Finding your brand or marketing voice requires more than creating a suitable business name and logo. A consistent brand voice allows you to communicate your brand online, making your business memorable to your audience.
Therefore, you need to avoid ending up with an assortment of voices by creating one that instantly makes your business recognizable across all your marketing channels. Thus, finding your marketing voice creates recognition for your brand in a crowded marketplace.
Finding Your Marketing Voice
Developing a distinctive marketing voice creates your business personality. In addition, since 95% of buying decisions are determined emotionally, cultivating a brand voice allows you to create a connection with consumers that boosts sales and ensures your company endures. Famous companies with powerful brand voices include Nike and Apple.
Create your ideal marketing voice by following these steps:
1. Reflect Your Company Values in Your Marketing Voice
When starting a business, delve into the core of its purpose, value, and mission. Then, look at the personality traits these represent and look for examples of brand phrases and everyday vocabulary from these. Finally, keep notes of the standards that best serve your business personality traits and ditch the ones that don’t make the mark.
2. Don’t Forget Your Target Audience
You cannot possibly appeal to everyone, so you need to identify your target market. A bit of research into your target personas’ demographics will identify more than their age and gender. Look into their socio-economic background, challenges, and how they think and talk.
You will also want to know which social media platforms they prefer and what resonates most with them. For example, don’t use formal language if your target audience is teenagers; don’t use teen language for an older audience.
Whatever you do, look for an authentic voice that rings genuine when seen by your target audience.
3. Make Sure Your Voice Stands Apart
You want a distinctive marketing voice that differentiates your business from your direct competitors. So first, research what they are doing on social media channels and do a competitive analysis of your competitors’ tone and style by listening to what people are saying. Then, create your unique voice that will allow your business to outshine theirs.
4. Building Your Marketing Voice
You have collected enough critical information to start creating your marketing voice. Besides your writing style and vocabulary, think about all the other marketing assets you will use, e.g., images, videos, etc.
Building your brand voice from scratch requires hard work, but start small and build on that by adding relevant context as you expand. Always check all forms of content to ensure they match your brand tone and review them to ensure they fit your purpose and resonate with target audiences.
Finally, attract your audiences with attention-grabbing titles that increase clicks.
5. Use the Right Tone
Your brand tone differs from your marketing voice because it relies on how you say something. Some situations require a different tone to others, so decide which ones best fit specific situations. For example, you want to sound excited when launching new products but cannot respond in the same tone when making a formal media statement. Therefore, think about which tone best fits a casual social response or when responding to a customer grievance.
6. Effective and Consistent Communication
A/B testing allows you to assess your content across all channels, including your website pages. It’s the best way to find your ideal communication style. Once you know the brand voice that works best for your business and your audience’s expectations, ensure an aligned and cohesive plan for all your marketing channels and materials.
7. Let Your Marketing Voice Evolve
What was mainstream two years ago may not resonate with an audience today. Therefore, your brand voice requires regular reviewing and fine-tuning. Consequently, it would help if you regularly changed your marketing strategy to capture the language and other changes to ensure your brand voice does not sound out of touch.
Sometimes this is done during branding changes, but keeping your ear on the ground for changes is a good idea. Also, remember that current events often create a need for adaptation.
Bottom Line
These tips help you to understand how to find and create your marketing voice when starting your business. Ensure that it reflects the core of what your company stands for, and consistently communicate it in the style your audiences love. Above all, make sure it is both unique and authentic, making your brand memorable and engaging.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a brand voice?
A brand voice is a specific way a company or organization communicates with its audience. It includes the tone, style, and language used in all forms of communication, from website content to social media posts to email marketing campaigns.
Why is having a solid brand voice important?
A strong brand voice is essential because it helps you connect with your audience deeper. After all, we buy things based on how they make us feel rather than logic alone.
How can I make sure my brand voice is strong?
There are a few things you can do to make sure your brand voice is strong:
1. Know your audience inside out – understand their economic background, challenges, and how they think and talk. You will also want to know which social media platforms they prefer and what resonates most with them. For example, don’t use formal language if your target audience is teenagers; don’t use teen language for an older audience. Whatever you do, look for an authentic voice that rings genuine when seen by your target audience.
2. Make sure your voice stands apart – you want a distinctive marketing voice that differentiates your business from your direct competitors. So first, research what they are doing on social media channels and do a competitive analysis of your competitor’s website content. This will give you a good idea of what to avoid and where to improve.
3. Keep it consistent – your marketing voice should remain the same across all channels, including social media, website content, blog posts, email newsletters, printed collateral, and in-person interactions. The only time you would use a different voice is if you are targeting a new audience or market segment with specific messaging.
4. Use positive language – regardless of your industry, potential customers respond better to positive language that talks about what they stand to gain from using your product or service rather than focusing on what they might lose. For example, “You’ll save time and money with our XYZ product” sounds much better than “You’ll avoid costly mistakes with our XYZ product.
5. Be authentic – above all, your brand voice should be authentic, which means it should reflect the true personality of your business. Don’t try to be something you’re not; that will just come across as inauthentic, and people will see right through it.
6. Use emotion – while you don’t want to go overboard, using some emotional language can help connect with your audience on a deeper level. After all, we buy things based on how they make us feel rather than logic alone.
7. Keep it simple – using big words or industry jargon will only alienate your audience. Stick to using language that is clear and easy to understand.
8. Be concise – in today’s fast-paced, attention-deficit world, getting your point across quickly and succinctly is more crucial than ever. So whatever you do, avoid rambling on or using too many words when fewer would do the trick.
9. Write in the active voice – using the active voice makes your writing sound more energized and engaging. For example, “We developed a new product feature” sounds better than “We developed a new product feature.”
10. Use strong verbs – similarly, using strong verbs gives your writing more punch and makes it more interesting to read. For example, “We increased sales by 20%” sounds better than “Sales increased by 20%.”
11. Use images and videos – in addition to using strong words, break up your text with images and videos whenever possible. Not only will this make your content more visually appealing, but it will also help break up the monotony of reading large blocks of text.
12. Keep it positive – as we mentioned before, using positive language is always a good idea when connecting with an audience. So instead of saying, “Our product is the best on the market,” try something like, “Our product can help you achieve your goals.”
13. Use calls to action – throughout your content, include calls to action (CTAs) that tell your readers what you want them to do next. For example, if you want them to buy your product, include a CTA that says “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart.” If you want them to sign up for your email list, include a CTA that says “Subscribe Now” or “Sign Up.”
14. Be aware of tone – the tone of your writing should match the message you’re trying to convey. For example, if you’re selling a luxury product, you’ll want to use a more formal, upscale tone. But if you’re selling a fun, quirky product, you can afford to be a little more casual in your writing.
15. Have someone else proofread your work – before you publish anything, it’s always a good idea to have someone else look at it for grammatical errors, typos, and clarity. This is especially important if English is not your first language.
16. Use tools to help with the editing process. Several great tools can help with the editing and proofreading process, including Grammarly, Pro Writing Aid, and Hemingway Editor.
17. Don’t be afraid to experiment – as with anything, trial and error is a part of finding your brand’s voice. So don’t be afraid to experiment with different tones, styles, and formats until you find something that feels right for your business.
18. Be consistent – once you find a style that works for your business, stick with it! Consistency is key when it comes to developing a strong brand voice.
19. Have fun with it – last but not least, remember to have fun with it! After all, your brand voice should reflect the personality of your business, so let that shine through in your writing.
