It’s what’s on the inside that counts.
Your verbal identity is tight. Authentic, distinctive, unnervingly consistent. But is your brand voice really reaching everywhere? Was it there in the last team update? Can you hear it on page four of Data_Protection_Policy_FINAL.doc? Does it show up inside your organisation even when the news is bad?Bringing brand voice into internal comms isn’t an afterthought. It’s vital. And if your brand voice isn’t reaching your coworkers, it’s a massive missed opportunity. Here’s why.
It keeps things simple (and that’s a good thing)
There’s an outdated idea that workplace comms need to be formal, distant, long-winded. That our colleagues are too smart to be spoken to in a casual way. But that’s not true today. They might be smart, but they’re also busy.
“Internal comms is competing for employees’ attention with the biggest and best external content there’s ever been. The news article you read at breakfast is well written. So are newsletters you get from brands. Even the Tweets you secretly read on a Zoom call are well written. All of this means we’re less tolerant than ever of copy that’s too long, too technical, or too impersonal.”
- Fiona Woollett, Director of Global Internal Communications, Oatly
Informative and informal can live side by side, even when the content is serious. A good brand voice makes complicated stuff easy to understand. It makes writing better by cutting waffle, drawing on common words, and structuring the message in an intuitive way. And it shows people inside the business that their employers respect their time.
It backs up your brand
Voice is a key part of any brand – driving distinctiveness, consistency and trust. And it begins on the inside, connecting to the brand personality and values, and expressing what an organisation is really about.
So using brand voice internally shows that it’s authentic, because the inside and outside of the business reflect each other. And it sets the tone for workplace culture– showing people what it’s like to spend 40 hours a week there. And as more people work remotely than ever before, the tone of an email might be the closest employees get to the culture of the business. Plus, seeing the brand voice in staff comms means people buy into it. They see how engaging it is, simple to read, and full of personality. And, through osmosis, they’ll find it easier to write that way themselves.
It builds connections
Knowing your audience is the heart of good writing – and in internal comms this is a gift. The reader is known, tangible. You can look them in the eye. You might know their pets’ names. This all makes it easier to build sensitivity into the message and show consideration for the audience. Like knowing when there’s real excitement around a new launch, confusion over new policies, or anxiety about a hiring freeze. A strong voice can flex to all kinds of situations without going off key. So whether the news is about pay rises, job cuts or anything in between, it helps avoid a jarring tone shift when something serious needs to be said.
It gets you what you want
Internal communication always has a purpose, keeping people engaged, informed, and encouraging them to act. But none of that happens if the message doesn’t get read. At work, everyone’s busy. And just like everywhere else in life – they’re distracted too. We all consume content constantly, and the quality and quantity has never been so high. So if a message isn’t enjoyable to read – however vital it is – it won’t get read.
“We used to post regular Safety Bulletins on our intranet, and no one
wanted to read them. So I worked with the H&S Manager to make her next
update ‘Dorothy’s safety resolutions for the new year’ with some succinct,
clear, and engaging copy – and 10x as many people read it.”
— Natasha Gobert-Hopkins, Senior Corporate Communications
Manager, Rocky Mountaineer Canada
Brand voice is a tool for persuasion. It helps make sure people read what they’re meant to – because it’s what it’s designed to do. Even the content people want to see isn’t going to cut through if the writing isn’t sharp and smart. Break people out of their focus. Give them a reason to engage with the brand and wider business – and see their role in it. No one’s going to be informed or engaged if the message doesn’t get through.
Driving engagement is as important for the people you pay, as the ones that pay you. And everything here applies to other overlooked audience groups too, like investors, partners, and B2B. Your brand voice needs to reach more than just your customers. If it doesn’t, you risk not communicating with anyone.
Gemma is a senior writer at Reed Words, where she writes, names and trains for the world’s brightest brands. That means a lot of talking about language, what it means, and what it really means. She’s all about helping brands find their voice – then making it live, breathe and sing in every part of an organisation.
It’s what’s on the inside that counts.
Your verbal identity is tight. Authentic, distinctive, unnervingly consistent. But is your brand voice really reaching everywhere? Was it there in the last team update? Can you hear it on page four of Data_Protection_Policy_FINAL.doc? Does it show up inside your organisation even when the news is bad?Bringing brand voice into internal comms isn’t an afterthought. It’s vital. And if your brand voice isn’t reaching your coworkers, it’s a massive missed opportunity. Here’s why.
It keeps things simple (and that’s a good thing)
There’s an outdated idea that workplace comms need to be formal, distant, long-winded. That our colleagues are too smart to be spoken to in a casual way. But that’s not true today. They might be smart, but they’re also busy.
“Internal comms is competing for employees’ attention with the biggest and best external content there’s ever been. The news article you read at breakfast is well written. So are newsletters you get from brands. Even the Tweets you secretly read on a Zoom call are well written. All of this means we’re less tolerant than ever of copy that’s too long, too technical, or too impersonal.”
- Fiona Woollett, Director of Global Internal Communications, Oatly
Informative and informal can live side by side, even when the content is serious. A good brand voice makes complicated stuff easy to understand. It makes writing better by cutting waffle, drawing on common words, and structuring the message in an intuitive way. And it shows people inside the business that their employers respect their time.
It backs up your brand
Voice is a key part of any brand – driving distinctiveness, consistency and trust. And it begins on the inside, connecting to the brand personality and values, and expressing what an organisation is really about.
So using brand voice internally shows that it’s authentic, because the inside and outside of the business reflect each other. And it sets the tone for workplace culture– showing people what it’s like to spend 40 hours a week there. And as more people work remotely than ever before, the tone of an email might be the closest employees get to the culture of the business. Plus, seeing the brand voice in staff comms means people buy into it. They see how engaging it is, simple to read, and full of personality. And, through osmosis, they’ll find it easier to write that way themselves.
It builds connections
Knowing your audience is the heart of good writing – and in internal comms this is a gift. The reader is known, tangible. You can look them in the eye. You might know their pets’ names. This all makes it easier to build sensitivity into the message and show consideration for the audience. Like knowing when there’s real excitement around a new launch, confusion over new policies, or anxiety about a hiring freeze. A strong voice can flex to all kinds of situations without going off key. So whether the news is about pay rises, job cuts or anything in between, it helps avoid a jarring tone shift when something serious needs to be said.
It gets you what you want
Internal communication always has a purpose, keeping people engaged, informed, and encouraging them to act. But none of that happens if the message doesn’t get read. At work, everyone’s busy. And just like everywhere else in life – they’re distracted too. We all consume content constantly, and the quality and quantity has never been so high. So if a message isn’t enjoyable to read – however vital it is – it won’t get read.
“We used to post regular Safety Bulletins on our intranet, and no one
wanted to read them. So I worked with the H&S Manager to make her next
update ‘Dorothy’s safety resolutions for the new year’ with some succinct,
clear, and engaging copy – and 10x as many people read it.”
— Natasha Gobert-Hopkins, Senior Corporate Communications
Manager, Rocky Mountaineer Canada
Brand voice is a tool for persuasion. It helps make sure people read what they’re meant to – because it’s what it’s designed to do. Even the content people want to see isn’t going to cut through if the writing isn’t sharp and smart. Break people out of their focus. Give them a reason to engage with the brand and wider business – and see their role in it. No one’s going to be informed or engaged if the message doesn’t get through.
Driving engagement is as important for the people you pay, as the ones that pay you. And everything here applies to other overlooked audience groups too, like investors, partners, and B2B. Your brand voice needs to reach more than just your customers. If it doesn’t, you risk not communicating with anyone.
Gemma is a senior writer at Reed Words, where she writes, names and trains for the world’s brightest brands. That means a lot of talking about language, what it means, and what it really means. She’s all about helping brands find their voice – then making it live, breathe and sing in every part of an organisation.
Further Reading
