When it comes to communicating with your customers, every other company opts for a different approach. A brand like Apple uses different language, colors, and content forms compared to a brand like Skittles. As social media becomes one of the center stones of business marketing, developing a unique brand voice has become as crucial as ever.
To put it simply, the brand voice is the brand personality. It is the way your audience will perceive your brand as they consume your content. The brand voice is reflected in all your communications, from social media posts to emails and advertisements.
Without a strong brand voice, you will more than likely blend into the crowd of hundreds of similar businesses. You need to use your personality to stand out from your competitors so that you draw in new eyes and are able to retain the ones already in your court. Having a consistent voice and tone makes your brand more recognizable and familiar to the customer, encouraging them to maintain their loyalty.
There is no specific how-to guide that will give you step-by-step instructions on how to build your brand voice. It is more of a trial-and-error process. You will have to spend some time exploring the core values of your brand and your goals as a business to determine the right tone. Here are some useful tips that will help you build a strong brand voice:
The most important part is ensuring your brand voice aligns with the core values of your company. For this purpose, clearly define your mission statement and use it as a blueprint for how you present the brand to your audience.
Sit with your team and brainstorm adjectives that accurately describe your brand. Do you want the audience to perceive you as a thoroughly professional brand? Or can you take a more fun and humorous approach to better resonate with the people? Use these adjectives to develop the tone of your voice and formulate the appropriate language to use in your content.
Apart from your goals, your target demographic is the most important subject to center your brand voice around. Depending on whether your audience is younger or older, predominantly male or female, you will need to modify your language accordingly so as not to alienate them.
A good practice is to create personas for your customers. Survey your current demographic and build fictitious customers using market research data. Then explore what each type of buyer would like, what kind of content would appeal to them the most, and what calls to action they are most likely to respond to.
When it comes to developing a strong brand voice, auditing your current communications is the best place to start. You want to stay within your current approach unless it is not working at all. Analyze your current content and determine what kind of language or posts garner the most engagement. This will give you a better idea of what resonates with your existing customer pool.
Lastly, it is very important to adapt as the times change. Be on the lookout for new trends and review your content on a yearly or 6-monthly basis. Determine whether or not your language and ideas are consistent with the current times and do not be afraid to change your direction if the need arises.
