“Your brand voice helps you attract the right people, because it’s aware of who you’re trying to talk to and what they need from you.”—Erika Heald
In this edition of #ContentChat, host Erika Heald is joined by Maureen Jann to discuss why brand voice is critical infrastructure for B2B storytelling—not just a branding exercise. While most organizations invest in visual brand guidelines, far fewer define how their brand should actually sound. They explain why a brand voice plays a central role in attracting the right audience and how to craft the right voice for your organization.
Watch the full conversation on YouTube, and read the highlights below.
The High Cost of Sounding Generic
One of the biggest risks for B2B brands, Erika notes, is sounding indistinguishable from competitors. Visual differences alone aren’t enough.
“It’s not just because you’re green and they’re blue—that is not differentiating.”—Erika Heald
Maureen highlights that brand voice is one of the few competitive advantages competitors can’t easily replicate.
“Your voice should be an aggregate of the DNA of your organization. That is such an opportunity to really make you stand out.”—Maureen Jann
She adds that avoiding a point of view can feel safer, but it’s just as risky.
“It feels risky to have a distinct point of view, but it’s equally risky not to have one.”—Maureen Jann
What Effective Brand Voice Documentation Looks Like
Both agree that traditional brand guidelines aren’t the right home for detailed brand voice documentation. Erika explains that creators need something more usable and memorable.
“The right place for all of your brand voice documentation is certainly not in the brand guidelines.”—Erika Heald
Instead, she recommends a lightweight approach.
“A minimum viable brand voice chart is something people can actually internalize and use.”—Erika Heald
Maureen shares how she starts brand voice work by grounding it in audience understanding.
“Where are we talking to, and what do they care about?”—Maureen Jann
She explains that defining perspectives such as “relate, don’t pitch” provides teams with practical guardrails for evaluating content.
Scaling Empathy, Expertise, and Perspective
Empathy emerges as a core theme throughout the conversation. Erika emphasizes that brand voice should reinforce humanity in content.
“Everything I’m here to talk about is really helping folks bring that human element into what they’re creating.”—Erika Heald
Maureen explains why empathy works so well as a scalable attribute.
“Empathy means you can connect with somebody and understand their feelings, even if it shows up differently depending on your role.”—Maureen Jann
She adds that empathy keeps teams aligned even across different channels. “You’re all rowing in the same direction, whether it’s a CMO, a chatbot, or a sales rep.”—Maureen Jann
Governance, Templates, and the Role of AI
As the discussion turns to governance, Erika compares effective brand voice systems to strong content briefs.
“If I’m new to an organization, the content brief needs to be crystal clear.”—Erika Heald
Maureen explains how she’s embedded brand voice into workflows using AI prompts.
“I’m not leaving people hanging. They already have the tools they need to do the work without adding a ton to their workload.”—Maureen Jann
Erika emphasizes that AI works best when governance is in place first.
“When you have a strong brand voice, you can have lots of different writers and still sound like the same company.”—Erika Heald
Key Takeaways
- Brand voice is essential infrastructure, not optional polish
- Sounding generic is a significant risk for B2B brands
- Effective brand voice documentation must be practical and usable
- Empathy and expertise help scale authenticity
- AI supports consistency when governance is in place
