Have I mentioned that branding helps to build a business that lasts? Having a consistent presence or personality across your marketing strategy can work wonders for your business. Not only are you immediately recognizable to your audience but you have a strong foundation for establishing trust and truly connecting to your following.
One of the biggest elements that seem to get overlooked when it comes to branding is brand voice. So I decided to dedicate an entire post on how to establish your brand voice so you can connect and make a lasting impression on your audience. Now, if you can’t tell already, I live and breathe branding. So if you need a little refresher – read about everything branding and what it means here.
If you already have a solid base on branding, then keep reading! Because establishing your brand voice is important but can be tricky to tackle. Let me explain.
Have you ever been asked, “How would you describe yourself?”
You might easily answer that with “Go-getter, kind, resourceful, or witty” – or some other adjective that expresses who you are.
When people ask us how we would describe our company, it gets a little harder to define, especially if you don’t have a well-established brand voice. Let’s define the term below.
What is a brand voice?
A brand voice defines your company personality and the emotion that is elicited through it’s marketing communications. These communication channels include your website, social channels, podcast shows, etc. Your brand voice should be consistent and unchanging across these platforms to avoid confusion for your audience.
This can mean everything from the words or language you use to the image of your company. It shows your company’s sense of purpose through consistent messaging.
You also want to make sure your audience is interpreting your messages how you intended. If your voice is on point – this shouldn’t be an issue. So it’s essential to nail it. Your brand voice also helps you cut through the crowds with your uniqueness in whatever medium you choose to communicate.
For example, if you cuss a lot or come from the south and use words like “y’all” or “fixin’ to” frequently when you talk, then you might want to infuse that into your brand voice. If you use words like, “darling, boo, beautiful, or honey” when talking to your audience, use them, but keep it consistent. But also don’t overdo it.
Ultimately, your brand voice helps you make a lasting and memorable impression on your audience.
Do you want your brand voice to come across as warm, welcoming, and helpful? Or is your company authoritative, no-nonsense, and confident?
How to establish your brand’s voice
You want your brand voice to feel familiar and natural to your target audience. Remember you are trying to build a relationship with them, so you want a voice that is relatable to them. Here are some tips for establishing your brand voice.
Review your company’s mission statement
If you don’t have a mission statement yet, don’t worry. I talk about how to craft one here. A mission statement states your company’s values. And your brand voice should reflect these values. So if you need a refresher on what your company values are, head on over to your mission statement.
Review your current messaging
Have a look at the content or copy you already have out there. This includes your website, blog, social media, podcast, or any videos (if you have them). What is consistent in your messaging? Does your brand voice show your company’s values and your overall purpose?
If it does – amazing! You are on the right track. If it doesn’t, how can you improve your brand voice? It might help to look at your best performing posts to see what truly resonates with your audience and go from there.
Review and research your audience
Choose a handful of previous (or current) customers or clients and research them. What are their interests? How do they write? What do they read? Learning about your audience can help you establish a brand voice that speaks directly to them.
You may be naturally witty but if your client base is more conventional and professional, you might want to avoid making wise-ass jokes in your messaging. You might even find out that your audience enjoys a good sci-fi pun as much as you do. This can be a green light to infuse some of your Star Trek jokes (or obsessions) into your brand voice.
Do you see how this could be helpful for your brand voice?
Another option is to conduct an audience survey to see how they would describe your brand or business. If your feedback comes back and it’s not at all what you want to be known for – you need to work on your brand voice.
Describe Your Brand
Narrowing down your brand into three words helps you get straight to the meat of your brand. To do this, I recommend using a “This Not That” exercise to help you find your three descriptive brand words (if you don’t have them already). If you are struggling to figure out what your brand words are, then it might be better to start with the words you are NOT.
To do this, use this fill in the blank sentence:
“We’re ____, but not ____.”
Repeat this until you arrive at or around 3 sentences that BEST describes your brand and business. Some examples of my brand voice include:
“We’re friendly, but not gushy.”
“We’re boutique, but not exclusive.”
“We’re passionate, but not forceful.”
Create Clear Guidelines for Brand Voice Consistency (or a Brand Voice Chart)
Having guidelines to refer to can be gold for your team members. Guidelines help them ensure your branding standards are being met at every point in your business. You want to make sure that any marketing material your audience reads sounds cohesive and under one brand – no matter who is writing the content.
To do this, you can make a chart with 4 columns:
- Descriptive word: each of the three words you chose from the above exercise
- Description: describe what each characteristic means to you and your company
- Do: what will you do to live up to this description
- Don’t: what will you not do to avoid becoming different from the descriptive word
Hopefully, these tips help you establish a strong and unique brand voice that your audience will resonate with and easily identify when they come across your content messaging.
If you are ready to build a brand you love, let’s chat! You can check out my branding services here or we can hop on a Discovery Call and establish a branding game plan.
