How Are Brand Voice and Messaging Written?
Brand voice and messaging usually gets described with adjectives: “friendly but professional”, “dynamic”, “trustworthy”. Those aren’t a voice, they’re a wish. None of them can be used while writing an actual text. 🗣️
Short answer: three parts suffice — a one-sentence promise, a proof list, forbidden words. All three fit on one page and get consulted every time a quote is written.
Below: how to write the promise, the proof list, forbidden words and example texts. ✍️
How is the promise written?
The core of brand voice and messaging work.
The three parts of one sentence
For whom, what you do, on what guarantee. All three meet in one sentence. “We provide quality service” contains none of them; “we cut quote preparation for small businesses from days to hours” contains all three. 🎯
The competitor test
Write the sentence and ask: could my competitor say the same thing? If they could, it isn’t a promise but a sector cliché. A good promise is the sentence a competitor couldn’t comfortably say — because their work doesn’t support it. ⚖️
Should the promise be bold?
No, it should be provable. An unkept promise loses trust at first contact and is worse than no promise at all.
What is the proof list for?
What turns the sentence from a claim into something solid.
Three kinds of proof
1) A number — duration, quantity, ratio. 2) A method — a concrete step showing how you work. 3) An example — completed work, a customer’s sentence. At least two of these should sit under the promise; otherwise the sentence floats. 📋
Why are forbidden words necessary?
The part that actually makes the list functional.
Words that refute the promise
A business claiming expertise writing “affordable prices” in every quote breaks its own sentence with its own hand. The forbidden list prevents that: which words won’t be used and what goes in their place. It’s the most useful half of a message set. 🚫
Cliché words
“Customer-focused”, “solution partner”, “industry leader”, “innovative”. All may be true but none distinguishes — because your competitors write the same. A word that doesn’t distinguish just takes up space. 📉
How is tone described?
Not with adjectives, with examples.
A sentence pair instead of an adjective
Instead of “make it friendly”, write two sentences: this is how we write / this is how we don’t. For example we write “Got your request, we’ll come back to you today”; we don’t write “Your request has been received and taken into evaluation”. Two examples beat ten adjectives. ✍️
How does the one page look?
An unused document counts as unwritten.
The skeleton of the decision document
Position: for whom, in which need, instead of whom. Promise: one sentence. Proof: three items. Words: the ones to use and the forbidden ones. Examples: three short texts. One page in total — and that page sits on the desk, not on a shelf. All questions on the brand consulting page. 📑
📝 Field Notes
At one client the most-used part of the message set wasn’t the promise but the forbidden words list. The team checked it first when writing quotes. The reason is simple: finding what to write is hard, knowing what not to write is easy — and the second one fixes the text anyway. 🚫
📖 Quick Glossary
Promise: a one-sentence claim with proof. Proof list: the numbers, methods and examples holding the promise up. Forbidden word: a phrase excluded because it refutes the promise. Sentence pair: a “we write like this / not like this” example.
⚡ Quick Summary
Three parts: promise, proof, forbidden words. 🗣️ The promise gathers for whom, what and on what guarantee into one sentence. Proof is a number, method or example. Tone is described with sentence pairs, not adjectives. Three example texts are essential.
🎯 Next Step
Let’s write your promise sentence and forbidden words list together; it fits on one page: the quote page. Scope on the consulting page. ✍️
Frequently Asked Questions
Sık Sorulan Sorular
Usually already in your hands: the sentences repeating in customer conversations, finished work, the part of your process that differs. Nothing needs inventing — the method sits in the starting article. 💎
Three: a first reply, a quote opening, a site sentence. These serve as both template and measure; every later text gets written against them — contact points sit in the where-it’s-built article. 📄
Not necessarily; the promise is an internal decision and ad copy derives from it. It can be used as is or said in different forms. What doesn’t change is the substance and the key words.
One promise is needed at brand level; sub-sentences get written at service level. All support the main promise rather than contradicting it. If a service does contradict it, its place in the brand needs rethinking.
The opposite — it relieves them, because it removes uncertainty. The list should be short: five or six words. A long list doesn’t get applied; a short one gets memorised.