What does it mean to “read” your client’s voice?

Every business owner with a digital presence has an established online voice.

Voice is essential to make a business stand out.

A voice that’s too generic makes a brand forgettable. An over-the-top voice can seem unprofessional.

Voice is an integral part of their branding, their reputation, their online persona.

They all go together.

 

If you’re a copywriter,

Or you’re the default copywriter for your own business,

All your copy needs to be written in this “voice.”

 

But what exactly is “voice”? 

Let’s break down what voice is.

Voice is a [subjective] way to describe how a person/brand communicates online.

It’s the way a business conveys their message.

For example, Hallmark conveys its message through heartfelt emotions. They speak to the heart.

 

Voice can be anywhere from:

• Formal to casual
• Sarcastic to straightforward
• Bossy to reassuring
• Coarse to refined

And any number of adjectives in between.

 

Usually, voice is consistent with all parts of a business including:

• Branding
• The products a business sells
• The personality of the owner or spokesperson

A Christian book company is going to have a different voice than the Middle Finger Project.

The Christian bookstore will usually have a wholesome, conservative, spiritual take on voice.

Meanwhile, the Middle Finger Project is peppered with curse words and no-nonsense energy.

 

Let’s take a closer look at the voice for popular ecommerce site, MooseJaw, just because it’s so memorable.

Moosejaw sells many of the same outdoor products as other sites.

What sets them apart from their competition is their voice.

Their voice across all their channels is irreverent and cheeky.

Exhibit A:

 

These examples should give you an idea of what voice is and how it plays into a company’s branding.

They’re funny. They don’t take life so seriously that they miss out on the fun. They’re youthful.

If you’re an outdoor junkie, you read through the site and you feel yourself relax from rigid standards. You’re not at work. It’s all about play.

 

So now that we have a better grasp on voice, let’s talk about how to “read” your customers’ voice so you can mirror it in your copywriting.

 

How to Read Client Voice

Alright, so you have a brand new client and you’re trying to get acquainted with their brand and voice.

What you’ll want to do is gather some information from the client and some from your own observation.

Let me show you what my process looks like.

Use it, refine it, or tweak it to your own preferences.

 

1. Ask your client to describe their voice

First, I always ask my clients how they would describe their voice in my client questionnaire and initial conversation with them.

Sometimes they have a clear idea. Other times they’re not sure. Sometimes their voice is generic. Other times the voice they have is inconsistent with the voice they wish they had.

So, it’s important to ask good questions about your clients’ voice. 

You may end up helping them craft a crisper voice.

 

Some question you might want to ask include:

• How would you describe your brand voice?
• What 3-5 adjectives would you use to describe your voice?
• What words/wording is allowed and not allowed? (i.e. cursing, condescension, etc)

[Steal my client questionnaire with all the questions I ask my clients before starting a project]

 

You also have to have a clear idea who your client is talking to. You don’t want to use language that’s off-putting to your desired audience. Audience is a topic for a whole other post, but it’s important keep who you’re talking to in mind.

 

2. Next, study the client’s existing content

Next, I suggest going through your client’s content on their existing platforms to gather intel, including their:

• Website
• Blog
• Social media accounts
• Emails
• Internal communications

You don’t need to spend hours and hours on this. Just read through enough content to get a solid idea of their voice.

Jump ahead to #4 to find out what you should be taking notes on.

 

3. Study the client’s spoken content

In much the same way, you want to go through some of your client’s spoken conversation, including:

• Interviews
• Podcasts
• Videos
• Instagram stories

In many cases, a client’s voice should sound the way they talk. This is especially true for those whose businesses is built around who they are, such as coaches.

Now, if you notice a glaring difference between a client’s written and spoken words, you may want to dig a little deeper with the client. Unless their product or business is a completely separate entity from who they are as a person, their copy should sound like “them.”

Again, don’t spend days going through every interview your client has ever participated in. Just listen through enough clips to get a sense of their spoken voice.

 

4. Read through reviews and testimonials

Next, read through what other people have to say about your client.

Read how they describe the brand. Take note of any themes that come up.

Just remember, make sure to separate this third party voice from your client’s own voice. You just want to be on the lookout for descriptive words that explain the client’s voice.

 

5. Take notes

While I’m doing voice research, I like to start a word collection and jot down all the words and phrases my clients like to use.

Perhaps they have a trademark greeting or signature phrases they use a lot. Write them down.

Or maybe they have their own slang or terms they use. Write those down.

I also like to take notes about what comes up for me when I hear my clients speak.

What’s your first impression?

Or how do you feel after you’re done reading their content?

Do they give you guy-next-door vibes or brazen badass vibes?

Try to put yourself in your client’s prospect’s shoes. What really resonates with you?

 

6. Try to describe what you’ve discovered

Now that you have all the data you need to read your client’s voice, it’s time to organize your thoughts into a synopsis.

You can even go so far as to draft a formal style guide for your client, if you include that in your service.

 

In your voice guide, you can include:

• A few adjectives that describe the voice
• Rank voice on the different scales (see below)
• Taglines and signature phrases
• Word collection
• Description of the voice

Just type these out in a clean document. Try not to get too overly detailed. Some of us could easily get carried away over-analyzing and trying to capture every detail. But that’s not the point here. This is more of an overview.

Oh, and I mentioned ranking voice on different scales. You can rank these on a scale of 1 to 5:

• Casual to Formal
• Funny to Serious
• Factual to Opinionated
• Raw to Refined
• Emotional (heart) to Logical (head)
• Confident to Self-Deprecating
• Light to Heavy
• Superficial to Deep

I’m sure you can come up with more. Just make sure the scales are relevant to your client. Some might be a given, such as journalism, which is more formal and factual.

 

Now, using what you have, try to write out a description of the voice.

 

Example brand voice description

So, here’s an example of a voice description from my own Forest Bathing Central platform.

Descriptive adjectives:

• Kindred
• Grounded 
• Nurture
• Magical
• Intuition

The voice is casual, but well-informed. It’s “me.”
It sounds playful and fun, not so serious and science-y.
Science is important to us, but the copy should sound accessible and playful.
It’s like talking to your best friend, but your best friend is a super outdoorsy nature geek.
It’s not so serious that you have to go no-trace camping, but not dumbed-down either.
We feel our best and feel more alive when we’re outdoors. It’s like classy campy. Super “down-to-earth,” in a literal sense.

 

I also have a word collection and “brand lexicon” for Forest Bathing Central saved in my Google Drive.

But you get the idea right?

 

This is what it looks like to “read” and distill a brand voice.

 

This is the information you’ll use to craft your copy for your clients’ businesses.

You want to have this voice description in front of you (or in mind) as you write, so you keep the voice tight and consistent.

Clients are thrilled when you’re able to get inside their head and create copy that sounds just like “them.” 

 

[Get the insider scoop on starting your own freelance writing business with this collection of mini courses]

 

So tell me,

How do you read client voice?

What questions do you still have about reading your clients’ voices?