When you’re updating your Instagram, emailing your customers or writing product descriptions for your new range, are you thinking as much about how you’re speaking as you are about what you say?

See, every brand has a voice. Each time you communicate you’re using your brand’s voice.

The problem is if you haven’t really thought about your brand voice – and aren’t being consistent – then there’s a chance your brand is coming across a bit wishy-washy. After all, if someone you met sound different each time you talked to them, you’d probably start questioning their sanity.

Your brand’s voice is a combination of your brand’s personality, values and how your customers interact with you.

(Notice I didn’t say your voice. That’s because even if you’re a solo-biz-owner, how your brand sounds is different to how you sound.)

By purposely defining and using your brand’s voice, you’ll foster stronger and deeper relationships with your customers. With consistent use, your audience will instantly be able to recognise you – even outside of the context of your brand.

Need more convincing? Here’s why a distinct brand voice matters:

It helps you stand out

Live would be pretty boring if we all sounded the same, right?

Chances are there are a bunch of other online stores out there selling something pretty similar to what you sell. With the growing number of online brands out there, standing out is only going to get harder.

If you develop a strong and distinct brand voice, coupled with a clear brand identity, and then consistently present that to the world, you’ll set yourself apart from everyone else. Which makes attracting and retaining customers that much easier.

It communicates what you stand for

If you want your brand to be seen as fun, but you write like a stuffy insurance company then it’s very unlikely your customers are going to want to gossip with you.

And if you want to be taken seriously, but you pepper your content with LOL-speech and emoji, you might have a harder time selling your luxe jewellry line.

Remember, your brand’s voice is just another extension of your personality and values. You need to make sure that all those elements are aligned.

It builds trust

Consistency builds trust, and no more so when you communicate. If you’re currently switching between different tones of voice, your followers and customers are going to get confused and they’ll have a harder time believing what you say.

This is something to watch out for if you have multiple people writing content for your brand – say a social media manager is uploading posts, while your VA responds to customers and you write the blog posts. Unless you’ve defined your voice and everyone knows how to use it, chances are you’ll all write in your own styles.

But if you use a voice that matches your visual identity – and use it consistently – it shortcuts the journey from browser to customer to fan. And every one who interacts with your brand will get the same experience, no matter who is behind the computer, writing to them.

It makes you more shareable

You know those moments you see a quote or meme and think ‘this is me’. Next minute you’re sharing it across your Facebook/Insta/Pinterest.

Personality-driven brand messages are way more shareable than their dry, neutral cousins. And sure, you risk alienating a few people – but chances are those weren’t your key customers in the first place.

Of course, knowing when it’s okay to have a little fun in your brand content and when it’s time to be serious matters. But even handling complaints with personality can build your relationship with your customers.


Need help figuring out your brand’s voice? Pop your details into the form below to download my free Brand Voice Workbook.


Have you create a distinct voice for your brand? How would you describe it? Let us know in the comments below.