I was chatting about brand voice with a friend of mine last week and he was telling me that when he went on parental leave after the birth of his son, the customers of the company he works for commented on the fact that their social media posts were different. Their customers and followers actually noticed that someone else was doing the writing. Their brand’s voice has changed.

What is Your Brand’s Voice?

When we refer to a brand’s voice, there are a few things that will shape the voice with which you communicate. What kind of language do you use? Formal, semi-formal, or casual? What narrative voice do you use? First-person (I/we), second person (you), or third person (the company, the client)? First-person is more warm and intimate, whereas the third-person is more formal and distant.

Some of the things that can contribute to your brand’s voice are your target audience, or your ideal client, your market position, and your company’s core values, mission and vision. In our previous episode, we looked at defining your market position. Your market position may help determine your brand vocabulary, your choice of words, to describe every aspect of your business. If you are a budget brand, you might use phrases such as “reasonably priced wedding collections,” “brand photography that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg,” or “more images without the added fees.”

Before we go any further, I want to pause here and say that I do not recommend being a budget photographer, a shoot-and-burn photographer, or offering your creative services for cheap. I also am not going to shame or lecture anyone for doing so. Do what’s comfortable for you, and grow from there.

Conversely, if you are a luxury brand, you want to use words associated with luxury, such as refined, elegant, tradition, bespoke, and so on. Luxsell has a great Luxury Lexicon you should check out.

Establish Your Core Values, Vision, and Mission

Another aspect to consider when defining your brand’s voice is your brand’s core values, vision, and mission. What’s important to you?

For my wedding photography studio, Blackwood Studios, I wanted to create a brand that was timeless, sophisticated, and personal. The narrative voice I use is second-person — so, a lot of speaking directly to my clients (I say you, instead of I or we or our photographers) — and I focus on their experience and their wedding. I want every client to feel as though they are my only client, whether they were my first client or they’re my 100th client.

If you’re a commercial photographer, you might not think this applies to you, but you’d be wrong. Your commercial brand is built around you. So, I am my brand. I am KPR. I used to teach improv comedy for a living, so a sense of humour is one of my core values. Bringing laughter to people’s lives is a personal mission of mine; that includes everyone I work with. I’m funny and easy-going, but using natural materials is also important to me. So, my portfolio is made from bamboo, my tablet case is genuine leather, I wear Red Wing Iron Rangers, solid cotton or modal V-necks, and jeans. My brand voice is approachable and authoritative, but also has a sense of humour. When art directors get a mailer from me, my personality is baked-in, my sense of humour is baked-in.

A great example of a company whose values come across in their voice is Cards Against Humanity. Their advertising campaigns are ingenious and the clients are evangelical about their vision because it resonates with them. The first paragraph on Cards Against Humanity’s website expertly delivers its voice. It says:

“Cards Against Humanity is a party game for horrible people. Unlike most of the party games you've played before, Cards Against Humanity is as despicable and awkward as you and your friends.”

It’s authentically them.

Choose Three Descriptors

To keep your brand voice authentic, choose three descriptors that define your brand. Let’s start with an all-out braindump. Take a blank piece of paper and start writing down words that describe your brand, its values, your vision for your clients, your mission, etc. Fill the page with words. Don’t edit your thoughts, just write the words down. All of them that pop into your mind. Fill the page. Keep in mind we are talking about your business voice, so if you’re in advertising or editorial, or creating gallery art, then you are likely the brand. Do the same thing, and focus on you.

From here make a shortlist. Circle the words that really click with you. Make a list of 10, then five, then three. Get your list braindump down to just three words.

Here are some examples:

Casual, inviting, quirky
Formal, authoritative, direct
Playful, motivational, energetic
Nurturing, humourous, educational

“We’re This, Not That”

For each of those three descriptors, you can refine them a bit more by doing a “we’re this, but not that” exercise.

We’re sophisticated, but not stuffy.
We’re humorous, but we don’t use puns.
We’re authoritative, but not condescending.

A great example is Mailchimp’s brand voice. They made their brand voice public many years ago, and it’s a great guide to help you establish yours.

Do that for each of your descriptors, to help further define your brand voice. Once you do this, you’ll have a really solid foundation for your brand voice. Building on that foundation, the next step you might wish to take is to define a brand vocabulary.

Voice, Not Tone

One thing to note is that your brand voice is consistent. What can change from moment to moment is tone. Voice is your brand’s personality; the tone is the emotional inflection applied to your voice, and it adapts to each message.

Voice: brand personality (consistent, unchanging)
Tone: emotional inflection applied to voice (adapts to each message)

Define Your Brand Vocabulary

A brand vocabulary can be highly detailed or might only include a few instances where you stick to a specific set of common terms to describe different aspects of your business. A great way to do this is to establish a “words we like” vs “words we don’t like” list. Or a “say this, not that” kind of list.

Examples:

Consumer Photography
- Album vs Book
- Consultation vs Meeting
- Collections vs Packages
- Photographs vs Images
- Wall art vs Framed Pictures
- Inspiration Board vs Mood Board
- Design Consultation vs Ordering Session or Sales Session
Commercial Photography
- Book vs Portfolio
- Meeting vs Portfolio Review
- Mood board vs inspiration board
- Key Visuals or Brand Assets vs Images or Photographs

Don’t stray too far from industry standards, but establish a set vocabulary to use in your business. Use vocabulary that people understand and that evokes emotion you want to convey.

Update Your Copy

Once your voice is established, the next step is to start using your voice. Let people see, hear, and read your voice. Use your voice in your social media posts, update your website copy, review your automated emails, your booking proposals, your email signature (!), everything.

Do a full audit of your brand’s communications, internal if you have staff, associates, assistants, or VAs, and external to all your clients, customers, and other contacts, such as your suppliers, printers and whatnot. Every piece of writing that leaves your shop should be written in your brand voice.

In my commercial brand, I sign off all my emails with “Cheers, KPR.” In my wedding photography studio, I sign campaign emails as “The Blackwood Studios Team,” or individual client emails with a simple “Thanks,” because one of the descriptors of my wedding studio’s voice is timeless. A simple thanks will always be timeless.