{"id":7127,"date":"2026-01-26T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/poeditor.com\/blog\/?p=7127"},"modified":"2026-03-03T14:21:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T14:21:59","slug":"voice-and-tone-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poeditor.com\/blog\/voice-and-tone-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"How to build a brand voice and tone guide for localization teams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When it comes to global branding, you’ll find that words themselves aren\u2019t the hardest part. It\u2019s actually keeping your voice alive across borders that’s difficult. In this article, we\u2019ll walk you through how to create a voice and tone guide that keeps your brand consistent even when you go beyond your boarders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voice and tone are not the same<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your brand voice is the constant. It\u2019s your brand\u2019s personality, the thing that’s steady, recognizable, and consistent across all content and all languages. Your tone, on the other hand, shifts depending on the context. It\u2019s how your voice adapts to different situations, because you can’t use the same tone for everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In localization, it’s very important we distinguish between these two terms because tone varies even more dramatically across cultures. You need to spell out the difference to help your translators understand what should stay fixed (voice) and what they can adjust (tone).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your core brand personality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You know how your brand is, but others don’t. And this is where you start, with making everything clear, because what you view as obvious can become open to interpretation. Is your brand bold and confident? Warm and supportive? Minimalist and straightforward? Sophisticated and expert? Identify its personality traits and go deeper by explaining what each trait means in practice. Your localization team will rely heavily on these definitions, because cultural norms influence how traits are expressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the most often\u2011cited examples of a clear brand voice and tone guide comes from Mailchimp\u2019s Content Style Guide<\/a>. Their voice and tone section reads like a conversation about how to be human on the internet, and that\u2019s part of why it works so well.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Explain what your voice looks like in action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now we’re getting to the core of your guide. Translators want (and need) to see what \u201csounds like you\u201d and what doesn\u2019t, and the best way to help them out is by giving a few before-and-after examples in your source language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’re talking on-brand vs. off-brand sentence samples, rewritten lines that show the voice in different tones, real examples pulled from your existing product copy or marketing content, and whatever else might be relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could demonstrate how you phrase API documentation intros, how you announce updates, how you guide users through onboarding flows, or how you write microcopy (like button text, hints, and tooltips). Examples help localization experts make decisions when there\u2019s more than one way to translate something (which is\u2026 almost always).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Address users’ expectations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you’re expanding into new markets, you walk into cultures with their own “rules” like different rhythms, values, humor. Those lines that sound so good in the source language sometimes don’t translate all that great in the target language. Some words may not even be translatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s because of this that your brand voice guide needs to give localization teams<\/a> more than a set of stylistic preferences. This guide can be seen as a map, so mark out the places where your voice must remain unwavering and the areas where adaptation is necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most important thing is to define what cannot change, like your brand\u2019s core personality, and what should change to respect cultural reality of the new audience you\u2019re speaking to. Your translators will likely need to adapt metaphors that don\u2019t translate well, to smooth out jokes that won\u2019t make sense, to choose formality levels, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Create clear language preferences and rules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The guide should also contain a part that covers the everyday writing choices that shape your brand\u2019s recognizable sound. Localization teams face these decisions constantly, so it’s important to document your preferences to prevent inconsistencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explain elements like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n