Building Your Brand Series pt 3: Find Your Brand Voice

Posted on Sep 30, 2015 in small business tips

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Have you ever noticed that when you hear your own voice on a recording your first instinct is to cringe?  It’s not just you, it’s a universal thing and it’s due to this.  Weird, right?  Anyway, this post is not about your physical voice but your brand’s voice.  In the same way that you might cringe at the sound of your physical voice, many people cringe at their brand’s voice too.  Usually the problem is one of intention.  When you sent your first tweet or wrote your first blog post for your business, you were probably just excited to get started.  You may not have been thinking about tone and been intentional about what you were putting out there.  (I wasn’t so you’ll get no judgement from me!)  The reality is that from your about page to your last Facebook post, people are forming opinions about you based on your voice.  So what the heck does “brand voice” even mean?  And how do you establish it?

To make it simple, think about brand voice this way:

Brand voice is the tone of your communications.

Every tweet, post, email, and piece of marketing collateral is communicating beyond just the information presented.  Every communication should be intentional and, most important, be authentic.  We’ve all seen commercials or emails that were filled with phoniness.  It’s an immediate turn off.  So how do you establish your authentic brand voice?

  1. Know thy audience.  Imagine that you’re talking to the person(s) that make up your target audience.  Understand who they are, what they do, and what they like and don’t.  Then tailor your message accordingly.
  2. Study your established tone of voice, the one you use when you’re just being you.  Is it irreverent?  Funny? Authoritative?  Use that voice but be intentional about it.  All communications associated with your brand should have the same tone.
  3. Decide how you want your brand to make people feel.  Brand loyalty is about feelings.  People might like the taste of Starbucks coffee, but they keep coming back because of the way it makes them feel.  It’s a subconscious thing.  The Starbucks brand transcends their product and communicates their essence.  It’s not magic, its marketing.  And it’s effective.
  4. What action do you want your audience to take?  Are you trying to get them to buy a product?  Read a post?  Sign up for your newsletter?  Hire you?  If you take into account the above 3 things, it will be easier to get the results you’re after.  Again, be intentional.  If you want your audience to sign up for your newsletter, simply saying, “sign up for my newsletter!” may not be enough.  Tantalize them with quality content that provides them with something they need or want and they will in turn take the action you want them too.

It’s not rocket science but it does take work.  You can’t just wing it and hope for the best.  Be intentional and authentic when establishing your brand voice and people will respond.  It’s better not to cast the widest net because you cannot appeal to everyone.  Find your audience and communicate to them directly.

I hope you guys enjoyed this series.  I will be doing more of these in the future on a range of topics so keep checking back!