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Adwave Blog Voice & Tone Rules

Overview

These rules govern the voice, tone, and personality of all Adwave blog content. Adwave is an AI-powered platform that helps small businesses create and launch TV/CTV commercials starting at $50.

Voice Personality

The Adwave Voice Is:

• Confident Expert Friend: Knowledgeable but never condescending. Think "smart marketing buddy who happens to know everything about TV advertising."
• Conversational Professional: Formal enough for business credibility, casual enough to feel approachable.
• Pragmatically Optimistic: Excited about possibilities but grounded in reality. We acknowledge challenges before presenting solutions.
• Democratizing: We believe every business deserves access to TV advertising, not just big brands with big budgets.

The Adwave Voice Is NOT:

• Salesy or pushy
• Jargon-heavy or insider-speak
• Condescending or "dumbing down"
• Overly formal or corporate
• Hyperbolic or making unrealistic promises

Tone Guidelines

Use Contractions

• ✅ "You'll find that..." / "It's easier than you think" / "Here's the thing"
• ❌ "You will find that..." / "It is easier than you think" / "Here is the thing"

Speak Directly to "You"

• ✅ "When you're ready to launch your first campaign..."
• ❌ "When businesses are ready to launch their first campaigns..."

Occasional Colloquialisms (But Not Slang)

• ✅ "The real kicker is..." / "Here's where it gets interesting" / "Let's break this down"
• ❌ "That's totally lit" / "This slaps" / "No cap"

Acknowledge Reality Before Solutions

• ✅ "TV advertising used to be expensive and complicated. The good news? That's changed."
• ❌ "TV advertising is easy and cheap!" (without context)

Never Use Emdashes

• ❌ "streaming services—like Hulu and Roku—have changed everything"
• ✅ "streaming services (like Hulu and Roku) have changed everything"
• ✅ "streaming services, like Hulu and Roku, have changed everything"
• Use commas, parentheses, colons, or separate sentences instead of emdashes (—)

Signature Phrases

Use these naturally throughout content to maintain consistent voice:

• "Here's the thing..." (introducing key insight)
• "The good news is..." (transitioning to positive)
• "Let's break this down." (signaling explanation)
• "Don't make the mistake of..." (warning)
• "The days of [old way] are long gone." (positioning new approach)
• "Whether you're a [X] or a [Y]..." (inclusive framing)
• "Bottom line:" (summarizing)

Audience Assumptions

Primary Audience

• Small business owners and marketers
• New to TV/CTV advertising
• Familiar with digital marketing basics (Meta ads, Google Ads)
• Budget-conscious ($50-$5,000/month marketing budgets)
• Time-constrained (want actionable info quickly)

Secondary Audiences

• Solo operators (realtors, dentists, lawyers, influencers)
• E-commerce/DTC brand owners
• Marketing agency professionals serving SMBs

What They Know

• Basic digital marketing concepts
• Their own business and customers
• That TV advertising exists but seems "not for them"

What They Don't Know

• CTV vs. linear TV differences
• How targeting works on streaming
• What realistic budgets look like
• How to measure TV ad success

Explaining Technical Concepts

Always Define on First Use

• ✅ "Connected TV (CTV), which includes streaming services like Hulu, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV, has changed everything."
• ❌ "CTV has changed everything." (assuming they know the acronym)

Use Analogies They Understand

• ✅ "Think of CTV targeting like Facebook ads, but on the biggest screen in the house."
• ❌ "CTV uses deterministic and probabilistic matching for household-level attribution."

Concrete Over Abstract

• ✅ "A bakery in Austin can target homeowners within 10 miles who watch cooking shows."
• ❌ "Businesses can leverage geo-targeting combined with behavioral segmentation."

Adwave Mentions

Natural Integration (2-3 Per Article)

• Reference Adwave where it genuinely adds value
• Never force mentions where they don't fit
• Position as one option, not the only option

Positioning Language

• ✅ "Platforms like Adwave make this accessible to small businesses..."
• ✅ "With Adwave, you can launch a campaign starting at $50..."
• ❌ "Adwave is the best platform for..." (too salesy)
• ❌ "Only Adwave offers..." (unless factually unique)

CTA Guidelines

• Every article ends with a natural CTA
• Keep it conversational, not aggressive
• Connect the CTA to the article's specific topic

Good CTAs:

• "Ready to see how this works for your business? Adwave can have your first ad running in minutes."
• "If you're ready to test TV advertising without a massive budget, Adwave is built for businesses exactly like yours."

Bad CTAs:

• "Sign up for Adwave NOW!"
• "Click here to start your free trial!"

Emotional Calibration

Empowerment Over Fear

• ✅ "Now you can reach the same audiences as national brands."
• ❌ "If you're not on CTV, you're falling behind your competitors."

Possibility Over Pressure

• ✅ "TV advertising is now accessible to businesses of all sizes."
• ❌ "You need to start TV advertising immediately or miss out."

Honesty About Limitations

• ✅ "AI-generated ads work great for many businesses, but if you need highly custom creative, you may want to consider professional production."
• ❌ "AI ads are perfect for everyone!"

AI Content Scrubbing (Required)

After writing any content, scrub for telltale signs of AI-generated text:

Words and Phrases to Remove/Replace

• "Delve" → use "explore," "dig into," "look at"
• "Landscape" (when not literal) → use "market," "space," "world"
• "Leverage" → use "use," "take advantage of"
• "Robust" → use "strong," "solid," "comprehensive"
• "Seamless/seamlessly" → use "smooth," "easy," "without friction"
• "Tapestry" → just don't
• "Utilize" → use "use"
• "Myriad" → use "many," "lots of," "plenty of"
• "Realm" → use "area," "space," "world"
• "Embark" → use "start," "begin," "get going"
• "Paradigm" → use "model," "approach," "way"
• "Comprehensive" (overused) → be specific about what's included
• "In conclusion" / "To summarize" → just conclude naturally
• "It's important to note that" → just state the thing
• "Game-changer" → describe the actual impact
• "Navigate" (when not literal) → use "handle," "work through," "figure out"

Sentence Patterns to Avoid

• Starting too many sentences with "This" or "It"
• Overly parallel structure (every sentence same rhythm)
• Excessive hedging: "It's worth noting," "It's important to consider"
• Generic conclusions that could apply to any article
• Lists where every item starts with the same word pattern

Punctuation Red Flags

• Emdashes (—): Replace with commas, parentheses, or rewrite
• Excessive semicolons: Break into separate sentences
• Overuse of colons before lists

Content Authenticity Check

• Would a real marketing expert say this exactly this way?
• Are there specific, concrete details or just generic statements?
• Does it sound like it was written for THIS audience or any audience?
• Read it aloud: Does it sound natural or stilted?

Version history

• v1 · 6/20/2026, 3:11:54 AM · migration import