Brand Voice: What It Is and How to Define It (+ Template)

Your brand voice shapes how your audience feels about your business. 

If it's playful and fun, they’ll see your brand as joyful and entertaining. If it's bold and daring, they'll think of your brand as innovative and adventurous.

As a marketer and writer, I’ve helped many brands to develop a relevant and memorable brand voice.

In this guide, I’ll share actionable tips and real-life examples to help you achieve the same.

💡 Grab this free brand voice template to follow along.

What Is Brand Voice? 

Brand voice is your company’s unique personality reflected across its channels and communications. Think social media, blog posts, paid advertisements, and emails. 

This personality defines how you express yourself as a brand when interacting with customers.

For example, Innocent Drinks, a B2C brand, is known for its quirky, playful, and humor-driven voice. 

This makes the brand feel fun and approachable, attracting health-conscious consumers who appreciate a lighthearted approach to healthy living.

Apple, on the other hand, uses a sleek, innovative, and sophisticated voice. This makes their audience feel special and part of an exclusive group. 

Brand Voice vs. Brand Tone of Voice: The Key Differences

Brand voice defines your company’s unique identity and perspective inspired by your core values, mission, and personality. It’s about the values you stand for.

Your brand tone of voice, on the other hand, defines how you communicate this identity to your audience. It includes language, tone, style, and the choice of words.

It’s important to maintain a consistent brand voice. But your tone of voice can change depending on the context. 

For example, you might use a cheerful and exciting tone for holiday marketing campaigns. However, your tone will become somber and compassionate when responding to a crisis or emergency. 

Here’s how we’d differentiate the brand voice from the brand tone:

Let’s explore these differences with an example by Nike.

Nike is known for its inspiring and empowering brand voice. 

Its brand personality showcases values like courage, determination, and motivation. Like on their website (and across all communication channels):

However, the brand also has a relatable and casual tone of voice that evokes excitement. 

For example, when launching new sneakers, Nike hypes up its audience with short and punchy captions like this one. 

Why Is Brand Voice So Important? 

You’re probably wondering if building your brand voice is worth all that effort. 

The short answer: it is. 

Defining your brand voice can help:

• Establish a positive brand perception: Your brand voice reflects the core values of your business. It shapes your customers’ perception of your brand, which can help you build trust and loyalty.
• Create brand recall and recognition: Your brand voice is your chance to focus more eyes on your business and make it more discoverable. This can increase brand awareness. 
• Design a shared blueprint for communication: Clear voice guidelines ensure everyone in your team represents your brand consistently. It builds a shared understanding of what sets your brand apart and how to speak to your customers. 
• Build better customer relationships: Your brand voice has the power to establish a connection with customers and show that you share the same values This can lead to improved customer loyalty.

For example, a mission-driven brand like Rare Beauty adopts an encouraging and motivational brand voice for all communications.

This voice positively influences people who align with the brand’s mission, as this customer shares in a tweet:

7 Tips for Developing Your Brand Voice

Check out my 7-step framework for building your distinctive brand voice from scratch. 

But before you get started: grab this free brand voice template to move faster.

1. Document Your Company’s Background and Mission

I always start by writing down the company’s background and mission to understand its key values and personality.

Here’s how you can do it.

This exercise will highlight your brand’s primary purpose and explain how you intend to make your customers’ lives better.

You can then use these insights to define your brand’s mission. 

For instance, even though Facebook is a multi-billion-dollar business today, Mark Zuckerberg started it as a college project to connect students at his university. 

The goal was to help students connect, share information, and communicate more easily. 

To date, this purpose is reflected in Meta’s (previously Facebook) mission statement: “to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”

2. Research Your Target Audience

Next, you need to know exactly who you’re targeting and how to connect with them. This insight ensures your brand voice is both relevant and relatable.

For example, imagine discovering that customers struggle to find stylish clothes that fit their body type.

You can address this challenge directly in your brand voice.

There are several ways to research and analyze your target audience. These include:

• Surveys and questionnaires: Directly ask your audience about their preferences and challenges.
• Social media analysis: Look at what your or your competitors’ followers are talking about and the kinds of posts they engage with.
• Customer feedback: Interview your existing customers. Also, analyze their reviews, feedback, and customer support requests to understand what they like and dislike.
• Audience research platforms: Platforms like Audience Intelligence and One2Target provide insights into your target audience based on their online behaviors.
• Specialized AI tools: Use ContentShake AI’s Brand Voice feature. All you need to do is upload a writing sample (ideally from your “About us” page) and the tool will generate target personas for your business.
• It will then tailor your future content to fit the needs and tone of voice preferences of each persona.

3. Analyze Your Current Voice 

Before creating a new set of brand voice guidelines, take a closer look at your existing voice. This will help you identify patterns in what already resonates with your customers.

Here's how to do it.

Analyze different marketing assets you have already published, such as landing pages, blog posts, ad copy, and social media posts:

• Build a content inventory: Make a list of your marketing assets in a spreadsheet, a productivity app like Notion, or a database tool. You can curate a few assets from each marketing channel you’ve used. 
• Analyze tone and style: Analyze the kind of language used in each asset, like conversational, technical, informal, jargon-heavy, etc. You should also evaluate the tone followed in these pieces, whether it’s friendly, authoritative, promotional, etc. Add notes and summarize your findings.
• Compare and contrast: Evaluate these assets to categorize them as high-performing and low-performing based on content marketing metrics like organic search traffic, backlinks, and conversions. 

You can use tools like GA4 or HubSpot to check traffic and conversions and Semrush to monitor each page's rankings and backlinks.

For example, to check organic traffic on specific pages, head to GA4, click “Reports” in the left-hand menu, select “Engagement” and click “Pages and Screens” from the drop-down menu.

Next, scroll down to see the total number of views to different webpages during the specified time period. You can use the search bar to look up specific pages.

If you notice that assets with a certain voice/tone perform better than others, consider this when outlining your brand voice.

4. Define Your Brand Personality

Your voice stems from the unique personality of your brand. 

It can sound like a good friend, a helpful mentor, a caring supporter, or a knowledgeable expert. 

For example, Wendy’s has a humorous and witty brand personality. The brand engages in friendly banter on social media posts like you would with a friend. 

To define your brand personality, think about your brand values and image.

Values: What are the most important values and beliefs for your brand? 

Identify 4 to 5 differentiating values that drive your business forward. Like integrity, innovation, sustainability, and inclusivity.

Take Starbucks’ values as inspiration:

Brand image: Think about how you want your audience to perceive your brand.

Do you want your brand to be seen as premium and luxurious? Or playful and fun? 

For example, Apple is seen as a premium and luxurious brand. Many people feel a sense of achievement when they purchase Apple products and often share their excitement online.

Source

Finally, describe your brand personality using this template:

5. Define Your Brand Voice

Once you’ve completed all the legwork, you can put the pieces together to create your brand voice. 

I usually use the brand voice chart framework.

It’s a document that comprises the key attributes of your brand voice. It can include qualities like welcoming, professional, witty, sincere, and more. 

Here’s what a voice chart looks like:

To fill out the chart, list your brand's key voice characteristics, describe each one, and include actionable "do" and "don't" guidelines to ensure consistency in your messaging.

Pro tip: 

You can save a lot of time and effort by using Semrush’s ContentShake AI—a smart content writing tool.

It helps you define your brand voice based on your existing writing samples in just a couple of clicks.

To get started, launch the ContentShake AI app and go to “Brand Voice.”

Then, click “Create Brand Voice” to design a new voice document. 

Add a content sample that best reflects your current brand voice. Ideally, you’ll want to give a 1000-word sample to get the best results. It’s also a good idea to integrate elements from your “About us” webpage.

Then, click “Create Brand Voice” one more time.

With this information, ContentShake AI will summarize your brand voice with a detailed paragraph and specify your tone and readability level. 

From now on, every piece of content generated by ContentShake AI will be adjusted to your target voice and tone.

6. Create a Communication Document

Now, it’s time to go back to the whiteboard and document your brand voice guidelines in a style guide.

A writing style guide covers every detail about your brand—logos, typeface, colors, and language. 

It’s a single source of truth for everyone on your team when communicating with internal or external stakeholders. 

You can include some of these essential elements:

• The key values to reflect in all communication
• A dictionary of brand or industry-specific terms 
• Do’s and don’ts for different situations and contexts
• Specific guidelines for written and verbal communication
• Voice instructions for different channels like websites, social media, etc.

For example, Shopify’s brand voice guidelines start with four clear directives on what the brand sounds like. 

Each directive includes more specific examples and points.

Their style guide also includes instructions on how to communicate in specific situations. You’ll find a do’s and don’ts list with examples of what to say and avoid. 

7. Ensure Consistency Across All Content Assets

Once you’re ready to roll out your brand voice guidelines, set up processes to create consistency across all channels and platforms. 

Here are a few tips to help ensure your brand voice is consistent:

• Host internal training sessions: Educate and train your team about the new brand voice guidelines. Use these sessions to brainstorm messaging that reflects the new brand voice. 
• Assign a brand voice champion: Designate a team member or a group to oversee the implementation of the brand voice throughout the company. This person or team can provide feedback, answer questions, and ensure that all content aligns with the guidelines.
• Regularly review and update: Schedule regular reviews of your content to ensure it aligns with your brand voice. Update the guidelines as needed to reflect any changes in your brand strategy or market trends.
• Leverage AI tools: For example, ContentShake AI will automatically generate content in your brand voice. Simply choose the target voice when creating articles or social posts, and the tool will do the rest.

Top 6 Brand Voice Examples for 2024

Let’s break down the brand voice and tone guidelines for six leading brands to help you hit the ground running.

1. Asana

Asana’s brand voice is professional and inspirational. It perfectly aligns with their target audience: professionals looking to enhance productivity and streamline collaboration. 

This voice is reflected in Asana’s content across different channels. 

Check out the level of professionalism in this blog post by Asana:

And also this Instagram post:

Asana also positions itself as a supportive brand with an uplifting voice.

The brand’s messaging focuses on specific user pain points and actionable advice. 

Check out this post on Asana’s LinkedIn page, where they focus on common onboarding challenges faced by companies and use a direct, conversational tone of voice:

2. Frank Body

Frank Body’s voice is playful yet empowering. The skincare brand appeals to a younger demographic with an informal and engaging voice. 

For instance, the brand writes cheeky product descriptions in a unique first-person perspective to highlight its ingredients, differentiators, and other details.

Here’s an example. These engaging descriptions resonate with Frank Body’s target audience—millennials and Gen Z women.

Besides its lighthearted messaging, the brand adopts an empowering voice to reflect its mission—to make women feel comfortable in their skin. 

Frank Body’s video podcast is a perfect example to showcase this brand voice trait.

The podcast, called “Self (ish)”, covers topics related to women’s careers, bodies, and lives to deliver inspirational messages. 

3. Miro

Miro has a versatile brand voice that works on multiple levels. 

At first glance, Miro’s voice is welcoming and accessible. It helps people easily understand the product’s capabilities and overall messaging without getting lost in jargon and buzzwords.

For example, this landing page for Miro Assist clearly and succinctly explains how the tool can save users’ time. 

On another level, Miro embraces a friendly and conversational voice to communicate with its audience. Want to see how? 

Here’s a LinkedIn post announcing a new feature with a short video and a fun caption. 

Since Miro caters to a mix of creative and technical users (like designers, developers, and more), this combination of accessible and enthusiastic voice works well to engage the audience. 

4. Duolingo

Duolingo is famous for its sarcastic, witty, and playful brand voice. 

Duolingo aims to set itself apart from traditional educational platforms and make learning accessible. To that end, the brand maintains relatability across all touchpoints—from its push notifications and emails to social media posts and videos. 

For example, Duolingo posts hilarious content on Instagram and TikTok as an extension of its quirky brand personality. 

In fact, Duolingo has close to a million followers on X because of its funny and casual voice. 

Here’s an example of tweets that appeal to its younger target audience:

5. Canva

Canva’s brand voice is encouraging, upbeat, and clear. 

The brand inspires people to explore their creative potential even if they don’t have design expertise. Its warm, approachable tone gently nudges users to try the tool or learn new concepts. 

Here’s one of Canva’s LinkedIn posts that shares helpful advice for creating social media assets:

Canva’s brand voice is also user-friendly and straightforward because the brand targets a broad audience. It focuses on simplicity to ensure users of all skill levels understand the platform and get the best out of it.

Here’s a feature announcement email that quickly sums up its multiple use cases:

6. Applebee’s

Applebee’s voice is friendly, casual, and relatable. 

The brand positions itself as a neighborhood diner and targets families, young adults, and similar groups. Its brand voice builds a sense of inclusivity.

For example, here’s a snapshot of Applebee’s About Us page. It communicates the brand’s mission with a clear and down-to-earth voice, inviting people to have a meal:

The brand also maintains an engaging personality on social media. 

Here are some of Applebee’s tweets targeting the Gen Z audience with a casual brand voice:

Over to You: Build a Powerful Brand Voice 

A well-defined brand voice can enhance your positioning, strengthen customer relationships, and give you a competitive edge. 

Remember, a lot goes into building your brand voice from scratch. 

Start by documenting your brand’s key differentiators—like your values and mission. Then, research your audience, describe your brand personality, and consolidate all this into brand voice guidelines. 

ContentShake AI’s Brand Voice feature can simplify the process. It lets you define your brand voice and generate content in your unique writing style.