When launching a product or service, creating a brand voice is essential. But what is brand voice, you ask?
The simple answer is the tone and personality of how you communicate with your target audience, reflecting your company's character and mission.
Establishing Your Brand Voice
Establishing a solid brand voice with corresponding messaging does the following:
- Allows customers to recognize the communication associated with your product or service quickly.
- It builds trust and loyalty.
- Helps propel your message into the public consciousness.
The first step in defining a brand voice is a firm understanding of who your company is, as well as its mission and purpose. Questions to answer when defining and creating a brand voice include:
- What values and beliefs does the brand embody?
- How do you want potential customers to perceive the brand?
- Who is the ideal customer persona?
- Are there words, phrases, or associations best avoided?
- What tone should the brand’s content take?
With the answers to these questions, you can begin crafting your message around these values and establishing an influential brand voice that speaks to your target audience.
Ideally, a brand voice should remain consistent across all communication channels – including advertising campaigns, website copy, and social media posts – so that customers quickly identify with your message and readily trust what you are saying. In addition, all messaging should reflect the same attitudes and emotions for which your company stands.
Brand Voice Messaging Suggestions
Whether creating a brand voice for a startup company or reworking it for an established business or organization, here are some helpful suggestions to create a compelling and engaging brand voice:
Research – Research the target audience or ideal customer persona. Please get to know the target audience, their interests, and how they communicate. Doing so will help you create a voice that resonates with them.
Decide On Your Tone – Choose a messaging tone appropriate for the brand. For example, the style could be professional, casual, funny, or conversational, depending on the nature of the brand, products, or services offered. More on tone:
- Humorous tones lighten the mood and inject fun into a message. They can be playful and entertaining, or they can be more tongue-in-cheek and witty.
- Professional tones are more formal and business-like and often convey authority and expertise. This type of messaging can be authoritative, informative, or helpful.
- Conversational tones are friendly and inviting. They focus on connecting with the customer and creating an environment of trust and understanding.
- Inspirational tones are uplifting and motivating. Examples of inspirational messaging include a focus on motivating customers to achieve their goals and live their best lives.
- Empathetic tones are compassionate and understanding. They are used to show customers that the brand cares about them and they understand their struggles.
Stay Consistent – Once you’ve established a brand voice, stick with it. Consistency will help your audience recognize your brand. For continuity, consider having one person or a small team of people be the last word on published content. In addition, having an editor or editors will help ensure everything remains aligned and consistent across the board.
Use Storytelling – Tell stories that highlight the brand’s values and mission. Creative storytelling is a distinctive approach to creating an emotional connection and rapport with the audience.
Clarity – Keeping the language simple is always a best practice. Use short sentences and phrases for maximum impact. Inclusive – being inclusive means you are inclusive with your words. Be mindful of messages that could confuse or get taken out of context.
Use Visuals – As the saying goes, a picture (and now video) is worth a million words! So don’t hesitate to implement creative visuals to support your messaging and increase engagement!
Monitor Feedback – Regardless of whether your company is finding your brand voice for the first time or reimagining your ongoing messaging, monitor audience feedback. Doing so empowers you or marketing managers to tweak and adjust the brand voice as necessary.
Is There A Process For Developing A Brand Voice?
Yes, there is a process for developing a brand voice. It involves several steps, including identifying your target audience, understanding your goals and objectives, and researching your competition.
During this process, it’s a good idea to define your brand’s personality, create a brand story, and decide on the tone, language, and style of your messaging.
Finally, your brand voice should carry across all your channels, from website copy to social media posts. Integrating your brand voice across all channels ensures that your audience receives consistent messaging and information, creates a more unified brand identity, and provides that regardless of where your customers interact with your brand, they know what to expect.
When incorporating your brand voice into your messaging, begin by creating a style guide that outlines the basics of how you want your messages to be delivered.
The style guide should include details like the tone, language, and vocabulary you want to use, in addition to other important information. Once established, ensure all your messaging follows the code set in your style guide.
Additionally, you can use tools such as brand monitoring and sentiment analysis to track how your audience is reacting to your content. Brand monitoring helps identify areas for improvement to resonate better with your audience.
Sound Overwhelming? You Don't Have To Go It Alone!
If these steps sound overwhelming, working with a professional marketing company like Blue Noda can help companies and organizations establish their brand voice and ensure it’s heard in all the proper channels.
Our experienced and knowledgeable marketing experts can help companies and organizations to create and execute a comprehensive plan for promoting their products, services, and brand message.
Blue Noda works with companies of all sizes and maturity. Learn more about our Lead Accelerator Program or Schedule a Digital Consult today.
