How to Find Your Brand Voice & Tone: A Step-by-Step Guide for Small Businesses

Why do some brands feel familiar, like a trusted expert, while others are completely forgettable? Why do you feel a connection to one company but not another, even if their products are nearly identical?

The answer is not always a better product or a bigger advertising budget. It is often a failure in the business strategy: communication. Most businesses are inconsistent. They sound formal in one email, playful on social media, and overly technical on their website. This confusion breaks trust. Customers do not know who you are.

This is where we must define the core concepts. Many business owners use the terms “voice” and “tone” interchangeably, but they are fundamentally different. This is the most critical distinction you must understand.

• What is Brand Voice? Think of this as your brand’s personality. It is who you are. It is the fixed, stable, and unchanging set of values and characteristics that define your brand. If your brand were a person, this is their personality.
• What is Brand Tone? This is the emotional inflection of your voice. It is how you say something in a specific situation. Your personality (voice) does not change, but your tone adapts to the context. You have one personality, but you speak to your boss in a different tone than you speak to your best friend, which is different from how you speak to a child.

This guide provides a systematic, data-driven framework to find your brand voice & tone. This is not a “soft” marketing task; it is a hard asset. A consistent brand voice & tone builds trust. Trust builds loyalty. And loyalty builds a predictable, long-term revenue stream for your small business. Most businesses fail to find their brand voice & tone, but by reading this guide you will not.

The 5-Step Process to Find and Define Your Brand Voice

Finding your brand voice & tone is not a creative guessing game. It is a systematic process of analysis and documentation. You cannot simply “decide” to sound “fun” or “smart.” You must build your brand voice & tone from the ground up, starting with your company’s core DNA. This five-step process ensures your brand voice & tone is authentic, consistent, and effective.

Step 1: Audit Your Foundation (Core Values & Mission)

Before you write a single word of copy, you must analyze your brand’s architecture. Your brand voice & tone must be an authentic extension of why your company exists. If it is not, your customers will sense the disconnect immediately. It will feel “fake.”

Your mission statement is your “why.” It is the problem you exist to solve. It is your guiding star.

• If your mission is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible” (like Google), your brand voice & tone cannot be exclusive or complex. It must be simple, helpful, and accessible.
• If your mission is “to build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to inspire solutions to the environmental crisis” (like Patagonia), your brand voice & tone cannot be wasteful or trendy. It must be honest, thoughtful, and purpose-driven.

Your core values are your “how.” They are the non-negotiable beliefs that guide your behavior. Your brand voice & tone is the primary way you express these values to the public.

• If a core value is “Innovation,” your brand voice & tone must be confident, forward-thinking, and perhaps even disruptive.
• If a core value is “Reliability,” your brand voice & tone must be calm, steady, reassuring, and clear.
• If a core value is “Community,” your brand voice & tone must be inclusive, warm, and collaborative.

This is your first task. Stop and analyze your business. What are your 3-5 non-negotiable core values? Write them down. These values are the bedrock of your brand voice & tone. Any brand voice & tone that contradicts these values will fail. A strong brand voice & tone must be, above all, authentic.

Step 2: Define Your Audience (Psychographics)

This section directly answers a question many business owners get wrong: “Who is your target audience, really?”

Many businesses stop at demographics. This is surface-level data:

• Age: 30-45
• Location: Urban
• Income: $70,000+

This data is useful, but it does not help you find your brand voice & tone. You must go deeper, into psychographics. This is the “why” behind their actions.

• What are their values and beliefs?
• What are their hopes and aspirations?
• What are their frustrations and pain points?
• What other brands do they love and why?

You cannot connect with an audience you do not understand. Your brand voice & tone must be a mirror to their aspirations and a solution to their frustrations.

A critical part of this research is analyzing the language they use.

• How do they talk to each other?
• What kind of language do they use? Is it formal? Is it casual?
• Do they communicate in short sentences and slang? Do they use emojis?
• What channels do they use? The brand voice & tone you use on a professional network like LinkedIn is fundamentally different from the tone you would use on a visual, fast-paced network like TikTok.⁶

How do you find this data? You listen.

• Read comments on your social media posts (and your competitors’ posts).
• Read online reviews for products in your industry.
• Read forums and subreddits where your audience gathers.
• Read your own customer support tickets. How do your customers describe their problems?

Your audience will tell you everything you need to know. A successful brand voice & tone speaks their language, values what they value, and solves their problems in a way that feels familiar to them. This research is essential to find your brand voice & tone.

Step 3: Personify Your Brand (The Archetype Exercise)

Now that you have your “why” (values) and your “who” (audience), you can begin to build the “person.” This is the most effective way to make your brand voice & tone tangible. When a new employee joins, you can say, “We speak like this person.”

This answers the key question: “If your brand were a person, who would they be?”

A useful tool here is the concept of brand archetypes. These are 12 universal “characters” that humans instantly recognize and understand.⁷ Picking one gives you an immediate set of rules for your brand voice & tone.

• The Sage: An expert, a guide, a source of wisdom. (Example: Google, MIT). Their brand voice & tone is knowledgeable, helpful, and authoritative.
• The Jester: A playful, fun-loving, and witty character. (Example: M&Ms, Oatly). Their brand voice & tone is humorous, clever, and informal.
• The Hero: A brave, competent, and inspiring character who overcomes challenges. (Example: Nike, FedEx). Their brand voice & tone is confident, motivational, and direct.
• The Caregiver: A nurturing, empathetic, and protective character. (Example: Johnson & Johnson, Dove). Their brand voice & tone is warm, reassuring, and gentle.

Once you have a “person” in mind, you must set clear boundaries. The most valuable, practical tool you can create is a “This, Not That” Chart. This chart defines what your brand voice & tone is, and just as importantly, what it is not. This precision is what separates an amateur brand voice & tone from a professional one.

Here are some examples:

This simple chart will be your team’s most used tool. When a writer is unsure if a sentence “feels right,” they can check it against this chart. This is how you make your brand voice & tone consistent.

Step 4: Develop a Brand Voice Chart (The 4 Dimensions)

Ideas are useless unless they are documented. A brand voice & tone only works if it is used consistently by everyone in your company. This requires a formal guide.

This Brand Voice Chart is the final blueprint for your brand voice & tone. It takes all your abstract ideas from Steps 1-3 and turns them into a concrete, shareable rulebook. It should have four key parts.

1. Voice Characteristics (Adjectives):This is your short list of 3-5 adjectives from Step 3. This is the “at-a-glance” summary.
   • Example: “Our voice is: Helpful, Expert, and Warm.”
2. Writing Style & Grammar:This is the technical rulebook. It removes all the guesswork for your writers.
   • Punctuation: Do we use the Oxford comma? (e.g., “red, white, and blue”)
   • Formality: Do we use contractions (like “it’s” or “we’ll”)? (Using them makes a brand voice & tone feel more casual and human).
   • Sentence Structure: Do we prefer short, direct sentences or longer, more descriptive ones?
   • Voice: Do we use active or passive voice? (Active is “We built this tool.” Passive is “This tool was built by us.” Active voice is almost always stronger and more direct).
   • Numbers: Do we write “five” or “5”?
3. Vocabulary:This is your brand’s private dictionary. It lists words you use and words you avoid.
   • Words We Use: “Use ‘team members,’ not ’employees’.” “Use ‘collaborate,’ not ‘synergize’.” “Use ‘customers,’ not ‘users’.”
   • Words We Avoid (Jargon): “We never say ‘circle back,’ ‘level-set,’ or ‘move the needle’.” “We avoid overly technical terms unless we define them immediately.”
   • Emoji/Slang: Do we use them? If so, which ones? A clear brand voice & tone guide answers these questions.
4. Purpose:This is your “why” for every piece of content. It connects back to your mission.
   • Example: “The purpose of our brand voice & tone is to educate and empower our customers, so they feel more confident.”
   • Example: “The purpose of our brand voice & tone is to inspire and delight our audience, making their day a little better.”

This completed chart is the final output of your work. It is the single source of truth that ensures your brand voice & tone remains stable and consistent, no matter who is writing.

Step 5: Differentiate and Document Your Brand Tone

This final step circles back to our core definition. Your voice is fixed. Your tone adapts. This is the most complex part of executing a brand voice & tone, and it answers the question, “Where will your brand voice be heard?”

Your brand voice & tone must be smart enough to adapt to the context of the situation. Think of your brand voice as a thermostat, set to a specific personality (e.g., “Helpful”). Your tone is the system adjusting to the “room temperature.”

The best way to document this is with a Tone Matrix. This shows your team exactly how your stable voice adapts to different channels and situations.

Let’s use our example brand voice: “Helpful, Expert, and Warm.”

Notice that in every single case, the brand is still “Helpful, Expert, and Warm.” But the emotional application is different. You are not “playful” with an angry customer; that would be a disastrous use of your brand voice & tone. You are not “warm and chatty” in a crisis; you are direct and serious.

This flexibility, built on a stable foundation, is the key to a mature and effective brand voice & tone.

Analyzing Real-World Brand Voice Examples (Entities & Case Studies)

Theory is one thing. Data from the field is another. Let’s analyze the brand voice & tone of major entities to see how these principles create billions of dollars in brand equity.

Entity Analysis: Apple vs. Oatly

This is a perfect high-contrast example. Both are premium brands, but their brand voice & tone strategies could not be more different.

Apple

• Archetype: The Sage / The Creator
• Voice: Innovative, sleek, minimalist, confident, and humanistic.
• How They Do It: Apple’s brand voice & tone is a masterclass in simplicity and authority. They use short, declarative sentences. They use massive amounts of white space in their ads. Their product names are simple (“iPhone,” “MacBook”). They never sound desperate or “salesy.” Their brand voice & tone is not a conversation; it is a presentation. It is confident and assumes you already agree.
• Key Takeaway: Apple’s brand voice & tone is about perfection and control. It is designed to feel simple, elegant, and superior.

Oatly

• Archetype: The Jester / The Rebel
• Voice: Playful, rebellious, self-aware, conversational, and witty.
• How They Do It: Oatly’s brand voice & tone is designed to feel like a friend, not a corporation. They print long, rambling, and funny thoughts on the side of their cartons. They break the fourth wall. They make fun of their own marketing. Their brand voice & tone is perfectly designed for social media, where a human, conversational style wins.
• Key Takeaway: Oatly’s brand voice & tone is about connection and disruption. It is designed to feel human, funny, and transparent.

There is no single “right” brand voice & tone. There is only the “right” brand voice & tone for your audience and your values.

Entity Analysis: Nike vs. Patagonia

This is an analysis of two mission-driven brands who use their brand voice & tone as a call to action.

Nike

• Archetype: The Hero
• Voice: Motivational, empowering, competitive, and bold.
• How They Do It: Nike’s brand voice & tone is a coach. It speaks in strong verbs. It addresses the “athlete” in everyone, from the professional to the beginner. Their slogan, “Just Do It,” is the perfect summary of their entire brand voice & tone. It is a direct command. It is not “Please Try It” or “Maybe Consider It.” It is bold.
• Key Takeaway: Nike’s brand voice & tone is a call to personal action. It is about overcoming your own limits.

Patagonia

• Archetype: The Activist / The Caregiver
• Voice: Value-driven, educational, activist, authentic, and rugged.
• How They Do It: Patagonia’s brand voice & tone is a direct reflection of its mission (Step 1). They are brutally honest, even when it is not good for sales. They famously ran a Black Friday ad that said, “Don’t Buy This Jacket,” to raise awareness about consumerism. They use their brand voice & tone to educate people about environmental issues.
• Key Takeaway: Patagonia’s brand voice & tone is a call to collective action. It is about saving the planet.

B2B Entity Examples: Slack and MailChimp

Finally, a B2B brand voice & tone does not have to be boring, corporate, or cold. Slack and MailChimp built empires by proving this.

Slack

• The Problem: Most workplace software was joyless and technical.
• Voice: Human, clear, concise, and helpful.
• How They Do It: Slack’s official brand guideline is to sound like a “friendly, intelligent coworker.” Their brand voice & tone is empathetic. Their loading messages are encouraging. They use emojis. Their update “release notes” are famous for being fun and human-readable. This was revolutionary for a B2B tool.

MailChimp

• The Problem: Email marketing was intimidating and complex for small businesses.
• Voice: Informal, genuine, and dry-humored.
• How They Do It: MailChimp’s brand voice & tone is a partner, not a vendor. They use their mascot, Freddie, to give you a high-five after you send a campaign. Their language is simple, clear, and reassuring. They proved that a B2B brand voice & tone could have a personality.

   

Commonly Asked Questions

Here are some answers to questions you may have about brand voice & tone.

What is the difference between brand voice, tone, and style?

• Voice: Your fixed, unchanging personality (e.g., “Helpful”).
• Tone: Your emotional mood, which adapts to the situation (e.g., “Reassuring” or “Excited”).
• Style: The technical, mechanical rules of your writing, such as grammar and punctuation (e.g., “We always use the Oxford comma”).

What emotion do you want to evoke?

This depends entirely on your core purpose from Step 1. A brand like Disney seeks to evoke nostalgia, magic, and joy. A brand like Goldman Sachs seeks to evoke trust, authority, and confidence. A brand like yours must decide what feeling aligns with your values and your customers’ needs.

How do you create a brand voice style guide?

The best way is to create the Brand Voice Chart from Step 4. This single-page document is your official style guide. It must include:

1. Your 3-5 core Voice Adjectives.
2. Your “This, Not That” Chart.
3. Your Style & Grammar rules.
4. Your Vocabulary (words to use and avoid).
5. Your Tone Matrix (examples from Step 5).

Conclusion: From Definition to Data-Driven Implementation

Finding your brand voice & tone is not a one-time creative project. It is the foundation of your entire communication strategy. It is the data-driven system you build to earn and keep customer trust.

A successful brand voice & tone is not just about what you say, but how you say it, and why. Now that you have this framework, your work is to implement it.

1. Consistency is Key: Your brand voice & tone style guide must be used everywhere. It must be used in your emails, your ad copy, your website, your social media, and even your internal memos. This is how you build recognition.
2. Train Your Team: Your brand voice & tone is everyone’s responsibility. Your customer support agent is just as important as your marketing writer. Everyone who communicates on behalf of your brand must understand and use the guide.
3. Monitor and Evolve: Your brand voice & tone is not set in stone forever. Your business will grow, and your audience may change. Revisit your brand voice & tone guide once a year. Audit your communications. Does it still feel authentic? Does it still connect?

A brand voice & tone, when executed with this level of precision, is your most powerful competitive advantage. It builds trust, differentiates you from competitors, and turns customers into a loyal community.