T08 Editorial style and voice guide
Editorial style and voice guide
One reference for how every writer, editor and freelancer sounds, formats and fact-checks content for Bayview Credit Union. Maintained by Quarry Lane Content. Use this guide before drafting anything for Bayview, from blog posts to email subject lines, and check it again before a piece is submitted for compliance review.
Sample template: the firm, people, clients and figures are fictional and shown for illustration only.
Live example from the Dashboards app, shown with Horizon Foods's demo data.
Voice principles
| We are | We are not |
|---|---|
| Plain-spoken about money, even when the topic is complex | Jargon-heavy or full of banking acronyms without explanation |
| Warm and specific, using real member situations | Generic stock-photo cheerfulness |
| Confident about what we offer | Pushy about products the reader did not ask about |
| Careful with numbers, always sourced and dated | Rounding or estimating figures for effect |
| Second person, "you," addressing the member directly | Third person "members" throughout a piece |
Voice by content format
- Open with the member's situation, not with Bayview as the subject of the first sentence.
- Headings are questions or plain statements a member would search for, for example "How joint accounts work at Bayview."
- 900 to 1,400 words. One clear action at the end: apply, calculate, or talk to a branch.
- Cite the source and date for every rate or fee mentioned.
- Subject lines under 55 characters, no more than one exclamation point per campaign, never in the subject line.
- Preview text finishes the subject line's thought; it does not repeat it.
- One primary call to action per email. A second, lower-emphasis link is fine.
- Lead with the benefit to the member, not the product name.
- No unexplained abbreviations: write "annual percentage yield (APY)" on first use per post, "APY" after.
- Never state a rate in a caption without a footnote linking to the current rate page.
- Under 120 characters. One idea only.
- Never imply urgency about account security that is not real, for example "act now" language for routine maintenance.
Do and don't
If a sentence would confuse a member calling the branch to ask about it, rewrite it. That test has caught more problems than any style rule.
Don't: "Our best-in-class savings solutions maximize your financial potential."
Do: "Bayview's Share Savings account earns 3.10% APY as of Sep 1, 2026, with no minimum balance."
Don't: "Everyone qualifies for our new rate."
Do: "Members who open a new Share Savings account by Oct 31, 2026 qualify for the 3.10% introductory APY. See full terms."
Word list
| Use | Avoid | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Credit union | Bank | Bayview is a credit union; the terms are not interchangeable for this client |
| Member | Customer, client | Bayview uses "member" in all owned content |
| Annual percentage yield (APY) | Interest rate, on savings products | APY is the regulated, comparable figure for savings; "interest rate" is used only for loans |
| Annual percentage rate (APR) | Interest rate, on loan products | Matches Bayview's disclosure language for lending products |
| Branch | Location, store | Consistent with Bayview's own site navigation |
| As of [date] | Currently, right now | Every rate must carry a dated "as of" reference |
Claims and compliance
Every rate, fee or eligibility claim needs a source and a compliance check
Do not publish a specific APY, APR, fee amount or eligibility rule without citing Bayview's current published rate sheet and the date it was pulled. Any comparison to a competitor's rate, or any claim like "highest," "best," or "assured," must go to Marcus Webb for compliance review before publishing, with no exceptions for social captions or email. A missed review is a compliance incident, not an editorial one.
Escalation
If a rate changes after a piece is drafted but before it publishes, the writer flags it in the shared tracker and does not update the number without a fresh source pull. Two published corrections in the last quarter came from writers updating a figure from memory instead of the current rate sheet.
Citation rules
- Every rate or fee: cite the Bayview rate sheet URL and the pull date, in a footnote or an internal comment visible to editors, not to members.
- Every regulatory statement, such as NCUA insurance language, must match Bayview's approved boilerplate exactly; do not paraphrase it.
- Third-party statistics (for example, national savings averages) need a named source and a publication date no older than 18 months.
- Freelancers submit sources in the shared citation sheet alongside the draft; a draft without sources is returned unread.
How to use this template
Duplicate this page per client and keep it updated as the client's compliance rules change. If a required value is missing, mark the field Needs review rather than guessing at house style.
| Variable | Meaning | Required |
|---|---|---|
{{client.name}} | Client this voice guide covers | Required |
{{editorial.owner}} | Agency editor who maintains the guide | Required |
{{compliance.contact}} | Client-side compliance or legal reviewer, if regulated | Optional |
{{voice.principles_table}} | We are / we are not table | Required |
{{wordlist.terms}} | Preferred and banned terms with reasons | Required |
{{claims.review_rule}} | What claims require review before publishing | Required |
{{guide.last_reviewed}} | Date the guide was last reviewed | Optional |
Freelancers must confirm in writing that they have read the current version before their first assignment on this account.