How To Create A Brand Voice

"Can you hear me now??" Why it's important to develop a brand voice

Let's start with a definition. What exactly is a brand voice? Here's the first definition that comes up on Google: "A brand voice is the personality and emotion infused into a company's communications. It encompasses everything from the words and language you use, to the personality and image your marketing assets aim to invoke."

As you can see from that definition, a brand voice is pretty important. In my Content Workshops, the first thing I talk about is brand voice. It can often be the difference between really resonating with your target audience and sounding a bit out-of-step.

For example, let's take the following sentence: "Our product is highly regarded as the most advanced and has a multitude of recommendations". This is pretty formal and would probably fit best for a serious product. A financial advisor or drug company may use it. Let's say the same thing that may fit a more casual style: "Not to blow our own horn, but our product is awesome – see what people are saying on Instagram!" See the difference? That's the power of having the right brand voice.

Steps to develop your own brand voice

How do you develop a brand voice that really resonates? Here's a few questions you can ask to find what your brand voice should be:

• Take a look at your customer set. What are their demographics? Are they young or a bit older? Do they live in an area that speaks a certain way or uses certain terms?

• What is the product or service you are selling? This may seem obvious, but if you're selling a wellness solution, you need to use a different voice than if you're selling a financial product.

• Is your product selling a certain emotion? For instance, is it meant to soothe and provide peace of mind... or is it more active?

• Do you want to inspire people to feel adventurous or calm?

Some tips to create a brand voice that resonates:

• For Business to Business companies, brand voice tends to be a bit more formal

• For Direct to Consumer, it tends to be more casual. Just how casual depends on the product you're selling.

• Never use fear as a consistent part of your brand voice. Tapping into pain points is effective, but fear tends to turn people off if it's used too often.

• Be consistent in your brand voice. Don't use one voice for social media and another one for your newsletters. For instance, the brand voice I use for Marquette is more conversational than business-like. I want my personality to come through in my communications. But, when I was with GE Capital, it was a great deal more formal.

Reach out with any other tips or examples of the brand voice you use. Or let me know if you need help with developing a consistent brand voice for your business!