Brand copywriting & tone of voice

There’s a science to persuasive copy but it’s hard to persuade people if they don’t click with your tone of voice. So, what do you want your brand voice to sound like?

What is brand copywriting?

Why do brands invest in brand copywriting
and tone of voice guidelines?

A company may have a fantastic copywriter who nails the tone of voice (TOV). But as a company grows and levels up its marketing output, it becomes too much for one copywriter. So they hire more copywriters and outsource some marketing; the work is good but the TOV is off. Everything takes a few rounds of revisions to get it right. It’s annoying but that’s just the way it is… or is it?

The truth is that it doesn’t matter how great copywriters are: mixed results are to be expected until you’ve defined your brand’s TOV and documented it for others to follow. Establishing brand identity and solidifying it into brand TOV guidelines stamps out many marketing problems that exhaust companies.

Once everyone at your company knows exactly what you’re about and how to write in your voice, every product, service, and piece of content can be branded to sound like you.

Brand copywriting helps you:

  • Stand out from your competitors.

  • Get laser-focused on your brand story, personality, and USP.

  • Keep all communication consistent.

  • Cut down onboarding time with freelancers, external agencies, etc.

  • Create a recognisable brand voice.

  • Guide copywriters, marketers, PR teams, external agencies and freelancers.

  • Embody brand identity in all products, services, and content.

  • Reduce copywriting and content turnaround time (less time revising copy).

Brands have voices just like people. Some are loud and proud, others cold and distant, and some are just flat-out weird. There’s no “right” or “wrong” brand voice. It’s about finding your voice. A voice that feels natural for you and clicks with your audience.

The goal of a brand copywriting project is to find, define, and document your brand’s identity so that you can make every page, email, social media post, press release, product, and service sound just like you. Brand copywriting is a huge part of creating a brand that people care about.

The All Out Copy Brand Copywriting process

  • 1. Onboarding

    We’ll meet on Zoom or in-person to deep dive into your brand. The why, how, what, brand story, your competitors, and other big questions. This helps us get clear on who you are and who you help, nudging us in the right direction to find your brand voice.

  • 2. TOV workshop

    We’ll explore the 11 brand archetypes and complete a few word-association exercises to see which one (or maybe more than one) best represents your brand.

  • 3. Define & Refine

    Next we’ll see what makes your voice, your voice. We’ll look at your style, quirks, and differentiators so that your brand voice can be refined and documented.

  • Document

    4. First draft

    I will send over your guidelines for review. There may be edges to be softened but it will be strong enough to see if the voice we’re describing feels like your brand voice or not. (If it doesn’t, we’ll revisit some of the earlier exercises.)

  • Tune

    5. Fine-tune

    Take the time you need to review your tone of voice document. Leave Google comments for minor tweaks or we’ll book a meeting if there are still considerable changes required.

  • Documents

    6. Document

    Now that you know how your brand voice sounds, I can solidify your brand voice into a TOV document that you can share with your team and external agencies.

  • Designer

    7. Style

    I will send your guidelines in a document (format will be decided beforehand) or I can bring in a graphic designer to style your tone of voice document for you. (Paid extra.)

  • Thumbs up

    8. Good to go

    Share guidelines with everyone at your company and all freelancers/external agencies moving forward. Now you can measure every piece of content up against them to see if it’s your voice or not.

Need help finding your brand’s voice?