How to Brief Agencies on Your Brand Voice Requirements
The email arrives at 2:47 AM.
Your agency's latest content sits in your inbox like a beautifully wrapped gift containing nothing but disappointment. The words are grammatically perfect and utterly soulless. Reading it feels like watching a stranger wear your favourite jumper.
You know this feeling. That sinking recognition that you've just paid premium rates for content that could belong to any brand, anywhere.
Here's what separates the businesses scaling authentic content from those trapped in revision hell: they've discovered that briefing agencies isn't about controlling what gets written. It's about transferring the invisible threads that make your brand voice unmistakably yours.
Companies maintaining true brand voice consistency see revenue increases up to 23%, whilst fewer than 10% actually achieve it.
What if your next agency brief could flip this equation entirely? ⬇️
The cost of getting brand voice briefs wrong
Before we get to the solutions, let's talk about what's actually at stake when your brand voice brief falls flat.
The customer confusion factor
When your agency-produced content sounds different from your in-house voice, customers notice. They might not articulate it as "inconsistent brand voice," but they feel it. That nagging sense that something's off. That moment of doubt about whether they're dealing with the same company they thought they knew.
Research shows that consistent brand voice builds trust and familiarity, whilst inconsistency can confuse your audience and dilute your brand identity. When customers experience your brand differently across touchpoints, you're essentially asking them to maintain relationships with multiple personalities.
The hidden productivity drain
Here's what nobody tells you about poor brand voice briefs: the endless revision cycles. The back-and-forth emails. The frustrated project managers trying to explain why the content "just doesn't sound right." The opportunity cost of your senior team spending hours rewriting agency work instead of focusing on strategy.
The scaling nightmare
As your business grows and you work with more agencies, freelancers, and content creators, inconsistent brand voice becomes exponentially more problematic. What starts as a minor inconvenience becomes a brand crisis when you're managing multiple content streams and partnerships.
Why most brand voice briefs fail spectacularly
Let me share the most common briefing disasters I see – and why they happen.
The "just sound like us" syndrome
"We want it to sound friendly but professional, engaging but authoritative." These vague descriptions are about as helpful as asking someone to paint you a picture that's "sort of blue-ish but not too blue."
The problem isn't that these adjectives are wrong – it's that they're meaningless without context. "Professional" to a law firm means something completely different from "professional" to a startup. "Friendly" can range from "helpful bank manager" to "your best mate at the pub."
The missing context problem
Your agency gets a two-page document with some adjectives and maybe a competitor example. What they don't get? The story behind why you chose those words, the customer conversations that shaped your voice, or the business goals driving your communication strategy.
Without this context, agencies are essentially playing brand voice charades. They're guessing what you mean and hoping they get close enough to avoid another round of revisions.
The assumption trap
You assume agencies inherently understand your industry's communication norms. They assume you've covered all the bases in your brief. Everyone assumes someone else has thought about the practical application across different content types and channels.
This assumption cascade creates gaps where your brand voice goes to die.
The one-size-fits-all mistake
Here's a question that stumps most businesses: How should your brand voice adapt across different contexts whilst remaining recognisably you?
Your customer service voice when someone's frustrated isn't the same as your sales voice when someone's excited about your product. Your LinkedIn voice differs from your Instagram voice. Your technical documentation voice varies from your blog voice.
Most briefs ignore these nuances entirely, leaving agencies to figure out context-appropriate voice adaptation on their own.
Building your brand voice brief foundation
Before you write a single word of your agency brief, you need rock-solid foundations. And I mean proper foundations – not the marketing equivalent of building on sand.
Conduct your brand personality audit
What are your brand's core personality traits? Not the ones you aspire to, but the ones that already exist in your best content. Analyse your top-performing blog posts, social media content, and customer communications. What patterns emerge?
Use this framework:
Dominant traits (2-3 maximum): The characteristics that should appear in 80% of your communications
Supporting traits (2-3 maximum): The nuances that add depth without overwhelming your primary voice
Avoid traits: The characteristics that actively work against your brand positioning
Map your audience's communication preferences
Your brand voice isn't just about you – it's about the conversation between you and your audience. Research how your target customers communicate:
What language patterns do they use in reviews and testimonials?
How do they describe problems your product or service solves?
What tone resonates in your highest-engagement social media posts?
Which voice characteristics appear in the brands they follow and engage with?
Define your voice-to-business alignment
Every aspect of your brand voice should ladder up to business objectives. Create explicit connections:
How does your conversational tone drive trust and sales?
Which voice characteristics differentiate you from competitors?
What specific business outcomes does your brand voice support?
How does your voice reflect your company values and culture?
What to include in a brilliant brand voice brief
Now for the good stuff. Here's how to structure a brand voice brief that actually works – one that transforms your agency partners into brand voice evangelists.
Section 1: The strategic context (answers "why does this matter?")
Start with the why, not the what. Your agency needs to understand the strategic thinking behind your voice choices.
Your brand positioning statement
One clear sentence that explains where you sit in the market and why that matters to customers. This isn't your mission statement – it's your competitive positioning.
👀 Example: "We're the only project management software that speaks to creative teams in their own language, not corporate jargon."
Voice objectives and success metrics
What specific outcomes do you expect from consistent brand voice implementation? Be concrete:
"Increase average email open rates by 15% through more engaging subject lines"
"Reduce customer service response time by improving clarity in help documentation"
"Boost social media engagement by 25% with more authentic, conversational content"
"Decrease content revision cycles by 40% through clearer voice guidelines"
Business context and constraints
What industry regulations, company policies, or business realities impact how you can communicate? Legal restrictions, international considerations, or corporate governance requirements all matter.
Also include the competitive landscape context: How do your main competitors sound, and how do you want to sound different?
Section 2: Your voice characteristics in action (answers "what does it actually sound like?")
This is where most briefs go wrong. Listing adjectives isn't enough – you need to show your voice in action.
The voice personality framework
Define your brand voice using specific, measurable characteristics:
Conversational warmth level: On a scale from "helpful bank manager" to "your best mate at the pub," where does your brand sit? Provide specific examples of what this looks like in practice.
Example: "We sit at about 70% best mate – friendly and approachable but still professional enough that you'd trust us with important business decisions."
Authority expression: How do you demonstrate expertise without being condescending? Show examples of how you share knowledge, handle disagreements, or address customer concerns.
Personality quirks: What makes your voice distinctly yours? Perhaps you use specific metaphors, have a particular way of structuring arguments, or include subtle humour in unexpected places.
Voice variations across contexts
Your brand voice should be consistent but not identical. Create guidance for:
Customer service interactions: How does your voice adapt when someone's frustrated?
Sales conversations: What changes when the goal is conversion versus education?
Technical documentation: How do you maintain personality whilst ensuring clarity?
Social media engagement: What liberties can you take in informal channels?
Crisis communication: How does your voice shift during challenging situations?
The dos and don'ts framework
Instead of vague guidelines, provide specific examples:
Instead of: ❌"Be conversational" Try: ✅"Use contractions naturally (we're, don't, can't) but avoid overly casual phrases like 'super awesome' or 'totally amazing'"
Instead of: ❌"Show expertise" Try: ✅"Reference specific data or research when making claims, but explain technical concepts in accessible language – think TED talk, not academic paper"
Instead of: ❌"Be friendly" Try: ✅"Start conversations rather than making announcements – ask questions, acknowledge different perspectives, use 'you' more than 'we'"
Section 3: Practical application tools (answers "how do I actually implement this?")
Theory is lovely, but agencies need practical tools to implement your voice consistently.
The brand voice checklist
Create a simple checklist that content creators can use before publishing:
Does this sound like something our brand would actually say?
Would our target customer find this helpful and engaging?
Does the tone match the context and channel?
Are we being consistent with our established voice characteristics?
Could this content be attributed to a competitor, or does it sound distinctly like us?
Common scenarios and responses
Provide templates for frequent communication situations:
How do you handle customer complaints on social media?
What's your approach to sharing industry news or trends?
How do you present product features and benefits?
What's your style for announcing company news or updates?
How do you respond to positive feedback and testimonials?
Voice evolution guidelines
Your brand voice will evolve. Give agencies guidance on:
When it's appropriate to experiment with tone or style
How to test new voice elements without losing consistency
Who approves significant changes to voice application
How to provide feedback on voice implementation
Section 4: Quality control and feedback systems (answers "how do we maintain standards?")
Brilliant briefs include systems for maintaining quality over time.
Content approval workflows
Define who needs to review what:
Which content types require brand voice approval?
Who has final say on voice implementation decisions?
How quickly should agencies expect feedback on drafts?
What level of revision is typical for voice alignment?
Performance monitoring
How will you measure brand voice success?
Regular content audits against voice guidelines
Customer feedback sentiment analysis
Engagement metrics across different voice implementations
Competitor voice positioning analysis
Ongoing training and development
Plan for long-term agency relationship success:
Quarterly voice alignment workshops
Access to updated customer research and insights
Regular review of voice guidelines effectiveness
Opportunities for agency feedback on brief clarity
Avoid these 5 briefing mistakes
Learn from others' mistakes. Here are the briefing pitfalls that trip up even experienced marketers.
The kitchen sink approach
Trying to include every possible scenario and example in your brief creates cognitive overload. Focus on core principles and provide additional resources as appendices.
Better approach: Create a foundational brief with supporting resources that agencies can access as needed.
The assumption of agency mind-reading
Just because something is obvious to you doesn't mean it's obvious to your agency. Over-communicate context, reasoning, and examples.
Better approach: Assume agencies know nothing about your industry or audience, then build up from basics.
The set-and-forget mentality
Brand voice briefs aren't fire-and-forget documents. Plan for regular updates, refinements, and ongoing dialogue with your agency partners.
Better approach: Schedule quarterly brief reviews and updates based on performance data and market changes.
The perfectionism paralysis
Waiting for the perfect brief means never starting. Create a solid foundation and iterate based on real-world application and feedback.
Better approach: Launch with an 80% solution and improve through collaboration with your agencies.
The single-channel thinking
Developing your brief based on only one type of content (usually website copy) and expecting it to work across all channels and contexts.
Better approach: Test your voice guidelines across multiple content types before finalising your brief.
What to do when your brand voice isn't fully developed
Here's a reality check: many businesses start working with agencies before their brand voice is completely defined. If that's you, don't panic. Here's how to brief effectively when your voice is still evolving.
Start with what you know
Even if your brand voice isn't fully formed, you likely have some foundational elements:
Your company values and mission
Your target audience characteristics
Your competitive positioning
Content that has performed well (and poorly)
Build your brief around these elements and be explicit about what you're still developing.
Create a discovery partnership
Frame your agency relationship as a voice development collaboration rather than a traditional client-vendor arrangement.
This approach involves:
Agencies contributing voice development expertise alongside execution
Regular review sessions to refine voice based on content performance
Pilot projects to test different voice approaches
Data-driven decision making about voice evolution
Tools and templates for briefing success
The right tools make briefing agencies infinitely easier. Here's what actually works.
Brand voice assessment tools
Use these frameworks to evaluate and communicate your voice:
Voice personality matrices for visual representation
Tone spectrum charts for different content contexts
Voice consistency scoring rubrics for content evaluation
Competitive voice analysis templates
Brief creation templates
Standardise your briefing process:
Strategic context worksheets
Voice characteristic definition guides
Practical application checklists
Quality control frameworks
Collaboration platforms
Streamline ongoing communication:
Shared voice guideline repositories
Content feedback and approval systems
Training resource libraries
Voice consistency monitoring tools
Track and maintain voice quality:
Voice compliance checklists
Agency feedback collection systems
Your brand voice brief questions – answered
Based on the questions I hear most often, here are the concerns keeping brand managers awake at night:
"How detailed should my brand voice brief actually be?"
The answer isn't about length – it's about specificity. A brilliant two-page brief with concrete examples beats a ten-page document full of abstract concepts every time.
Your brief should be detailed enough that two different agencies would produce recognisably similar content, but flexible enough to allow for channel-appropriate adaptation.
"What if my brand voice isn't fully developed yet?"
This is more common than you'd think. Many businesses start working with agencies before their brand voice is completely defined. The solution? Be honest about what you know and what you're still figuring out.
Create a brief that covers your brand voice foundations – your core values, target audience, and basic personality traits – then plan to iterate and refine with your agency's help.
"How do I brief for different content types and channels?"
Your brand voice should be consistent but not identical across contexts. Here's how to think about it:
Core voice characteristics remain constant (your brand's fundamental personality)
Tone variations adapt to context and channel
Language choices flex based on audience and platform norms
Your brief should provide the framework for these adaptations rather than trying to prescribe every possible scenario.
"Should I include competitor examples in my brief?"
Yes, but strategically. Include competitors whose voice you admire (even if they're not direct business rivals) and explain specifically what you like about their approach. Also include examples of voices you want to avoid and why.
This gives agencies clear reference points for calibrating their understanding of your preferences.
"How do I measure whether agencies are nailing my brand voice?"
Create specific, measurable criteria for voice success. Instead of "sounds like our brand," try "uses conversational language (contractions, simple sentence structures) whilst maintaining authority through specific examples and data."
Develop a simple checklist that both you and your agencies can use to evaluate content before it goes live.
"My CEO keeps rejecting agency content because it 'doesn't sound like us' – how do I fix this?"
This usually indicates a disconnect between senior leadership's internal perception of the brand voice and what's actually documented. Solution: Include your CEO in voice development sessions, not just approval processes.
Create voice examples that your CEO loves, then reverse-engineer the characteristics that make them work. Often, leadership has intuitive voice preferences that haven't been articulated clearly.
"We work with multiple agencies across different regions – how do I maintain consistency?"
Create a tiered briefing system:
Core brand voice brief (universal across all agencies)
Regional adaptation guidelines (cultural and market-specific)
Channel-specific voice variations (platform and content type)
Regular cross-agency voice alignment sessions
"Our brand voice works for some content types but not others – what's going wrong?"
You likely have channel-appropriate voice adaptations, but your brief doesn't explain how to navigate them. Develop context-specific voice guidance that explains how core voice characteristics should manifest across different content types.
"How do I brief agencies when our audience includes very different segments?"
Create audience-specific voice profiles within your overall brand voice framework. Your core voice characteristics remain consistent, but you provide guidance on how to emphasise different aspects for different audience segments.
"Our agency produces grammatically correct content that technically follows our guidelines, but it still doesn't feel right – what's missing?"
This suggests your brief covers the 'what' but not the 'why.' Add more context about the human personality behind your brand voice. Include examples of your brand handling unexpected situations, showing personality under pressure, or connecting emotionally with customers.
When your agency partners can authentically represent your brand voice, you're not just scaling content production. You're scaling genuine customer connections.
And in a world where authentic communication drives business results, that's not just valuable. That's invaluable.
Need help creating brand voice guidelines that actually work – or finding your perfect brand voice in the first place? Let's chat about how we can make your brand voice impossible to ignore.
