Easy steps to define and use your brand voice
When people think about what a brand looks like visually, they usually start with colours, fonts and design styles. What is often overlooked is the brand voice.
With the inclusion of social media in marketing efforts, brand voice has become more important than ever to stand out from the digital crowd of chatter.
Even if you are unfamiliar with the term, you’ve probably experienced it. You may be asking why a brand voice matters; well, it helps to position your brand as an easily identifiable and authoritative source for your area of expertise.
If done correctly, your brand will indeed become more memorable to your audience. Here’s how to define and use your brand voice from our content writing experts at Blue Whale Media.
Identify your audience
To formulate your brand voice, you need to know who your audience is and what marketing personas they have. If your target audience is younger, you’ll want to use language that resonates with them and vice versa if your audiences of an older generation. Knowing how your audience prefers to interact with brands is an example of behavioural data that you can use to your advantage. If possible, try to discover the most successful and authoritative content your audience shares and discusses online. This will help you align your values and visions when it comes to brand voice.
Know your tone
Brand voice is what you say and brand tone is how you say it. Your tone may vary between audiences, so it might be useful to use a certain tone depending on the situation. As a whole, your brand voice is a consistent strategy that is maintained throughout your content, whereas tone can have more flexibility. Try to identify common scenarios you might come across as a brand and categorise them into the different tones you want to use when talking about a service.
Create a brand style guide
Providing a clear set of guidelines that you and your team members can refer to as a helpful step towards staying consistent with your content. As your business or organisation grows in scope, it’s helpful to create a guide that can be amended along the way. Everyone from your marketing team to directors will understand how to create content aligned with your brand’s digital identity.
Use your brand voice to differentiate.
In a world of crowded markets that offer similar products and services, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. You should be using your brand voice and tone to break out of your standard category and connect to your audience on another level. Your brand voice will show off your company’s personality if used correctly, which attracts customers.
Without a clear and easily recognisable brand voice that speaks to the value you bring your customers, it will be difficult for you to build relationships and connections.
Remember that your London company priorities or goals may shift with changing times, so your brand voice could be a working progress.
