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MARKETING TEMPLATE

Brand Voice Guidelines Template

Define your brand's personality, tone, writing style, and do's and don'ts for consistent communication.

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What's inside

Brand Overview

  • Mission: Why does this company exist? What problem does it solve?

  • Vision: What future is the company working toward?

  • Values: List 3-5 core values that guide decisions and communication.

Brand Personality

Define 3-5 personality traits that describe how the brand speaks and behaves. Each trait should include a guardrail to prevent overuse.

  1. Confident — but not arrogant. We know our stuff, and we share it without talking down to people.

  2. Helpful — but not patronizing. We guide without assuming the reader knows nothing.

  3. Clear — but not simplistic. We explain complex topics in plain language without losing nuance.

  4. Warm — but not unprofessional. We sound human without being overly casual.

  5. [Trait] — but not [extreme]. Description of how this plays out in practice.

Voice Attributes

Attribute

Description

Example

Authoritative

We speak from experience and back claims with data

"Teams using this approach ship 40% faster."

Conversational

We write like we talk — no jargon for jargon's sake

"Here's the thing about onboarding..."

Encouraging

We celebrate progress and make hard things feel doable

"You're closer than you think."

Tone Spectrum

The voice stays constant. The tone adapts to context.

Context

Tone

Example

Marketing pages

Enthusiastic

"Build something your team actually wants to use."

Documentation

Precise, neutral

"Navigate to Settings > Integrations."

Error messages

Empathetic

"Something went wrong. Your changes are saved — try again."

Social media

Casual, witty

"Mondays are hard. Your wiki shouldn't be."

Legal / compliance

Formal, clear

"We process data in accordance with..."

Do's and Don'ts

Writing Principles

  1. Lead with the reader's problem. Start with what they care about, not what you want to say.

  2. One idea per paragraph. If a paragraph covers two ideas, split it.

  3. Use specific language. "Reduces deploy time by 30 minutes" beats "improves efficiency."

  4. Cut ruthlessly. If a word doesn't add meaning, remove it.

  5. Read it aloud. If it sounds awkward spoken, rewrite it.

Grammar & Style Preferences

Topic

Preference

Oxford comma

Yes — always

Contractions

Use them — they sound natural

Exclamation marks

Sparingly — max one per page

Capitalization

Sentence case for headings

Numbers

Spell out one through nine, use digits for 10+

Ampersands

Only in proper names — use "and" elsewhere

Em dashes

Use with no spaces — like this

Inclusive Language Guidelines

Write in a way that respects all readers regardless of background.

  • Use gender-neutral pronouns ("they" is singular and correct)

  • Avoid idioms that assume cultural context ("knock it out of the park")

  • Describe people by what they do, not what they are

  • Use plain language — not everyone speaks English natively

Vocabulary

Use This

Not This

Reason

Use

Utilize / Leverage

Simpler, clearer

Help

Empower / Enable

More direct

Start

Commence / Initiate

Plain language

Buy

Purchase

Conversational

Problem

Pain point

Less jargon

Channel-Specific Guidelines

Channel

Tone

Length

Key Considerations

Website

Clear, compelling

Scannable

Benefit-led headlines, short paras

Email

Personal, direct

Under 200 words

Strong subject line, single CTA

Social

Casual, engaging

Platform max

Hook in first line, visual required

Docs

Precise, helpful

As needed

Step-by-step, no marketing fluff

Support

Empathetic, clear

Concise

Acknowledge the problem first

Examples

Sample marketing email subject line: "Your team's knowledge is scattered. Fix it in 5 minutes."

Sample social media post: "We asked 500 teams what slows them down most. #1 answer: finding information that already exists. That's why we built [Product]."

Sample error message: "We couldn't save your changes. Check your connection and try again — your draft is safe."

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