Your brand voice is more than just a tone. It’s the digital personality your audience connects with. Whether you're humorous, bold, soothing, or sharp—it’s the difference between sounding like a real human versus just another brand in the feed.

And in the age of AI and endless content, sounding human is your competitive edge.

Let’s walk through how to define, document, and scale your voice using smart tools like Baked.

1. What Is Brand Voice (And Why It Matters)?

Your brand voice is the unique way your brand speaks across platforms. It’s a mix of language, attitude, and emotion. Done well, it creates a sense of familiarity—like hearing a friend’s voice in a crowded room.

Think of it this way:

• Duolingo: chaotic, hilarious, Gen Z energy
• Headspace: calm, kind, peaceful guidance
• Notion: clean, thoughtful, quietly confident

Each brand sounds totally different—but always like themselves. That’s the magic of voice.

2. Define Your Brand’s Core Personality

If your brand were a person, what would they be like? How would they speak? Confident and sharp? Chill and cheeky?

Start by answering:

• What do we want people to feel when they read our content? (Inspired, supported, energized?)
• What 3–5 adjectives describe our brand personality?
• What brands do we admire for tone—and why?

Quick exercise:

Create a “We are / We are not” list.

Example:

We are playful, not silly. We are bold, not arrogant. We are clear, not cold.

This helps draw healthy boundaries for your tone.

3. Know Your Audience Inside and Out

The best voice in the world doesn’t matter if it doesn’t resonate. You need to speak your audience’s language—not just professionally, but emotionally.

• Are they Gen Z creators? Solopreneurs? Startup founders?
• Do they text with emojis? Use industry terms? Prefer voice notes over emails?
• What makes them feel seen, supported, or excited?

Pro tip: Use social listening, audience feedback, and content performance data to shape how you talk.

4. Pick 3–4 Voice Pillars

Voice pillars are the key traits that ground your brand’s tone. Everything you write should reflect them—on social, in emails, on landing pages, everywhere.

Example for a skincare brand: Friendly, Empowering, Science-backed, Inclusive

These give your content focus and consistency—especially as you grow and work with collaborators or tools.

Another example for a tech startup: Clear, Optimistic, Human, Bold

Don’t just pick buzzwords—choose what actually feels real for your brand.

5. Build a Voice Guide (So Everyone’s Aligned)

This isn’t just for big teams. A voice guide helps you stay on-brand, whether writing manually or using AI.

Here’s what to include:

• Voice pillars with definitions and examples
• Do/Don’t lists for tone, formatting, emojis, punctuation
• Sample sentences (e.g., How we say hello, how we explain a feature)
• Words or phrases to avoid (e.g., buzzwords, jargon, overly formal terms)

It’s your tone bible—and it pays off big when onboarding new teammates or using AI content tools like Baked.

6. Use Baked to Stay On-Voice at Scale

You don’t need a giant content team to sound consistent. Baked’s AI helps you create and schedule content across platforms while keeping your tone just right.

Here’s how it helps:

• Upload your brand voice guide once—then generate content that matches it
• Create platform-native content (e.g., fun & fast for TikTok, smart & polished for LinkedIn)
• Automatically adapt captions, emails, and more without sounding like a robot
• Stay consistent even across large content batches or multiple teammates

Whether you’re creating 10 posts or 200, your voice stays strong.

7. Let Your Voice Evolve (But Stay Rooted)

Your brand voice isn’t static. As you grow, change platforms, or explore new audiences, you might evolve. That’s normal—and healthy.

Just don’t drift so far that you lose who you are.

• New trend? Make it your own.
• Different audience? Adjust your tone, not your soul.
• New team members or tools? Train them with your guide.