How To Create Brand Voice Guidelines
Your brand voice is how your business communicates its personality and values. It ensures that every interaction feels consistent and genuine, whether it's on social media, emails, or your website. To create brand voice guidelines:
Define Your Voice: Align it with your company values, audience preferences, and personality traits.
Set Clear Rules: Include tone variations, preferred language, and writing style rules.
Provide Examples: Show how your voice applies across different platforms and situations.
Train Your Team: Offer workshops and reference materials to ensure consistency.
Review and Update: Regularly audit content and refine guidelines.
A strong brand voice builds trust, strengthens relationships, and makes your business memorable. Start by reflecting on your values and audience, then document everything for your team to follow.
Find Your Brand Voice
Defining your brand voice starts with aligning your values, audience, and personality to create consistent and genuine communication.
Reflect Your Company Values
Your brand voice should echo your mission and core principles. Take time to evaluate your values and translate them into a communication style that feels true to your business.
Here are some key areas to focus on:
Mission Statement: Identify recurring themes that can shape your tone and style.
Values in Action: Ensure your communication reflects your core principles.
Internal Culture: Align your voice with the culture within your organization.
Understand Your Audience
To connect effectively, you need to know who you're talking to. Start with audience research:
Demographics: Analyze the key characteristics of your audience segments.
Preferred Channels: Determine where your audience spends their time - email, social media, etc.
Language Style: Pay attention to the phrases and tone your audience uses.
Different platforms may require different tones, whether it's a professional approach for emails or a casual one for social media. Knowing your audience helps you fine-tune your voice.
Define Your Brand Traits
Choose 3–5 traits that will shape your brand's personality. These traits should guide how your brand communicates across all platforms.
Trait Type | Description | Example Use Case |
|---|---|---|
Primary Trait | The main characteristic of your brand | Professional yet approachable |
Supporting Trait | Complements the primary trait | Knowledgeable but relatable |
Distinctive Trait | Sets your brand apart | Creative problem-solver |
When selecting traits, keep these points in mind:
Consistency: Your traits should work across all communication channels.
Genuineness: They should reflect who your brand truly is.
Clarity: Make sure these traits are easy to translate into your content.
Write Clear Guidelines
Lay out your brand voice guidelines with clear examples to make them easy for your team to follow.
Organize Your Guide
Break your brand voice guide into clear sections. Include these key components:
Brand Voice Overview: A quick summary of your voice.
Tone Variations and Channel Guidelines: How to adjust your voice for different situations.
Writing Style Rules: Grammar, punctuation, and formatting preferences.
Example Library: Practical examples of your voice in action.
Here’s a simple reference table for your team:
Section | Purpose | Key Elements |
|---|---|---|
Voice Traits | Core personality | Main characteristics and their rationale |
Tone Guide | Situational use | Adjustments for specific contexts |
Style Rules | Writing standards | Formatting, grammar, and punctuation tips |
Examples | Reference material | Real-world usage examples |
Next, define what language fits your brand and what doesn’t to ensure consistent communication.
List What Works and What Doesn't
Once your guide is organized, outline acceptable and unacceptable language to keep messaging on-brand. Provide specific examples for clarity:
Word Choice: Highlight preferred terms and phrases to avoid.
Sentence Structure: Recommend sentence patterns that suit your voice.
Tone Variations: Explain how to adapt your voice while staying consistent.
Aspect | Do | Don't |
|---|---|---|
Formality | Use conversational but professional language | Write overly casual or overly formal content |
Technical Terms | Simplify complex ideas | Use jargon without explanation |
Engagement | Use direct language like "you" | Write in impersonal third-person |
Write Your Brand Statement
Create a short, clear brand statement that captures your voice in just 2–3 sentences.
1. Core Message
Write a concise statement that defines your brand’s personality and communication style.
2. Voice Characteristics
Describe the specific traits that shape your brand voice and explain how they should appear in your content.
3. Application Guidelines
Include examples to show how your brand statement works across different content types and communication channels.
These guidelines will help your team consistently apply your brand voice across all platforms and materials.
Put Guidelines Into Practice
Apply your brand voice guidelines consistently by following a structured approach.
Train Your Team
Equip your team to follow the brand voice guidelines with effective training:
Initial Training Sessions: Conduct workshops that turn the guidelines into hands-on exercises.
Reference Materials: Provide quick-reference sheets tailored to different content types:
Content Type | Guidelines | Pitfalls |
|---|---|---|
Social Posts | Keep tone casual but professional | Avoid slang or overly informal language |
Email Communications | Focus on clarity and warmth | Skip industry jargon |
Website Content | Balance information with engagement | Avoid being too technical or dry |
Feedback System: Set up a review process to ensure adherence to the guidelines and help your team improve.
Review Current Content
Audit your existing materials to align them with the brand voice. Start with high-priority items like your website, emails, social media posts, and sales presentations. Look for inconsistencies, fill gaps, and schedule updates to ensure everything reflects your brand's tone and style.
Update When Needed
Consistency requires regular updates to your guidelines. Here’s how to stay on track:
Quarterly Reviews: Evaluate how well the guidelines are working. Pinpoint areas where teams face challenges, identify new channels that need guidance, and address any emerging industry terms.
Annual Updates: Take a deeper dive into the guidelines each year. Incorporate team feedback, add examples of successful content, remove outdated references, and adapt to new platforms or trends.
Documentation Management: Keep everything organized. Use a change log to track revisions, notify your team about updates, archive older versions, and ensure digital copies are easy to access.
Use Guidelines Across Channels
Keeping your brand voice consistent across platforms takes careful planning. While each channel has its quirks, your core message should remain intact. Here's how to make it happen effectively.
Adapt to Each Platform
Every platform has its own vibe, and your brand voice should fit right in. Think about the tone, message length, and engagement style that work best for each. For instance, website content can dive into details, while social media thrives on short, punchy posts.
Use Standard Templates
Templates can save time and help maintain a consistent voice. Here are a few key areas where templates come in handy:
Email Communications: Develop templates for common scenarios like welcome emails, customer support replies, newsletters, and sales follow-ups.
Social Media Posts: Create frameworks for posts such as product announcements, industry updates, company news, or customer stories.
Website Content: Set guidelines for sections like service descriptions, About pages, blogs, and landing pages to ensure uniformity.
Establish a Content Review Process
A structured review system ensures your brand voice stays on point. Here’s how to build one:
Pre-Publication Checklist: Before hitting publish, double-check that the tone matches your guidelines, the language suits the platform, and the message is consistent. Don’t forget to verify brand-specific terms.
Review Workflow:
Start with the content creator’s draft review.
Follow with a peer review focusing on voice and tone.
Get final approval from a brand manager or "voice guardian."
Regularly audit published content to spot any inconsistencies.
Quality Control Tools: Equip your team with tools like a style guide, a scoring rubric for brand voice, a system to track feedback, and schedules for periodic content audits.
Next Steps
Now that you've established your guidelines, it's time to put them into practice.
Quick Guide Summary
To create effective brand voice guidelines, focus on these key steps:
Define Your Foundation: Clearly outline your brand's values and personality traits that align with your audience.
Document Everything: Provide examples, templates, and checklists to ensure consistency across all content.
Set Up Training: Organize regular training sessions so your team fully understands and can apply the guidelines.
Once implemented, keep refining your approach to stay aligned with your brand's identity.
Stay True to Your Brand
Staying consistent with your brand voice strengthens trust and recognition. Make sure your voice reflects your company's values and resonates with your audience.
Schedule quarterly reviews to check for consistency.
Use feedback loops to make timely adjustments.
Plan to review and update your guidelines annually to keep them relevant.
FAQs
How do I ensure my brand voice guidelines are consistently followed by my team and across all platforms?
To ensure your brand voice guidelines are consistently applied, start by creating a comprehensive and easily accessible document that outlines tone, language, and style preferences. Share this document with your team and provide clear examples of 'dos' and 'don’ts' to help them understand how to apply the guidelines in real-world scenarios.
Next, train your team on the importance of maintaining a consistent brand voice. Regular workshops or quick training sessions can help reinforce these principles. Additionally, appoint a dedicated person or team to review content and ensure alignment with the guidelines.
Finally, use tools like style guides, templates, and content approval workflows to streamline the process and maintain consistency across platforms. Periodically revisit and update the guidelines to keep them relevant as your brand evolves.
What challenges do businesses face in keeping their brand voice consistent, and how can they address them?
Maintaining a consistent brand voice can be challenging for businesses, especially as they grow or expand their marketing efforts. Common issues include lack of clear guidelines, inconsistent messaging across platforms, and difficulty adapting the voice to different audiences or formats.
To overcome these challenges, start by creating comprehensive brand voice guidelines that outline your tone, language, and style preferences. Train your team on these guidelines to ensure everyone is aligned. Regularly review your content to spot inconsistencies and adjust as needed. Finally, use tools like content calendars and collaboration platforms to streamline communication and maintain consistency across all channels.
How often should you update your brand voice guidelines to keep them relevant and effective?
To ensure your brand voice stays relevant and resonates with your audience, it's a good practice to review and update your guidelines at least once a year. However, you may need to revisit them sooner if your business undergoes significant changes, such as a rebrand, new target audience, or shifts in market trends.
Regular updates help maintain consistency while adapting to evolving customer expectations and industry standards. Stay proactive by gathering feedback from your team and monitoring how your voice is received across different platforms.
