If you wanna make your copy sound like you, use the words and phrases you naturally use with customers, bring in your opinions and personality and get rid of language you’d never actually say.
You don’t need to invent a brand personality, you just need to find the one you already have and turn it into a consistent brand voice.
There’s no point having a website if you read it and think:
“Who the hell is this supposed to be?”
So, let’s find you.
Why doesn’t my copy sound like me?
You know your business inside out. You can happily talk about it to a customer for an hour without sounding weird or wooden.
Then somebody asks you to write your homepage.
And eh voilà, you’re:
“A leading provider of high-quality services committed to delivering exceptional results.”
Sack that.
Part of the problem is that you’re treating writing as something completely different from yourself.
It isn’t.
Your copy is talking to people on your behalf.
Your copy doesn’t need a new personality.
It just needs yours.
How to make my copy sound like me
Well, not me, obviously, I mean you.
Anyway, here’s some tips o get your bonce thinking:
One. Find the words you’re already using
Before you write anything, go rummaging.
Your natural voice is hiding in places you’ve never thought of as “copy”.
Look at:
- Emails you’ve sent to customers
- WhatsApp messages
- Social media posts and replies
- Proposals
- Voice notes
- Video transcripts
- Messages you’ve sent to colleagues
- Answers you’ve given customers
- Podcasts you’ve appeared on
Are there phrases you use all the time? Do you tend to explain things with analogies? Are your messages short and direct? Do you use particular greetings? Do you make little jokes? Are there words you use that other people probably wouldn’t?
That’s useful stuff.
That’s why, whenever I work with a client, I insist on a call, so I can hear how they talk about their business.
In my guide to writing conversational copy, I talk about creating a brand dictionary from the language you naturally use. If this is nowhere to be found in your content, don’t be surprised that it doesn’t sound like you.
Two. Ask other people what you sound like
Ask a few people you know or your business well:
“If you had to describe the way I communicate in three words, what would they be?”
Don’t give them options, just see what they say.
You might think you’re funny, direct and informal, while everyone else says you’re enthusiastic, reassuring and slightly chaotic.
Neither answer is necessarily wrong, but other people can spot characteristics in us that we don’t notice because they’re completely normal to us.
Customers can be dead useful because they’ll often describe you in ways your mates wouldn’t.
Pay attention if the same words keep appearing. If five customers independently describe you as straight-talking, you’ve nailed one trait to put into your copy.
Three. Find the words you’d NEVER use
Your voice isn’t just the stuff you say, it’s also the ones you wouldn’t say in a month of Sunday’s.
I might happily use:
- Gimme
- Yeah
- Mate
- Flippin’
But there are words and phrases that feel completely wrong coming from me.
Your list will be different.
Perhaps you hate awesome. Maybe mate makes your toes curl. Perhaps you’d never call your customers lovely humans. Maybe you’re quite happy saying buy but wouldn’t be caught dead saying purchase.
Write those down too.
If you’ve ever Googled “how to make my copy sound like me”, knowing the words you’d never use is just as important as knowing the ones you would.
Four. Work out what you actually believe
This is one of the best ways to create copy with personality rather than copy that sounds like everyone else.
Have an opinion.
What do people in your industry get wrong? What advice do you disagree with? What do customers worry about that they really shouldn’t? What shortcuts would you never take? What do you wish every customer understood before they came to you? What do you think is massively overrated?
Those opinions give your copy something that’s difficult for competitors to replicate.
Five. Find your stories
Your competitors can copy your services. They can copy your prices. They can copy your website layout. The cheeky sods can even start using some of the same language.
But they can’t copy what actually happened to you.
Your stories are yours.
- Why did you start the business?
- What’s the strangest thing a customer has ever asked?
- What mistake taught you something useful?
- What’s changed about the way you work?
- What happened with a customer that perfectly demonstrates why you do something a certain way?
Anecdotes add personality to you copy.
Six. Decide how much of YOU belongs in the business
Making your content sound like you doesn’t mean putting your entire personality online. Your customers don’t need to know everything.
You get to choose which parts of yourself belong in your brand.
Maybe you’re very sarcastic with your mates but sarcasm doesn’t work with customers. Maybe you swear constantly in real life but don’t want it in your marketing. Maybe you’re hilarious after three margaritas.
Good for you.
Doesn’t mean Margarita You needs control of the homepage.
Think of your brand voice as you with the relevant bits turned up.
For example, if customers value you because you’re reassuring, knowledgeable and straightforward, those characteristics should probably be obvious in the copy.
The fact you also do an excellent impression of Alan Partridge may be less commercially useful.
Seven. Don’t crowbar in humour for the sake of it
Personality doesn’t mean jokes and sounding like yourself doesn’t mean every paragraph needs a punchline.
If you’re naturally funny, great, use it where it works.
If you’re not, don’t suddenly start firing puns into your pension consultancy website because someone on LinkedIn told you brands need personality.
You might naturally be:
- Warm
- Calm
- Direct
- Enthusiastic
- Reassuring
- Dry
- Curious
- Opinionated
- Playful
- Straight-talking
They’re all personalities.
Your website and marketing copy can be memorable without trying to make anyone laugh.
Eight. Write a paragraph three different ways
Take something incredibly ordinary from your website, like:
“Contact us today to discuss your requirements.”
Now deliberately push it in different directions.
Very formal:
“Please contact our team to discuss your requirements and discover how we may be able to assist you.”
Very casual:
“Need a hand? Gimme a shout and let’s have a natter.”
Somewhere in between:
“Got a project in mind? Get in touch and tell us what you’re planning.”
Which feels closest to your personality?
You can do this with entire paragraphs. Write one that’s far too formal and one that’s far too casual, then find the version between them that feels and sounds like you.
You’re not trying to find the objectively “best” version.
You’re finding your version.
My article on tone of voice goes deeper into the difference between your underlying voice and the tone you use in different situations.
Nine. Check whether your personality disappears on important pages
Businesses often sound most like themselves on LinkedIn, their About page and in blog posts.
Then you click onto the service page and…
“Our comprehensive range of solutions has been developed to meet the evolving needs of…”
Oh. Dear. Lord.
Your personality shouldn’t disappear the second you start selling, it’s one of the places you need it most.
People aren’t only deciding whether they want your service. They’re deciding whether they want it from YOU.
That’s especially important if you’re a consultant, freelancer, coach or small business where the customer is going to deal directly with the person behind the website.
So look at your:
- Homepage
- About page
- Service pages
- Contact page
- Calls to action
- FAQs
- Forms and confirmation messages
Do they all feel like they belong to the same business?
If people are finding your site but not taking the next step, bland or generic copy could be part of the problem. I cover some of the other reasons in Why is my website getting traffic but no enquiries?
Ten. Do the ‘would I actually say that?’ test
Now read your copy out loud.
But don’t just listen for whether it flows, after each section, ask yourself:
“Would really say that?”
You probably don’t wander around speaking in beautifully structured paragraphs with strategically positioned calls to action. I certainly don’t.You’re asking yourself if the sentiment, language and attitude feel like you.
If your website says:
“We pride ourselves on our unwavering commitment to excellence.”
Would you ever actually tell a customer that?
If not, what would you say?
How should my copy sound?
Your copy shouldn’t sound chatty because somebody told you conversational copy is better. It shouldn’t sound funny because you’ve seen other brands doing it.
And it definitely shouldn’t sound like your copywriter.
Your copy should sound like the version of you that’s most useful and appealing to your customers.
And if you’re fairly formal in real life?
That’s fine too.
Formal can still have personality. The goal isn’t to make every business sound super casual, it’s to stop every business sounding the same.
The best brand voice is one that’s not pretending
A good brand voice should make writing easier.
And that’s why lots of people work with a copywriter like me. I’m not going to make your website and marketing sound like me. I’ll get to know how you talk, what you believe, what your customers care about and what makes people choose you.
Then turn all of that into copy that sounds like you.
If that’s what you want from your content, get in touch and let’s have a chat.
Until next time,
Matt
