Some websites are boring as hell.

You’ll land on their page, read the first sentence, and feel your eyes glaze over and the sudden need to take a nap for the next 24 hours.

The person/company behind this website might have the best product or the highest quality services, but it’s impossible for you to tell because reading the site is literally putting you to sleep.

If you’ve ever been in that position, you might be worried about your own website. What will your audience think when they read it? Do they understand who you are and what you have to offer? Do they want to buy from you - or are they looking for a place to slumber right now?

The key to making your website entertaining, educational, and engaging to read lies in incorporating just the right amount of brand personality to make it interesting. No matter who you’re writing to - whether it’s the CEO of a major corporation or a blue-collar warehouse employee - we’re all human and we want to be spoken to that way.

So, without further ado, here’s how to incorporate more personality into your boring website:

1. Define your brand personality

Have you heard of multiple personality disorder? According to Psychology Today,

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a severe condition in which two or more distinct identities, or personality states, are present in—and alternately take control of—an individual.
Psychology Today

In other words, a single person appears to have multiple different personalities. There have been a number of movies based on this concept, one of the most recent (and creepy!) being Split.

Brand personalities are a great way to humanize a brand and make it easier to connect with your customers. A brand without a defined brand personality is a lot like a person with multiple personality disorder.

Depending on what day it is, how you (or your employees) feel, and even the weather outside, your brand’s personality may change, confusing your customers and making it difficult to form that relationship.

The first step to defining your brand personality is to use your existing customer base. Take a look at your customers and ask yourself (or them):

What resonates with them?
What are they used to reading/interacting with?
How would they talk with their best friends? Their colleagues?
What is their worldview?

You might also want to examine brands and influencers that inspire you, refer to your brand’s mood board, and review any past content for commonalities.

Then, pull it all together into a few words to describe your brand personality. This might look something like:

Personality (if your brand were a person, they would be…): Expert, bold
Tone (how your brand sounds): Trustworthy, charming
Language (how your brand speaks): Approachable, confident

2. Speak directly to your audience

As we're writing this blog post, we have a specific person in mind. That person is you.

Okay - we admit, that sounds a little creepy. We don’t have you on my mind, exactly, but we have someone similar to you centered in our head.

Many businesses make the mistake of writing to an unknown person with no name. This often results in content that is dry, boring, and yawn-inducing; certainly not anything worth reading - much less converting into a customer!

As you’re creating content, imagine the person you’re talking to in your head. For some, imagining a specific person helps them narrow down exactly what they’re trying to say. For others, imagining a group of like-minded people works better. Try both and see which one inspires you more.

You may also want to try writing as if you’re talking to your best friend. Ask yourself: how would I explain this concept if [best friend’s name] asked me to?

This can be a great way to pull out your natural, conversational tone if you’re stuck in “formal business mode”. Then, if you need to formalize it, take out the f-bombs and the more casual speak in editing mode.

3. Make this personality the face of your brand

Sonic the Hedgehog. Betty Crocker. The Colonel (KFC). The Geico Gecko.

These are all examples of how larger brands have created a personality for themselves and made them the literal face of the brand. While none of these characters are real, they act as representations of the brand’s personality.

Sonic the Hedgehog is speedy, cool, and charismatic (SEGA’s personality).
Betty Crocker is homey, friendly, and approachable (Betty Crocker’s personality)
The Geico Gecko is clever, smart, and witty (Geico’s personality)

This isn’t to say you need to come up with some cute cartoon character or fake name to sell your brand. While many brands have pulled this off well, you can simply take this concept and associate it to your brand name.

Once you’ve associated a personality to your brand, the key is to start using everywhere. If you have employees, make sure all their external-facing communications are consistent with your brand personality.

If it helps, you can come up with a persona for your brand. Name her, define her core characteristics, and maybe even come up with an entire backstory.

This makes it even easier for you and your team to see things from her perspective and talk in her voice rather than your individual ones.

Use Your Personality Everywhere

Once you have a basic idea of your brand personality, go through your past content and ask yourself: does this sound like my brand? If not, see what changes you can make to bring more consistency to your brand.

After a while, your customers will start to associate this personality to your brand and potential customers will be attracted by it. It’s a great way to stand out beyond your overall brand story by connecting with those who resonate with your personality.

Don't Be Boring: How to Add Personality to Your Content

1. Define your brand personality

2. Speak directly to your audience

3. Make this personality the face of your brand

Use Your Personality Everywhere