What Is Brand Voice?
As you go about cultivating your online presence, it’s important you pay close attention to what’s known as your brand voice. Maybe you’ve heard of brand voice before but haven’t paid too close attention to it. Don’t underestimate its importance, however — a strong, memorable brand voice is a key part of standing out among others in the overly saturated social media world.
Why Is Brand Voice Important?
As people spend more time on social media, and connect with more brands on social media, they tend to feel a stronger connection with the brands they relate to personally. Chalk it up to the social aspect of these platforms, but people develop loyalty toward the brands they feel as if they’re friends with.
That means the voice of everything coming from your brand needs to be human and it needs to be consistent. That includes copy on your website, all of your social media posts, your blog, your email blasts…everything.
But the thing is, all humans sound different. And not every human voice is going to be the right fit for your brand.
Here’s what you should take into consideration when you’re creating your brand voice:
Why Corporate Speak is Bad
Modern consumers don’t have a lot of time for anything that feels corporate. Stiffness and aloofness come across as disingenuous. Think about it: Would you rather be spoken to by somebody who was overly formal or somebody who was conversational and engaging?
When corporate fails to draw an audience in, it’s because that audience doesn’t feel understood. Ultimately, they don’t get the sense that this brand understands them or their problems — and therefore, the audience doesn’t get the sense that these products or services will do them any good.
This is why brands that continue to communicate in corporate-speak are being left behind, and the brands that develop a strong brand voice are gaining prominence.
How to Come Up With a Good Brand Voice
A good brand voice is all about having a strong personality. If your brand were a character, how would you describe them? Try to come up with a good visual picture of your brand as a person — from their clothes to their age to their hairstyle to what they do in their day-to-day life.
It’s helpful to consider your target customer: What’s their personality and what is their lifestyle? What are they going to want to get out of your brand? Maybe your brand personality looks a lot like your target customer, or who your target customer would like to be.
Your brand voice is going to make your audience feel a certain way. If you want your audience to perceive your brand as making them feel safe and secure, then going with a silly, sarcastic brand voice isn’t the best idea. On the other hand, if you’re audience is looking to your brand to inspire a sense of fun and excitement, then a calm, gentle voice is going to be counterproductive.
Here’s a simple trick to get your creative juices flowing: Pick a sentence and rewrite it in your brand voice. It can be any sentence at all — in fact, the more obscure and unrelated to your industry, the better. It gives you more of a chance to be creative.
Maybe your sentence is “How are you today?” If you own a rum bar and your brand voice is a pirate, you might say, “Argh, mateys, how ye be this mornin’?” But if you own a child care center and want to sound like a loving babysitter, you might say, “Are you feeling great today, moms and dads?”
Keep It Consistent
Now the big challenge is keeping your brand voice consistent. This is actually one area where small businesses have a slight advantage over big corporations. Sure, those big companies have the power of a full marketing staff, but it’s easier to be consistent in your brand voice when it’s just one or two people who are managing your entire marketing presence.
Write out a full description of what your brand voice entails. If you are the only one handling your marketing efforts, this will help you stay consistent. If you have support from a few team members, this will help guide them and keep them on track.
Describe the overall tone of your brand voice. Is it casual, funny, comforting, straightforward, sarcastic, gentle?
What kind of words do you use? Are there any words you would never use? Create a glossary of go-to terms and phrases your brand voice will rely on.
How deep do you go with what you’re talking about? Are you straightforward and succinct, or do you provide plenty of vivid examples and interesting anecdotes?
Remember, there are no hard and fast rules about a good brand voice other than 1) you need to keep it interesting and 2) you need to keep it consistent. Other than that, you’re only limited by your own creativity!