Brand, Web & Presence

How do I make sure our brand look and voice hold up as we add a marketing person, agencies, and freelancers who weren't there at the start?

A starting point

The moment people who didn't build the brand start producing for it, drift is inevitable unless the intent is written down, not just felt. Capture a short brand voice guide (three adjectives, do/don't examples, words you never use) alongside the visual kit, so new hires and agencies can match tone without you reviewing every asset. Review a sample of outputs monthly at first; a fifteen minute check catches drift before it becomes your new normal.

Go deeper

Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time.

3 resources 3 link-checked Read Use

Read

📄 Article

✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it This is the reference everyone quietly copies when they first try to write down their brand voice, and it is public, free, and readable in one sitting. It separates voice (the part that never changes) from tone (the part that shifts by situation), which is exactly the distinction a marketer, an agency, and a freelancer need to share so their work sounds like one company. Treat it as a starting point for structure, not a template to mimic word for word.

Voice and Tone, Mailchimp Content Style Guide

From Mailchimp Content Style Guide by Mailchimp

Write down your voice as a short set of named traits (Mailchimp uses plainspoken, genuine, translator, dry humor) so anyone new can point to what they were aiming for
Voice stays fixed while tone flexes by context, so document both separately instead of hoping people intuit the difference
Pair each principle with a rule of thumb (active voice, plain English, positive framing) that a reviewer can actually check against

Open styleguide.mailchimp.com →

✍️ Essay

✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

Why we picked it This piece argues something useful and slightly against the grain: the goal is not to find people who already sound exactly like your brand (they do not exist) but to shape distinct voices toward a shared intent. That reframing is exactly right for the moment you go from founder-does-everything to a team of contributors who each write differently. Read it as a way of thinking about the handoff, not a checklist.

Maintaining One Brand Voice When Working with Multiple Writers

From Skyword, The Content Standard by Erin Ollila

Hire for a strong but moldable voice and coach it toward the brand, rather than searching for a perfect match who does not exist
Guidelines land through examples and steady feedback on early work, not a document people read once and forget
Edit against what the audience expects, not personal taste, so the brand intent survives many hands

Open skyword.com →

Use

📋 Template

✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it The article walks a four step method and then hands you an editable Google Doc you can fill in, which is what you actually need to give a new marketing hire or an agency on day one. It is opinionated about including real do and do-not examples, not just adjectives, so the document stays usable instead of decorative. Copy it, cut what does not fit, and make it yours before anyone else touches your brand.

How to Define Your Brand's Tone of Voice (with free template)

From Semrush by Eugenia Verbina

A working guide needs core values, named tone dimensions, and concrete on-brand vs off-brand phrasing, not a list of vibes
Ground the tone choices in how your real audience actually talks, so the guide reflects your customers and not a generic template
Hand this document to every freelancer and agency at kickoff so the standard is set before the first draft, not after

Open semrush.com →