Can A Copywriter Actually Write in My Brand Voice? (Real Talk)
“It’s MY business: how can a copywriter write in my brand voice without sounding… off?!”
First of all, let me be completely honest.
I get it: outsourcing is SCARY (and your question is legit)
I’m a copywriter, so I’ve never had to worry about having someone else write for me—although I have actually written for some fellow writers before, which helped them look at their business with fresh eyes.
Still, I’ve had a similar concern when outsourcing other aspects of my business:
“How will this graphic designer be able to create a logo that represents MY business?” (spoiler alert: she did)
“Will this professional photographer really be able to take pictures in a way that showcases MY brand?” (spoiler alert: she freakin’ did, too!)
It’s normal. Because let’s face it: our brand is our baby.
Whether you’re a woman solopreneur or run a female-founded business, you’re invested in it.
The thought of trusting an external person with it? An I-want-to-hide-in-a-corner-forever kind of scary.
Here’s an enquiry that I’ve received from a fellow female entrepreneur looking for ghostwriting services a while back:
After explaining my process, she decided to take the leap and… guess what?
This was her feedback:
So, the answer to your initial question is YES. A good copywriter can totally write in your brand voice.
In fact, that’s literally what we do for a living. It’d be pretty bad if we sucked at it, don’t you think?
How to ensure that a copywriter matches your brand voice
Now, while a copywriter should be able to match your brand voice, here comes the truth bomb: we can’t read minds (yet).
So, for us to write like your company or personal brand, we do need something from you.
1. Work with a professional copywriter instead of looking for cheap work on Fiverr
First things first: if you’re thinking of finding the cheapest writer on content mills like Fiverr or Upwork and paying them £20 for a 1000-word blog post, you can’t expect them to match your brand voice.
A real copywriter will spend more time doing the actual research than… writing. For real. And how can you expect someone to take the time to understand your brand, audience, and voice if you’re only paying them peanuts? 🥜
So, my advice is to look for a writer who’s running their own copywriting business and also has an actual brand rather than a desperate freelancer struggling to make ends meet on these platforms.
Ask your contacts if they can recommend a reliable copywriter
Look for one on Google or LinkedIn
Then, check out their website and portfolio: do their writing samples sound different from each other?
Congratulations: you’ve found someone who can match different brand voices.
What now?
2. Share your brand bible with them
This is actually what I told my client when she approached me with that initial question:
the best way to ensure that a copywriter can write in your brand voice is to… share your brand bible or tone of voice guidelines with them. Duh.
These documents are what allows you to keep all of your communication consistent.
For example, some of the points that I’ve seen in other brands’ guidelines are:
Always use the Oxford comma
Unless talking about a specific example, opt for inclusive language like ‘parents’ instead of ‘mummy & daddy’
Refer to BIPOC as ‘marginalised communities’ rather than ‘minorities’
Avoid words related to addiction like ‘-aholic’ variations (e.g. ‘shopaholic’) or ‘junkie’
Use short paragraphs and punchy sentences more often than longer alternatives
Preferred usage: ‘our herd’ instead of ‘our employees’, ‘bikes’ instead of ‘bicycles’, ‘complimentary’ instead of ‘free’...
The adjectives that we use to describe our brand: ‘premium’, ‘luxury’...
When you provide your copywriter with such a comprehensive document, there won’t be any risk of them using the wrong word for your style or writing in a way that doesn’t match your other marketing materials.
3. “What if I haven’t got a brand bible? Am I DOOMED?!”
Not at all!
And don’t worry: this tends to be the case for at least half of my clients, especially solopreneurs and fairly new businesses.
If you haven’t got a brand bible or tone of voice guidelines, you can tell your copywriter how you’d like to sound:
By describing your ideal voice (e.g. friendly, confident, bold, etc.)
By linking to some examples of brands whose voices you admire
Mind you: this doesn’t mean you should copy them! But it’ll help point your new copywriter in the right direction.
And if you are the brand:
Link to some examples of your own tone of voice in action (e.g. a newsletter you wrote)
If possible, provide a video or audio recording, too (e.g. a social media video in which you’re talking about your business)
Personally, I’d also ask for your permission to record our initial call so that I can then refer to it and write your copy in the way you talk
Either way, before I start writing for my new clients, I always ask them to fill in my project planner. One section is entirely about tone of voice. So, if you haven’t got a brand bible, you’ll also get to circle some adjectives that best describe yours.
To put it into perspective, here are some examples of how some famous brands describe their own voice:
“clear, genuine and with a bit of dry humor” - MailChimp
“strong, confident and aggressive” - Harley Davidson
“witty, elegant and classic” - Tiffany
They make sense, don’t they?
That’s why adjectives can be an excellent starting point! A professional copywriter won’t leave it at that, though.
Written examples, videos, and audio recordings are what makes it oh-so-much-easier for us to sound like you.
Working with me: my words, your brand voice🖊
Now that you know that a copywriter can totally write in your brand voice, have you already found one?
If you’re interested in strategic website copy or blog posts, I can help. And you already know my process to match a brand’s tone of voice. Nice one!
I specialise in helping ambitious entrepreneurs become THE go-to solution in their dream audience’s eyes.
My secret? Well, it’s not that much of a secret as it’s plastered all over my website, but it’s all about:
using the right SEO strategies to attract your target customers in the first place
impressing them with copy that was written with their needs in mind
positioning your brand as the most logical solution to their pain points
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