What is a brand voice? (And how to define yours) + FREE GUIDE
One of the most common challenges I hear from clients when they reach out for messaging help is: "My (writing / website / content ) just don't feel like me."
I think a lot of us still hear the voice of our high school English teacher in our heads every time we sit down to write: Write in full sentences. Never start a sentence with “but” or “and”. Use proper grammar. Construct proper paragraphs. And what devilry is this emoji nonsense?!? 🤬😈
It’s enough to make anyone freeze at the sight of that blinking cursor.
And when you’re unsure of how to express yourself, you default to using flat words that just… do the job (sort of). They get the message across (kind of). And Grammarly tells you it’s okay, so that’s something, right?
But the truth is, it feels disconnected from the heart of who you are and how you actually show up for your audience, clients, and customers every day.
That sense of disconnection isn’t just annoying or frustrating, either. It’s a real business problem. It puts up a barrier that prevents you from showing up as you truly are and from building a meaningful connection and relationship with your audience — a connection that brings in more clients and sales.
I love this quote from Laura Busche:
“People relate to people, and if your brand feels like people, they’ll relate to you, too.”
The thing that transforms your brand from a stilted tenth-grade MacBeth essay to a relatable person – engaging, memorable, unique, and all you – is your brand voice.
In this post, we’ll talk about what brand voice is and how to thoughtfully and strategically define your unique voice, so you can show up with more confidence and joy in the way you talk about and market your creative business.
And if you’re like me and you learn best through doing, grab my free Brand Voice Guide – a guided PDF with prompts and exercises to help you apply what I’m teaching in this post. By the time you’re done, you’ll have created your own brand voice guidelines to shape your messaging going forward.
What is brand voice?
Let’s start with a definition:
Your brand voice is the personality that shapes how your business presents itself to the world. It combines what your audience needs with your own values and way of expressing yourself to create a consistent communication style that is both strategic and distinctly you.
In your everyday life, you have a unique way of expressing yourself – a specific tone, vocabulary and cadence that your friends and family would recognize the moment they heard it.
It’s the same for your business. Your brand voice defines how you communicate with your audience, including clients, prospects, and fellow business owners. It shapes everything from your content to how formal you are with your clients over email. And it’s essential for attracting the right people and turning away those who aren’t a good fit.
It’s all about consistency
But a strong brand voice isn’t just about what you say and how you say it.
Entrepreneur Lisa Gansky puts it this way:
“A brand is a voice and a product is a souvenir.”
Your voice sets the tone for how people experience your brand. It infuses every touchpoint, interaction, and product or design decision.
Your goal should be to create such a memorable experience that people recognize your brand by the sound of its voice – where a glimpse, a phrase, a sneak peek is enough for your audience to know you’re in the room.
To achieve that, you need consistency. The more consistent and recognizable your voice is, the more your audience will grow to know, like, and trust you.
But being consistent requires intention and care – and that’s where brand voice guidelines come in. They help you narrow in on the most essential elements of your brand voice and clarify how you express them everywhere your brand shows up and connects with your audience.
Which brings us to… how to create your own.
How to own your brand voice in 3 steps
Step 1: Identify what your audience needs from you
As a small creative business owner, the line between you as a person and your brand as a business can often feel fuzzy. This first step helps to make that grey area clearer.
Your brand voice isn’t defined by your personality alone; you must also consider your audience. After all, these are the people who will be buying your product or services. The first step to connecting with them is understanding what they want and need from your relationship.
Start by thinking about the problem you solve for your audience. What do they need you to help them with practically? What about emotionally?
You also want to consider what type of person your audience is looking for to help solve that problem. Do they want an expert in the field, or is it more important to be relatable and make them feel comfortable? Do they want to work with a true professional or a friend who gets it? Do they want to feel amped up and energized, or nurtured and safe?
During this stage, you may also want to think about the voices of your competitors. A strong brand voice can help you stand out from the crowd, especially when everyone else in your industry uses the same language or tone.
Step 2: Clarify what feels natural and authentic to you
Arguably the most critical aspect of your brand voice is that it sounds and feels like you. The more you can express your unique and authentic self, the more your ideal clients will naturally be drawn to you.
It’s hard to stand out in a crowded marketplace – but it’s even harder when you’re trying to be someone you’re not. The best thing you can do for your business is to lean into your unique strengths and gifts, even if that means going against the grain.
Don’t let the fear of turning away the wrong client get in the way of connecting with the right ones. Instead, let your brand voice take the lead in winnowing your audience down until you’re speaking directly to your dream clients.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
How would your friends and family describe you? How do you want people to describe you?
What are some of the key words and phrases you use in your business?
How formal / informal do you want to be? For example, how important is it for you to be grammatically correct?
Quick reminder: Need a practical guide and some additional exercises to help work through this for your own business? Download your copy of the free Brand Voice Guide to get started!
Step 3: Bring it all together
The best brands are intentional about living in the overlapping space between what feels authentic to you and what your target audience will relate to.
So, now that you’ve thought about both those elements separately, take some time to consider how you can use your brand voice to foster that connection with your audience. Which aspects of your voice will they connect to? What might turn them off from your brand?
Think of it like a Venn diagram, where the best qualities of your brand voice live in that sweet spot in the middle:
Some encouragement for owning your voice
Choosing to go out on a limb or against the grain when it comes to leaning into your unique brand voice can feel scary. But the truth is that building your brand voice based on what comes to you naturally will make connecting with the right clients so much easier because you’re not going to have to put on an act or adopt a brand personality that feels foreign or fake.
Lastly, remember that your brand voice may evolve – and that’s okay. As your business grows, you may find that your target audience has shifted or even that you’re speaking to a new audience altogether.
Instead of getting caught up in the details, focus on the anchor points of your brand voice – those core pieces of who you are that remain the same. It might be your cheerful tone, your dry sense of humour, or the curiosity that infuses everything you do.
Those elements will provide consistency so your audience continues to identify with your brand even if parts of it shift over time.
To sum it all up…
Your brand voice is the personality and communication style that defines how you present your brand to the world. It’s essential for creating a sense of personal connection with your ideal audience (and turning away those who aren’t a good fit).
To define your brand voice, consider what your audience needs from you as well as your own preferences and personality when it comes to how you express yourself. Look for ways to emphasize and highlight the traits and characteristics that sit in the overlap.
Consistency is essential to a successful brand voice. Knowing what is unique about your own brand voice and how that shapes your communication and marketing choices will help you stay consistent across your brand experience and over time.
Next steps
Now it’s time to get your own brand voice out of your head and onto paper! Having a written set of guidelines is an incredibly helpful reference point that will reduce decision fatigue and keep you consistent.
My free Brand Voice Guide walks through the process I just shared in this article, plus additional exercises for honing in on your unique voice and an example from my own client files you can use for inspiration. Download your free copy of the Brand Voice Guide now to get started!
