Personality-driven copy is the unsung (and often forgotten) hero when it comes to marketing your brand.

It can attract a fanbase of loyal customers, take the ick-factor out of selling and set you apart from your competitors.

(And with little more than a few choice words 😉)

It’s the difference between a lump of dry, bland cake that leaves you gasping for some water and a perfectly baked & decorated cupcake — it starts with a solid foundation and layers on just the right about of frosting, some sprinkles, and maybe even a dash of edible glitter.

Which one would you rather your business be:

The cupcake that customers can’t resist?

Or the forgettable (and easy to say no to) lump of dry cake?

Exactly #bethecupcake

Wait, what IS personality-driven copy again?

Personality-driven copy is the art and science of using your brand personality to create memorable, persuasive copy that your customers connect with.

It involves getting clear on your brand personality (hint: you don’t have to be quirky and in your face), and then using it to attract loyal customers and create a consistently swoon-worthy experience.

And just in case you’re thinking that’s what ALL copy sounds like (hah, if only!), here are a few examples of copy that isn’t personality-driven:

Corporate speak

My mortal enemy *narrows eyes* There’s this weird phenomenon where working in a corporate setting, and wanting to be seen as “professional”, leads to the least-effective, most pretentious use of language. Corporate speak is its own magical blend of fluffy BS, prone to redundancies and vague statements that actually don’t mean much.

Common phrases include “think outside the box”, “let’s circle back” and “run it up the flagpole” ( ← unless you want me to LITERALLY run something up a flagpole?)

Technical stuff

Think procedural docs, training manuals and assembly instructions that are equally boring and confusing (how though?!). Being able to take something complex and make it easy to understand should be the baseline here. Adding an ounce of humanity would make assembling my kid’s bike (the night before his birthday, of course) almost... enjoyable?

Salesy copy

We’ve all been on the receiving end of some of this — pushy, aggressive-sounding copy that is trying waaaay too hard to get you to do something. It’s so focused on forcing people into a decision that it lacks any real empathy (and usually has the opposite effect).

So why does personality-driven copy matter?

I can hear you from here:

“That sounds nice (or like some fluffy branding BS), Ami… but really?”

Yes, really.

Personality-driven copy is a legit snack that leaves customers wanting to consume more.

And this irresistibility is thanks to a few key strengths…

Your customers can connect with it

Consumers are tired of buying from faceless corporations (how’s that “Dear Valued Customer” email workin’ out for ya, huh?). They want to feel like there are real people behind the brands they deal with.

All these lonely little humans staring at their devices, craving human connection...

And a well-crafted brand personality will give them tangible things they can feel a connection to — beliefs, traits, mannerisms and inside jokes that remind them of the relationships they have with other people.

And the stats back it up: 59% of consumers prefer to purchase from familiar brands.

*cue the warm fuzzy feelings*

It grabs their attention (and holds onto it)

Your audience has a gazillion* other things fighting for their attention, and if you show up with anything even remotely yawn-inducing, you lose.

Between our phones and Netflix — being entertained is bordering on a basic need at this point.

Giving your copy a big fat personality injection will ensure that your audience isn’t tuning you out 3 words into your latest email or abandoning your product page to click over and buy from your competitor instead #awkward

*not a real fact

It sells, without selling

Hands up if you like being sold to?

*some weirdo in the back half-raises their hand, looks around, and lowers it*

Exactly.

To quote Tom Fishburn: the best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.

The best marketing feels like a conversation.

And who would you rather have that conversation with...

Someone with a monotone voice and that dead-inside-stare?

Or someone who makes even the most mundane tasks seem borderline enjoyable?

All it takes is one well-crafted email or product description, that entertains and makes them feel something — and suddenly they’re whipping out their wallet for something that’s more of a want than a need (shhh, logical brain, no one asked you!)

It builds trust

Ever had an interaction with a friend that left you feeling like something was a little off? You’re suddenly questioning what you’ve done to annoy them, questioning your entire friendship and wondering if you’re reading too far into it...

Our interactions with brands are no different.

Inconsistency destroys consumer trust and triggers that icky gut feeling — undermining all of the hard work you did to win them over in the first place.

But by defining and using your brand personality at every touchpoint (from the moment they find you on social or hit your website, to receiving their order or visiting your bricks & mortar store), you’ll avoid that devastating disconnect.

Build and maintain the trust of your audience by showing up consistently.

It creates a memorable customer experience

Your business lives and dies by the experience it creates for customers.

In fact, 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience.

And all of those nice-to-haves (quick, cheap shipping, free returns, easy access to customer support) are becoming the new baseline — one that, without personality-driven copy, customers won’t even get to experience.

To really make an impact on your customer, you need to create a swoon-worthy experience across every touchpoint — from that first social media post to the order confirmation email and beyond.

If boring, run of the mill (might just be the template that came standard with the platform…) copy is the quickest way to be forgotten...

Then personality-filled, enjoyable to read copy (that sounds like a message from a friend) is how you create a memorable customer experience and stay relevant.

It wards off anti-customers

Y’know the ones… they complain a lot, bitch about price and are never going to be happy with anything you do.

They’re not bad people. They don’t mean to be difficult. They’re just not the right fit for your brand.

But they’re also a legitimate pain in your ass, and your life will be better off without them.

Luckily, your brand personality can repel them faster than you can say “I don’t think I can handle another bad review”. From your beliefs to the way you talk — you’re helping those anti-customers quickly figure out that your brand is not for them.

(And worst-case scenario, it can help remind them that there’s another human on the receiving end of that nasty email)

They win. You win. Everybody wins. Let’s go get pizza.

It helps you stand out

As marketplaces continue to get more crowded, differentiation (ie. setting your brand apart from competitors in the customers’ mind) gets more difficult.

You’re all fighting for the same space, struggling to be seen.

Features can be replicated. Guarantees matched. And competing on price is a race to the bottom.

But there’s a better way…

Brand personality is a point of difference that’s really hard to compete with. And just like with people — trying to mimic someone else’s personality often gives consumers that “something’ doesn’t feel right” gut feeling (not to mention the energy it takes to consistently keep up the charade).

So if you’re known in your space for your brand personality, anyone attempting to single white female your brand will be instantly outing themselves as Fakey McFakersons ( ← which inspires zero consumer trust in their brand or product)

Personality-driven copy in action

Now that you get why personality-driven copy is important, let’s look at a few real-life examples of brands that are nailing it…

Frank Body — Natural skincare

There’s a reason I regularly reference Frank. Their brand personality is unique, strong and served up consistently across all mediums — from socials and website to emails and packaging copy.

Frank gets bonus points for the way they’ve anthropomorphised their brand — by talking as if Frank is a real person, they’ve created something human-like for their brand fans to feel attached to.

And they even take it a step further, with the products “talking” about themselves in the first person:

All of this human-y goodness (achieved by giving innate products human traits, emotions and intentions) allows them to tap into a brilliant little cognitive bias, as buyers tend to view products that remind them of humans in a more positive light.

ME bank — online bank

The best thing Members Equity ever did was start referring to themselves as ME… the possibility to have fun with it has proven endless.

“I really like the About page headline on this bank’s website” ← things I never thought I’d say.

...But they don’t just rely on ME-related word fun either.

ME realised that Australians were tired of the big 4 banks (it’s a thing down under), and used their fun, always-up-for-a-joke personality to play up that they’re not like other banks. They’re a cool bank.

Acuity scheduling — Calendar software

SAAS companies are always trying to reduce churn (industry talk for users dropping off the face of the earth).

These days users expect that software will do what it says (and then some). They expect professional-looking branding and a clean, easy to use interface. Not to mention having a support team ready to help them at a moments notice.

This is the baseline users now expect from a tech company, and they give zero fucks about abandoning software that they feel zero attachment to.

In an industry where automation is king and customer loyalty is front of mind, showing some humanity makes all the difference.

Here’s a snippet from Acuity’s homepage 👇

Their use of hyperbole shows that they’re not another stuffy tech company, while also agitating a pain point (because it can feel like it takes 5,000 years to schedule an appointment).

Girlfriday IP — Intellectual Property Law

*jargon-filled, boring topic alert*

Chances are when you think of Intellectual Property (or legal stuff in general), the words fun, sassy and entertaining don’t come to mind.

But Fi Nguyen from Girl Friday IP has done the seemingly impossible — she’s made legal talk interesting (I know, I was as shocked as you).

And she does it by speaking like a real human and amping up her brand personality to create scroll-stopping content worthy of people’s attention. The best part is, it’s consistent with how Fi shows up in real life — no disconnect.

Take a look at how she works her wordy magic via the @GirlFridayIP Insta:

...Ok ok, I get the point! But how do I write personality-driven copy??

Do ya really think I’d go on and on about the benefits of personality-driven copy, rub it in by showing you some brilliant examples…

And then not tell you how to DIY it?

I’m mean, but I’m not that mean.

Here’s how you can start using personality-driven copy to grow your business:

Figure out what your brand personality is

I know, I know… DUH.

But you can’t use what you can’t define.

A few prompts to get you started:

How do you want people to feel when interacting with your brand? Entertained? Nurtured? Like they just got the kick up the butt they needed?
If your brand were a person, what would its top 3 personality traits be?
What would it wear? How would it want to spend its spare time? What type of music is it into? All-time fave movie or tv series? ← These sorts of exercises might seem fluffy, but it can help you create a more concrete, tangible “being”.
Are there any brand personalities in non-competing spaces that you love? Try to dig into exactly what they’re doing that works — is it the way they phrase things? Or their attitude? Maybe they have a dry sense of humour?

Create your own word bank

The idea here is to list out words/phrases that you do use, along with those that you’ll avoid.

The easiest way to start is by listing out words and phrases that you adore/despise. Use your brand personality to spark ideas here (what words would it use? How would it sound?).

Then you’ll also want to keep an ear out for how your customers actually talk — an easy way to pick up key phrases or terminology that they already use and associate with your brand.

Speak like a human already

The number one way to harness the magic of personality (and tap into that basic human need for connection), is to talk like actual, real-life, would cry if you pinched it, human.

The best part is it’s simple to do:

Use informal language, throw in some slang, contract and abbreviate like it's going out of (AP) style and hell — start that sentence with a damn conjunction (And, But, Because…) — like any of us non-humanoids would do.

And if you find yourself reverting to formal, corporate or robot speak **beep boop**, try reading it out loud — you’ll quickly notice where you get stuck / where it doesn't flow naturally.

One last word of warning:

For the love of all things wordy, BE ORIGINAL.

We’ve all seen stuff that we adore, and thought “huh, I could do that…”

And while there’s nothing wrong with getting inspired by another brand personality, but wholesale ripping off another brand personality is sketchy AF.

It’s also impossible to keep up long term, won’t help you stand out and leads to that dreaded lack of authenticity that sends potential customers running.

Never a good look.

Now it’s your turn…

I’ve given you the run down and showed you how to define and use your brand personality to write engaging, memorable, click-worthy copy.

The rest is up to you.

Found a killer example of personality-driven copy that’s too good not to share? Or maybe you’ve seen something that is SO BORING it could cure insomnia 😴 Head over to Insta and send me a DM

The definitive guide to personality-driven copy: what it is, why it matters and how to write it