Customers don’t just see your brand. They read it, in every caption, email, menu and message you send. The way you write is your brand voice, and when it’s clear and consistent, people feel they know you before they’ve ever met you.
Voice and tone are different
Voice is your personality, and it stays the same everywhere. Tone is how that personality adapts to the moment. A friendly brand stays friendly when apologising for a late delivery, but its tone becomes calmer and more serious than in a sale announcement.
Define your voice in three steps
- Pick three words. Choose the traits you want to come through, such as warm, expert, direct.
- Add a “but not”. Each trait needs a limit. Warm, but not overly casual. Expert, but not full of jargon. Direct, but not cold. These limits stop your voice drifting.
- Write examples. Rewrite one real message, such as a welcome text or a delivery update, in your new voice. Examples teach your team faster than rules.
Quick rules that help almost every brand
- Write the way you speak to a good customer face to face.
- Use short sentences and everyday words.
- Talk about the customer’s problem before your product.
- Be specific: “delivered in 2 days” beats “fast delivery”.
- If you write in more than one language, define the voice for each one, not just a translation.
Keep it consistent
Add your voice traits, “but not” limits and examples to your brand guide, and share them with everyone who writes for the business, from sales staff to whoever runs your social media. Read new content out loud before publishing. If it doesn’t sound like you, rewrite it.
When your words sound the same everywhere, customers start to trust the person behind them.
Want help defining how your brand should sound? Let’s talk.