How to create a distinct tone of voice for your brand

Fast-food brand Wendy’s has turned heads on X (formerly Twitter) with its sassy, playful persona and insults against other fast-food companies. Their witty and often sarcastic tone makes them stand out in a crowded industry, building a strong identity that customers connect and engage with. Wendy’s bio on X even says, “We like our tweets the way we like our fries: hot, crispy, and better than anyone expects from a fast-food restaurant.”

“Voice” and “tone” are our focus in this article, but we’ll also discuss "tone of voice," which combines voice and tone to describe the quality and personality conveyed in communication.

What are a brand’s voice and tone?

Your brand’s voice and tone are the essence of your personality. When you define your brand voice, you spell out how to talk and write to customers, and you apply this voice consistently throughout all your communications.

There’s a subtle difference between voice and tone.

• A brand’s voice reflects its core values and is unchanging, regardless of the medium.
• Your tone is how that voice is adapted depending on the situation, audience, or platform.

The voice stays the same, the tone shifts to fit the context. For example, the Innocent Drinks’ voice is playful, but the tone might be more energetic on social media and slightly more relaxed in investor communications.

Why your brand’s voice matters

Your brand’s voice is more than just words — it’s the emotional and consistent thread that ties together your brand identity and relationships. It fosters deeper customer connections and ensures consistency across every touchpoint. When done right, your brand voice transforms how people perceive, trust, and engage with you.

Building brand identity

Your voice shapes how your message is received across specific channels and by different audiences. On each channel, aim to keep a consistent yet flexible expression so customers remember you no matter where they see your messaging.

One example of a brand that reinforces its brand identity with a unique voice is Oatly, a plant-based milk company. Oatly’s voice is quirky, bold, and irreverent. They pride themselves on being a non-conventional player in the food industry. In certain channels, like packaging, social media, and advertising, they reinforce their identity using a humorous, self-aware tone that stands out and reflects their mission of challenging the status quo.

Oatly’s packaging often includes phrases like, “Wow, no cow!” or other cheeky commentary directly on the carton. This tone aligns with their environmentally conscious, edgy, and playful brand identity, setting them apart in the crowded plant-based market.

Enhancing customer connection

Your voice creates a relatable and engaging communication style that resonates with your target audience. When your brand aligns with your customers’ values and interests, it fosters a sense of familiarity and trust, which encourages deeper connections.

Spotify is an excellent example of a brand whose voice builds connections with its users. Within the app, the tone is conversational, often playful, and tailored to people’s emotions around music. Take their "Wrapped" campaign, where Spotify shares personalized insights into users’ listening habits.

Such campaigns with a light and humorous tone feel personal and fun, making people feel understood and appreciated. This connection isn’t just about the music — it’s about how Spotify communicates to make its listeners feel like they’re part of a larger community.

Improving consistency across channels

An unmistakable voice strengthens consistency by ensuring that the messaging feels cohesive and familiar no matter where or how a customer interacts with you. When your brand uses a distinct tone for different channels or audiences — whether on social media, in emails, or on your website — you create a unified and recognizable experience.

Consistent brands also create trust with consumers, and that trust leads to loyalty. In fact, consistent brands make 23% more money than competitors. Reliability strengthens your presence to help customers feel connected to your messaging regardless of the platform.

4 steps to create your brand’s voice and tone

Creating your brand’s voice and tone is about aligning every interaction with your core values and the audience’s needs. By blending introspection, research, and strategic guidelines, you ensure that every message you send reflects who you are and resonates deeply with the people you aim to reach.

1. Understand your brand’s principles

To get a sense of your brand’s values and personality, meet with key stakeholders from different departments to define or identify your core beliefs and what you stand for. Ask questions about your guiding principles and customer perception. Then, based on the answers, develop a brand personality by selecting traits that represent your company (e.g., friendly, bold, or sophisticated).

These traits will shape your tone of voice and will help you craft messaging that aligns with your values — whether it’s approachable or authoritative — ensuring that all communication reflects who you are as a brand.

2. Research your target audience

To research your target audience, analyze demographic data such as age, gender, income, and education. Then, dive deeper into psychographics, including their interests, values, pain points, and online behaviors.

Use surveys, social media insights, or focus groups to gather this information. Pay attention to how your audience speaks and interacts across platforms — the tone, language, and style they prefer.

Document your findings in a persona profile that highlights key characteristics such as motivations, challenges, and preferred communication channels.

This information will help your team understand how to effectively connect with different groups — and adjust your brand's tone to resonate with your audiences. For example, a younger, tech-savvy customer may respond well to casual, playful communication, while a more professional stakeholder may prefer formal and authoritative language. Tailoring your tone based on insights ensures your brand feels relevant and engaging to the people you're trying to reach.

3. Analyze competitors’ voices

Identify your main competitors and review their communications across various channels. Look for patterns: Are they formal, conversational, humorous, or authoritative? Document their specific vocabulary, tone, and messaging to identify how they adjust it for different contexts (e.g., customer service vs. marketing).

Pay attention to what seems to resonate with their audiences — what gets engagement or positive feedback — and where they might fall short. Use this analysis to identify opportunities for differentiation. Are they all using a formal tone? If so, perhaps a more relaxed voice could help you stand out.

By understanding how competitors communicate, your team can strategically position your brand’s voice to offer a unique experience that better connects with your audience.

4. Develop brand voice guidelines

To develop brand voice guidelines, clearly define your newly established voice and tone, ensuring they align with your values and target audience.

First, outline your brand's personality traits (e.g., friendly, authoritative, playful). Then, create specific tone directions for various contexts, such as marketing, customer service, or internal communications.

Document the dos and don’ts for language, style, and tone across various platforms. You might advise using a casual tone on social media but maintaining more formality in official documents. Include examples of common situations, such as emails, blog posts, or social posts.

3 examples to inspire your tone of voice guidelines

By looking at exceptional tone of voice guidelines, you can see how specificity, flexibility, and clarity come together to create unique and dependable brand communication.

Trustpilot

Trustpilot defines its brand’s personality through relatable, vivid descriptions. By breaking the tone into 40% “Auntie Marj,” 30% “Ncuti Gatwa,” and 30% “your friendly neighbor,” Trustpilot makes its voice easy to understand and apply — and it features this playful personality within the guidelines, showing how the voice should feel in real-world communication.

Takeaway: Your tone framework should be specific, relatable, and actionable so that anyone using it quickly grasps and embodies the brand’s voice.

Sinch

Sinch’s tone-of-voice guidelines are highly specific, practical, and adaptable. Breaking down best practices for different roles within the company ensures everyone communicates consistently.

The instructions emphasize simplicity, confidence, and engagement, making them easy to apply across platforms. Sinch also demonstrates how to adjust tone globally and base it on cultural nuances without losing brand identity.

Takeaway: Create clear and flexible tone guidelines that can be tailored to diverse audiences while maintaining core brand values.

Frontify

Frontify’s guidelines for tone of voice stand out because of their straightforward, structured approach to balancing product and purpose. By splitting tone into two categories — product (pragmatic, informal, and supportive) and purpose (conviction, aspirational, and loving) — the brand team offers actionable, adaptable guidance for different contexts. This flexibility ensures that Frontify’s messaging remains consistent yet dynamic, whether the communication focuses on solving specific problems or engaging with deeper brand beliefs.

Takeaway: Be flexible without losing cohesion. Frontify’s clear framework empowers teams to maintain consistency while adapting the tone to specific situations. This approach allows for an evolving voice that remains true to the brand.

A distinct tone of voice helps maintain consistency over time and iterations

Creating an unmistakable voice is just the beginning. To ensure a reliable and authentic brand, you need to manage, update, and maintain your voice and tone. As your company grows and your communication evolves, it’s essential to have a system that keeps track of these guidelines across all teams and channels.

Adopting a powerful platform like Frontify simplifies the process, offering tools for managing your tone of voice at scale.