What you’ll find
• Goals & Principles
• Voice & Tone
• Grammar Rule
From product to marketing and from consumer to enterprise, our audiences vary, and therefore the way we write and speak can vary, too.
Goals & Principles
When writing on behalf of the SeatGeek brand, every piece of communication should aim to reflect our overall brand strategy:
Copy Principles
With every email, banner ad, one-pager, deck slide or button we write, we should aim to:
Be a fan first
We’re not some corporation who’s going to come in and shake things up. Well, we may shake things up, but it will be for the benefit of the fan. Because we’re a fan, too. So let’s speak like one.
Wear your expertise
on your sleeve
Let’s stick to what we know: ticketing technology and live events. Everything we write, post, talk or tweet about should in some way highlight our expertise within the live event experience: the technology, the stadiums, the inside-info.
Hype up
the crowd
Elevate the narrative of every write-up to its highest level. It’s not a playoff game, it’s Game 7. It’s not a concert, it’s a stop on the World Tour. We may not be changing the world, but we’re changing the world of live events.
Writing about..
Some guidelines on how we talk about ourselves, our partners and the fans.
SeatGeek
Let’s face it: “SeatGeek” is tough to say – let’s not make it any more difficult to read. That’s why always spell it with a capitalized ‘S’ and ‘G’ and hold the space in between them.
We should never break up our name to identify other products or services (we’re looking at you, SnugGeek).
Fans
Our fans vary greatly in who they are, where they come from, what they do, what events they attend and so on, but what they have in common is extreme passion for the teams and performers they support.
We should avoid pointing out what makes our fans different, but instead unite them in what they have in common. Let’s treat our fans the way we would want to be treated. After all, we’re fans, too.
Partners
We couldn’t do what we do without the help and participation of our various industry friends: clients, sellers, promoters and more.
In our communications, we should refer to them as just that: “partners” vs. “clients” – truly treating them like equals, not a revenue-driving mechanism.
Voice &
Tone
“The SeatGeek”
We couldn’t do what we do without the help and participation of our various industry friends: clients, sellers, promoters and more.
In our communications, we should refer to them as just that: “partners” vs. “clients” – truly treating them like equals, not a revenue-driving mechanism.
Spirited
We encourage and instigate, motivate and inspire.
We’re that friend that treats Tuesdays like Saturdays and GOD do you love-hate them for it. We do this job because live events are our religion and we are here to proselytize, baby. Our optimism and passion are infectious.
Copy diminishes the excitement of the user and is quite boring.
Copy leans into the anticipation that a user is feeling, but channels it to provide useful information.
Relatable
We are not a corporation, a bot or another ticketing giant making empty promises.
We appeal to emotion, are not afraid of humor and speak as conversationally as we can. We hope for the best but know things won’t always go our way. When that happens, we’re as responsive and compassionate as fellow fans can be.
Copy is ignorably straightforward and lacks personality.
Copy intrigues the user and appeals to an emotional benefit.
Opinionated
We speak from experience, research and a wealth of knowledge. We’re Geeks, after all.
We’ve done this before. We have a backup plan for your backup plan. We offer not only logistics (the way to do stuff), but recommendations (the best way to do stuff). So you always get a personalized experience and the information you need—not necessarily want—to hear.
The messaging doesn’t add anything that anyone who’s ever been to any live event before couldn’t tell you. It’s a waste of 107 characters.
The copy offers a fan-backed recommendation, but also heeds warning with sound advise.
Inviting
No two seats are the same. So no two Geeks are the same.
From opera-loving introverts to face-painted football fans, every customer deserves more from a ticket—so our spirit, relatability and opinions are multidimensional and inclusive of different tastes.
The copy is hyper-specific to a singular category, and irrelevant to the actual event in question. Not to mention, it’s not very clever.
Copy is inclusive of all event types and, more importantly, the fans of those events.
Grammar Rules
Some ways in which we write. Following these dos and don’ts will help keep some consistency across the many different channels in which our writing appears in.
Do’s
Don’ts
Use action words and active vocabulary. Words and phrases should invite you to move or act on a feeling.
Never write in the passive voice unless you want to specifically emphasize the action over the subject.
We use sentence case (first word capitalized, rest not except for proper nouns) in headlines, body copy and buttons.
Don’t use all-caps or camel case in headlines unless the headline accompanies a proper noun.
We use title case (first letter of every word capitalized) in titles, subtitles and proper nouns.
Never use all-caps or sentence case in titles, subtitles and proper nouns.
When including dates in body copy, we should spell out the full week and month.
Never abbreviate dates or stylize dates with numericals in copy.
When writing a list, don’t include the serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma).
Never use the Oxford comma unless you find a sentence difficult to read.
Omit periods from headlines and calls to action/buttons.
Never use periods in headlines and calls to action/buttons.
