Here’s how to define your brand voice…and make your life a million times easier in the process.
As a content creator, are you hoping to work with brands? Any brands in particular? Why?
If you’ve ever come across a brand that you just feel connected with – that feels like it gets you, makes you feel like a version of yourself you love, or simply tickles your brain in a nice way – you already understand the power of branding.
“Brand voice is something that you can, and should, be harnessing yourself to grow your audience and work with brands you love.” — Liv Steigrad
Having a defined brand identity and brand voice of your own will help you secure brand partnerships and deals.
If you can clearly communicate who you are and what you’re about, brands can easily see whether you align with their own values and identity. Not to mention, consistency builds trust with your audience.
What Is Brand Voice And Why Does It Matter?
A strong example of brand tone of voice is Go-To Skincare. Notice how they describe their products and explain how to use them.
But how do you get there?
In the simplest terms, you need to be able to answer the following questions:
- Who are you?
- What do you believe in?
- What makes you unique?
- How do you stand out?
- What do you talk about?
- How do you talk about it?
This is where defining your brand strategy comes in. Each element supports the next.
For content creators, the core foundations are your brand identity, brand messaging, and brand voice.
Brand Strategy In A Nutshell
Brand Identity
Your brand identity is who you are, what you care about, and why you do what you do.
Brand Messaging
Your brand messaging is a defined list of things you talk about that express your personality and values. This includes what your audience cares about, their interests, and their pain or pleasure points. This is what you use to create content pillars.
Brand Voice (Tone Of Voice)
Your brand voice defines how you communicate. It is created by combining your brand identity with what you know about your audience. This is the secret sauce that brings your personality forward and makes your content instantly recognisable.
If you’re clear on your brand identity, messaging, and voice, creating content becomes much easier – because you know who you are, what you want to say, and how you want to say it.
Three Ways To Define Your Brand Voice
To uncover your brand voice, you need to work through your brand identity and messaging first.
Trying to shortcut this process often results in something shallow that doesn’t feel authentic or resonate with your audience.
While branding can be an in-depth process, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming if you’re just starting out or doing it yourself.
Here are three practical ways to make it easier:
Reverse Engineer Your Existing Content
Look at what you’ve already posted. Are there patterns in what you talk about? Do they reflect your personal values and interests?
Analyse Your Writing Or Speech
If you have something you’ve written that you love, or a transcript of you speaking, you can drop it into ChatGPT and ask it to analyse the text for brand voice. Take the output with a grain of salt, but it can be a useful starting point.
Use A Guided Workbook
I have a free resources you can download, designed to guide you through a series of questions to help define your brand identity and voice. They’re simple, quick, and gives you enough clarity to get started without feeling overwhelmed.
Check out the resources page here via The Identity Dept.
How Your Brand Voice Makes Content Creation Easier
Your brand only becomes powerful when you actually use it. Beyond building stronger audience relationships, your brand work can help you:
- Plan your content more efficiently
- Strengthen your media kit
- Communicate clearly with brands
- Decide which brand opportunities to accept or decline
In Conclusion
Defining your brand voice is not about boxing yourself in – it’s about creating clarity. When you know who you are and how you communicate, everything from content creation to brand partnerships becomes easier and more aligned.
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