or Confluence so it is always a click away. Let everyone comment or suggest changes so it stays relevant. Give it an owner: Assign someone to keep it updated. This is often the content lead, brand manager, or editor, but the key is having a single point of accountability. Make updates part of the workflow: Add a quick “check the style sheet” step to your editorial review or QA process. If a new style decision comes up during review, add it on the spot. Remind and reinforce: Share quick wins or funny “we almost sent this” moments in team chats to keep the style sheet top of mind. The easier it is to access and the more natural it feels to use, the more your style sheet will become second nature for your whole team. What’s the takeaway? At its heart, a style sheet is about making life easier. It keeps all those small but important editorial choices in one place so you can stop reinventing the wheel every time you write an email, launch a campaign, or edit a blog post. It cuts down on the guesswork, speeds up reviews, and helps your brand sound like one clear, confident voice no matter who is doing the writing. You don’t need to build it perfectly on day one. Start with the questions your team asks most often, the style debates that keep resurfacing, and the decisions you want everyone to remember. Add to it over time, let it grow with your brand, and watch how much smoother your content process becomes. The sooner you start, the sooner you will see the difference in clarity, consistency, and team alignment. To make it even easier, we have created a free template you can download and use as the starting point for your own style sheet. Grab it, fill in your first entries, and take the first step toward a brand voice people recognize and trust every single time they hear it. 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WunderWriter WunderWriter is your always-on Head of Content AI Agent, helping you review, refine, and elevate your writing with expert best practices—effortlessly.
WunderSOP If it’s stuck in your head, it’s slowing you down. Instantly turn your know-how into structured, shareable SOPs—without the busywork.