Crafting a Brand Voice: How To Communicate Consistently Across Emails

Why it’s important to have a brand voice

Picture this: you’re subscribed to Nike’s newsletter to check out the latest deals. As with everything the brand does, the emails have a “Just Do It” look, voice, and feel. Until one day, you see your Nike email, open it up, and read “Do It Later.” You would do a double-take and check to see if there’s been a mistake, wouldn’t you? Not only that, but you may even unsubscribe or lose a bit of faith in the company.

This goes to show the importance of a well-thought-out, consistent voice in branded email marketing campaigns. Having one:

• Makes your brand recognizable.
• Sets you apart from other companies.
• Develops authenticity and credibility.
• Fosters loyalty and emotional connections with existing or potential customers.

Now that we have that down, let’s rewind a bit. What is a brand voice, exactly? And what elements define it? We’ll dip our toes into those basic concepts here:

But what is a brand voice?

The brand voice is the company’s personality and how that personality translates into written and spoken words. Is it upbeat and lively? Is it more serious and demure? 

The brand voice should be present in everything the company does, regardless of the platform or message. But more on that later.

Right now, it’s important to understand that a brand voice consists of language, tone, and style. 

Language

You could say “kids,” or you could say “children.” While these two words are synonyms, and many use them interchangeably, each has a very different connotation. “Kids” has a playful and informal feel to it, while “children” seems more formal and professional. This is only one example of brand language. 

When you think about word choice, ask yourself, which words would your brand use? The vocabulary (and how you employ it) defines and reinforces your company’s personality.

As part of brand language, decide if you should speak in plain or regional English, with gender-neutral expressions or not, if you’re more concise or wordy, if you lean into more emotional or technical language, among other considerations.

Tone

The tone of voice is basically the emotion and attitude a message transmits. In branded emails, the tone will depend on the situation you describe in your messaging. 

You can be friendly and fun when referring to upcoming sales. There may be a tone switch to be more professional when discussing issues with an account. Even if the tone differs, however, it should still represent the brand and its overall personality.

Tip: Brainstorm the traits and emotions associated with your brand so you can have an easier time with email branding.

Style

Style is what shapes your brand voice and creates the look and feel you want to portray. Here are a bunch of aspects you should think about when it comes to style in your branded emails:

• How are sentences structured? For example, your branded email could say, “Continue reading to learn more.” Or you could restructure and rephrase that same statement as “Ready to learn more? Keep reading!”
• Are sentences shorter or longer? 
• Does your brand communicate through emojis or special punctuation? 
• What is the pace? 
• What level of formality fits your brand? 
• Are messages in active or passive voice?
• Is the Oxford comma valid?
• How to refer to the author or the company?

To bring these concepts home, let’s look at a couple of examples. These two emails are from companies promoting coffee. Through their tones, language, styles, and imagery, you can understand that the brands are very different. 

Even though they both sell coffee, the brand voice of each is distinct and suits who they are. One is friendly and informal, while the other is neutral with a focus on spirituality.

Crafting a unique voice for email branding

The concepts mentioned above are nice and all. But how do you apply them as you create your brand voice? Daunting as it may be, putting together a personality for branded emails is easy. After all, who knows your company better than you?

Think about the business

Your brand voice needs to make sense for your business. An intelligent brand voice is heavily informed by the following:

• What the company does.
• What services or products it provides.
• What the company’s values and mission statement are.
• Who its target audience is.
• What trends and research are relevant.
• What goals you’ve set up in general and in terms of your email marketing.

Reflect on these aspects to grasp the kind of business you have and how to talk from its perspective.

Let’s take Nike as an example again. It’s a sports and athleisure brand, and they show it through an active brand voice. The target audience is wide and probably leans younger, which informs their use of friendlier and less formal language. Here is a hero section of one of the brand’s emails to demonstrate:

Know your audience

How you talk to your friends is not how you talk to your peers. Understanding your audience is an integral part of creating a unique brand voice. You have to learn your customers’ age, gender, socioeconomic status, interests, challenges, and values. 

Generate buyer personas (or imaginary clients) that encompass the essential traits of your target audience. Imagine how these buyer personas would talk and communicate to establish the language and style your audience would prefer.

Research trends and competitors

Creating a compelling and unique brand voice is not a guessing game. Aside from looking inward (defining your business and audience), you must also look outside. With that in mind, you should consider:

• Similar brands and what they’re doing in terms of email branding.
• The trends in the market in regards to all things brand voice.

Your company exists in a context. Do your research and analyze your findings to tailor your own brand voice creation process to fit said market context.

Define brand voice components

Above, we looked at the components of a brand voice in a general sense. It’s time to put these concepts to use. 

You need to study the information you have. Slowly but surely, you’ll be able to delimit the language, tone, and style of your brand voice. Likewise, think about how these components could change depending on the circumstances.

We’ve been focusing on written words, but you may also want to define your brand’s visual identity. After all, it influences your company’s personality and communication. This means taking care of the aesthetics of your email marketing campaigns (unique fonts, appealing colors and shapes, a professional logo, realistic photos, etc.).

Establish guidelines

Want to maintain a consistent voice for your email branding? Establish some guidelines that everyone can follow. Or else, how would they know? This is a crucial step, so we’ll dig into it deeper in a dedicated section.

Put the brand voice to the test

Nobody gets it right the first time. Crafting a unique voice for your branded emails should be a constant process. To perfect the brand voice, you need to:

• Proofread every single message to ensure quality, proper communication, and good use of the brand voice.
• Test various types of branded emails. Produce a few versions and figure out which works best for your audience and company goals.
• Take feedback. Ask coworkers and trusted colleagues and poll loyal customers to get their take on your branded emails.

With the information gathered, adapt the guidelines or brand voice aspects that make sense for your brand. 

Also, test your brand voice as time passes. This will help you stay current with new trends, changes in your company, your target audience, and more.

Ensuring a consistent brand voice across emails

Putting together a voice for your branded emails is only one part of this endeavor. The next question is how to keep it consistent. Fear not: it’s not rocket science. You just have to use these tips!

Write down the guidelines

You already have everything to get it done. Next up is putting it into words. This may be the most challenging part because you must verify that your way of communicating is as effective as possible. To that end:

• Be clear and concise.
• State every detail of the aspects you want to communicate.
• Explain how to adapt the brand voice to the different scenarios.
• Show easy examples for each of the points mentioned.

No good will come out of keeping those brand guidelines to yourself. Use email, a webpage, video recordings, or a document to share them with your team. You may want to use multiple platforms to ensure the message gets delivered.

Train others

You can’t expect your coworkers and colleagues to know everything instantly. Aside from sharing the documented guidelines, train your team. Have a short meeting to explain the idea behind your brand voice, as well as address questions and comments. 

Likewise, have an editor or supervisor who is an expert on the topic. They can examine the branded emails and provide feedback when needed.

Employ email templates

Who said you had to start from scratch with each branded email? We’re not reinventing the wheel, so using an email template is a smart move. 

An email template is a pre-designed example. It details where the different elements go, the phrases you may use, and the general structure of your branded emails. Your team would only have to tweak the template to suit their case and fill in the blanks. 

Email templates, in conjunction with optimized SMTP servers, can guarantee a strong, uniform, and unique brand voice. Just remember to create several templates for different situations and use cases. For example, have templates for promotional emails, newsletters, announcements, etc. 

Audit content

A content audit means reviewing past material (key email templates, newsletters, etc.). You should check that it’s all well-written, engaging, updated, and on brand. 

Go through this process every couple of months, so your messages align with the brand and goals you’ve set. If you note any recurring mistakes or misuses, share this information with your team.

Nailing consistent email branding

If done right, email marketing can be a highly effective and low-cost way to reach customers, both existing and potential. However, those efforts need a strong and unique brand voice to create connection and trustworthiness.

If you’re in the process of creating a personality and voice for successful email branding, follow these tips:

• Think about your business.
• Get to know your audience.
• Research trends and your competitors.
• Define brand voice elements.
• Establish guidelines.
• Test your brand voice.

In no time, you’ll be able to craft strategic email marketing campaigns to achieve your goals.