How do I develop a unique brand voice for my small business?
Do I need a brand voice for my small business?
There was a time I'd be dragged kicking and screaming when mum said, “We're just popping into M&S." Now I'm 31, and M&S is life. Percy Pigs, a good pair of jeans, and the new cafe — it's the highlight of my week.
And it got me thinking…
We're still the same people, but our interests shift, our experiences grow, and we like different stuff. So if you're stuck trying to work with those brand voice guidelines you paid for five years ago... that might be exactly why what you write feels a bit off.
If you've changed, your buyers have changed too. And if you want to connect with the right people for your small business in 2026, it might be time to brew a brand voice that sounds like the current version of you.
Not the 2019 version who thought they had to sound a certain way. The evolved, this is actually me version.
Why developing a brand voice matters for small business owners in 2026
Isn’t brand voice just ‘fluff’?
Let me be honest with you. When I started Just Custard Copy over a year ago, I got my head turned by experts who promised £5k months just from posting on Instagram. I was distracted from the direction my brand sorely needed, and I'm annoyed at myself for getting sucked into that, because I KNOW the importance of brand voice in marketing.
It felt like I'd wasted six months when I could have been working on what would actually make a difference to my business.
I see it happening every time I open Insta: small business owners are chasing viral hooks, downloading templates, asking ChatGPT to make them sound "authentic", and they're STILL stuck staring at blank pages at 11 pm pulling their hair out at what to write.
Not because they don't know what to say. But because they don't know how THEY say it.
While everyone else is obsessing over "how to get 1,000 followers a day" and "make your website sell while you sleep," you're stuck on repeat, which looks like rewriting the same about page, second-guessing every sentence, and wondering why content that should take 20 minutes takes two hours (and still makes you cringe).
That's not a content problem. That's a brand voice problem.
And in 2026, when everyone's using the same ChatGPT or Claude prompts, bullying it to sound like they're "in a coffee shop with a friend," your voice is the only thing that's going to make you stand out.
What even is brand voice? (Beyond the boring corporate definition)
Brand voice is just a list of adjectives, right?
Noo, poppet, it’s way much more fun than that.
Your brand voice isn't a list of three adjectives at the bottom of a brand guide that no one ever looks at. It's not "friendly, professional, and approachable." (That could be literally anyone.)
Your brand voice is the personality that comes through in everything you write. It's the words you choose, the phrases you repeat, the vibe someone gets when they read your content and think, "I read it and could hear you saying it in my head."
It's what makes your content instantly recognisable, even without your name on it or a visual reference.
Think about the businesses you follow and remember. I bet you can picture how they sound, can't you? How they say ‘hey’ in their emails, the phrases they use, the way they structure their sentences, the feeling you get when you read their stuff.
That's brand voice.
And when you don’t have one? You sound like everyone else. You blend in. You become forgettable. And your dream buyers scroll right on by because nothing about your content makes them stop and think, "Oh, THIS is different."
The real reason you're struggling with your small business content
You’re actually great at writing content
Okay, so here's what I'm willing to bet is happening:
You've got the content calendar. You've downloaded the templates. You might even have a folder bursting with "inspiration" saved from Instagram.
But every time you sit down to write, the words are nowhere to be seen. Or you get a nasty case of word waffilitis.
You don't know if you sound overly friendly or way too corporate. You can't tell if you're being authentic or trying to fit into the latest trend. And honestly? You're tired of your website sounding a bit naff while everyone else seems to have it figured out.
So what do you do?
Download another template (because THIS will be the one, right?)
Ask ChatGPT to make you sound like you're in a coffee shop with a friend
Get "inspiration" from someone you admire, and hope it'll sound like you
But when you read it back, it's never quite right.
You're trying to build a house without foundations.
Everyone's telling you to "just be consistent" and "post three times a day" and "use these viral hooks," but no one's talking about the groundwork that makes all of that stuff work.
Plot twist… It's your tone of voice guide.
What a proper tone of voice guide actually includes
My take on brand voice guidelines
Not ‘fluff’. Not a PDF that sits in your Google Drive gathering dust. A tone of voice guide is a living piece you'll use every single day.
Here's what should be inside:
Your brand positioning
The thing that makes your product or service unique so you can explain what you do without comparing yourself to your competitors. This is your secret ingredient, what you do differently that no one else can copy.
Your hows and whys
Why should people follow your story? You know when they say "people buy from people"? This is what they're talking about. This is the stuff that makes someone think, "Oh, I get them. I LIKE them."
Who you're talking to
You can't connect with someone who doesn't exist. This isn't about creating a corporate avatar called "Sarah, 35, works in marketing." This is about having someone you can picture sitting in front of you when you write.
Your values
The values behind your work and how they show up in your content. These aren't the ones that get listed at the bottom of your website, where no one sees them. These are the things you genuinely care about that influence how you do business.
The Word Larder (this is the game-changer)
A bank of words and phrases you can refer to when you're stuck. No more staring at blank pages wondering what to say when you've only got 20 minutes to write your content.
This is the bit that makes writing go from "ugh, I have to do this" to "oh, I can do this."
Imagine having a whole collection of:
Phrases that sound unmistakably like you
Ways to describe your process that feel natural
Transitions you can grab when you're stuck
Words that resonate with your dream buyer
Instead of starting from scratch every single time, you're pulling from a larder that's already stocked with YOUR voice.
Your signature motif
A theme or motif that resonates with your brand personality and subtly weaves through everything, so your voice is instantly recognisable.
For me? The cottage-dwelling, dog-loving vibe. The "brewing" language. You probably noticed it, right?
That's what a signature motif does. It makes you memorable without even trying.
How developing your brand voice actually changes your business
Brand voice is going to change your business in 2026
Let me tell you what happened when my clients stopped winging it and started working with a proper tone of voice guide.
Rebecca, Founder of The Peak Edit, had content to spare, drafted emails, planned posts, case studies ready to go. But she couldn't hit publish. She'd accidentally created a collection of ChatGPT content that made her cringe. Templates that felt forced. She felt like she wasn’t doing her clients justice.
After we brewed her brand voice, she messaged me: "Hols, I bloody love love love it!!! I created my first piece last night. I'm so glad I went for the full brand blend package because it really has changed things for me! I feel clear on brand voice and know that no one else in my industry has the same theme."
From "I don't know where to start" to creating content the same night. THAT'S what having direction does.
Iona, Founder of Iona Buxton Jewellery, described her copy as "happy with it, but I wrote it." She knew something wasn't quite right but couldn't pinpoint what. She was using other jewellers as a reference point but struggling to see how she stood out.
After getting her brand voice guide and website copy, she said: "Gobsmacked... The website copy read so well, and as I was reading it really made me want to buy from me. The brand voice and other content were way more in-depth than I anticipated."
See the pattern?
Stuck and second-guessing → Confident and authentic
Sounding like everyone else → Having a unique theme no one else has
Procrastinating for months → Creating content the same day
"I don't know where to start" → "I've already started using the guide!"
Why 2026 is THE year to sort your brand voice
Eek, I’m so excited to hear your voice
Here's what I'm seeing everywhere right now:
Everyone's using the same ChatGPT prompts. Everyone's following the same "authentic business owner" playbook. Everyone sounds like they're having a casual chat in a coffee shop.
And you know what happens when everyone sounds the same?
No one stands out.
The businesses that are going to win in 2026 aren't the ones going viral. They're not the loudest. They're not posting 47 times a day.
They're the ones who sound unmistakably like themselves.
They're the ones with:
A signature voice that's instantly recognisable
Direction that makes writing actually doable
Words that connect with their dream buyer
Content that doesn't make them cringe
They've done the groundwork that everyone else skipped because it wasn't a "quick win."
And while everyone's still downloading templates and wondering why nothing feels right, these businesses are becoming the obvious choice—not just another option.
The mistakes people make when trying to develop their brand voice
Let me save you some time and tell you what DOESN'T work:
Mistake #1: Thinking “authentic" is enough
Everyone's telling you to "just be yourself" and "be authentic," but what does that even mean when you're staring at a blank caption?
Authentic without direction is just... rambling. You need structure. You need examples. You need to know what "being yourself" actually sounds like in your business.
Mistake #2: Copying what works for others
Yup, that business owner you admire sounds amazing. But they sound like THEM. When you try to copy it, you just sound like a worse version of them.
Your dream buyers don't want a copycat. They want YOU.
Mistake #3: Using ChatGPT to “sound like you"
She’s a planner, an analyser, not a critical thinker. Look, I love AI as much as the next person; it’s super helpful. But if you're prompting ChatGPT to "sound like you're talking to a friend in a coffee shop," guess what? So is everyone else.
AI is a tool. But it can't replace the work of actually figuring out how YOU sound.
Mistake #4: Thinking brand voice is “just fluff"
This is the one that annoys me the most.
Brand voice isn't fluff. It's not optional. It's not something you do "when you have time."
It's the foundation that makes everything else - your captions, your emails, your website copy, your sales conversations.
Towards the end of the year, Waitrose was hiring a Brand Voice Lead for £70k a year minimum. Big brands are big brands for a reason.
How to actually develop your brand voice (the real process)
How do we brew brand voice guidelines
Okay, so how do we DO this?
Not with a quick template or a one-hour workshop. Brand voice work takes time to brew (see what I did there? Hehehe).
Step 1: Get clear on your positioning
What makes you different? And I don't mean "we offer great customer service" because everyone says that.
I mean: What's your secret ingredient? What do you do that no one else does quite the same way?
This is about understanding your process, your values, and what makes you stand out.
Step 2: Understand who you're talking to
Not "women aged 25-45." A real person you can picture sitting in front of you.
What do they care about? What keeps them up at night? What are they scrolling for?
When you know WHO you're talking to, it's so much easier to figure out HOW to talk to them.
Step 3: Find your flavour
My FAVE bit. This is where we dig into:
How you want to come across to your buyers
The motifs that resonate with your brand personality
The phrases that make you instantly recognisable
Words that feel like home
This isn't about picking words. This is about finding the mind-reader moments.
Step 4: Build your Word Larder
Start collecting:
Phrases you use all the time
Ways you naturally describe things
Transitions that feel smooth
Words that light you up
This becomes your go-to resource when you're stuck. Your safety net. Your "I don't know what to write" solution.
Step 5: Create examples you can use
A brand voice guide without examples is useless.
You need to see what your voice looks like in:
Captions
Email subject lines
Website copy
Sales messages
Casual updates
So when you sit down to write, you're not starting from scratch. You're following a template created by you.
Speaking of Word Larders...
Marketing & Mocktails Event (February)
I'm hosting a masterclass in Healthy Future Marketing’s Marketing & Mocktails event in February, together we’ll Brew a Brand Voice AI Can’t Copy
We're going deep into the Word Larder concept - how to build one, how to use it, and how it makes writing for your business so much easier.
Because here's what I know: The businesses that stand out in 2026 aren't going to be the ones chasing viral hooks.
They're going to be the ones with a stocked larder of words that sound unmistakably like them. The ones who can sit down and write content in 20 minutes instead of two hours because they know EXACTLY what to say.
And that's what we're brewing together.
Sign up to keep up the momentum of all the January challenges in Q1
Use my code for an exclusive 10% off: FRESHLYBREWED
What happens when you finally have a brand voice that works
Let me paint you a picture of what life looks like after you’ve brewed your brand voice….
You sit down to write a caption, and instead of staring at a blank screen for 45 minutes, you open your Word Larder and pull out a phrase that fits. 20 minutes later, you've got a caption you're actually proud of.
Someone lands on your website, and instead of cringing and hoping they don't judge you, you're confident they're getting exactly who you are and what they need.
You stop procrastinating on content because you actually know what to say. You stop comparing yourself to competitors because you sound nothing like them. You stop feeling like an icky salesperson because your words finally feel natural.
Your dream buyers start recognising your voice. They quote you back to you. They tell their friends, "Oh, you HAVE to follow this business."
You become the obvious choice, not because you're the loudest, or the ‘authority’, but because you're the most YOU.
And honestly? That's what marketing should feel like.
Not forced. Not fake. Not like you're trying to fit into someone else's mould.
Just you, your voice, and words that finally feel like home.
Ready to brew your brand voice?
If you've read this far and you're thinking, “Okay, I need to sort this out," here's what I'd suggest:
Start small. Pick one thing from this blog and try it.
Maybe it's starting your Word Larder, it doesn’t have to be fancy open a note on your phone and start collecting phrases you use naturally.
Maybe it's getting clear on who you're actually talking to: picture one real person and write to them.
Maybe it's auditing your current content and asking, "Does this sound like me? Or does it sound like what I think I'm supposed to say?"
But if you're ready to do the real work, the foundational stuff that makes everything else easier, then I’d LOVE to have a chat.
I've got a free 15-minute discovery call where we can talk about whether brewing your brand voice is the right move for you right now. No pressure, no obligation. Just a brew and a natter about your business.
Another viral hook template might get you out of 300-view jail, but are views going to stop you from going back to the 9-5 you’ve escaped?
A brand voice that's unmistakably yours? That connects with your dream buyer? That makes you the obvious choice?
That's what'll make you stand out in 2026.
And I'd love to help you brew it.
Let’s have a natter over a brew
Hols x
P.S. If you're still not sure whether brand voice is what you need right now, ask yourself this: How much time did you waste this week rewriting content that still didn't feel right? And how much longer are you willing to keep doing that?
