How to create brand voice guidelines for your beauty brand
Have you created a set of brand voice guidelines to help your writers create copy that sounds like you, every single time? Are you confident that your taglines, website copy and social media updates consistently reflect your brand personality?
And no, I don’t mean a one-pager with a list of adjectives like ‘friendly’, ‘informal’ and ‘fun’.
I’ve been a copywriter since 2017, and I can’t tell you the number of adjective-stuffed briefs I’ve received that have left me none the wiser about the brand voice.
Because let’s face it, one person’s friendly is another person’s ‘chatty’ or another one’s ‘cringe’.
About 99.9% of brands say they want to come across as friendly. Except for the Italian brand that specifically told me they wanted to be restrained and distant, to create a sense of prestige and being served. But that’s another story.
Think of your best mate. You’d probably describe them as friendly. But are they friendly like a professional mentor? Or your dog when you come from work? Is their friendliness expressed in a certain knowing look? A reassuring nod? A cheer and a pat on the back? The same word can have completely different interpretations.
So when a client tells me their brand is ‘friendly and professional’, I know it’s time to dig a bit deeper. Because while those traits might set you off in the right direction, they’re too vague to be useful. Here's how you can create consistent, on-brand voice guidelines for your beauty brand.
Why your beauty brand needs brand voice guidelines
Generic mood words are a great start. But they’re not enough for writers – whether that’s your internal team or an external copywriter – to consistently create on-brand copy that feels like you.
Adjectives don’t actually tell you how to write. Would you start an email with a simple ‘hiya!’ or is ‘hello’ more your style? Would you shout ‘let’s do this!’ or would you start with a polite but friendly ‘we recommend’?
A simple list of adjectives don’t reflect what makes your brand different. Every brand thinks they’re ‘bold’ or ‘honest’. What makes you unmistakable?
It’s really hard to scale your copy and content if you don’t have a clear view on this. Even if you work with a star copywriter who has nailed your brand voice, as soon as they leave, or your team expands, it could all fall apart.
If you’re at the point of outsourcing your website, packaging, social media or email sequences, then you need more than a set of abstract values and a few sample headlines. You need to create brand voice guidelines that your writers can actually use.
Brand voice is more than word choice
When we talk about voice, we often assume it’s just about word choice. And of course, the specific words we use do have power.
But brand voice is more than this. It’s the rhythm of your copy, whether you use active or passive sentences, whether your brand uses whispery, softly spoken words or has a loud, brash energy.
Words that flow slowly sound calm and intentional. Or words can snap and crackle with urgency and energy.
Brand voice is also about the topics you choose to speak about. Perhaps you champion plastic-free packaging solutions and love sharing this with your audience. Maybe you share stories about the people behind your brand, the growers, pickers and formulators. Or perhaps you’re more about the ingredients and skin health, displaying your sustainability credentials on your packaging but not overtly in your copy.
The clearer you are about your brand personality and point of view, the easier it is to craft a strong voice that feels just right.
What should brand voice guidelines contain?
If you’re about to create your brand voice guidelines yourself or work with a professional, here’s what you’ll want to include:
1. Personality descriptors
Start by describing your brand’s personality as clearly as possible. It doesn’t need to be eloquent — it’s for internal use only and to help you figure out the general direction. For example:
We’re one of your closest friends. We gently suggest and are never overbearing. We respect where you are on your journey and share our own experiences to point you in the right direction.
We never follow the crowd, even when it gets uncomfortable or a bit embarrassing. We stay committed to our values even when everyone else is saying the opposite.
Give examples if possible, and clarify what your brand is not, too.
In a previous blog post, I gave some pointers on how you can kickstart your brand voice strategy.
2. Stylistic pointers
Have a play around with a few sentences. How would someone with your brand’s personality say them?
Would they speak in long, calming sentences? Or would the rhythm be choppy and punchy?
Would they use emojis?
How about punctuation and contractions (like don’t, won’t, can’t)? Does your brand take a formal, slightly old-fashioned approach and write like they were taught at school, or are they more casual?
Do side comments have a place in your brand? Brackets can be a great way to add a bit of empathy, interest or even snark if that’s your style.
3. Hero topics (and when to stay quiet)
What causes do you speak up about? Does your brand get involved in political commentary? Are you the type to play April Fool’s Day pranks?
Do you use the language of your industry or is accessibility more of a concern?
Are there any cliches you need to steer of?
This is a great place to identify words and phrases that might put you at risk of greenwashing, so you can avoid them.
4. Practical examples
Even if you include nothing else in your brand voice guidelines, then real examples of your voice in action are a must. When I help brands with brand voice guidelines, I typically edit an existing piece of copy so that it reflects the brand voice.
This could include a few paragraphs from your Home or About page, a product description, a social media caption or an email. I include a couple of examples so you can see how (if at all) the voice might change across platforms.
On one project I worked on, we included a slight tone shift for when the brand was speaking to investors, something we made sure to detail in the brand guidelines.
All this helps your team (and future freelancers) get it instantly, so they can hit the ground running.
5. Crossing channels
Sometimes we need to change the tone slightly for certain topics. How might your tone change across channels or situations?
Remember your brand personality should stay the same, but you might want to rein in an exuberant or humorous brand voice when addressing a serious current event on social media.
6. Brand glossary
Do you have any preferred words or phrases for particular products or concepts? Make sure you list them in your brand glossary. This is particularly useful if you currently use lots of synonyms. Pick the ones that best reflect your brand for greater brand consistency.
It’s also helpful to have a naughty list for words you want to avoid.
My brand voice strategy process
It can be hard knowing where to start when you’re defining a brand voice from scratch. I help sustainable beauty and wellness brands explore and develop their voice with my brand voice strategy services.
Here’s what my process usually includes:
A brand voice workshop to define your archetypes, personality competitors and audience
Analysis of your current brand voice to understand what is and isn’t working
Voice analysis of 5 competitors
Analysis of your target audience
A custom brand voice guide
Examples of your brand voice in action, including adjustments across different channels
A brand glossary
Two rounds of feedback
Detailed feedback on copy your team writes
These can, of course, be tailored to your brand, depending on what you actually need and what stage of your journey you’re at.
Create brand voice guidelines that work for you
Your brand voice shouldn’t just live in your head. It should be a tool that helps everyone write clearly, confidently and consistently for your brand.
If you’re building a sustainable beauty brand then you care deeply about your brand’s legacy in the world. Skip the adjective-stuffed one-pager. Build a set of brand guidelines that will help your team write on-brand every single time.
If you’d like some help then book a discovery call and let’s see how I can help.
