brand-voice-guidelines

Brand Voice & Guidelines

Develop, document, and maintain consistent brand voice across all channels.

Install

git clone https://github.com/thatrebeccarae/claude-marketing.git && cp -r claude-marketing/skills/brand-voice-guidelines ~/.claude/skills/

Voice vs Tone

Voice = who you are (consistent). Tone = how you adapt to context (variable).

• Voice is your brand personality — it does not change
• Tone shifts based on situation: celebration vs crisis, social vs support, blog vs legal

Voice Development Process

Step 1: Audit Existing Content

Analyze 10-20 pieces of existing content across channels:

• What adjectives describe the writing?
• What is consistent? What is inconsistent?
• How does your audience describe you?

Step 2: Define Voice Attributes

Choose 3-5 attributes that define your brand voice. Each attribute sits on a spectrum:

| Attribute | We Are | We Are NOT | |-----------|--------|-----------| | Confident | Bold, direct, opinionated | Arrogant, dismissive, preachy | | Approachable | Warm, conversational, human | Unprofessional, sloppy, too casual | | Expert | Knowledgeable, precise, credible | Jargon-heavy, condescending, academic | | Playful | Witty, creative, surprising | Silly, forced, distracting |

Step 3: Brand Personality Archetypes

| Archetype | Voice | Brands | |-----------|-------|--------| | The Sage | Knowledgeable, thoughtful, guiding | Google, TED, McKinsey | | The Creator | Innovative, expressive, visionary | Apple, Adobe, Figma | | The Hero | Bold, confident, empowering | Nike, Patagonia, Slack | | The Jester | Playful, irreverent, entertaining | Old Spice, Mailchimp, Duolingo | | The Caregiver | Warm, supportive, trustworthy | Dove, TOMS, Headspace | | The Rebel | Provocative, disruptive, direct | Harley-Davidson, Basecamp, Cards Against Humanity | | The Explorer | Adventurous, curious, independent | Airbnb, North Face, REI | | The Ruler | Authoritative, premium, exclusive | Rolex, Mercedes, Bloomberg | | The Everyperson | Relatable, honest, grounded | IKEA, Target, Slack |

Step 4: Create Tone Matrix

Define how voice adapts across contexts:

| Context | Confidence Level | Formality | Humor | Empathy | |---------|-----------------|-----------|-------|---------| | Marketing website | High | Low-medium | Light | Medium | | Blog post | High | Low | Medium | Medium | | Social media | Medium-high | Low | High | Medium | | Customer support | Medium | Medium | None | Very high | | Error messages | Low (humble) | Low | Light if appropriate | High | | Legal/compliance | Medium | High | None | Low | | Crisis comms | High | High | None | Very high | | Sales emails | High | Medium | Light | High |

Step 5: Messaging Framework

## Brand Promise
[One sentence: what you promise your customers]

## Value Propositions (3-5)
1. [VP 1]: [Proof point]
2. [VP 2]: [Proof point]
3. [VP 3]: [Proof point]

## Tagline Options
- [Tagline 1]
- [Tagline 2]
- [Tagline 3]

## Elevator Pitch (30 seconds)
[2-3 sentences that explain what you do, who you serve, and why it matters]

## Boilerplate (for press/about)
[Standard paragraph used in press releases, about pages, speaker bios]

Writing Style Guide

Grammar & Mechanics

| Decision | Our Standard | Why | |----------|-------------|-----| | Oxford comma | Yes | Clarity | | Contractions | Yes (we are → we're) | Conversational | | Exclamation marks | Max 1 per page | Not shouty | | Emoji | [Platform-specific rules] | Context-dependent | | Capitalization | Sentence case for headings | Modern, approachable | | Numbers | Spell out 1-9, numerals 10+ | Standard convention | | Pronouns | We (company), you (customer) | Direct and personal |

Vocabulary

| Instead Of | Use | Why | |-----------|-----|-----| | Utilize | Use | Simpler | | Leverage | Use, apply | Less jargon | | Synergy | Collaboration, combined | Real words | | Best-in-class | Leading, top-performing | Less cliche | | Disruptive | [describe what actually changed] | Show, do not label | | Solution | [name the actual thing] | Be specific |

Voice Consistency Audit

Audit Checklist

• [ ] Sample 3 pages per channel (website, email, social, support)
• [ ] Score each on voice attributes (1-5 per attribute)
• [ ] Identify outliers (pages that do not sound like the brand)
• [ ] Check for forbidden vocabulary
• [ ] Verify tone matches context (support should not sound like marketing)
• [ ] Test with the "read it aloud" check — does it sound like one person?

Deliverable: Brand Voice Document

Document Structure

# [Brand] Voice Guide

## Who We Are (1 paragraph)
## Our Voice Attributes (3-5 with Do/Don't examples)
## Tone Matrix (context-specific adjustments)
## Messaging Framework (promise, VPs, tagline, elevator pitch)
## Writing Style Guide (grammar, vocabulary, formatting)
## Channel-Specific Guidelines (website, email, social, support)
## Examples (before/after rewrites for each voice attribute)

Integration with Other Skills

• content-creator — Brand voice analyzer script validates consistency
• seo-content-writer — Apply voice guidelines while optimizing for SEO
• copywriting-frameworks — Use frameworks within your established voice
• social-media-strategy — Platform-specific tone adaptations
• email-composer — Maintain voice in professional communications