Think about the brands you recognize instantly — not by their logo, but by how they sound. A certain tone, a turn of phrase, a personality that comes through even in a short email.
Now ask yourself: does your organization have that kind of voice?
There's a simple way to find out. Pull up your last few emails, your most recent social posts and a page or two from your website. Remove your logo, your name and any obvious identifiers. Would anyone know it's you?
If you're not sure, that's worth paying attention to. The copy might be just fine, the grammar clean and neat, but if no one can tell it's you, the writing isn't working.
You've seen what this looks like. “We're committed to excellence.” “Let’s build a better tomorrow.” These phrases could belong to a thousand organizations. They say something without saying anything at all.
But it doesn't have to be this way. The organizations that break through don't do it by pulling copy from a tired old corporate playbook. They do it by being more specific and more human.
Mailchimp built a reputation on this. Their early voice was quirky, conversational, slightly weird — a high-five confirmation when you sent a campaign, playful error messages, a tone that felt like a real person was behind the screen. In a category full of sterile software-speak, they stood out by sounding like real people.
That distinctiveness didn't happen by accident. It came from making deliberate choices: what words they'd use and avoid, how formal or casual to be, what kind of humor fit and what didn't. Voice isn't just vibes. It's a set of decisions, applied consistently.
Which brings it back to your brand. The test isn't whether your copy is polished. It's whether it's yours. Whether someone who knows your organization would read it and think, “Yes, that sounds like them.”
If that’s not happening, the barrier probably isn't skill or resources. It's the pull toward safe, familiar language that sounds like everyone else’s. But blending in has a cost too, and most of the time it's paid by those who never really get the chance to know you.
