Every brand wants to stand out. But here’s the truth: it’s not just your product or visuals that make you memorable — it’s how you sound. If your audience doesn’t feel something when they read your content, they’re going to scroll past or click away.
This is where having a clear brand voice comes in. It’s more than just tone. It’s your brand’s personality, values, and vibe captured in words.
In this guide, we’ll outline what brand tone of voice really means and why it matters. We’ll also look at the top companies doing it right and how they can inspire you to build a voice that fits your brand.
What is Brand Voice?
Brand voice is a distinct personality expressed consistently through words and communication style. It’s the way your brand sounds across all the channels and platforms you use. It shows up in your blog posts, Instagram hashtags and captions, emails, and support docs. Basically, anywhere your brand “speaks” to its audience.
Brand voice definition:
Establishing a brand voice means identifying the core traits, values, and beliefs that shape your business. These include (but are not limited to):
- Your company’s values and mission
- Your company’s history and evolution
- Your brand’s unique personality traits (e.g. bold, thoughtful, quirky)
- The language and phrasing you use when communicating
- How your audience talks and what they expect from you
Having a consistent brand voice adds a personal touch to your marketing and communications. It makes your business sound like someone, not just something.
The Benefits of Having a Brand Voice
A strong brand voice is one of the most powerful tools for crafting your brand image and influencing how people see, hear, and remember your business.
It helps you:
- Build trust and familiarity with customers
- Make your content instantly recognizable
- Stand out from competitors in a sea of sameness
- Connect with your audience on a more personal level
- Speed up your content creation process (no more rewriting briefs and outlines that just don’t feel right)
A brand voice gives everyone direction. From content writers and marketers to support reps and customer success teams. It ensures your entire team speaks in sync without having to come up with their own ideas of the brand and how they should communicate on the fly.
It also supports your brand positioning strategy, the art of shaping consumer perceptions and leaving a lasting impression. This helps to make you unique and desirable in the marketplace.
7 Proven Tips for Developing Your Brand Voice
Getting a strong brand voice is one of the ABCs of how to build a brand.
If you’re starting from scratch, or rebranding your business, here’s how to define a voice that sounds like you and sticks with your audience:
Understand Your Audience Deeply
You can’t speak clearly with confidence if you don’t really know who you’re speaking to. Dive into what your audience actually cares about — what are their pain points, wants, needs, and aspirations? Imagine having a conversation with the people who are going to buy your product or service. How would you need to communicate with them to engage and earn their trust?
Creating customer personas can help here.
You can use tools like Google Analytics to find out demographics: age, income, education location, to name a few. But you should go deeper than numbers. Look at what motivates them, what they value, and how they speak. Browse forums and the sites they hang out on, read the reviews they leave, and watch how they interact with other brands online.
The goal is simple: speak their language and learn how to connect with your customers better than your competitors do.
Define Your Brand Personality
If your brand walked into a room, would it be bold and sarcastic? Calm and confident? Ask thoughtful questions? This creative exercise can help you think of practical ways to shape how your brand speaks. The goal is to express your own identity in a way that’s both real and repeatable.
For example:
- A fintech startup might choose smart and efficient
- A streetwear brand might go for bold and irreverent
- A productivity app could lean into friendly and motivating
Don’t be shy in flipping the script and choosing a brand personality that surprises your audience at first.
Duolingo, for example, has deployed an “unhinged” personality to great effect on social media. Using its owl mascot in sarcastic videos with self-aware humor has boosted the language learning app’s TikTok follower count from 50,000 to 16 million.
Duolingo’s social media manager, Zarai Parvez says: “A lot of our social is just what our community wants us to do.”
That’s the key: meeting your audience’s expectations while staying true to your identity and values, even if it’s quirky and goes against the norm.
Be Consistent Across All Channels
Inconsistency can be confusing. When your brand sounds warm and witty on social media, but cold and clinical in copy on your website, it creates a disconnect that breaks trust.
Your audience wants to know what to expect. They don’t want you to sound like a different person from one channel to the next.
Example: Slack nails this. Whether you’re reading their product announcements or receiving a support email, the tone is always consistent: casual, helpful, and human. Even the technical information feels approachable.
This is why brand voice guidelines are critical. They’re your team’s playbook, helping everyone — freelancers, support agents, product managers, marketers — speak with the same voice.
Here’s a mockup for brand voice guidelines with clear examples in action:
| Our Value | What We Mean | How it Sounds |
|---|---|---|
| Adventure | We embrace curiosity, bold moves, and stepping into the unknown | Energetic with upbeat language like “take the leap” and “let’s explore” |
| Integrity | We stand for honesty and transparency — always doing the right thing | Straightforward sincere tone backed by facts and no over promising. “Here’s what you can expect” |
| Empowerment | We want to uplift and enable others to succeed with confidence | Supportive, encouraging tone. Language like “you’ve got this” |
Clarity here can save hours of missed TOVs and blog rewrites further down the line. It also builds a voice that can scale as your business does.
Use Language That Resonates With Your Audience
Like the Duolingo example suggests, you need to meet your audience on their terms. You might love clever puns and funny metaphors, but do your readers? If your voice feels too forced or too far from how your audience naturally speaks, you risk creating friction, not clarity.
This doesn’t mean you have to strip personality from your voice. It means grounding your style in how your customers think and talk. Ask yourself:
- What words or phrases does your audience use to describe their challenges and desires?
- What tone do they expect from a brand like yours?
- How casual or formal do they expect your voice to be?
- Do they relate to cultural references or humor?
To answer these questions, it goes back to understanding your audience. Connect the two. Use your previous research and identify patterns that you can build your brand voice around. When you land on language that resonates with your audience, it builds trust fast.
Inject Personality Into Your Communication
Bland and robotic writing is the fast track to content that doesn’t make an impact. Adding personality is key to connecting with audiences. This doesn’t mean being overly quirky or silly. It’s about being authentic, human and relatable.
Let your brand’s endearing traits come through naturally in the words and style you choose. For example, you can add some zest to a call to action (CTA) like this:
- Before: “Subscribe to our newsletter.”
- After: “Get smarter every week (zero spam, promise).”
It’s just a small change in phrasing and tone, but it can go a long way in turning your brand into someone your audience enjoys hearing from. That starts with a clear brand voice.
Even serious B2B brands can show character with their brand voice. In fact, it’s what sets big corps apart in a world where formal-sounding competitors can struggle to cut through.
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Keep Your Tone Authentic and Genuine
Don’t stray too far from what your brand represents. Trying to fake something that doesn’t feel natural won’t work. Your audience will notice something is off, even if they can’t immediately explain why.
If your brand is more reserved, own that and be consistent. If it’s high energy and quirky, lean into it if that’s what your community demands. Authenticity means being honest and aligned with your values and voice across every touchpoint.
Here’s a handy ‘voice dimensions’ framework you can use for delving deeper into different characteristics. This will help you get away from thinking just “formal” or “casual” and provide some pointers on what it can feel like in different scenarios, while remaining genuine.
| Playful/Sincere | Formal/Casual | Bold/Humble | Neutral/Energetic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lighthearted | Official | Brave | Reserved |
| Warm | Professional | Candid | Upbeat |
| Whimsical | Structured | Assertive | Calm |
| Cheeky | Relaxed | Tactful | Expressive |
| Friendly | Business-like | Confident | Mild |
| Charming | Approachable | Thoughtful | Enthusiastic |
| Honest | Courteous | Direct | Balanced |
Use these dimensions as a brand tone chart. When writing for a blog or an Instagram post, you can quickly check that your voice is on the right track. This will save you (and your team) from confusing and inconsistent comms.
Test and Refine Your Brand Voice Regularly
When you’ve got your brand voice, don’t rest on your laurels. Test it and iterate on it over time. It will need to evolve and adapt as your audience grows, or your products shift — without losing its core identity.
Here’s how to keep it sharp and match ready:
- Review content performance regularly - Track engagement rates, shares, and replies for blog posts, emails, and social media posts.
- Test audience sentiment - Dig into comments and DMs to see whether people are confused, excited, annoyed, or indifferent.
- A/B test copy variations - Run different tones for landing pages and CTAs to see what flavor of brand voice actually drives action.
- Collect direct feedback - Run quick polls or add feedback prompts to see if your brand voice clicks and what you can do to improve.
- Audit for consistency - Brand voice drift is a common issue. Check to see if your voice holds up across different channels (social, website, email, product, support).
- Run quarterly voice check-ins - Review your brand traits every three months to see if they still fit your products and audience.
- Document learnings - Update your brand voice guidelines with examples that work, and note down any branding mistakes or things to avoid in the future.
Now, it’s time to look at big companies that are grand masters at wielding a brand voice to great effect.
5 Brand Voice Examples You Can Learn From
These companies have cracked the code on how to build brand awareness with a consistent and engaging voice. Each one has developed a tone that reflects their personality and resonates with their audience.
You don’t need to copy these directly, but understanding why they work can help to shape your own.
Innocent - Playful, cheeky
Innocent Drinks doesn’t take itself too seriously with friendly and playful branding. Take this post on X (formerly Twitter) for their launch of their ‘Bolt’ range of smoothies with added vitamins and nutrients.
Innocent always uses the same quirky tone, whether it’s a label on the back of a smoothie bottle or copy on the home page of its website.
Why it works:
- It's consistent and reflects their product: simple, feel-good, and natural.
- It makes something as everyday and “normal” as fruit juice feel entertaining.
- It creates loyalty through relatability — customers come back for wholesome content and a brand that feels human, like a friend.
Nike - Confident, motivational
Nike struck gold with a brand voice that’s largely remained unchanged since the 1980s. It’s always inspiring and motivational and puts the customer at the center — speaking directly to the drive and ambition inside each person.
The aim is to empower their target audience and to push (and remind them) that they’re capable of great things.
Take ‘Just Do It’, for example. It’s more than just a slogan — it’s a masterclass in brand voice. It captures everything Nike stands for in just three words.
Why it works:
- It inspires action without pushing any particular product too hard.
- It’s emotionally charged but very consistent.
- It taps into and connects to collective energy, especially in global moments of change or challenge.
Apple - Sleek, aspirational
Apple’s brand voice is concise and confident. It focuses on saying more with less. Every word is intentional, and every sentence is stripped back only to what’s necessary. The lack of clutter or over-explaining ensures messages are always clean and clear.
Take a look at this ad for the iPhone 15 Pro.
Why it works:
- It mirrors Apple’s design philosophy: sleek, intuitive, and refined.
- It matches expectations from customers who mainly care more about quality, simplicity, and experience rather than specs and technical detail.
Wendy’s - Bold, witty
Wendy’s brand voice is bold and unapologetic. The fast food giant has made sarcastic jokes and “roasting” rival brands a cornerstone of its social media marketing. It all builds from its core value proposition of using fresh, never frozen beef.
Wendy’s regularly takes aim at McDonald’s here, turning a product differentiator into a running joke that reinforces its value with sass and humor.
Wendy’s is best known for its social media antics. But its brand voice remains consistent and authentic across all channels.
Why it works:
- It turns product messaging into entertainment with content that’s got personality and humor.
- It builds brand recognition with language and tone.
- It resonates with a younger audience who want quick wit and bold comms.
National Geographic - Smart, curious
National Geographic takes a very different approach to Wendy’s. The non-profit media company is always thoughtful and curious with its commitment to science and conservation through brand storytelling.
Their voice is calm and respectful — never sensational or shallow. There are no puns or clickbait.
National Geographic aims to make important topics that are often complex feel understandable. It does this through long-form articles, immersive visuals, and social media posts that compel readers to explore the planet and care about its future.
Why it works:
- It builds trust through authority with a brand voice that exudes expertise without being elitist.
- It makes science and conservation feel approachable and relevant
- It speaks to a shared mission and attracts people who want to make a difference
How Does Brand Voice Impact Customer Perception?
Your voice will affect how customers perceive you. It shapes the impression your brand leaves behind and, over time, that will become part of your image and reputation.
Nielsen Normal Group tested four different tones of voice to see how they influence users’ perceptions. It found:
- Enthusiastic tones improve user perception by up to 15%, especially in more “serious” industries like insurance and healthcare.
- Casual tones increased user favorability by 11% for certain sectors.
- Trustworthiness was the top factor influencing how much users liked a brand’s voice.
Getting the right brand voice and tone will increase how trustworthy and likable you are perceived by the people who matter — your target audience. That’s why it’s so important to take the time to find one that fits your business.
What Are Common Elements of a Brand Voice?
A brand voice is influenced by the core characteristics and values of a brand, and is then made up of several key elements: personality, tone, vocabulary, rhythm, and style.
Each of these works together to shape your brand sounds.
- Personality - The human traits that define your voice like bold, witty, sincere.
- Tone - The emotional inflection and tenor of your voice, which can change depending on the channel (e.g. upbeat in marketing or empathetic in customer support).
- Vocabulary - The words and phrases your brand uses and avoids.
- Rhythm - The pace and flow of your writing and communications.
- Style - The formatting and grammar rules you follow across channels.
How Do You Define Your Brand’s Voice?
To define your brand voice, take stock and look back at your history. What were the original goals that shaped your business, and how have they changed? Next, think about who your audience is and who you’re speaking to now.
Then you can start bringing it together by outlining two or three core traits that define how your brand sounds. Think of these as “voice pillars”. They will guide your vocabulary and brand tone in everything from PR strategies to content marketing.
Finally, to make it practical, build guidelines with a voice chart and examples so your team understands (and has reference points) to write consistently and confidently. Everyone should be able to use this brand voice easily across platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between brand voice and tone?
Brand voice and tone are similar but have subtle differences. A brand voice is the consistent personality and style of how a brand communicates. A brand tone is the emotional tenor or nuance applied to that voice — how it’s said. The latter can be more fluid and change based on the campaign or audience.
How do you maintain consistency in brand voice?
Develop and document guidelines detailing your voice, tone, and language preferences to maintain consistency with your brand voice. These guidelines can be distributed to creators internally and externally for all marketing and advertising. Consistency reinforces brand identity and builds trust with your audience.
What are the risks of not having a clear brand voice?
Without a clear brand voice you risk confusing or alienating your audience. When you put out marketing materials that sound generic or robotic, there’s no connection. People are less likely to trust (and buy) from you. It also slows down content production — there’s uncertainty and inefficiency at every stage.