General Writing Principles

With every single piece of content that Earthmover publishes — from social media and video to direct mail and special offers — we aim to continually empower, respect, and guide our audience. Our tone and voice create the personality that is Earthmover. The tone and voice of our language should inform and encourage our readers as well as give them the respect they deserve. This means talking to readers in a human tone while being considerate and inclusive. A general rule we like to remember is not to market at people; communicate with them instead.

Let this section of the style guide help inform your writing style by ensuring our content is clear, useful, friendly, and appropriate.

Rules for writing Earthmover

In terms of external marketing, we’ll keep this short and sweet — it’s Earthmover Credit Union. Not EarthMover. Not Earthmovers. Not ECU. And certainly not Earth Mover. You’re welcome to simply refer to us as Earthmover alone as long as the Primary or Secondary logo is clearly visible or you’ve previously referred to us as Earthmover Credit Union in the copy. Using Earthmover CU is acceptable, but we try to avoid it unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Voice and Tone

Regardless of who is reading or listening to our words, simply being aware of our voice and the tone it carries is half the battle. So what’s the difference between voice and tone? Well, we have the same voice all the time, however, our tone can fluctuate. Our tone can change depending on many things — who we’re talking with, what we’re talking about, or what outcome we have in mind.

Voice

At Earthmover, we’re customers and members, too. We also know that the world of banking and finance contains a minefield of marketing-based, confusing, and sometimes predatory terminology. We’re aware of this and we’re not fans. That’s why we instead aim to speak like the experienced and compassionate financial partner we wish we had back in the day. Here are some general guidelines to consider when writing copy:

Less is more. When it comes to words, we think that choosing quality over quantity has a much stronger impact — especially when it comes to headlines. But that also goes for body and supporting copy. In an age of shortened attention spans (including ours) a reader is far more likely to abandon a paragraph of copy when they see how long it is.

Aim to be plainspoken. As we mentioned above, the financial world is muddled by hyperbolic language, acronyms, upsells and over-promises. Do your best to reduce that and put value and clarity above all. Avoid distractions like fluffy metaphors and cheap plays to emotion.

Remain genuine. We understand our member’s financial needs because we have them too. By relating to our member’s challenges and financial goals, we can then speak to them in a passionate and familiar voice. Remember, we’re all human here.

Be a translator. We know the financial playing field well, but that isn’t the case for all of our members or prospective members. When addressing products or financial facets that are clear to us, remember to use words that are clear to everyone. Inclusivity is key here.

Tone

The right tone should fall naturally in line with your voice — the two go hand-in-hand. One key characteristic of Earthmover’s tone is that it’s both informal and clear. Speaking with an informal tone doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be clear. We can be both. We don’t take ourselves too seriously but then again, it’s not about us, it’s about the members. Speaking with an informal tone doesn’t mean we need to dumb down our sentences or vocabulary either. Imagine meeting your best friend’s twin sibling for the first time — you’d start with a similar tone as you would with your friend but at the same time, you want to come across as friendly, personable, and yourself.

Try and remain consistent with this tone throughout all writing. A consistent tone will create a voice that our members won’t be afraid of and will want to return to again and again. Additionally, never display words in all capital letters (e.g. “Here’s a GREAT loan for YOU!”). There’s no need to shout.