Brand voice is brand personality. Just like people have personalities, your brand has core values and beliefs. Finding your brand voice is key to building an attractive, resilient, and long-lasting brand.
The most well-known brands in the world are experts at conveying brand voice. Companies like Coca-cola and Nike have distinctive messaging that helps the consumer recognize the product before they even realize what brand it is. That’s the power of brand voice.
Why is finding my brand voice important?
Your brand voice is integral in several of your marketing elements. Visually, it will appear in your logo, brand colors and fonts, and any other graphic or imagery you use in your business. Brand voice is crucial in content because it’s not only how you share your stories, but also it’s what can set you apart from everyone else. It includes everything from your website to social media to internal SOPs and documents you share with your clients.
Finding a strong brand voice helps you gain recognition and creates more brand loyalty because people learn what to expect from you. True brand awareness, when the general public can recognize a brand purely from its content, comes from clarifying your brand voice.
How do I find my brand voice?
When considering your brand voice, imagine your brand is a person. Ask yourself, what is their personality and what type of language do they use? Take a look at other products your ideal client is using and look at that brand’s voice.
Remember that what you come up with for your brand voice should be used and standardized across your communications, from social media to ads to e-newsletters and blog posts. You’ll create and implement brand voice guidelines to keep consistent in those channels.
Three steps to building brand voice
- Open a Google doc and write down your mission statement and core values. This document will be something that everyone at your company should be familiar with and refers to when they create material related to the brand.
From there, brainstorm words that best describe your brand’s ” personality, ” and choose 5-7 to get started. Use words like:
- Bold or reserved
- Formal or informal
- Old-fashioned or innovative
- Quiet or loud
- Playful or serious
- Calm or energetic
- Edgy or conservative
Next, write out a few sentences or bullet points that explain exactly what it means to you and your brand. Compliment this with:
- Examples of how these would play out in real life
- Dos and don’ts around them
Remember that these all need to feel authentic and unique to the product or service you’re offering. Try not to be influenced by too many other brands. Just because something sounds cool for someone else doesn’t mean it fits your brand. Stay true to yourself and your brand. Do what will work best for you.
- Think about your intended target audience and what they like. Do they use language particular to a specific niche? Make sure you use words they interact with daily and incorporate them into your brand voice.
- Your brand guidelines document is a living, breathing thing. While your brand’s identity, mission, and values will likely stay the same, your brand voice will evolve. Avoid building your brand guidelines and then never refreshing them. Just like your product and service grow, so must your brand voice.
A few extra tips
It’s also important to keep channels open between you and your audience. Ask for feedback often because you want your brand to resonate with your audience. This makes your audience the best resource.
Once you establish your overall brand identity, you can dive further into details such as graphics, logo, and fonts. It will also help lay the groundwork for things like your social media strategy. But everything should be rooted in the work you do in this brainstorming.
Putting the work into this process probably won’t feel like work at all. Finding your brand voice should be fun. Build a brand that helps you stand out from the crowd. It will make all the difference in the world in giving life to your brand!
