Your brand voice is dying, here’s how to resuscitate it
The Secret Language Blog | Language Is a Weapon
TLDR:
Most brand voice today sounds like ChatGPT with a marketing degree. It’s clean, consistent, and completely forgettable. If your brand sounds like it was made by a committee or a copy generator, you’re already invisible. Here’s why—and how to fix it.
The Problem: Brand Voice Erosion
In a rush to scale, streamline, or just keep up, most brands have quietly outsourced their voice to tools, templates, and trend cycles. You don’t even notice it happening until every caption, email, and homepage starts sounding the same.
Polished. Passive. Politely dying.
If everyone’s using the same tone, then nobody’s heard.
And in 2025, silence doesn’t sell.
Why It’s Happening:
1. AI-generated content is exploding.
It’s useful. But when misused, it flattens nuance, originality, and soul.
2. Branding teams are burning out.
Deadlines > Depth. So voice becomes a checkbox, not a strategy.
3. People are afraid of sounding “too much.”
So they play it safe. Safe = forgettable.
Why It Matters:
Your brand’s voice is not just how you sound.
It’s how people trust you.
How they recognise you.
How they decide: “This is for me.”
Without a voice that feels human, you don’t stand a chance in a content economy built to numb us out.
So What Do You Do About It?
Here’s how to reclaim your voice—without losing your edge:
✅ 1. Audit What You’ve Already Said
Pull together 10–20 of your last brand touchpoints: Instagram captions, email intros, about page, product pages.
Ask:
Could this have been written by a competitor?
Could this have been written by ChatGPT with no edits?
Is there any line that actually made me feel something?
Mark what hits. Burn what doesn’t.
✅ 2. Create a Brand Voice Matrix
Don’t stop at “witty but wise” or “bold yet approachable.” Define your voice against the noise.
Try these spectrums:
Too safe vs Too out there
Performative vs Principled
Fluffy vs Focused
Then add some archetype energy.
You’re not just a brand. You’re the friend who says the thing no one else will.
Or the big sister who helps you make a plan.
Or the chaotic cousin who reminds you to dream.
✅ 3. Build a Living Voice Guide
Don’t let your tone sit in a PDF.
Bring it into everyday work:
Create a swipe file of “on-brand” phrases
Make rules for what not to say (e.g., “Don’t use 'empower' unless you mean it”)
Update it monthly with real brand examples that actually worked
✅ 4. Run a “Voice Check” Before You Publish
Ask one question before you hit post/send/publish:
Would I say this out loud to a real person I care about?
If the answer is no, it’s not your voice.
It’s filler.
Brands With Real Voice Don’t Compete.
They resonate.
And that’s the difference between being scrolled past or screen-shotted.
Ready to Reclaim Your Voice?
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