How do you keep brand voice and tone guidelines up-to-date?

Brand voice and tone guidelines are essential for creating consistent and engaging content that reflects your brand identity and values. But they are not static documents that you can set and forget. They need to evolve with your audience, your goals, and your industry. How do you keep them up-to-date without losing your brand essence? Here are some tips to help you.

1 Audit your existing content

The first step to update your brand voice and tone guidelines is to review your current content and see how well it aligns with your brand personality, message, and goals. You can use tools like content audits, surveys, analytics, and feedback to evaluate the effectiveness, relevance, and consistency of your content across different channels and formats. Look for gaps, inconsistencies, and opportunities to improve your content quality and performance.

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Richa Sharma

Ex-Director, Content Marketing at Testbook
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To keep our brand voice and tone guidelines up-to-date, we conduct regular reviews, incorporate consumer feedback, stay informed about market trends, and adapt to brand evolution. We analyze content performance, remain aware of cultural shifts, and ensure legal compliance. Effective communication, training, and collaboration within the team are key to maintaining our brand's consistency and relevance.

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2 Research your audience and competitors

The next step is to understand your target audience and their needs, preferences, and expectations. You can use tools like personas, user journeys, interviews, and social media listening to gain insights into their pain points, motivations, and emotions. You can also research your competitors and see how they communicate with their audience and what makes them stand out or fall behind. This will help you identify your unique value proposition and how to differentiate your brand voice and tone from others.

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Laura Robison, MBA

Marketing for growth ➡️ Speaker | Founder & Marketing Consultant at GainKite | gainkite.com
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It's also important to capture the language your audience uses when they talk about your products, the services you offer, and your industry. Hearing their perspective in their own words - and documenting that - will empower your brand to develop a voice and messaging that feels familiar to your target audience.

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3 Update your brand voice and tone attributes

Based on your content audit and audience research, you can update your brand voice and tone attributes to reflect your current brand positioning and goals. You can use tools like voice and tone charts, brand voice statements, and tone of voice examples to define and illustrate your brand voice and tone characteristics. For example, you can use adjectives, verbs, and nouns to describe your brand voice, and modifiers, scenarios, and emotions to describe your tone variations.

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4 Document and share your guidelines

Once you have updated your brand voice and tone attributes, you need to document and share them with your content team and other stakeholders. You can use tools like style guides, templates, checklists, and glossaries to communicate your brand voice and tone guidelines and ensure they are easy to access and apply. You can also use tools like training sessions, workshops, and feedback loops to educate and empower your content team and other stakeholders to use your brand voice and tone consistently and effectively.

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Bob Hutchins

AI Advisor, on-demand CMO delivering scalable outcomes. Evidence-based marketing and GTM strategies. Human flourishing in technology and culture. PhD Candidate -generative AI. EdTech. Org Culture Change. Author. Speaker
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Documenting these updates in style guides or templates is less about bureaucracy and more about laying down the company gospel on how the brand interacts with the world. Training sessions aren't just one-off events; they are necessary incubators for nurturing brand consistency across teams. In my view, disseminating this updated brand voice is akin to strategic internal comms—it's vital for keeping everyone singing from the same hymn sheet.

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5 Test and measure your content

The final step is to test and measure the impact of your updated brand voice and tone guidelines on your content quality and performance. You can use tools like A/B testing, user testing, analytics, and metrics to evaluate how well your content resonates with your audience and meets your goals. You can also use tools like surveys, reviews, and social media engagement to collect feedback from your audience and see how they perceive and respond to your brand voice and tone.

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6 Iterate and improve your guidelines

Updating your brand voice and tone guidelines is not a one-time project, but an ongoing process that requires regular review and refinement. You need to keep track of the changes and trends in your audience, your industry, and your goals, and adjust your brand voice and tone accordingly. You also need to keep learning from your content experiments and feedback, and implement the best practices and lessons learned. By doing so, you can keep your brand voice and tone fresh, relevant, and engaging.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Content Strategy

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How do you keep brand voice and tone guidelines up-to-date?

1

2

3

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5

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1 Audit your existing content

2 Research your audience and competitors

3 Update your brand voice and tone attributes

4 Document and share your guidelines

5 Test and measure your content

6 Iterate and improve your guidelines

7 Here’s what else to consider

Content Strategy

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How do you keep brand voice and tone guidelines up-to-date?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Audit your existing content

2 Research your audience and competitors

3 Update your brand voice and tone attributes

4 Document and share your guidelines

5 Test and measure your content

6 Iterate and improve your guidelines

7 Here’s what else to consider

Content Strategy

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

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