BRAND VOICE
The consumer metrics don't lie. 86% say being authentic is key in supporting a brand and 81% will buy based on brand trust.
This results for the company
increased revenue 33% from brand-consistent activities and value increased over 20% for brands. Sp does the Brand voice really matter?
You BET!
So What Is Brand Voice?
Brand voice is the distinct personality a brand takes on in its communications.
Imagine you went to a dinner party and you’re chatting with all the guests.
One person stands out because they’re great at storytelling in a distinctive, unique way.
The flow of their words, the language they used and their personality, charisma all combined to make for a memorable experience.
In fact, when you’re retelling that story, you immediately think of that person.
Now take that dinner guest into a brand voice. Who is your brand online?
If your brand was a person, what personality traits would they take on and what would they actively avoid?
What phrases and stylistic choices does your brand use on a consistent basis?
All of the above combine to create your brand voice.
This personality is applied to everywhere your brand speaks, including newsletters,
social media posts, and advertising.
How To Develop A Brand Voice?
The first step in developing your brand voice is to assert your core brand identity by establishing your vision, mission and values and highlighting the aspects of your business.
Step 1
Start by choosing three distinct descriptors for your business.
These should be clear words that evoke a visceral feeling.
Think: passionate, reliable, quirky, or relaxed.
Consider the mood you want your content to elicit and how you’d like your company to be perceived.
These descriptions will lead the tone of all content you create.
Step 2
Next, get to know who you’re talking to.
What are the demographics for your current and future customer base?
What do they look like? What would they want from your brand?
Social media offers tools to pull insights.
If you can, turn to those in your target community, and ask about what excites them most about your brand.
This is invaluable information you can use when building your brand voice. From Facebook to Instagram to Twitter, offers analytical resources that breakdown age, gender, location, and the times of day that these folks are most engaged.
Create a plan for how your brand will share content via different social media platforms.
Finally, build a style guide, a reference tool which helps maintain the consistency of your brand voice.
Tips Developing Your Brand Voice
Document everything & be consistent
Just like your visual brand guide and your brand voice needs documentation, too.
Personality traits, common vocabulary, brand phrases and most importantly, examples.
Audit your current voice
Need some inspiration on what your brand personality should be?
Take a look at your current communications.
Note how your target audience interacts with you and how they speak. What voice traits do your top-performing posts and newsletter issues have in common?
From here, you’ll be able to note what your brand’s personality currently is and then begin the process of brainstorming more traits that you want to emulate.
Identify your audience and personas
Another way of formulating your brand voice is by seeing who your audience and marketing personas are.
If your target audience is younger, you’ll want to use language that resonates with them.
Using language familiar to an older generation will only serve to alienate your younger audience.
As you work through your audience and personas, list out traits and common vocabulary you want to take on as a brand.
A West-coast brand with a West-coast target audience will take on regional slang.
A piece of advice: don’t stray too far away from your brand’s current operations. You want to present your voice authentically and not robotically or give the appearance of just chasing trends.
Your Tone
Brand voice is what you say and brand tone is how you say it.
Your tone may vary between audiences, so it’s a good idea to document when to use certain tones in certain situations.
The excited way you announce a new product won’t be the same tone you take on when responding to a customer complaint.
Identify common scenarios you come across as a brand and categorize them into the different tones you would take on.
Sample of brand tone Bold Inspiring Authentic
Review Adapt
Developing a brand voice is not a one-time effort. It should be reviewed and refined.
Language evolves and the words you used five years ago might not work today.
Without a consistent check in on your brand voice, you risk sounding out of date or out of touch with current events.
CONSISTENCY
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