Brand Voice

What is Brand Voice?

Brand voice is the distinct personality and tone your brand uses in all communications. It's how you "speak" to your audience across all channels—website copy, social media, emails, customer service, and marketing materials.

Your brand voice should be:

• Consistent: Same personality across all touchpoints
• Distinctive: Unique enough to be recognizable
• Appropriate: Fits your industry and audience
• Authentic: True to your brand values

Why Brand Voice Matters

• Recognition: Customers recognize your content even without seeing your logo
• Trust: Consistent voice builds trust and credibility
• Differentiation: Sets you apart from competitors
• Connection: Helps build emotional connections with your audience
• Guidance: Provides clear direction for content creators

Elements of Brand Voice

1. Tone: The emotional quality of your communication (friendly, professional, playful, serious)
2. Style: How you structure your messages (formal, casual, technical, simple)
3. Language: Word choice, vocabulary, and terminology
4. Personality traits: Characteristics that define your brand (humorous, authoritative, empathetic)
5. Values: What your brand stands for and how that shows in communication

How to Define Your Brand Voice

Step 1: Understand Your Brand

• What are your brand values?
• What is your brand archetype?
• What makes your brand unique?

Step 2: Know Your Audience

• How do they communicate?
• What tone resonates with them?
• What language do they use?

Step 3: Analyze Competitors

• How do competitors communicate?
• What voice is missing in your market?
• How can you differentiate?

Step 4: Create Voice Guidelines

Document:

• Voice characteristics (3-5 adjectives)
• Do's and don'ts
• Examples of good and bad usage
• Tone variations for different contexts

Step 5: Create a Style Guide

• Grammar and punctuation preferences
• Word choice guidelines
• Formatting standards
• Examples and templates

Brand Voice Examples

Innocent (Dove):

• Warm, caring, empowering
• Uses inclusive language
• Focuses on real beauty and self-acceptance

Jester (Old Spice):

• Humorous, irreverent, bold
• Uses unexpected humor
• Doesn't take itself too seriously

Sage (Harvard Business Review):

• Authoritative, insightful, professional
• Uses industry terminology appropriately
• Provides expert analysis

Maintaining Brand Voice

• Create guidelines: Document your voice and share with your team
• Train your team: Ensure everyone understands and can execute
• Review regularly: Audit content to ensure consistency
• Update as needed: Evolve your voice as your brand grows
• Get feedback: Ask customers how they perceive your voice

Brand Voice vs Brand Tone

• Brand Voice: Your brand's personality (consistent)
• Brand Tone: How you adapt that voice for different situations (varies)

Your voice stays the same, but your tone might be more formal in a legal document and more casual on social media.