You do not need a designer or a 40-page document. How a small business can write a one-page brand voice guide that people, and AI tools, can use.
Why it is worth an hour of your time
If you are the only person who writes your posts, your voice may live in your head. As soon as someone else helps, or you use an AI tool, it needs to be written down. Otherwise, you will spend your time correcting drafts for reasons that you find hard to explain.
Describe who you are talking to
Write a few lines about your typical customers: what they care about, what they worry about and how much they already know. It is much easier to write for one recognisable person than for "our target market".
Pick three words, and define them
Choose three words that describe how you want to sound, and say what each one means in practice. Words alone are too vague, because everyone thinks they are friendly. For example:
- Friendly: we use first names and everyday language, but we do not use slang.
- Straightforward: we give the price and the next step, and we avoid vague claims.
- Local: we mention places and people that our customers will recognise.
Show examples, good and bad
Examples are the most useful part of any voice guide. Rewrite a real post in the way you would like it, and include one you would never publish. Show the difference. People and AI tools alike learn more quickly from examples than from adjectives.
Write down your rules
List the small decisions that keep coming up, so that nobody has to ask again:
- How do you write your business name?
- Do you use emoji, and if so, how many?
- Which words or topics do you avoid?
- Are there claims that you must not make, for legal or professional reasons?
- How do you respond to bad news or complaints in public?
Keep it somewhere it will be used
A guide that nobody opens won't change anything. Put it where people write. In Orbis Social, that place is the Brand Brain, where AI writing can draw on it too. Whichever tool you use, look at it again every few months and update it.
Put it into practice with Orbis Social
Plan, write, approve and publish to Facebook Pages and Instagram professional accounts.
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