If you’ve ever worked with a designer, you’ve probably come across brand guidelines. They usually come as a PDF or sometimes a full-blown brand book, spelling out how your business should look and feel.
Lots of people think of guidelines as being purely visual (logos, fonts, colour palettes). But here’s the secret: they’re just as important for words. A brand isn’t only about how it looks, it’s also about how it sounds. And that’s where copywriters come in.
So, what’s actually in a set of brand guidelines?
Think of them as your brand’s rulebook. On the design side, you’ll often see things like:
- How to use the logo (and how not to)
- Colour palettes and exact shades
- Fonts and type hierarchy
- The style of photography or illustrations that feel “on-brand”.
On the copy side, however, we’d expect the brand guidelines to include useful information that we can apply to our copywriting. This might include:
Tone of voice
So so so so important for a copywriter if you want us to sound like your brand. Do you want to come across as warm and friendly? Maybe cheeky is more your sound. How about serious and authoritative? Tone will differ business to business depending on what is being sold and the target audience.
If you already know what you want the tone to be, then include it in your brand guidelines and your copywriter will thank you.
Messaging
While we can maybe discover your brand messaging from your existing website and social media pages, we love more information about the big ideas and values you want to get across to your audience.
Likes and don’t likes
I think every brand has words that they love to use and words they hate. When I was writing for Age Co, they were conscious of being supportive for older people without being patronising, so there were a list of general words to avoid using.
Audience personas
I love a good audience persona. Describe to me your perfect, ideal customer and I’ll write copy just for them. It can be super specific, like this one for a luxury travel agency:
“Person A has a main home in London, but also has a second home in the south of France. They like to browse antique stores in their spare time and are particularly interested in rare and first-edition books. Their home is filled with memorabilia they’ve picked up on their travels. They’ve already travelled widely and are now more interested in exclusivity: private villas, once-in-a-lifetime adventures, and destinations that not everyone has access to. They don’t mind paying more if it means something truly special.”
This tells me what makes them tick, what they’re looking for in a luxury holiday and a bit about their lifestyle. Whenever I write, I simply aim it at this person.
Why do copywriters love guidelines?
Writing without brand guidelines can feel a bit like guessing the rules of a game as you play. With them, though, everything just clicks.
They provide us with consistency. This is particularly important if you have more than one writer on the go. Guidelines ensure that five different copywriters will all provide content that sounds like your brand and not a patchwork of different voices.
It also gives us confidence. It stops us questioning what tone to use or what words to avoid, and gives us the answers already.
Finally, it provides coherence. Copy doesn’t live in isolation. It has to sit alongside your visuals. Guidelines make sure the words match the look.
What happens if you don’t have brand guidelines?
Without guidelines, brands can end up sending different (or the wrong) signals.
Think about a business insurance brand that’s always using slang terms in their copy. Or a marketing agency who pitches themselves as fun and relatable, but writes in dry, corporate jargon.
The copy doesn’t match up to the brand, and customers notice this, which can cause trust issues and trust issues lead to lack of purchases or sales.
It also just makes it much harder for a copywriter to write for you.
A copywriter can help you to shape your brand guidelines
If you’re now panicking that you don’t have suitable brand guidelines to give to your copywriter, don’t worry. Copywriters can actually help create brand guidelines. They can pin down the patterns in how you want to sound, refine your tone of voice, and document it all so the whole team’s singing from the same hymn sheet.
Or you can follow my steps below.
How to create brand guidelines if you don’t have them yet
Don’t worry if you’ve never put anything down on paper before. Guidelines don’t have to be complicate, so here’s how you can start building them.
Step 1: Work out your brand values
What do you actually stand for? Innovation, reliability, sustainability? These big-picture ideas should shape both your look and your voice.
Step 2. Be clear on your audience
Who are you really talking to? A 25-year-old grad and a CEO need very different kinds of messaging.
Step 3. Nail your voice
Decide if you’re chatty and approachable, or sleek and professional. Pick a handful of words to describe your style (say, bold, warm, straight-talking). A Thesaurus might come in handy here.
Step 4. Think about tone
Your voice stays the same, but your tone flexes depending on context. Social media might be upbeat, while a customer service email needs to be calmer.
Step 5. Set out your key messages
Write down the themes and phrases you always want to come back to. These can be values, promises, or taglines.
Step 6. Get some help if you need it
A copywriter (hi, that’s me!) can package all this into a neat, easy-to-use guide. Pair that with your designer’s input, and you’ve got yourself a toolkit that’ll serve your brand for years.
Brand guidelines aren’t necessarily just a nice-to-have. They’re what keeps your brand consistent, trustworthy, and recognisable. They stop your message from wobbling, and they make life so much easier for copywriters (and designers, and marketers).
And if you don’t have any yet? Start small. Jot down your values, audience, and tone, and build from there. Before you know it, you’ll have a set of guidelines that makes your brand instantly “you” wherever your words appear, whether that’s on Instagram, your website, or a billboard in Piccadilly Circus.
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