Brand voice

Brand Voice

Brand Voice Development Process

Step 1 — Audit Current Voice

• Collect 20+ pieces of existing copy (emails, website, social, support)
• Tag each with 3 adjectives
• Find the most common 5 adjectives → current (unintentional) voice
• Decide: keep, amplify, or shift each dimension

Step 2 — Define Voice Pillars

Choose 3–4 non-contradictory adjectives. Each needs an antonym to show what you're NOT:

Pillar	We Are	We Are Not
Direct	Clear, no fluff	Blunt, rude
Human	Warm, relatable	Unprofessional, sloppy
Expert	Knowledgeable, confident	Jargon-heavy, elitist
Playful	Light, fun	Silly, undignified

Step 3 — Write Voice Definitions

For each pillar, produce:

1. Definition (2 sentences)
2. Example — right way
3. Example — wrong way
4. 3 words that activate this pillar

Template:

PILLAR: [Name]
We [definition]. This means [implication for copy].

✅ DO: "[example sentence]"
❌ DON'T: "[example sentence]"

Activation words: [word1], [word2], [word3]

Tone Spectrum

Voice is constant. Tone shifts by context:

CONTEXT                    TONE SHIFT
──────────────────────────────────────
Marketing / Launch         → More excited, aspirational
Onboarding / Education     → Warm, encouraging, patient
Support / Error states     → Calm, empathetic, solution-focused
Legal / Privacy            → Precise, neutral, clear
Executive communication    → Confident, data-driven
Social / Community         → Relaxed, conversational

Tone Calibration Matrix

Situation	Formality	Energy	Empathy
Error message	Low	Low	High
Product launch	Med	High	Med
Pricing page	Med	Med	Low
Cancellation flow	Low	Low	High
Feature announcement	Med	High	Low

Messaging Hierarchy

3-Layer Model

Layer 1 — BRAND PROMISE (never changes)
  The single overarching claim your brand makes to the world.
  Usually 5–10 words. Aspirational but credible.

Layer 2 — VALUE PROPOSITIONS (3–5 pillars)
  Specific dimensions of value you deliver.
  Each maps to a customer pain/desire.

Layer 3 — PROOF POINTS
  Concrete evidence for each value prop.
  Stats, customer quotes, case studies, features.

Messaging Matrix Template

Segment	Pain	Value Prop	Proof Point	CTA
SMB	Manual reporting	Save 5h/week	2,000+ teams	Free trial
Enterprise	Compliance risk	Audit-ready exports	SOC 2 Type II	Talk to sales
Developers	Slow integrations	1-line SDK	50+ connectors	Read docs

Do/Don't Examples

Language Patterns

Don't	Do
Leverage synergies	Work better together
Utilize our platform	Use Acme
Best-in-class solution	Faster than [competitor]
We are excited to announce	Now you can…
Please feel free to	Just [action]
In order to	To
At this point in time	Now
Moving forward	Next

Punctuation & Formatting

• Exclamation marks: Max 1 per page. Reserve for genuine wins.
• Ellipsis (…): Only for genuine trailing thought. Not for drama.
• ALL CAPS: Never for emphasis. Use bold instead.
• Em dash (—): Use freely for parenthetical asides.
• Parentheses: Use sparingly — prefer dashes.

Voice Consistency at Scale

Content Checklist (per piece)

• Would our target customer recognize this as "us"?
• Does it use the vocabulary our customers use?
• Is it free of jargon our customers don't use?
• Does it sound like a smart human wrote it?
• Does it pass the "would we say this out loud?" test?

Scaling Voice Across Teams

1. Voice doc — Single source of truth (1–2 pages)
2. Before/after examples — 10+ real rewrites
3. Reviewer checklist — 5 questions every editor answers
4. Onboarding exercise — New writers rewrite 3 existing pieces
5. Quarterly audit — Sample 20 pieces from each channel

AI Copy Guardrails

Prompt template for AI-assisted copy:

Write [copy type] for [product] targeting [audience].
Voice: [pillar 1], [pillar 2], [pillar 3].
NOT: [anti-pillar 1], [anti-pillar 2].
Vocabulary: use words like [word1, word2, word3].
Avoid: [banned word 1], [banned word 2], corporate jargon.
Length: [target length].
CTA: [desired action].

Brand Voice Document Structure

1. Our Voice (overview + 3–4 pillars)
2. Tone by Context (matrix)
3. Messaging Hierarchy (brand promise → value props → proof)
4. Do/Don't Examples (language, punctuation, formatting)
5. Vocabulary Guide (preferred terms, banned terms)
6. Channel-Specific Notes (email, social, support, sales)
7. Review Checklist

Vocabulary Guide Template

Preferred	Avoid	Why
team	users, clients	More human
build	leverage	Concrete verb
works with	integrates	Plain language
simple	easy	"Easy" feels dismissive
powerful	robust	Overused
[product name]	the solution	Specific, confident