What’s in this guide:
Why Brand Voice matters:
Small word choices can have a big impact on how your brand is perceived:
“Start free trial” feels clear. “Embark your journey” feels like fluff.
“Get instant access” is direct. “Unlock powerful capabilities” is vague.
“Use SmartBuilder” sounds official. “Try smartbuilder” feels off-brand.
These subtle differences affect how trustworthy your content feels, and how easy it is for your team or Knak’s AI Assistant to write in a consistent voice that actually sounds like you.
What Knak AI Brand Rules Help You Do:
By setting up Brand Voice rules in Knak AI, you enable the Assistant to:
Write in a voice that sounds like your brand: Tone and word choice feel intentional, not generic.
Avoid common writing mistakes: Things like passive voice, off-brand words, or misused product names get filtered out automatically.
Reduce back-and-forth edits: Your team doesn’t have to correct the same things over and over. Set the rules once, and Knak AI will apply them every time.
Let’s make your AI sound like your brand, every time.
Before You Begin:
Many companies already have a brand voice guide, even if it’s just a few lines in a Google Doc or buried in a slide deck.
Before you create something new, check with your brand or marketing team. They may already have guidelines around tone, grammar, and how to refer to your products.
If nothing exists yet, that’s totally fine.
You don’t need a formal brand guide to get started. A few simple writing rules can make a big difference, and this guide will show you exactly where to begin.
Step 1: Set Your Brand Tone
Before writing any rules, start by defining the tone of your brand. This helps Knak AI understand the overall personality your content should reflect.
You can choose up to seven traits that describe how your brand should sound. For example: confident, friendly, formal, witty, or direct.
These tone settings shape how Knak AI writes subject lines, preview text, and body copy. They act as the foundation for everything else.
Step 2: Write Prompts That Make Your AI Sound Like You
Use these mini prompts as inspiration to make you AI sound like your brand. Each one reinforces a specific tone, grammar rule, or brand preference.
You can add and edit prompts under Brand Voice Rules, next to Tone, in the Brands section of the Admin panel.
Use or adapt these inside Knak to guide how it writes your content.
1. Use precise, plain language
Choose clarity over buzzwords.
✅ “You can build and send your campaign in under 10 minutes.”
❌ “Unlock revolutionary workflow efficiencies in record time.”
2. Avoid banned words
Words to avoid: “journey,” “elevate,” “unlock,” “unleash,” “revolutionary,” “dive,” “delve,” “e-mail,” “tailored”
Instead, use clear alternatives like:
✅ “Use real-time data to improve results.”
❌ “Elevate your journey with tailored solutions.”
3. Show benefits, not just features
Connect features to what the reader gets.
✅ “Personalized subject lines help improve open rates.”
❌ “We offer dynamic fields and segmentation tools.”
4. Write with confidence (no hedging)
Avoid weak phrases like "might be" or "we believe."
✅ “This integration speeds up your workflow.”
❌ “We believe this integration might improve your process.”
5. Use correct product names
Refer to your product names clearly and consistently to build brand recognition and avoid confusion.
✅ SmartBuilder ❌ Smart Builder
✅ Campaign Analytics ❌ campaign analytics
✅ QuickSend ❌ Quicksend
6. Use active voice
Use an active voice so the subject is doing the action
✅ “The campaign manager reviews each email.”
❌ “Each email is reviewed by the campaign manager.”
7. Apply the Oxford comma
Always use a comma before the final item in a list.
✅ “The builder is fast, intuitive, and flexible.”
❌ “The builder is fast, intuitive and flexible.”
8. Use commas around parenthetic phrases
Add commas around extra phrases that aren't essential to the sentence.
✅ “The marketing team, which launched three new campaigns, saw strong results.”
❌ “The marketing team which launched three new campaigns saw strong results.”
9. Separate independent clauses correctly
Use a semicolon, period, or “and” — not just a comma.
✅ “The test ran successfully, and the results were positive.”
❌ “The test ran successfully, the results were positive.”
10. Use colons to introduce lists
Use a colon when listing items after a full sentence.
✅ “The platform includes three features: real-time analytics, drag-and-drop modules, and email preview tools.”
❌ “The platform includes: real-time analytics, drag-and-drop modules, and email preview tools.”
11. Use en-dashes for ranges and compound terms
Use en-dashes for date ranges and two-part terms.
✅ “Available August 1–15” or “AI–powered personalization”
❌ “Available August 1-15” or “AI - powered personalization”
Step 3: Try It Out in the Preview
Once you've added the tone and rules that matter most to your brand, test them out directly in the AI preview.
You’ll see how Knak AI applies your voice in subject lines, preview text, and body copy — so you can tweak and fine-tune in real time.
Here are a few ready-to-use prompt examples:
1) Precise Naming & Grammar:
For teams who want polish and consistency across every asset
“Use SmartBuilder, QuickSend, and Campaign Analytics with exact casing and spelling. Apply the Oxford comma. Use active voice. Always hyphenate real-time and no-read. Refer to modules as 'Design Blocks,’ not templates.”
2) Clear, No-Jargon Language:
For writing that’s simple, human, and easy to understand
“Use plain, direct language. Avoid vague terms like ‘solutions,’ ‘unlock,’ or ‘powerful features.’ Focus on what the user can do. Keep sentences short and clear. Use ‘email builder’ instead of ‘modular drag-and-drop platform.’”
3) High-Level, Technical Voice
For smart, confident writing that speaks to a technical audience
“Use precise, authoritative language. Assume the reader is technically fluent. Avoid buzzwords. Explain complex functionality in clear terms. Use assertive tone with data-backed claims where possible. Use terms like ‘event-driven,’ ‘API-first,’ and ‘real-time sync’ only when technically accurate.”
Still not sure where to start?
Here are a few quick ways to figure out what brand voice rules matter most for your team:
Let AI analyze your past writing
Upload a few recent emails or landing pages to a secure AI tool and ask:
“What writing style do you notice here? What tone, word choices, or patterns stand out?”
This can help uncover the voice you're already using and highlight areas where it’s inconsistent.
Look for repeated edits
Think about what you or your team are constantly correcting: passive voice, vague phrases, inconsistent tone, or incorrect product names.
These patterns are strong candidates for writing rules.
Ask a teammate what sounds off
Share a recent email with a colleague and ask, “Does this sound like us?”
If the answer is no, that’s a sign you may need to clarify your tone, grammar, or word choice rules.
Compare two emails side by side
Choose one email that sounds on brand and one that doesn’t.
Look for differences in word choice, sentence structure, and tone.
Use those observations to create a mini prompt.
Pull language from brand or marketing decks
If your team has a brand guide, positioning doc, or tone-of-voice slide, use that content as a starting point.
Grab key phrases, values, or tone descriptions and turn them into practical rules.
Keep Your Prompts Working Over Time
Start small. You don’t need all 50 rules to begin. Start with 5–10 that matter most.
Keep them simple. Focus on one or two rules per prompt.
Store what works. Save prompts your team uses frequently.
Revisit as your brand evolves. Update your voice rules as your product or audience changes.
Ready to build your brand voice?
A few clear tone settings and writing rules can make a big difference, helping your team move faster, stay consistent and sound like one brand across every message.