Creating a brand voice based on taking the p*** out of the client's industry

I'll be honest: When I was contacted about writing copy for an email marketing agency last year, I didn't think it would be much fun.

Until I got on a kick-off call with the client and she told me she wants humour, made-up words and quirky phrases.

So I got thinking about all the stuff people hate about email. Spam. The weird lingo. Introductions dryer than stale sourdough. Because I wanted users to know this agency hates all that stuff too. So they'd feel confident their email marketing was in good hands.

See the site in all its glory at enmore.agency.

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I played on the quirks, features & boring bits of emails

I branded bad emails as "e-fails" and brought some weird, outdated sayings into the picture. What does "I hope this email finds you well" even mean?!

I spun well-known phrases like "flat on its face" to make them email-related and generally showed that the client can laugh at their own industry. Because that makes them stand out way more than just listing the benefits of email. Like. Every. Other. Agency. Does.

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Laughing at more silly phrases

I heard that signing off emails with "kind regards" or "yours sincerely" will be phased out in the next 5-10 years. Let's speed that up, shall we?

When it did come to the time to list the benefits, I was sure to weave in characteristics of this brand voice. That meant saying "kind regards for email marketing" instead of "the benefits of email marketing".

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An 'about' page that's actually fun to read

I'm big on talking about your story, beliefs and quirks in an 'about' page. Look: I even wrote a whole LinkedIn rant on the subject.

enmore was a new agency, so we couldn't go hard on its history. However, the two founders have loads of experience in the same industry, so we did cover that.

Mostly, I used this page to make people laugh. More silly email phrases and a nod to a desire to keep things short, sweet and interesting.

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Ridiculous quotes that no one ever said

Short on testimonials? Make up quotes but play it safely. You'll need to make it blazingly obvious that it's fictional - or it's cheating.

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Unique brand phrases & (soon-to-be) iconic taglines

Why wait until you're a worldwide brand to come up with worldwide-quality phrases? Opting for a "fake it 'til you make it" mentality, we made "enmore it" a thing.

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Aggressive CTAs

Calls-to-action that promise the world but use aggressive scarcity tactics make my stomach turn. They often prey on the vulnerable and I'd rather keep things honest and upfront. I turned things around to give the reader permission to be a little aggressive and demanding instead. The outcome is so much more fun than "Contact us now!"

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Be braver with your brand voice

Got the gall to take the piss out of your own industry? Beyond just getting a giggle, this tactic separates you from the rest. It's a way to show potential customers that you're not about to gloss over the bad stuff; you know your industry isn't perfect but you can laugh at it too.

Ultimately, it shows you're prepared to turn things around, and do things a little bit better.

So contact me TODAY or you risk your brand burning to the ground. (Just kidding. But do get in touch - I'd love to chat about what we can create.)