Your brand voice is the tone and character that you use to speak to your audience. It’s hugely important because it’s what makes your business feel tangible. The interactions that you have with this voice are what will bring customers back to you. So without further ado, let’s talk about how to perfect your brand voice.
Who’s Talking?
Firstly, make the decision about who is talking to the audience. By this we mean, is it the business itself or is it an employee (a CEO, social media manager etc)? You can have great success with either. DigitalMarketer signs it’s emails from CEO Ryan Deiss, whereas Canva signs off as Canva. It’s totally up to you, but make a choice and stay consistent.
Friend of Mentor?
To answer this question, it’s important to understand who your audience is. Do they want to hear from a helpful friend or a mature mentor? It’s a spectrum, so you can’t go too far wrong somewhere in between the two.
What language to use?
Are you going to speak with language that everyone understands, or use jargon? Think about your target audience. Who are they and what language does it make the most sense to talk to them in? It doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can find your happy medium where you can use mostly easy language with a hint of jargon or jargon with a hint of easy language.
Words come first.
Cast your mind over a handful of brands known for their tone – Innocent, Pret, Howies – they didn’t follow a ten-step process. All these brands had one good writer at the start, and their style became the brand’s over time. So focus on the words first and then the voice. Over time, the two will become one.
Have a point of view
Many brands don’t want to be controversial so shy away from having a public point of view. However, this is what makes a brand memorable. For example, Pret’s environmental stance is militant and this gives them more to write about, in turn making them more interesting.
Follow these tips and tricks created by us here at Rapid and your brand voice will come on leaps and bounds. Soon you’ll be talking to others about how to perfect your brand voice. Don’t overcomplicate it. Don’t panic about it either. Understand who you are and who your audience is and you can’t go too far wrong.