Building your brand voice

Jun 9 / Michel Stevens
If we think of our customer touchpoints as conversations with our customers, it becomes clear that a carefully considered brand voice is essential.

In customer experience, your brand voice is how your organization feels about its message, as expressed through every interaction.

Writing for customer touchpoints is different from traditional marketing copy. Every piece of text (from email subject lines to error messages and chatbot responses) contributes to the voice you use to speak with your customers.
Voice is more than just words. It's how you communicate your personality across the entire customer journey. Your brand voice tells customers how you feel about your message, and it influences how they'll feel about your experience.

The four dimensions of brand voice

There are four primary brand voice dimensions.

Think of each dimension as a spectrum -- your communication could fall at any point along the line.

  • Formal vs. casual: Is your communication formal? Informal? Conversational? (Note that casual and conversational often appear together, but aren't identical)
  • Serious vs. funny: Are you trying to be humorous? Or do you approach topics seriously? (This dimension focuses on the attempt at humor, not whether it actually works)
  • Respectful vs. cheeky: Do you approach subjects respectfully? Or do you take an irreverent approach? (Most cheeky brands are cheeky about their industry or competitors, not about their customers)
  • To-the-point vs. enthusiastic: Do you seem enthusiastic about your service? Is your organization excited about what you offer? Or is your communication dry and to the point?

Your brand voice could fall at either extreme of each dimension, or somewhere in between. Each brand's voice can be expressed as a point in this four-dimensional space.

Let's look at how European brands use these dimensions:

IKEA: Their communication is casual, slightly funny (cheeky humor), respectful, and enthusiastic. They use Swedish words like "Hej!" and copy like "Step into a pared-back apartment in the city" to create warmth and familiarity.

Spotify: Their developer documentation shows a casual, neutral-on-humor, respectful, and moderately enthusiastic voice. They focus on creating a "delightful user experience" while maintaining professional clarity.

BMW: Their communication is formal, serious, respectful, and matter-of-fact. They use precise, technical language to convey engineering excellence and sophisticated performance, reflecting their premium luxury brand identity.
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One message, many possible voices

To see how these four dimensions create different effects, let's consider a common customer experience scenario — a password reset confirmation message.

The core message is: "Your password has been reset." Your voice determines how you communicate this.

First, let's try a serious, formal, respectful, and to-the-point approach:
Your password has been successfully reset. Please log in with your new credentials.
This is straightforward and professional. No humor, no strong emotion.

Now, let's make it more casual:
Good news! Your password's all set. You can now log in with your new one.

The message stays serious, respectful, and matter-of-fact. But it becomes more casual with small changes:

  • "Your password has been successfully reset" becomes "Your password is all set."
  • "Please log in with your new credentials" becomes "You can now log in with your new one."
  • Adding "Good news!"


Let's add some enthusiasm:
"Success! Your password has been updated. You're all set to securely log in with your new password!"

Now we've moved to casual and enthusiastic.

If we add humor and move towards cheeky:
"Password reset mission: accomplished! Go forth and log in securely. (Just don't forget it this time!)"

This version is casual, funny, slightly irreverent (about the act of forgetting, not the customer), and enthusiastic.

Which version works best depends on:

  • Your brand personality. A traditional bank might find the humorous version inappropriate, while a tech startup might find the formal version too stiff.
  • Your customers. Consider their expectations and emotional state. While a password reset is often a relief, some customers might still appreciate a more straightforward approach, while others might enjoy the levity.

How customers notice voice differences

Research shows that customers do notice variations in brand voice dimensions. When the same message is delivered with different voice combinations, customers rate them differently on measures like friendliness and formality.

The differences are statistically significant but often subtle — around 0.5-1 point on a 5-point scale. This means your voice variations need to be consistent and intentional to build the right customer perceptions over time.

Most effective business communication doesn't sit at the extreme ends of these dimensions. You want to emphasize your chosen qualities without letting them dominate.

Finding Your Voice Profile

1. Decide which combination of dimensions makes sense for your brand and customers.

2. Test different approaches with real customer communications.

3. Be consistent across all touchpoints — from website copy to support emails to error messages.

Your brand voice should feel natural and authentic while serving your customer experience goals. The four dimensions give you a framework to make intentional choices about how you want to sound.