Content Style

The Iron Laws

1. NO EM DASHES. EVER.

Not "—", not "–", not "--". Use periods, commas, or split into separate sentences.

2. GRADE-8 READABILITY OR FAIL.

Short sentences, simple words, clear structure. No academic jargon. No corporate bloat.

3. WORD COUNT BANDS ARE MANDATORY.

• Blog posts: 1000-1500 words
• Case studies: 500-800 words
• Internal docs: 600-1200 words

With

--strict

flag: ±10% tolerance only.

Purpose

Ensure all marketing content maintains:

• Accessible, skimmable writing (grade-8 readability)
• Clean punctuation (no em dashes)
• Appropriate length for content type
• Bold key phrases for scanability
• Logical section structure with clear subheadings

When to Use This Skill

Activate automatically when:

• Drafting blog posts, case studies, or documentation
• Verifying content before publication
• User explicitly requests style checking
• Content workflows invoke this quality gate

• --strict

  flag is set (enforces tighter word count tolerance)

Style Requirements

1. Readability: Grade-8 Target

Characteristics of grade-8 readability:

• Average sentence length: 15-20 words
• Simple, common vocabulary
• Active voice preferred over passive
• One idea per sentence
• Short paragraphs (2-4 sentences)

Pass examples:

✓ "Seasonal demand fluctuates. Plan your campaigns accordingly."
✓ "Customers prefer personalized emails. Use segmentation to deliver relevant content."
✓ "Most users churn before their first send. Reduce onboarding friction to improve retention."

Fail examples:

✗ "The implementation of sophisticated segmentation methodologies facilitates enhanced personalization paradigms." (Grade 16+, corporate jargon)
✗ "Leveraging cutting-edge AI-driven predictive analytics enables stakeholders to optimize engagement metrics." (Grade 18+, buzzword soup)

Validation method:

• Use readability formulas (Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog)
• Target: Grade 7-9 (acceptable range)
• Flag: Grade 10+ (requires simplification)

2. Punctuation: Zero Em Dashes

Forbidden characters:

• —

  (em dash)

• –

  (en dash used as em dash)

• --

  (double hyphen as em dash substitute)

Acceptable alternatives:

✗ "Email campaigns—when executed correctly—drive significant revenue."
✓ "Email campaigns drive significant revenue when executed correctly."

✗ "Three factors matter: personalization, timing—and relevance."
✓ "Three factors matter: personalization, timing, and relevance."

✗ "Users want simplicity—but most platforms overcomplicate setup."
✓ "Users want simplicity. Most platforms overcomplicate setup."
✓ "Users want simplicity, but most platforms overcomplicate setup."

Validation method:

• Scan entire draft for

  —

  ,

  –

  ,

  --

• Report exact line/location of violations
• Block completion until all removed

3. Word Count Bands

Default bands:

Content Type	Minimum	Maximum	Strict (±10%)
Blog post	1000	1500	900-1650
Case study	500	800	450-880
Internal docs	600	1200	540-1320

Validation method:

1. Count words in draft (exclude YAML frontmatter, footnotes)
2. Determine content type from intent.yaml or metadata
3. Apply appropriate band
4. If

   --strict

   flag: enforce ±10% tolerance
5. If outside band: FAIL with specific overage/underage

Reporting:

Blog post: 1847 words (target 1000-1500)
✗ FAIL: 347 words over maximum
Required action: Cut 347+ words or split into multiple pieces

4. Skimmable Structure

Required elements:

• Clear H1 (title)
• Descriptive H2s (section headings)
• Optional H3s (subsection headings)
• Bold key phrases (2-5 per section)
• Short paragraphs (2-4 sentences)
• Bulleted or numbered lists where appropriate

Pass example:

# How to Plan Seasonal Email Campaigns

## Identify High-Demand Periods

Most ecommerce brands see **predictable demand spikes** during holidays and seasonal events. Analyze your historical data to find patterns.

Key periods to consider:
- Black Friday / Cyber Monday
- Valentine's Day (for gifting brands)
- Back-to-school (August-September)

## Align Campaign Timing

Launch campaigns **2-3 weeks before peak demand**. This gives customers time to browse, compare, and purchase.

Fail example:

# Seasonal Email Strategy

The implementation of seasonal email campaign strategies requires comprehensive analysis of historical demand patterns, customer behavior analytics, and competitive landscape assessment. Organizations should leverage data-driven insights to optimize timing, messaging, and segmentation approaches across multiple touchpoints and channels to maximize engagement and conversion outcomes.

5. Soft Raleon Integration

Guideline: Single-line Raleon mention (≈1x per piece)

Pass examples:

✓ "Raleon automates this segmentation based on real-time behavior data."
✓ "Tools like Raleon learn these patterns and adjust send times automatically."

Fail examples:

✗ "Raleon is the best, most advanced, industry-leading platform for email marketing that outperforms all competitors and delivers unmatched results." (Over-selling, superlatives)
✗ [Multiple Raleon mentions throughout] (Too promotional)

Validation Process

1. Load Draft

Read draft from:

• datasets/marketing/content/{date}_{type}_{slug}/drafts/draft_v{n}.md

• In-memory draft content

2. Apply Style Checks

Run all checks in parallel:

Em Dash Scan:

grep -n '—\|–\|--' draft.md

Report line numbers and context.

Word Count:

# Exclude YAML frontmatter and footnotes
wc -w draft.md

Compare to band for content type.

Readability:

• Calculate Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
• Calculate Gunning Fog Index
• Average the two scores
• Compare to target (7-9)

Structure Check:

• Verify H1 exists (exactly one)
• Count H2s (minimum 3 for blogs, 2 for case studies)
• Verify bold usage (at least 1 per major section)
• Check paragraph length (flag paragraphs >6 sentences)

3. Generate Report

If all pass:

# Content Style Validation: PASS

✓ No em dashes detected
✓ Word count: 1247 (target 1000-1500)
✓ Readability: Grade 8.2 (Flesch-Kincaid 8.1, Gunning Fog 8.3)
✓ Structure: Clear H1, 5 H2s, appropriate bold usage
✓ Raleon integration: 1 mention (appropriate)

**Status**: Ready for publication

If any fail:

# Content Style Validation: FAIL

✗ Em dashes detected:
  - Line 42: "Email campaigns—when executed correctly—drive revenue"
  - Line 87: "Three factors matter: personalization, timing—and relevance"

✗ Word count: 1847 (target 1000-1500)
  - 347 words over maximum
  - Requires cutting or splitting

✗ Readability: Grade 11.4 (target 7-9)
  - Average sentence length: 28 words (target 15-20)
  - Requires simplification

**Required fixes**:
1. Remove/replace 2 em dashes
2. Cut 350+ words
3. Simplify sentences (reduce avg length to <20 words)

**Status**: NEEDS_FIX

4. Block or Approve

If PASS:

• Draft can proceed to snippets or publication
• Style validation complete

If FAIL:

• Draft blocked from next step
• Workflow status set to "NEEDS_FIX"
• Must address violations before resuming

Integration with Workflows

Content Pipeline Integration

Invoked by:

• content-drafting

  workflow (before marking draft complete)

• content-verification

  workflow (explicit style check)

Blocking behavior:

• If style check fails → draft cannot proceed
• Workflow paused until fixes applied
• User must address violations

Strict Mode (

--strict

flag)

When enabled:

• Word count tolerance reduced to ±10%
• Readability target narrowed to Grade 7.5-8.5
• Paragraph length maximum reduced to 4 sentences
• All violations become blocking (no warnings)

Success Criteria

Style validation passes when:

• Zero em dashes in draft
• Word count within band (or strict tolerance)
• Readability grade 7-9
• Clear H1/H2 structure
• Appropriate bold usage for skimmability
• Single soft Raleon mention

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Em dashes present	Replace with periods, commas, or split sentences
Word count over	Cut content or split into multiple pieces
Readability too high (Grade 12+)	Simplify sentences, use common words
Missing H2 structure	Add section headings every 200-300 words
Long paragraphs (>6 sentences)	Break into shorter paragraphs
Over-selling Raleon	Single soft mention, no superlatives

Related Skills

• citation-compliance: Validates source integrity (separate concern)
• content-drafting: Invokes this quality gate before completion
• content-verification: Explicit style validation step

Anti-Rationalization Blocks

Common excuses that are explicitly rejected:

Rationalization	Reality
"One em dash won't hurt"	Zero tolerance. Remove it.
"This topic requires complex language"	Grade-8 or fail. Simplify.
"It's only 50 words over"	Bands exist for a reason. Cut it.
"Readers will understand long sentences"	Keep sentences <20 words average.
"We can fix style in editing"	Fix now or block workflow.