The Importance of Brand Voice

Imagine you’re sitting at the hairdresser’s, waiting for your turn and reading through a stack of brochures to kill time. One catches your eye with witty, engaging language that makes you smile. Another is persuasive, but it still lacks that special spark. The third pops in colors but somehow causes your eyes to glaze over and your mind to wander before you even finish the first sentence.

Which one do you remember? Which one do you want to read more of?

That, my darling friend, is the power of brand voice.

What is brand voice?

Brand voice is the essence of your brand personality and how your brand communicates. It’s the unique way your brand expresses itself across all touchpoints, from website copy and social media posts to advertisements and customer service interactions – giving your brand a character that makes you stand out. Just like a person’s voice can convey emotions and intentions, your brand voice is the key to connecting with your audience on a deeper level.

Why brand voice is so important?

I often see marketers who don’t understand why their marketing content isn’t converting, even when everything is beautifully designed and the copy “looks good.” Most of the time, it’s because they don’t have a distinct brand voice. Captivating design and persuasive copy are must-haves for generating leads, but without a brand voice, they only scratch the surface. Meaning, although at first glance an ad campaign or website might look professional, as soon as your reader starts reading your copy and can’t feel the authenticity of the message, they’ll quickly lose interest.

In other words, brand voice is like a signature that sets your brand apart from the competition. Make sure you prioritize it because it drives all other communications, including visuals and text. Here’s how it works:

Builds connection

Driven by new trends and consumer preferences, thousands of new businesses are launched every day. And in this over-saturated market, only those can attract loyal customers who have a strong voice. It’s not just about making your audience think, “Wow, I love this!” but also about making them feel that they truly believe in your brand as well.

Echoing your audience’s values, preferences, and feelings, your brand voice is what makes your message touch their hearts. This emotional connection fosters loyalty and trust. Because in fact, it’s not the solution that makes your customers choose your product over others’. It’s the brand experience you create through your voice that truly sets you apart.

Creates recognition

Let’s say you’re just starting out in a crowded industry dominated by big guns. Even if you have a massive advertising budget, breaking through can be tough. Your key to standing out isn’t just money – it’s having something unique to say.

If all your ads, PR, website copy, and merchandise shout a message so fresh and authentic that people feel it in their bones and think, “I want to be part of this tribe,” you’ll create a brand that turns them into passionate advocates who can’t wait to spread the word. This increases brand awareness, attracts your ideal customers, and also positions your brand as a leader in its niche. And I can tell you, I’ve seen this happen first-hand plenty of times.

A client of mine, a young SaaS startup with a revolutionary product but little recognition at that time, went to a major industry conference. A TOP player approached their booth, saying everyone had been buzzing about them because their messaging was so spot-on. They even expressed interest in a partnership. It was like being an unknown chef and having Gordon Ramsay rave about your food. Sounds great, right?

Establishes brand loyalty

When your brand voice is consistent across all your platforms, you establish reliability. This is almost 2x as important to customers as popularity today, Edelman says. A brand seen as a beacon of reliability encourages people to stick around and become loyal customers. If your customers hear the same message, tone, style, and language from you everywhere they interact with your brand, they start to know what to expect. They come to trust you as a brand that’s true to its word. It’s like having a friend who always shows up and is exactly who they say they are – that reliability makes them valuable in your life.

So, when your brand becomes reliable, your audience becomes loyal. This is a game-changer because 90% of customers consider brand loyalty a major factor when choosing what to buy, according to Linearity. No doubt about it, my darling friend. Once you’ve captured their attention, whether offline or online, potential customers check you out. They explore your website, scroll through your social media, and even sign up to your list to see if your message holds up. They’re looking for reassurance that your brand is the home of experts and that your products are worth their dollars. When that happens, they think to themselves, “I wouldn’t go anywhere else.”

The elements of brand voice

To shape your brand voice, focus on these key elements:

Messaging Messaging defines what you want to communicate. It’s about how you frame your brand’s core beliefs, values, and the promises you make to your audience. Consistent and strategic messaging keeps everything aligned with your brand strategy. Think of your messaging as the storyline of your favorite novel that guides the narrative and ensures every chapter adds to the bigger picture.
Language Language refers to the foundational vocabulary — the words and terminology that are unique to a brand’s identity and resonate with its audience. Language shapes your brand’s personality and helps you communicate clearly by using the words and expressions that feel authentic. For example, Apple’s use of simple, powerful language, often ending in a rhyme like “MacBook Air: Lean. Mean. M3 Machine,” reflects its identity of innovation and commitment to conveying cutting-edge technology.
Style Style is the technical way you deliver your language — the phrasing, sentence structure, and overall flow of communication. Style can be conversational, authoritative, elegant… and so many things. Take a look at Nike. Their style is motivational and inspiring, so they often use short, impactful, action-oriented sentences like “Seconds takes years” or “Until we all win,” which reflects their brand’s commitment to athletic excellence and resonates deeply with their audience.
Tone Tone is the emotional inflection behind the words. Compared to style, tone is more about emotional delivery, the attitude or feeling your brand communicates in specific situations. Think of it as the mood or emotion your brand conveys in each interaction, which can vary while the style stays consistent. For instance, you might use a more emphatetic tone for customer support whereas you could share a more energetic post on social media. Semrush exemplifies the shift of tone perfectly. As a leading SEO platform provider, their blog is renowned for its informative tone but switch things up on social media. They broke into the B2B world with their meme-style, hilarious posts, making us all think, “Who knew B2B could be this fun?”

Now that you understand the essential elements of building a brand voice, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when I say: Please remember that style alone is not your brand voice.

There are a ton of contents floating around the internet on how to boost your brand voice, giving you only a list of adjectives under the category of “How you want your brand to sound”. I mean, okay, great, save that document if you find one, that’s super helpful – I use lists like that in my brand voice-building process too. But you need more than that. To build a brand voice, you need to incorporate the full puzzle: Messaging, language, style, and tone.

Why you need a copywriter for building your brand voice

Expertise in language and tone A skilled copywriter isn’t just good with words. We’re experts at capturing the essence of your brand. We know how to mix the right amount of wit, warmth, and authority to make your audience feel like you’re speaking directly to them.
Consistency across channels Your brand voice needs to be like your favorite playlist – consistent and reliably great. From your website to social media, a copywriter ensures that your message doesn’t miss a beat, making your brand instantly recognizable.
Engaging storytelling Copywriters are the storytellers who turn your brand into a narrative that people want to follow. We craft messages that create an emotional bond with your audience.
SEO We know how to craft copy that is both on-brand and optimized for search engines. The crème de la crème can elevate your copy to rank higher in search results while keeping your brand voice at the forefront. This way, you can be more effective at converting visitors into loyal customers.
Adaptability Copywriters can adapt your brand voice to fit different contexts and mediums. Whether it’s a formal tone for a press release or a casual, more conversational tone for a script, a copywriter can tailor the voice to suit your goal while maintaining your brand’s core so you can be sure that you’re always communicating effectively.

The takeaway truth

A strong brand voice is what transforms casual browsers into loyal fans and makes your competitors wish they’d thought of it first. So in a world full of noise, where it’s so easy to blend in, let your voice be the roar that can’t be ignored. Don’t just play the game. Own it.