Your brand has a tone of voice. Whether you've planned it or not. Every email, every Instagram caption, every line on your website is saying something about who you are. The only question is whether it's saying what you actually want to say.
If you sound like your competitors, you'll never stand out. I've seen this too many times in Brisbane and beyond. Businesses with great services but forgettable brands. The fix starts with one simple thing: finding your brand tone of voice.
In this post, I'll share a practical process for finding it, with real examples to help you get started. No fluff. Just a framework you can use today.
What is brand tone of voice, really?
Tone of voice is the way your brand speaks and writes. It's the personality behind the words on your website, your social posts, your ads, even your internal emails.
It's not exactly what you say. It's how you say it.
Think about it like this. You can tell your dog you love him in a calm, gentle voice, or you can yell it while chasing him around the yard. Same words, completely different message. Your brand has the same problem. The words you use matter, but the tone behind them matters just as much.
Your tone of voice should reflect your values, your audience and your positioning. When all three line up, you feel authentic. When they don't, you feel like every other business out there.
Why your brand tone matters (the data)
This isn't just a nice to have. It's a business driver.
A study in Harvard Business Review found that emotionally connected customers are more than twice as valuable as highly satisfied ones. And I don't need to tell you that you can't build an emotional connection with a flat, robotic brand voice.
Here's another one. Research from Lucidpress shows that consistent branding can increase revenue by up to 23%. Tone of voice is a huge part of that consistency.
So what does that mean for you? It means your tone of voice is more than a nice extra. It's a growth lever. When you get it right, people trust you faster, remember you longer and choose you over the cheaper option.
How to find your brand tone of voice in 5 steps
Let's get practical. Here's the process I use when I work with Brisbane businesses to find their tone.
1. Know who you're talking to
You can't sound right to everybody. Especially on a tight budget. Sit down and write out who your ideal customer is. What do they care about? What keeps them up at night? The more specific you get, the easier it is to choose a tone that resonates.
If you're a local trades business talking to homeowners, your tone should be different to a corporate law firm talking to executives. It's that simple.
Need to reach local customers? Start by making sure your local SEO is in order. I've covered that in this guide to local SEO for Brisbane businesses.
2. Define your brand personality
If your brand was a person, who would they be? A tough but fair coach? A witty friend? A calm, knowledgeable mentor?
Write down three to five adjectives that describe your brand. Words like friendly, confident, quirky, premium, practical, warm. These become the foundation for every message you write.
Avoid fluffy words like "innovative" or "professional". They're true for everyone and mean nothing to anyone.
3. Look at what you already publish
Chances are, your voice already exists somewhere in your content. It just might be buried. Go through your past blogs, social posts, even emails to customers. Highlight the pieces that felt most natural. The ones that got the best response.
Harvest the language from those. You might be surprised at how clear your tone becomes when you study your own best work.
4. Write down your tone pillars
Now turn all that thinking into a simple checklist. I call them tone pillars. For example, let's say your brand is warm, practical and confident. Your tone pillars might look like this:
- We speak like we'd talk to a trusted mate, not a colleague
- We use plain language and short sentences
- We offer reassurance, not hype
These pillars become your writing rules. If a sentence doesn't match, you cut it and rewrite it.
5. Test it on real humans
This is the step most people skip. Before you roll your tone out across your whole website, test it on a few trusted customers or friends. Ask them how it makes them feel. See if the personality comes through.
Also, pay attention to which content gets a reaction. Comments, replies and repeat visits are all feedback on your tone.
Brand tone of voice examples worth stealing
You don't need to reinvent the wheel. Some very successful brands have already figured out what a strong tone looks like. Here are my favourites.
Mailchimp: playful but helpful
Mailchimp is famous for its quirky yet useful tone. They use unexpected words, gentle humour and clear guidance. Their guides are full of personality but never lose the plot. If you're selling a product that could feel boring, this is a great formula.
Innocent Drinks: cheeky and human
Innocent Smoothies is a classic example. Their packaging and social posts read like they've been written by your funniest friend. Lovable, not cringey. The lesson here is that humour works when it feels natural to your brand.
A high end law firm: calm and confident
Now compare that to a corporate law firm or a high end financial planner. Their tone is formal, measured and precise. Short paragraphs. No exclamation marks. They're building trust through restraint. The contrast shows you how tone depends on your audience and industry.
Brisbane businesses doing it well
Here's what I love about Brisbane. We have plenty of businesses nailing a friendly, approachable tone that still feels premium. Cafes that talk like locals, builders who speak straight, healthcare providers who sound human. It's about matching your personality to your promise, not copying someone else's script.
How to put your tone to work across marketing
Your tone should show up everywhere your brand does. But especially in the channels that drive performance.
On your website, your tone shapes your headlines, your product descriptions and your calls to action. It even affects your layout and design. In fact, your tone should guide how your website feels visually as well as verbally. If you're struggling there, I've written about why Brisbane businesses need a mobile-first website, and the same principles apply to how your voice lands.
On social media, your tone is the difference between a scroll and a stop. Short, punchy and human beats corporate and polished nine times out of ten.
And in content, tone matters more than ever. Especially with the rise of generative engine optimisation, or GEO. AI tools like ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews are now pulling from your content to deliver answers. If your tone is clear and consistent, AI will pick up your voice and share it. This is why we're so focused on GEO as a channel. You can see why it matters in our breakdown of GEO marketing and why it matters.
Why does this matter? Because your tone carries across every touchpoint. People might never speak to you on the phone. Your tone is what they remember.
3 mistakes to avoid when finding your voice
Let's be quick about this. You'll make mistakes. Here's how to avoid the big ones.
Mistake 1: Copying another business
Taking cues from a competitor can be useful. Stealing their voice destroys your uniqueness. Instead, use them as a reference, not a template.
Mistake 2: Trying to be funny when you're not
Humour is high risk. If it flops, it feels cheap. If your brand is naturally serious, don't force jokes. There's power in being straightforward.
Mistake 3: Changing tone constantly
Consistency is currency. If you sound different in your ads than you do on your website, customers will notice. Keep your tone pillars somewhere visible and check every piece of marketing against them.
Find your brand voice and build something people remember
Finding your tone of voice isn't about being clever. It's about being clear. Know who you're talking to, decide who you want to be, and say it the same way everywhere.
That's the kind of branding we build at Salt Agency. We work with businesses in Brisbane and across Australia to turn strategy into marketing that performs. Branding, websites, content, ads and everything in between. Full strategy to execution under one roof.
If you're ready to find the voice that'll help you stand out, book a free marketing audit or get in touch for a chat. We'll help you sound less like everyone else and more like the best version of your business.
That's the first step. Let's find your voice.
