playbook-social-media-brand-style-guide

name

playbook-social-media-brand-style-guide

description

Generates a complete, formatted Social Media Brand Style Guide ready to hand over to a client's social media manager or in-house team. The guide covers brand voice, platform tone adjustments, vocabulary standards, emoji policy, image and video standards, hashtag rules, content approval workflow, breaking-news pause protocol, and language and grammar rules — everything an executor needs to maintain brand consistency without consultant oversight. Invoke when onboarding a new client (before content production begins), whenever a client's social media manager changes, or when a client requests a standalone governance document for their team.

Social Media Brand Style Guide Generator

Produce one complete, formatted Brand Style Guide as a client-ready deliverable. This is not advice or a framework — it is a finished document the client hands to whoever manages their social media. Every section must be filled in with client-specific content. Placeholder text must not appear in the final output.

Apply British English throughout. Follow the east-african-english skill for prose register. Default to the Uganda/East Africa market unless the client specifies otherwise.

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Use when

• Generates a complete, formatted Social Media Brand Style Guide ready to hand over to a client's social media manager or in-house team. The guide covers brand voice, platform tone adjustments, vocabulary standards, emoji policy, image and video standards, hashtag rules, content approval workflow, breaking-news pause protocol, and language and grammar rules — everything an executor needs to maintain brand consistency without consultant oversight. Invoke when onboarding a new client (before content production begins), whenever a client's social media manager changes, or when a client requests a standalone governance document for their team.
• Use this skill when it is the closest match to the requested deliverable or workflow.

Do not use when

• Do not use this skill for graphic design, video production, software development, or legal advice beyond the repository's stated scope.
• Do not use it when another skill in this repository is clearly more specific to the requested deliverable.

Workflow

1. Collect the required inputs or source material before drafting, unless this skill explicitly generates the intake itself.
2. Follow the section order and decision rules in this SKILL.md; do not skip mandatory steps or required fields.
3. Review the draft against the quality criteria, then deliver the final output in markdown unless the skill specifies another format.

Anti-Patterns

• Do not invent client facts, performance data, budgets, or approvals that were not provided or clearly inferred from evidence.
• Do not skip required inputs, mandatory sections, or quality checks just to make the output shorter.
• Do not drift into out-of-scope work such as code implementation, design production, or unsupported legal conclusions.

Outputs

• A structured markdown document, plan, playbook, or strategy ready for client-facing or internal use.

References

• Use the inline instructions in this skill now. If a references/ directory is added later, treat its files as the deeper source material and keep this SKILL.md execution-focused.

Required Input

If the 04-brand-voice-intake has already been completed for this client, request that document and extract the inputs from it. Do not ask the client to repeat information already captured.

If 04-brand-voice-intake has not been completed, collect the following before generating anything:

• Client business name — exact spelling as it should appear in all communications
• Industry and primary services or products
• Country and city — defaults to Kampala, Uganda
• Primary goal for social media — awareness, leads, sales, community building, retention
• Three brand tone adjectives — the client's own words; these are mandatory. Do not proceed without them.
• Active social media platforms — list all current and planned platforms
• Brand colours — hex codes if available; descriptive if not
• Approved product/service names — exact spelling for every product or service
• Competitor names — how (or whether) to refer to competitors in content
• Content approver — name and role of the person who must approve posts before publishing
• Content drafter — name and role of the person who creates content
• Turnaround time expectation — how many hours between draft and approval deadline

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Output Structure

Generate the guide as a complete, headed document in the following order. Use the section titles exactly as listed.

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SECTION 1: BRAND VOICE

1.1 Voice Definition

State the three client-supplied tone adjectives. For each adjective, produce a "we are X, not Y" pairing that clarifies where the brand sits on a spectrum:

We are…	We are not…
[Adjective 1 — e.g. Warm]	[Its shadow side — e.g. Familiar to the point of being unprofessional]
[Adjective 2]	[Its shadow side]
[Adjective 3]	[Its shadow side]

Follow this table with a tone scale statement using the format below. Mark the brand's position with [HERE]:

Formal ←————————[HERE]————————→ Informal

Write one sentence explaining why this position is correct for this brand and audience.

1.2 Brand Voice Summary

Write one paragraph (5–7 sentences) that any new team member reads before writing a single word for this client. Describe the brand voice as if describing a person: who are they, what do they say, what do they never say? This paragraph must be specific to this client — it must be impossible to apply it to a different brand without rewriting.

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SECTION 2: PLATFORM-BY-PLATFORM TONE GUIDE

For each platform the client uses, generate a tone guide entry. Omit platforms the client is not active on and does not plan to use.

Use this format for each platform:

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[PLATFORM NAME]

Tone in one sentence: [How the brand sounds on this specific platform]

Rules:

1. [Specific rule for this platform — formatting, length, opening style, etc.]
2. [Specific rule]
3. [Specific rule]

Example post: [A worked example using this client's actual product or service — not a generic placeholder]

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Cover the following platforms if in scope:

Facebook — conversational, community-focused. Lead with a question or an invitation. Short paragraphs. This is where the brand acts as a neighbour, not a broadcaster.

Instagram — visual-first, aspirational or relatable depending on personas. The caption supports the image. The first line must work without the "more" button. Hashtags go at the end.

LinkedIn — professional, credibility-driven. Lead with an industry observation or data point. Full sentences. One strong idea per post. No more than one emoji if used at all.

WhatsApp — personal, direct, value-led. Treat every message as a one-to-one conversation, not a broadcast. Lead with context and value. One clear call to action. Maximum three sentences.

TikTok — energetic, entertaining, hook-first. The first word of the caption and the first second of video must earn attention. Use the vocabulary the audience actually uses.

X / Twitter — concise, opinionated, topical. One strong idea per post. Cut every word that is not working. A take or a question — never a press release.

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SECTION 3: VOCABULARY STANDARDS

3.1 Words and Phrases to Use

List 10–15 preferred terms drawn from the client's tone adjectives, industry, and EA professional register. Format as a table:

Word or Phrase	Why it fits this brand
[Term]	[One-line rationale]

3.2 Words and Phrases to Avoid

List 10–15 terms to avoid: overused marketing clichés, off-brand language, competitor terms, and anything that conflicts with the tone attributes. Always include the standard EA avoid list: "groundbreaking", "revolutionary", "game-changing", "amazing", "awesome", "unleash", "skyrocket". Format as a table:

Word or Phrase	Why to avoid
[Term]	[One-line rationale]

3.3 Brand-Specific Terminology

List every product, service, campaign, or internal term that has a specific approved spelling or formatting. Misuse of these terms in published content is not acceptable.

Term	Correct usage	Common error to avoid
[Product/service name]	[Exact spelling and capitalisation]	[e.g. Do not abbreviate; do not lowercase]

3.4 Competitor Naming Rules

State the policy clearly:

• Naming policy: [e.g. Do not name competitors directly in any published content / Refer to the category only, not specific brands / Approved reference: "other providers in this space"]
• Comparative claims: [Permitted with evidence / Not permitted]
• If a competitor tags or mentions the brand: [Escalate to approver / Respond using the approved template below / Ignore]

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SECTION 4: EMOJI AND STICKER POLICY

State the overall emoji philosophy in one sentence (e.g. "This brand uses emojis functionally and sparingly — they support the message, they do not replace it.").

4.1 Platform Emoji Limits

Platform	Emojis permitted?	Maximum per post	Approved types
Facebook	Yes / Sparingly / No	[Number]	[e.g. Functional and expressive]
Instagram	Yes / Sparingly / No	[Number]
LinkedIn	Sparingly / No	[Number — recommend 0–1]	[Functional only]
WhatsApp	Yes / Sparingly / No	[Number]
TikTok	Yes / Sparingly / No	[Number]
X / Twitter	Yes / Sparingly / No	[Number]

4.2 Emoji Categories

Define the policy for each category:

• Functional emojis (✅ ➡️ 📌 🔗 — organise or direct): [Permitted / Not permitted]
• Expressive emojis (😊 🙌 💙 — convey emotion): [Permitted / Limited to Facebook and WhatsApp only / Not permitted]
• Decorative emojis (🌟 ✨ 💫 — pure decoration): [Permitted / Not permitted]

4.3 Emojis to Avoid

List 5–8 specific emojis that are off-brand for this client, with a one-line note for each:

Emoji	Reason to avoid
🔥	Overused; signals hype rather than substance
💯	Informal and aggressive in tone
🚀	Start-up cliché; does not fit this brand's register
[Add client-specific entries]

4.4 When Not to Use Emojis

Emojis are never used in:

• Crisis statements or holding statements (any level)
• Formal announcements (regulatory, legal, compliance)
• Condolence or sympathy posts
• Any post referencing national tragedies or disasters (see Section 8)
• LinkedIn posts on sensitive professional topics

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SECTION 5: IMAGE AND VIDEO STANDARDS

5.1 Aspect Ratios by Platform

Platform	Format	Recommended ratio	Notes
Facebook Feed	Image / Video	1:1 or 4:5	4:5 maximises screen space on mobile
Facebook Stories	Image / Video	9:16	Full screen; leave 14% top and bottom safe zone
Instagram Feed	Image / Video	1:1 or 4:5	4:5 preferred
Instagram Stories	Image / Video	9:16	Same safe zone as Facebook Stories
Instagram Reels	Video	9:16
TikTok	Video	9:16
LinkedIn	Image	1200 × 627px (1.91:1)	Landscape preferred for link posts
WhatsApp	Image	1:1 or 4:5	Avoid cropping faces
X / Twitter	Image	16:9 or 1:1
YouTube Thumbnail	Image	16:9	1280 × 720px minimum

5.2 Watermark and Branding Policy

State the watermark rule clearly:

• All original content: [Logo placement — e.g. bottom-right corner, 10% of frame width, 70% opacity]
• User-generated content shared with permission: [e.g. Add logo watermark before reposting]
• Stories and Reels: [Logo in corner / No watermark — platform adds brand tag automatically]
• Video intro/outro: [Duration — e.g. 2-second branded end card on all videos over 60 seconds]

5.3 Colour Palette

Colour role	Hex code or description	When to use
Primary	[Code]	Dominant colour in all graphics
Secondary	[Code]	Accents and contrast
Accent	[Code]	Calls to action; use sparingly
Background	[Code]	Default graphic background
Text on dark	[Code]	Overlays on dark images
Text on light	[Code]	Overlays on light images

Colours to avoid: [List any colours associated with competitors or that clash with the palette.]

5.4 Photo Style

• Subject matter: [People / Products / Environments / Combination]
• People in images: [Real staff and customers preferred / Models permitted / Stock images: see policy below]
• Setting: [Indoor / Outdoor / Both — specify which settings work for this brand]
• Mood: [Warm / Neutral / Bold / Energetic] — [One sentence on what this looks like in practice]
• Production level: [Highly produced / Balanced / Raw and authentic] — justify with reference to the persona
• Stock photography policy: [Permitted only when no original image is available / Avoid entirely / Permitted for LinkedIn only] — if permitted, rule: images must reflect the East African demographic of the audience

5.5 Approved Filters and Presets

• Approved presets: [List preset names if the client uses Lightroom, VSCO, or a custom filter — e.g. "Warm Natural", "Client Preset A"]
• Filters to avoid: [e.g. Heavy black-and-white, oversaturated filters, beauty smoothing filters on product shots]

5.6 Video Length Standards

Platform	Recommended length	Maximum
Facebook Feed	60–90 seconds	3 minutes
Instagram Reels	15–30 seconds	90 seconds
TikTok	15–60 seconds	3 minutes
LinkedIn	30–90 seconds	10 minutes
YouTube	5–15 minutes	No limit
WhatsApp Status	15–30 seconds	30 seconds

Longer formats require client approval before production.

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SECTION 6: HASHTAG USAGE RULES

6.1 Branded Hashtags

List 1–3 branded hashtags unique to this client. For each:

#[Hashtag]

• Purpose: [All organic content / Campaign-specific / Community and UGC]
• Platforms: [Where to use it]
• Usage rule: [Every post / Campaigns only / Specific content types]
• Growing adoption: [One-line instruction — e.g. "Ask followers to use this hashtag when sharing their experience"]

Advise the client to search each hashtag on Instagram and TikTok before first use to confirm it is not in widespread use by another brand.

6.2 Campaign Hashtags

State the protocol:

• Campaign hashtags are created fresh for each campaign and retired afterwards
• Campaign hashtags must be approved by [approver name/role] before use
• Format: [e.g. #[ClientName][CampaignYear] or #[CampaignTheme][Location]]

6.3 Community and Discovery Hashtags

Provide a set of supplementary hashtags for reach. These are not branded — they rotate:

• Industry hashtags: [3–5 relevant to the client's sector — e.g. #UgandaFinance #EastAfricaBusiness]
• Location hashtags: [3–5 — e.g. #Kampala #Uganda #EastAfrica #KampalaBusinesses]
• Review frequency: The content team reviews and refreshes community hashtags monthly

Branded hashtags are permanent. Community hashtags are refreshed monthly. Campaign hashtags are retired at campaign end.

6.4 Maximum Hashtag Count by Platform

Platform	Recommended	Maximum	Notes
Instagram	5–10	30	Place at end of caption or in first comment
Facebook	2–3	5	Fewer hashtags perform better on Facebook
LinkedIn	3–5	5	Industry and professional topic hashtags only
TikTok	3–5	8	Include at least one trending hashtag where relevant
X / Twitter	1–2	2	Embedded in sentence where possible
WhatsApp	0	0	No hashtags in WhatsApp messages

6.5 Hashtag Research Process

Before adding a new hashtag to the rotation:

1. Search the hashtag on Instagram and TikTok — check post volume and recent content type
2. Confirm recent posts are brand-safe and do not share the hashtag with unrelated or harmful content
3. Check that the hashtag is active — minimum 1,000 posts on Instagram
4. Add approved hashtags to the master hashtag list [stored in: specify location — e.g. Google Drive / Notion]
5. Review and retire underperforming hashtags monthly

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SECTION 7: CONTENT APPROVAL WORKFLOW

7.1 Roles

Role	Name	Responsibility
Content Drafter	[Name]	Writes and designs all content; creates the draft for review
Content Reviewer	[Name or "not applicable"]	Reviews for brand voice, accuracy, and grammar before approval
Content Approver	[Name]	Final sign-off before any post is scheduled or published

7.2 Standard Approval Process

1. Drafter creates content and submits to Reviewer (or Approver if no separate reviewer) via [channel — e.g. WhatsApp, Google Drive, Trello]
2. Reviewer checks against this style guide and returns feedback or approves within [X hours]
3. Approver gives final sign-off within [X hours of receiving the reviewed draft]
4. Drafter schedules the post on confirmation of approval — not before
5. Turnaround deadline: All content must be submitted for approval at least [X hours/days] before the intended publish time

7.3 Urgent Content

For time-sensitive posts (breaking news response, event announcements, same-day promotions):

• Drafter alerts Approver by WhatsApp immediately with the draft
• Approver has [X hours] to respond — if no response, content is held, not published
• Verbal approval is not sufficient — approval must be confirmed in writing (WhatsApp message or email)

7.4 What Requires Additional Approval

The following content types require explicit approval from [Approver name/role] before drafting begins — not just before publishing:

• Posts referencing competitor products or services
• Posts making any claim involving prices, statistics, or performance figures
• Posts featuring a named individual (other than own staff in approved formats)
• Any content related to a current news event or sensitive national topic
• Collaboration or partnership announcements

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SECTION 8: BREAKING-NEWS CONTENT PAUSE PROTOCOL

When a significant national or regional event occurs — a national tragedy, a major disaster, a public figure's death, civil unrest, or any event that dominates national conversation — all scheduled content must be paused immediately.

8.1 Triggers for a Content Pause

Pause all scheduled and planned content when:

• A national mourning period is declared by the Government of Uganda (or the relevant national government)
• A major disaster, attack, or tragedy is reported by two or more credible national news outlets
• A public figure's death is announced and is dominating social media conversation
• A significant political or civil event makes any commercial content appear tone-deaf

8.2 Pause Procedure

1. [Content Drafter / Social Media Manager] identifies the trigger event
2. Pause all scheduled posts immediately in [scheduling tool — e.g. Buffer, Hootsuite, Meta Business Suite]
3. WhatsApp [Approver name] within 30 minutes: "Content pause triggered. [One-sentence summary of event]. Awaiting your direction."
4. Do not post anything — including condolences — without approver sign-off
5. Do not resume normal content until the approver gives explicit instruction

8.3 During the Pause

• Monitor the situation closely — check credible news sources every two hours
• If the brand wishes to post a condolence or acknowledgement, draft it and submit for approval before posting
• Condolence posts: plain text, no emojis, no branded hashtags, no calls to action
• Do not use a tragedy as a content opportunity

8.4 Resuming Content

Resume normal content only when:

• The immediate crisis or mourning period has passed
• The approver gives explicit written approval to resume
• The first post back is neutral or informational — not promotional

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SECTION 9: LANGUAGE AND GRAMMAR RULES

Apply these rules consistently across all platforms and all content types.

9.1 English Standard

• Primary standard: British English — organisation, colour, programme, behaviour, analyse, recognise, centre, enquiry, favour, licence (noun), license (verb)
• Local register: Incorporate East African professional English where appropriate — follow the east-african-english skill for guidance
• Spell-checker setting: Set to English (United Kingdom) — not English (United States)

9.2 Number Formatting

Type	Format	Example
Numbers 1–9	Spell out	"three locations", "seven days"
Numbers 10 and above	Numerals	"15 products", "100 customers"
Large numbers	Numeral + word	"1.2 million", "50,000 customers"
Percentages	Numeral + % (no space)	"25%" not "25 percent" in social copy
Telephone numbers	Local format	[phone]

9.3 Currency Formatting

• Primary currency: UGX (Uganda Shillings) — format as UGX 50,000 (not USh, not UGX50,000 without space)
• Comma as thousands separator: UGX 1,500,000
• Avoid abbreviations unless space is a hard constraint (e.g. story text) — in that case: 1.5M
• USD references: Use USD [amount] — only where the product or service is priced in dollars

9.4 Date and Time Formatting

• Date format: DD/MM/YYYY — e.g. 19/03/2026 (never MM/DD/YYYY)
• Written dates in copy: 19 March 2026 (no ordinal suffix — not "19th March")
• Time: 12-hour clock with am/pm — e.g. 10:00am, 2:30pm (no space before am/pm)
• Day ranges: Monday–Friday (en dash, not hyphen)

9.5 Capitalisation Rules

• Brand name: Always as specified in Section 3.3 — check every post
• Post copy: Sentence case only — not Title Case For Every Word
• Platform names: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, WhatsApp, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube — capitalise exactly as shown
• Job titles: Capitalise only when preceding a name — "Managing Director Jane Akello" but "the managing director"
• Acronyms: Use on first instance only after spelling out in full — e.g. "small and medium enterprises (SMEs)"

9.6 Punctuation Standards

• Apostrophes: Contractions are acceptable on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp. Avoid on LinkedIn.
• Exclamation marks: Maximum one per post. Never two consecutive. Not used in formal announcements or LinkedIn.
• Oxford comma: Use in all lists of three or more items — "strategy, content, and reporting"
• Ellipsis: Use sparingly and only for genuine suspense or continuation — not as a trailing sentence ender in formal posts
• Em dash (—): Use for parenthetical asides and emphasis — not a hyphen

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Quality Criteria

Output meets production standard when it satisfies all of the following:

• The brand voice section produces "we are X, not Y" pairings that are specific and actionable — a new team member can use them to make a real writing decision, not just understand an abstract principle
• The platform tone guide shows a genuine, audible tonal shift between platforms using the same client's product or service — the worked examples are not the same sentence with different punctuation
• The vocabulary tables contain a minimum of three terms specific to this client's industry; generic EA professional vocabulary does not fill the list
• The emoji policy is specific enough to act on without further discussion — entries such as "use occasionally" or "as appropriate" are not acceptable
• The image and video standards section contains the client's actual colour codes and approved terminology — it is not a template with placeholders
• The approval workflow names specific roles and states specific turnaround times in hours — it does not use vague language such as "promptly" or "in due course"
• The breaking-news pause protocol names the specific approver and communication channel — it does not use generic role descriptions
• The language and grammar section applies the correct UGX formatting, DD/MM/YYYY dates, and British English throughout — inconsistency between sections is a failure