How to Encode Your Brand Voice into AI Tools

Introduction

In this episode, Nataly Kelly, CMO of Zappi and co-author of "Brand Global Adapt Local," shares strategies for effectively encoding authentic brand voice into AI systems. As AI becomes increasingly prevalent in marketing—with 45% using it for data analysis, 40% for market research, and 20% for copywriting—the challenge lies in co ecting these functions to ensure AI-generated content authentically reflects your brand voice rather than producing generic content that gets lost in the noise.

Establishing Your Brand Voice Foundation

The process of encoding brand voice begins with clearly defining your mission and values. "If you're not able to do great research, get that feedback, analyze the data, understand what it means, you can't include that in your writing, and you can't message it in a way that is compliant with your brand voice," explains Kelly. Whether developing a personal or corporate brand voice, the foundation comes from identifying what makes you different and what you stand for. For Zappi, their "Rebel Magician" persona reflects bold, punchy language that stems directly from the founders' values.

Creating Detailed Style Guidelines

Moving from brand ethos to practical implementation requires detailed documentation with specific examples. Kelly recommends creating style guides with "do this, not that" examples that demonstrate what's on-brand versus off-brand. These guidelines should include specific terms, phrases, and word choices that align with your brand identity. For instance, Zappi uses playful language and word play (like saying "I'm Zappi to be here") that reflects their rebellious, bold persona. These specific guidelines become crucial when training AI tools to maintain consistency.

Training AI with Your Brand Voice

The key to successful AI implementation is patience and consistent training. Kelly recommends feeding successful content examples into AI tools and asking them to analyze patterns and unique elements of the writing style. This process helps identify unconscious patterns that can be leveraged in future content. "I always, whenever I write anything, feed it into one of these tools... What are the common trends? What's that mean for the style? And that way I can use that for the next prompting to leverage it and make it consistent," she explains. This iterative training process is essential for elevating your brand voice through AI.

AI as Assistant, Not Replacement

Kelly's approach to AI emphasizes using it as a tool rather than a replacement for human creativity. She structures her AI workflow around specific writing functions rather than final outputs—creating separate projects for hooks, editing, and different content formats. For example, her "Hook Architect" project in Claude is trained on high-performing hooks from past content. She also maintains separate projects for different audiences and content types, like LinkedIn newsletters, each with their own templates and voice guidelines.

Human-in-the-Loop Approach

Despite sophisticated AI training, Kelly emphasizes that human editing remains essential. She cautions against using AI to write completely from scratch without proper training, sharing a cautionary tale where ChatGPT inadvertently plagiarized content when asked to rewrite a section of her article. Unlike many marketers who use AI to increase content volume, Kelly uses it to synthesize, condense, and improve quality while maintaining brand alignment. The distinction is critical: AI can write in your voice, but it's not you—which is why the human element remains irreplaceable.

Conclusion

Successfully encoding your brand voice into AI tools requires establishing a clear foundation of values, creating detailed style guidelines with specific examples, consistently training AI with successful content, and maintaining human oversight throughout the process. By approaching AI as a collaborative tool rather than a replacement for human creativity, marketers can leverage these technologies to create more consistent, authentic content that truly reflects their brand voice while maintaining the human co ection that resonates with audiences.