Brand Voice 101
Ever wonder why you instinctively gravitate towards certain people? Maybe they’re fun to be around, straightforward, or super dependable…whatever it may be, their qualities and personalities play a big role in who you choose to spend your time with. The same goes for brands, we’ve all found ourselves aimlessly wandering through a Wallmart ( or some other big store) and recognizing and making a connection to certain brands…ever wonder why you recognize those specific brands and why the others are just some items on the self?
What we’ll be covering in this post:
What is brand voice?
The importance of brand voice
What are brand voice guidelines?
How to get started
Brand voice checklist
What is Brand Voice?
Think of your brand as a person you know, how do they speak? what qualities describe them? and more importantly who are they talking to? Your brand and brand voice is what makes your brand unique, it’s the thing that set you apart from the competition. What you say matters just as much as what you sell, your brand voice can become your salesperson and be that connection that drives the conversation. So you have to ask yourself what emotions do you want people to associate your brand with? Nike is known for its inspiration, Old Spice for humor, and Skittles is known for its weird uniqueness. So where does your brand fit into the mix?
Define Who You Are
“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.”
When defining your voice:
Define your audience
Who they are
Pain points
What your company stands for
Your unique selling point
Your brand story
When you have a good idea of what your brand voice is, you’re going to want to set some “character rules” or brand voice guidelines, this will help you recognize if anything you’ve written is off-character or off-brand.
Brand Voice Guidelines
To make this easier, think of your brand voice guidelines as the bumpers in a bowling lane…you’re probably asking yourself “how does bowling have anything to do with brand voice?”
Brand voice and bowling?
I’ll explain…
Here’s what I mean: Think of your content writer/copywriter as the bowler, the piece of copy you write as the ball, and the pins as your brand voice. Even if you are a great bowler sometimes you won’t hit all the pins or will even hit an occasional gutter ball (if you’re me), this is where your brand voice guidelines (the bumpers) come in. Your brand voice guidelines help you ensure that every piece of copy you create is going to hit the target.
How Do You Create Your Brand Voice Guidelines?
Here’s your checklist:
Your brand’s unique selling point
A comprehensive description of your target audience (or audiences)
What your company stands for and its goals
Any slogans or taglines
Any other messaging that might be used
Your brand story
The tone of voice that should be used when writing messages for the brand, including examples of it in use – i.e. snippets of web copy and sample social media posts
Give actual examples of the dos and don’ts of your brand characteristics with before and after copy
Any words or phrases you don’t want to be used in brand messages- i.e. use “you” instead of “we”, avoid the “tech terms”
When these messages or tone of voice should be used – i.e. do you expect staff to utilize a particular tone of voice in emails? Or is it only something they need to worry about when creating content that will be shared publicly?
I hope all these tips help you understand the importance of brand voice and get you on the way to defining yours. If you have any questions or comments on what topic I should cover next feel free to drop them below. If you need more help in this process of defining your voice feel free to reach out to me via this link.