Your brand personality/identity is WHO your brand is. It’s the foundation of your brand, and the personality behind the pen. This should be who you picture is writing all of your content.

If you’re a solopreneur like me, this personality could be you—but it doesn’t have to be. (It’s your brand after all!) It can be whoever you want, from your genuine self to a modified version, or even someone else entirely. Just make sure your brand’s personality makes sense with what you sell. 

Your brand’s personality isn’t just one trait, but rather a combination of traits that breathes life into your writing.

A brand might be: confident, honest, slightly witty, and calm under pressure. But it’s how you mix those traits together that creates a personality. Like combining the right ratio of ingredients to bake the most delicious cake.

Think of the fast food chain Wendy’s for example. Their brand’s voice takes on the personality of a sassy girl who’s wise beyond her years, and isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. She’s mostly succinct and to the point, but also a touch funny, friendly, and genuine. The Wendy’s personality is all those traits wrapped-up in one, tangible persona. You can really picture her speaking to you.

Why it matters: your brand’s personality will guide every marketing decision you make. If you don’t know who your brand is, you don’t know how it should sound.

If personality is your brand’s identity, then your brand voice is how you express that identity through words. It’s the consistent style your audience recognizes no matter where they find you.

Defining your brand voice involves setting guidelines for:

• Sentence structure
• Level of formality
• Rhythm and pacing
• Word choice patterns
• Perspective (direct, reflective, instructional, etc.)

Let’s use my personal brand voice for Sarah Rose Writes as an example. I love lists of three, alliteration, and starting sentences with prepositions/conjunctions. (I’m a rule breaker like that. And see, another list of three!) I also like using long sentences that provide lots of helpful information. Followed by a short, quirky aside.

Why it matters: these choices create brand recognition. My audience should be able to read anything I write and think, this sounds like Sarah Rose, before they even see my logo or name attached to the piece.

If you plan on basing your brand voice on your own voice like me, a good way to pinpoint your voice patterns is to record yourself speaking, or practice writing your thoughts as they naturally flow out of your brain. You’ll find linguistic patterns, unique words, and commonly used phrases you can use to sound more like yourself when writing marketing material.

Tone is where flexibility comes in. This is how your voice adapts depending on the situation.

Your tone will shift depending on the platform, the audience, the context, and the emotional moment. But it always stays rooted in your voice.

Why it matters: Tone allows your brand to feel more human. You don’t speak the same way in every situation, and your brand shouldn’t either. If you do, that’s a quick recipe for appearing tone deaf or out of touch from reality.

Brand Personality = who you are

Brand Voice = how you sound all the time

Brand Tone = how that sound flexes depending on the moment

Each concept is connected, but not interchangeable. Defining these key verbal identity elements will keep you from winging your marketing material and wondering why “it just doesn’t sound right.”

These are exactly the kind of concepts I break down in my email newsletter—one small piece at a time—so you can start building a brand voice that actually feels natural (and easy to maintain). If you want more brand strategy tips and copywriting tricks in your inbox, subscribe here.

And if you ever get to the point where you’d rather not piece it all together yourself, I’m happy to help!