Business Growth
How to Create a Brand Voice Guide for a Small Business (With Template)
How to create a brand voice guide for a small business: the This-Not-That voice chart, a one-page template, word lists, examples by channel, mistakes to avoid, and a Claude workflow for building the guide from writing you already have.
Founder, AI Tools and Training Club · October 13, 2026 · 8 min read
The short version
- A brand voice guide is a short document that tells anyone writing for your business how it should sound, so your website, emails, and posts read like one company instead of five.
- Build it around a This-Not-That chart: three voice traits, each paired with the version of it you never want to slide into, plus real before-and-after examples.
- Keep it to one page, base it on writing that already works for you, and use it as the brief every time you or an AI tool drafts something.
How do you create a brand voice guide?
You create a brand voice guide by collecting the best writing your business has already produced, naming the three traits that make it sound like you, and writing down what each trait means and what it does not mean. Add a short list of words you use and words you avoid, a few before-and-after rewrites, and notes on how the voice flexes between channels like your website, emails, and social posts. Keep the whole thing to one page so people actually use it, and hand it to anyone (or any AI tool) that writes for you.
My opinion: most small businesses do not need a brand book. They need one page that stops their writing from sounding like it came from a different company every time someone new picks up the keyboard.
Brand voice vs tone vs tagline
These get mixed up constantly, and the confusion is why so many voice guides end up as a list of nice adjectives that nobody can apply.
| What it is | Does it change? | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand voice | The consistent personality in everything you write | No. It stays the same everywhere. |
| Tone | How that voice adjusts to the moment, like a launch email versus a refund reply | Yes. It shifts with the situation and the reader's mood. |
| Tagline | One short line that sums up your brand | Rarely. It is a single piece of copy, not a set of rules. |
Brand voice, tone, and tagline compared
Think of voice as who you are and tone as how you speak in a given room. You are the same person at a celebration and at a hard conversation, but you do not talk the same way at both. If you are working on the single line rather than the overall voice, how to write a tagline covers that separately.
The This-Not-That voice chart
The This-Not-That chart is the core of the guide and the part I recommend starting with. Pick three traits that describe how your best writing sounds. Then, for each one, name the bad version of it, the place the trait goes when it is overdone. That second column is what makes the guide usable, because it tells a writer where the line is.
| We are | We are not | What it looks like in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Plain-spoken | Blunt or cold | We explain tax terms in everyday words, but we still say please and thank you. |
| Confident | Arrogant | We give a clear recommendation instead of a list of maybes, and we say when something is outside our expertise. |
| Warm | Overly casual | We write like a helpful neighbor, not a best friend. No slang, no jokes about a client's money. |
A made-up This-Not-That chart for a small accounting firm
A one-page brand voice guide template
Use this as a starting structure. Each section should be a few lines, not a few pages.
- Who we write for: one or two sentences describing your typical reader and what they care about.
- Our voice in one sentence: for example, "We sound like a sharp, patient expert who respects your time."
- This-Not-That chart: three traits, each with its overdone version and a practical note.
- Words we use: the terms your customers actually use for their problem and your service.
- Words we avoid: jargon, buzzwords, and phrases that sound like everyone else in your industry.
- Before and after: two or three real sentences rewritten into your voice, so people can see the difference.
- Tone by channel: a line each for your website, emails, social posts, and customer support replies.
- Formatting habits: small rules like sentence case or title case for headings, how you write numbers and dates, and whether you use exclamation points.
The before-and-after section does more work than any description. A writer who sees a stiff sentence turned into your voice understands the guide faster than one who reads the word "approachable" three times.
How the voice flexes by channel
The voice stays fixed, but each channel has its own job, so the tone should shift to fit it.
| Channel | What the reader needs | How the tone shifts |
|---|---|---|
| Website | A quick, clear understanding of what you do and why to trust you | Most polished and concise. Every sentence earns its place. |
| Emails | Something useful, from someone they recognize | More personal. Written to one reader, not an audience. |
| Social posts | A reason to stop scrolling | Shorter and punchier, with a clear point of view. |
| Support replies | Their problem solved, and to feel heard | Calmest and most patient. Clarity first, personality second. |
How one voice adjusts across common channels
Your homepage is usually where the voice is most visible to new visitors. How to write a homepage and how to write an about page both show where the voice should come through most strongly.
Brand voice guide mistakes to avoid
- Writing it from scratch instead of from your best work. The guide should describe how you already sound at your best, not invent a personality.
- Choosing traits that are aspirations, not reality. If your writing is not playful today, calling it playful will just confuse everyone.
- Making it too long. A twenty-page guide gets skimmed once and forgotten. One page gets used.
- No examples. Adjectives alone are open to interpretation. Real sentences are not.
- Ignoring how customers talk. If your audience calls it "bookkeeping" and you call it "financial operations management," your voice is working against you.
- Never updating it. When the business changes, or a section keeps getting ignored, rewrite it.
Voice is also what separates two businesses with the same offer. How to write a value proposition covers what you say; the voice guide covers how you say it.
How to create a brand voice guide with Claude
Claude is useful here because spotting patterns across a lot of writing is slow to do by hand, and it is good at describing what makes a piece of writing sound a certain way. Open the Claude desktop app and give it real material.
- Paste in five to ten pieces of writing you are proud of: website sections, emails that got good replies, posts that sounded like you. Add a short description of who your customers are.
- Ask Claude to describe the voice across those pieces and suggest three traits, each with an overdone version, in a This-Not-That chart.
- Ask it to pull out words and phrases you use often, and phrases that feel generic or out of place.
- Paste in a few sentences you dislike and ask for before-and-after rewrites in the voice it described. Tell it not to add any claims, numbers, or details that were not in the original.
- Edit the result down to one page, then save it. Paste the guide in at the start of any future writing request so drafts come back sounding like your business instead of like generic AI.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a brand voice guide be?
For a small business, one page is usually enough. It should cover who you write for, three voice traits with what they do not mean, words to use and avoid, a few before-and-after examples, and how the tone shifts by channel.
What is the difference between brand voice and brand tone?
Voice is your consistent personality and stays the same everywhere. Tone is how that voice adjusts to the situation, such as being upbeat in a launch email and calm in a support reply.
Do I need a brand voice guide if I write everything myself?
It still helps. It keeps you consistent on busy days, makes it far easier to hand writing to a team member or freelancer later, and gives AI tools a clear brief so their drafts need less editing.
How do I find my brand voice?
Start with writing that already worked: emails people replied to, pages customers mentioned, posts that got a response. Look for what those pieces have in common, then describe it. Your voice is usually already there; the guide just names it.
Can I use AI to create a brand voice guide?
Yes, and it works best when you give it your own best writing to analyze instead of asking it to invent a personality. Use it to spot patterns and draft the chart, then edit the guide yourself so it describes how you really want to sound.