How do you create a cohesive brand voice across different social media platforms?

Some people overglorify it but let me tell you - it really is about the small things.

Use elements throughout your posts that are the same - if you go for round shapes, stick to them, same goes for colors and fonts across platforms. What this does is it makes you instantly recognizable. When people see this specific oval or circle, or that framed style, or whatever it is, you want them to point out and say - "Hey, I know these guys".

The goal with branding is simple - you want to appear here, and there and everywhere at different periods of time. Why? Because customers almost never convert immediately. They might see you on TikTok randomly and notice you because you are funny. Then they'll hit follow. Then they will forget about you untill you pop into their feed a week later because of a well performing post. Then they'll see you through different eyes - they'll notice your name and colors even more, they might even start following your profile. As you post and as they follow you more, they trust you more, you gain their confidence. Gaining their confidence means they are much more likely to book you/ purchase from you in the future.

So, this is the two problems that branding solves:

1. Lack of confidence

2. Lack of authenticity

When you look at it this way, how do you want to stand out from the rest? Certainly not by using Canva templates. They aren't bad per se, but if you change 2-3 elements of the post only, and it looks generic and same as 250 other brands' posts, then how do you expect to be remembered.

And here is the goal

Be remembered.

Why? Because a customer might not need your product now. If you are selling something, anything, most people are in the window-shopping phase, where they 'just look' or are 'just doing research'. But what you want to do is when they enter the active stage, you want to be remembered. And you create that by popping in time and time again over a large period of time into their timelines, emails, Google SERPS or GPT Searches.

So, the question really is - what can you use to make yourself memorable? Is it a color, an element, a caption, a phrase? Perhaps even a photo tint or a filter, if you are an influencer.

What can make you stand out?

This is how you start your journey into understanding branding. From my experience, branding is much liek soul-searching, especially as most brands are just extensions of their owners - it's your values, interests and way you see the world that people subscribe to, follow and buy, not so much your brand.

People want to work and purchase from other humans. Make sure that's also what your brand embodies.

To create a cohesive brand voice across different social media platforms:

1. Define Your Brand Identity: Clarify your brand’s values, mission, and personality.
2. Craft a Tone Guide: Establish a consistent tone (e.g., professional, friendly, humorous) and adapt it slightly for each platform.
3. Use Consistent Visuals: Maintain a uniform color palette, logo, and style in posts.
4. Tailor Content for Each Platform: Adjust content format and length while keeping the core message aligned.
5. Create a Content Calendar: Plan posts to ensure consistency and avoid repetition.
6. Monitor Engagement: Respond to comments and messages in the same brand voice.
7. Train Your Team: Ensure everyone involved in content creation follows the brand guidelines.

1. Define Your Brand Voice: Establish a consistent tone, language, and style that reflect your brand values and audience.

2. Understand Platform Nuances: Adapt your voice to fit each platform’s tone (e.g., professional for LinkedIn, casual for Instagram).

3. Create Brand Guidelines: Document voice rules for tone, messaging, and visuals to ensure consistency.

4. Train Your Team: Educate all content creators to follow the guidelines.

5. Use Visual Consistency: Maintain uniform colors, fonts, and logo usage.

6. Adapt Without Losing Identity: Tailor messaging for each platform while keeping core elements consistent.

7. Monitor and Adjust: Regularly review performance and refine your approach based on audience feedback.

In my experience, creating a cohesive brand voice starts with defining the core personality of your brand—its tone, style, and values. Once you have that foundation, it’s about adapting the messaging to fit each platform’s nuances while staying true to the brand’s essence. For example, you might be more conversational on Instagram but keep the same tone and message consistent with LinkedIn posts.

Consistency in visuals is also key—using the same colors, fonts, and design elements helps reinforce recognition. Finally, whether it’s responding to comments or writing captions, maintaining the same voice across all interactions builds trust and makes your brand feel more authentic.

You need a solid grasp of your brand identity, first and foremost. You should know your mission, values, personality and USP (unique selling proposition). 

Brand voice is incredibly important and part of your overall branding. Many people get the visual branding elements right (logo, color palate, etc.) but they slip on brand voice (tone, language, messaging and themes). 

All team members working on socials for the brand need to be properly trained in the brand identity, target audience, and visual branding elements, as well as brand voice guidelines. 

Once you are solid on these two things, you can adapt it for different social media platforms and types of content - written, still photos/graphics, videos, etc. Adjusting for each platform won't go well until you're really solid in who you are first. 

It's also important to know your audience, but many people make the mistake of trying so hard to speak to their audience they forget to have a personality of their own. Your brand should have a cohesive, easily identifiable tone and presence that people and quickly recognize, regardless of the platform you're posting on. 

To create a cohesive brand voice across social media, start by defining your brand’s personality—whether it’s friendly, professional, or witty. This foundation should reflect your core values and align with what resonates with your audience. Develop a brand voice guide with clear language guidelines, tone, and messaging pillars to ensure consistency across all platforms. Adapt the tone slightly for each platform’s unique style; for example, LinkedIn can be more professional, while Instagram may be more casual and visually engaging. Use consistent visual elements like colors, logos, and design styles to reinforce your brand identity. Regularly monitor engagement and adjust as needed to maintain relevancy and cohesion.

I focus on developing a core brand persona that stays consistent across platforms, while adapting the tone slightly to fit each channel’s style. This starts with defining the brand’s personality—whether it’s playful, professional, or empowering—and ensuring that all messaging aligns with that identity.
For example, on LinkedIn, I might lean toward a more professional tone, while on Instagram, the same message could have a casual, friendly twist.
Using consistent language, key phrases, and visual elements like colors or emojis also helps maintain familiarity. The key is to stay authentic while tailoring the delivery to the platform's unique audience and vibe.

Creating a cohesive brand voice across social media has two parts: first, you need to define what your voice is, and then you need to figure out how to keep it consistent.

The way I approach this is by starting with the basics—what is your brand voice going to be on social media? It might not be exactly the same as what you have on your website, because social media involves a lot more than just written content. The easiest way to nail this down is to think of your brand as a person. If your brand was a person, how would they talk? What’s their personality? You can find clues for this in your branding, like your vision or mission statement. Are you a bit corporate, or is humor part of your brand?

Once you’ve pinned down this personality, it’s much easier to stay consistent. As a social media manager, it’s like putting on a jacket—you step into the brand’s voice, whether it’s funny, sarcastic, or professional, and that makes it easier to keep things on track. The mistake most brands make is that they’ll start with a clear idea—“We want to be informative, but not too formal”—and then a few weeks in, they get distracted and lose that tone. But when you think of it like putting on a personality rather than just following a list of guidelines, it becomes way easier to stay cohesive across different platforms. That’s how I approach it.