Five Foundational Tips for Creating a Strong Brand Voice
Listen, I get it: creating your brand voice can feel like a daunting task. It’s both a creative and strategic process, and it takes effort—but it’s a project worth investing your time and energy into. And here’s why.
Too often, beauty copywriting sounds eerily similar. How many times have you seen a brand say, “You dew you!” or “Glow on!”? This is low-hanging fruit—obvious, overused copy. If you’re inspired by brands like Vacation or Fenty Beauty and want to create a voice that’s equally immersive, you’ll need to go beyond those common phrases and puns. In this 101 post, I’m covering five valuable tips to help you create a distinct brand voice that reflects your brand’s purpose, value, and story. Let’s dive in!
Foundational Tips for Creating Your Brand Voice
Define Your Brand Identity
Trying to express your brand voice without understanding your verbal brand identity is like trying to sing a song without knowing the melody—it’ll make noise, but it won’t sound right. You need to start with a deep understanding of your brand’s purpose, value, and story.
Here are four essential questions to help you uncover the core essence of your brand:
Who is your brand?
What do you do differently than anyone else?
How do you do it?
Why do you do it?
For example, let’s take a hypothetical brand:
Who We Are: A cultural beauty brand
What We Do: Fine fragrances that capture the spirit of Spain
How We Do It: With luxury ingredients local to our landscape
Why We Do It: To share the magic of the Costa Brava with a global audience
Understanding your brand on this fundamental level empowers you to craft your story and communicate in a voice that supports it.
For instance, this sample brand might integrate Catalan words and phrases and tell evocative stories about their local ingredients and landscapes. Their brand voice could be defined as emotional, passionate, and global, which would be reflected in their copy across social media, emails, and more.
Understand Your Audience’s Psychographics
You can’t create your brand voice without considering who you are speaking to—and why. First and foremost, you want to define who your key audience is, including their desires, challenges, aspirations, and what they care about most. Sure, demographics can be helpful, but psychographics can empower you to create messages that resonate with them on a deep level.
Here’s what I mean:
Not all Gen Z-ers who like pop music, are getting a college degree, and shop at Brandy Melville and Ulta want the same thing.
It’s far more helpful to understand what your key audience cares about. Maybe you define your audience as: Gen Z-ers who care deeply about sustainability and want products that help them feel empowered in their skin, even when they’re breaking out. That’d be a whole lot more helpful in creating messages in a tone of voice that resonate with them.
So, ask yourself these questions:
What does your key audience care about most?
What are their aspirations?
What are their beauty challenges or pleasures?
How do you want them to feel when interacting with your brand and products?
Create a Brand Personality
With your verbal brand identity and audience psychographic overview in place, you can now create your brand’s personality. Are you the friend with the best beauty recs under $40? The skincare nerd who debunks myths to guide your audience with integrity?
To get started, ask:
What does your brand persona care about? What keeps them up at night?
Who would they be friends with?
How would they speak to your dream clients? Friendly? Educational? Witty? Trustworthy?
What words would they use? What words would they avoid?
Is slang part of their vocabulary?
Avoid Mimicking Competitors
It’s tempting to borrow from brands with strong voices, but copying their style dilutes your authenticity and won’t impress your audience. Instead, study what resonates with you in other brand voices. Is it their playful tone? Their sense of authority? The way they immerse clients in their brand world?
Take note of these elements, then adapt them to fit your own brand’s values and personality.
For example, Fenty Beauty’s voice is bold, unapologetic, modern, and casual. If that inspires you, you might incorporate modern slang or integrate a similar bold tone—but let your brand’s identity and audience guide how you make these elements your own.
Be Selective with Trends
To create a consistent and compelling brand voice, critically assess which trends to participate in—and which to skip. Jumping on viral moments can be tempting, but it’s important to ask whether they align with your brand's personality and voice.
Before hopping on a trend, ask yourself:
Does this trend align with our brand identity, values, and personality?
Will it help us connect with our audience in a meaningful way?
Does it feel authentic to our voice?
For example, consider the very demure trend. If your brand is a derm-founded skincare line with a voice that’s friendly, educational, and supportive, this trend might not align with your brand’s identity. Stay focused on what strengthens your connection with your audience and enhances your brand identity.
Summary
Building a distinct brand voice takes effort, but it’s a powerful way to ensure your messaging stands out and resonates with your audience. By defining your brand identity, understanding your audience’s psychographics, creating a clear personality, avoiding the urge to mimic competitors, and being selective with trends, you’ll be well on your way to developing a voice that truly reflects your brand’s unique essence.
Looking for support in creating your brand voice?
I’ve helped beauty brands like Provence Beauty, Follain, Exa, and more create and strengthen their brand voices, and I’d love to help support you, too. Click here to get in touch.