There is a very specific kind of fellow taking over the marketing industry, and once you notice it (clearly), you cannot unsee it.
It is grammatically perfect and packed with words like “elevate,” “empower,” “unlock” and “transform” and that little “-.”It sounds impressive at first, but by the end of the paragraph you realise nothing creative or useful has actually been said.
It usually begins with something like, “In today’s fast-paced digital landscape…”
And just like that, I close down the website or social post.
The problem about this is that it sounds like ChatGPT got dressed for a LinkedIn networking event, put on a blazer, grabbed a eco friendly coffee cup and prepared to discuss “innovative solutions” with absolutely no personality.
Everybody suddenly sounds the same
AI did not invent boring brand writing. Businesses were already saying things like “We are passionate about delivering exceptional service” long before ChatGPT entered the group chat.
What AI did was make it much easier to produce more of the same wording, much faster.
Now a business can generate ten captions in a few seconds. Convenient, yes. The slight problem is that all ten usually sound like they were written by the same overly enthusiastic marketing manager who says “Let’s circle back” without irony.
You can spot the language almost immediately:
“Ready to take your business to the next level?”
No, Susan. I was actually planning to take it sideways.
“Unlock the power of your potential.”
What does that mean?
“Transform your vision into reality.”
Again, Why are we speaking like a motivational fridge magnet?
These words are so broad and predictable that your brain slides over it without actually feeling in the moment.
Good writing should have its own personality
That is the whole point of a brand voice: It should sound like there is a real person behind the business.
A strong brand voice should have a recognisable personality. You should be able to read a sentence and think, “That sounds like them.”
A real brand voice has opinions, rhythm and preferences. It has words it naturally uses and words it would never touch. It has a way of explaining things that feels consistent with the people behind the business.
Don’t go and delete your AI software
Let us clear that up before someone starts clutching their content calendar.
AI is useful. It can help organise ideas, build outlines, clean up awkward wording, find better angles and speed up repetitive work. IF used properly, it is a very good tool.
The problem begins when the tool becomes the main voice.
You cannot ask AI to “make it professional,” paste the first response directly onto your website and then act surprised when your business sounds exactly like every other business doing the same thing. (Like this sentence, haha)
So we are not saying you stop using AI. It means you should stop treating the first draft like final scripture.
The first answer is ALWAYS the most suspicious one
You type, “Write me a caption for my new service.”
AI replies, “We are thrilled to introduce our latest service, designed to help you achieve your goals with ease and confidence.”
And then, somehow, people still post it. Neh?
Are you thrilled? Did you say the word “thrilled” even once this year? Would you honestly tell a client that your service helps them achieve their goals “with ease and confidence”?
Probably not.
You would be far more likely to say, “We have finally launched the service clients keep asking us for.”
That already feels more believable.
You might say, “This is for businesses that are tired of guessing what to post.”
Better again.
Or perhaps, “We created this because random Canva quotes were becoming a public health issue.”
Now there is a point of view. Now it sounds like someone.
The better version is often hiding underneath the polished version. You just need to rewrite it in a way you would actually say out loud.
Stop asking for professional
“Make it professional” is one of the fastest ways to remove every interesting part of a piece of writing.
Professional often gets translated into longer words, softer opinions, more filler, fewer jokes and absolutely no sign of human life.
But professional does not mean stiff. It means clear, appropriate and intentional.
A business can sell a serious service without sounding like a compliance document. It can be funny without behaving like a meme page run by a teenager with Wi-Fi. It can be warm without announcing that it is “deeply passionate” about every single thing it does.
The goal is not to sound casual at all times. The goal is to sound believable.
Your audience knows when something feels off
Most people will not read a caption and say, “This lacks an authentic brand voice.”
They will simply feel that something is wrong.
They notice when the language feels unnatural. They notice when a founder who normally speaks like a real person suddenly posts, “At our core, we believe in fostering meaningful connections through purpose-driven solutions.”
Please be serious. Nobody said that. Not even in the meeting.
When the wording does not match the people behind the business, the brand starts to feel rehearsed and distant. It feels like someone asked a robot to sound caring and forgot to edit the result.
Your audience is not expecting perfect writing. They are expecting consistency.
If your website sounds formal, your Instagram sounds like a stand-up comedian and your emails sound like a bank, the brand starts feeling like three different businesses sharing one password.
A brand voice needs rules
Not boring rules. Useful ones.
A business should know how formal it wants to sound, how much humour it uses, whether it speaks directly, whether it uses slang and how far it is willing to push an opinion.
It should also know what it will not do.
Without those decisions, the tone changes every time someone new writes something. One day the brand says, “Hey bestie, we’ve got something exciting for you!” and the next day it says, “We hereby wish to inform our valued clientele…”
The identity crisis is now public.
A brand voice does not require a dramatic 42-page document. It simply needs enough direction that your team, your copywriter and your AI prompts all produce writing that feels connected.
Use AI like a junior copywriter
This is probably the healthiest relationship.
Give it context, examples and clear direction, then edit the output.
Do not ask, “Write a caption for my agency.”
Ask for something more specific, such as:
“Write a short caption for a creative agency that is confident, slightly sarcastic and direct. Avoid corporate language. Do not use words like elevate, unlock, bespoke, innovative or transform. The audience is business owners who are tired of generic marketing.”
That will produce a better starting point, but it is still only a starting point.
Read the result carefully. Delete any sentence you would never say. Add the opinion AI avoided. Replace the polished phrase with something more specific. Remove unnecessary introductions. Shorten anything that sounds like a speech.
That final edit is usually where your real voice appears.
Your strange little phrases matter
The best brand voices are often built from small details.
It might be a specific way of opening a post, a recurring joke, a phrase customers start repeating or a sharp way of explaining something complicated.
Those details create familiarity. Over time, people begin recognising the tone before they even see the logo.
You cannot always generate that from a blank prompt because it comes from the actual life of the business. It comes from how the founder speaks, how the team jokes, how the brand handles problems, what it notices and what it refuses to say.
That is the part AI needs from you.
AI can imitate a tone once you give it something to work with, but it cannot invent your history, taste or point of view from nothing.
The brands winning attention sound alive
The brands holding attention right now are not always the most polished. They are the ones that feel alive.
They sound like there are people behind the screen who understand the business, the customer and the culture around them. They say things clearly, they have a point of view and they are not afraid to sound specific.
Specific writing feels human. Generic writing feels generated.
Compare these two sentences:
“We help businesses grow through strategic marketing solutions.”
And:
“We help good businesses stop looking invisible online.”
They communicate a similar idea, but the first one sounds like it came from a website template. The second sounds like someone noticed the actual problem.
That is the difference.
Before you post, ask yourself
Would I actually say this out loud?
Does this sound like our business, or could any business post it?
Is there a sentence here worth remembering?
Did we say something real, or did we simply arrange professional-sounding words?
Could one of our competitors post this without changing anything?
If the answer to that last question is yes, the copy is not finished.
Final thought
AI can help you write faster, think more clearly and get unstuck. It can be useful, efficient and genuinely helpful.
What it should not do is iron every interesting crease out of your personality.
Your brand voice should sound like your business on its best day. Clearer, sharper and more confident, but still recognisably yours.
Not like ChatGPT wearing a blazer, holding a reusable coffee cup and telling LinkedIn it is “delighted to announce.”