What are some words you’d use to describe your brand?
Innovative? Unique? Modern?
Don’t know it yet? Well, you should. In this day and age, having your voice matters. If you’re not able to stand out, your business, no matter how outstanding it is, will never make it big!
That is why your brand needs a voice.
You are what you sell and that needs to be expressed in the way your brand engages with the audiences. Engagement is not just about good-looking visuals, it’s about how you connect with your audiences emotionally.
The most powerful and leading brands understand this and use their brand voice as a way to steer through all the noise. So, let’s learn a little more about brand voice in detail!
What’s a Brand Voice? (Definition)
Simply put, a brand voice is a way your company communicates with its audiences.
Lisa Gansky wisely said, “Your brand is a voice and your product is a souvenir.” In that exact sense, if you don’t have a voice, your brand won’t have a purpose and thus, you won’t leave an impression on your audiences.
Think of it as someone who stands out in a crowded room because of their way of storytelling.
Your brand needs to do this too – it needs to tell its story in a way that is unforgettable and reminiscent.
Your brand voice can be helpful, kind, joyous – as long as it is true to what your company is about. And then, this brand voice needs to be consistent through your content, be it newsletters, emails, blogs, social media, and more.
So before you start discovering your brand voice, let’s see why it’s important to have one in the first place…
Read more: 9 Customer Acquisition Strategies Your Boss Wishes You Knew!
Importance of Defining Your Brand Voice
Why can’t you just write with a new style every day? Why do you need to define Brand Voice?
Well, the digital landscape is very cluttered with new brands popping up every day. With so many brands that are similar to yours, it may seem difficult to stand out and create your own identity.
But when you have a brand voice, you become distinct and let your audiences locate you easily in such a crowd.
Let us give you some other reasons why you need a brand voice…
1. Shapes your Brand Image
You only have so much time to impress your customer before they move on to your competitor.
To make the best use of that time, you need more than a powerful product and that’s where your brand voice comes in.
Brand voice sells your story and who you truly are to the audiences,
This way, it’s easier for people to connect to your brand and build an unforgettable image that they specifically associate with your brand.
2. Creates Consistency
When you define your brand voice, it becomes much easier for your brand to be consistent across all its platforms. This way, you can create a more riveting and professional platform.
Such consistency will also help create a distinct picture of what your firm stands for!
3. Develops Customer Loyalty
Your brand voice is a warm reflection of your product. Once customers connect with your brand voice, they trust your brand more easily.
This way, you can leverage this loyalty for your brand to create long-term relationships which are highly valuable. No matter how large you scale, you can rest assured that your customers will follow.
Defining a brand voice may seem confusing.
But lucky for you, we’ve created a step-by-step guide to help you create your brand voice.
Read more: 15 Sales Tactics to Generate High-Quality Leads
How to Define Your Brand Voice? (Step-By-Step Guide)
1. Assess Your Brand Mission
To get started on your brand voice, you’ll have to truly start from the beginning and understand your brand’s mission.
When you have a strong and clear brand mission, it becomes easier to stem out what your brand voice needs to be like.
Let’s take Nike as an example. Its mission is to inspire every athlete.
How do they incorporate this into their brand voice? With their storytelling!
They inspire their audiences with the quintessential story of a hero who is dealing with great struggle but emerges successful in the end.
With such consistent storytelling, they make their audiences feel empowered and in return achieve their loyalty.
And that is exactly what you need to do, bring out the core value of your mission and turn it into something that the audiences can hook onto.
2. Review Your Current Content
You may have already published quite a bit of content on your social media or website by now. This content can be blog posts, images, infographics, videos, ads, and more.
You may see inconsistencies and that is okay because we will be working to improve them.
Check if they align with your mission. Also, review the best performing posts and what emotion they invoke in the audiences.
This is a great way to understand what your audience perceives your brand voice to be currently.
3. Research Your Target Audience
Knowing your target audiences will be a great way to make your brand voice feel natural and direct.
Conduct surveys to know your audiences better and locate similarities and pin them down as to who your audiences are.
Let’s say if your audiences are younger and you use a brand voice that is too formal, it’ll only deter them away.
So, try communicating in a way that suits your ideal target audience.
Once you figure out your target audience the next step would be to find out where they hang out most. If they are teenagers, they are likely to be on social media, so you can use social media to try building a relationship using your brand voice.
Read more: How To Develop Growth Mindset That Will Change Your Future?
4. Three-Word Strategy
So far you’ve located what your mission is about, what your audiences love, and who your audiences are.
Keeping these in mind, you need to think of three words to describe your brand voice.
Make sure you don’t stray too far from your current content because you don’t want to seem like you’re chasing trends.
So, what words come to your mind? Passionate? Inspiring? Quirky? Fun?
Circle out the most appropriate ones and you’re good to go.
5. Know Your Tone
Now that you know what your brand voice is, it’s important to understand what tone you need to use.
The difference between the two is, a brand voice is all about what you say but the tone is about how you say it.
Your tone when announcing a new milestone that your firm just achieved won’t be the same as when you reply to a customer complaint.
That is why, stick to clear guidelines, if you want to be formal or informal or both, and when to use what.
6. Review, Learn, and Adapt!
You don’t have to change your brand voice constantly but you need to keep a check on trends and changes.
Your audiences may not respond well enough to some part of your brand voice and thus it may need revisions.
Understanding what language is in demand today and what isn’t is crucial so that you don’t seem outdated. And once you do, make sure they are all a part of your brand voice!
…and that’s about it!
Defining your brand voice is all about developing an honest connection with your audience.
Remember that your brand voice is unique and it needs to be consistent but also flexible with time. The more you refine your brand voice, the more effective your marketing plans will be!
Now that you know how to develop one and its intricacies, we’re sure you’ll create it successfully. So don’t wait, It’s time to find your voice!
Have any queries about defining your brand voice? Do let us know @bit_docs and we’d be happy to help you out!
Further reads:
What is a Marketing Plan and How to Create One for Your Business?
8 Different Types of Branding Strategies (With Examples)
Emotional Branding Strategy Guide for Marketers!
Brand Authenticity: Definition, Importance & Tips To Build It!
