[FAQ]

Hi,

I’m the brand manager for a wellness company here in Manila. We have very clear brand guidelines for our website and social media—our voice should be calming, empathetic, and inspiring.

The problem is, our email marketing doesn’t really reflect that. Our newsletters and promotional emails often end up sounding very generic and a bit too sales-focused, no matter who on the team writes them.

What are the best practices for consistently applying a specific brand voice and tone across all emails, from the weekly newsletter to the order confirmation receipts? We’re trying to find a process to help us stay on-brand.

Any tips would be a great help.

[Jeff Bullas]

A fantastic question. A consistent voice is what turns a brand into a personality people trust.

Short Answer: To integrate your brand voice into email, you must first define it with a clear set of text-based guidelines (a style guide). Then, you apply this guide consistently across every piece of copy, from the subject line to the footer, ensuring your word choice, sentence structure, and even image captions reflect your brand’s specific personality.

The goal is for a subscriber to be able to know an email is from you just by the way it’s written, even if they couldn’t see your logo.

The most critical first step is to create a simple, text-based brand voice style guide. This document is your source of truth. It should clearly define your voice with a list of adjectives, for example, “We are playful, witty, and bold” and “We are not childish, sarcastic, or arrogant”. It should also include a list of specific words and phrases you do and do not use, and provide clear before-and-after examples of your brand voice in action.

Once you have this guide, you must apply it to every single text element of your emails. This includes your subject lines and preview text, which set the initial tone. It applies to your main body copy, where not just the words but the rhythm and length of your sentences should reflect your personality; a formal brand might use longer, complex sentences, while an energetic brand uses short, punchy ones. This voice must extend all the way to the call-to-action button text. Instead of a generic “Submit”, a fun brand might use “Let’s Do This”.

Don’t forget to apply this to your transactional emails as well. Your order confirmations and shipping notices are a huge opportunity to reinforce your brand’s personality at a moment of high engagement.

Finally, your brand voice is not just about text. The images you choose must match the tone you’re trying to set. A sophisticated, high-end brand should use polished, professional photography, while a friendly, down-to-earth brand might be better served by authentic, user-generated images. The visual tone must always support the written word.

Cheers,
Jeff

[Author]

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