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A brand voice is the consistent and identifiable presentation of your company. If you use your brand voice across all marketing communication, customers should feel like the communication is coming from your company.

The tone of your writing, words you use, and feelings you wish to evoke in people who read your content are all aspects of your brand voice. Some brands choose a serious tone where others rely heavily on humor. A brand may wish to make customers feel confident, excited, or supported. Your brand voice should cater to the expectations of your customers, but—most importantly—your voice should be an honest reflection of who you are.

Finding our brand’s voice

Last year we began work on reimagining our own brand identity, including our brand voice. We wanted every piece of marketing and sales communication—from the first web page visit to the final contract—to feel connected to everything else. That is, every piece of communication should feel like it came from the same source, with the same message and goals.

So what should our brand voice be? We began by analyzing our clients, analyzing our competitors, and defining our market positioning. We wanted to know how people thought about us and how competitors presented themselves. Then we could use that information to give ourselves unique positioning in the market. All of that work would then turn into something that would help us form our brand voice!

But by the end of it we were left feeling uninspired. This common approach did not coalesce into a singular idea of how to represent our company. Our analysis was valuable, however. We came away with a market positioning statement and a marketing strategy informed by our clients’ pain points, client vocabulary, and our competitive advantage. It just didn’t translate into how we wanted to sound in our marketing.

How did we decide on our voice?

With no clear next step on defining our brand voice, I began looking for some inspiration from the brand voices of notable companies. This, too, left me without a clear idea of the direction we should take with our brand voice.

Should we be serious? Our clients care deeply about the software they trust us to build. Startups we work with are often concerned about who they can trust with their software development.

Or should we keep things light? Our clients enjoy working with us, we enjoy working with them, and we oftentimes build a rapport that leads to us joking around during meetings.

I felt like we could go either way on so many aspects of how we communicate, and any decision would end up fine. There didn’t appear to be a clear answer.

So I discussed some aspects of our marketing strategy with the other partners. As we discussed what we were looking for, how we wanted to present ourselves, and what we value as a company, the answer became clear.

Every client we work with starts with our President, Chris. He always starts with potential clients by focusing on building a relationship. He tries to uncover what they value, what they are looking for, and how we can help. In short, Chris cares about people and is helpful.

The word “helpful” felt core to who we are as a team. Our relationships start there, from a place of positivity and support. Those qualities are there throughout our relationships with our clients. And it starts with Chris’s voice.

Listening to who we are

Despite all the research and analysis, looking outward for our brand identity brought us no closer to certainty. Once we looked at our own behaviors, we gained a clear vision for our brand voice.

Instead of trying to form something new and untested, we uncovered what has worked so well for us. Clients respond well to Chris. By the time someone signs a contract with Twin Sun, they trust Chris and—by extension—us. Clients find Chris to be positive, friendly, and helpful.

Those qualities now define our brand’s voice. We decided to carry Chris’s qualities through all of our marketing material.

Twin Sun’s Brand Voice

  • Positive. Focus on positive outcomes, benefits, and opportunities. Avoid negative positions and adversarial language. The audience feels that you enjoy what you do, that you enjoy speaking to them, and that they will enjoy working with you.
  • Friendly. Speak in a way that is relatable, avoiding language that may go over someone’s head. Describe situations the audience can relate to.
  • Helpful. Every interaction leaves the audience with something of value. They walk away feeling empowered, better informed, or more interested.

How to find your brand voice

Connecting with your audience requires authenticity. The simplest path to finding your brand voice is to model it from the best qualities of your own voice. Ask yourself what aspects of your customer conversations lead customers to work with you. Focus on showcasing those aspects of your voice in all of your communication. Then your brand voice will feel like a natural extension of who you already are.