Brand Voice

The voice of a brand makes it stick in consumer’s memories.

Especially brands with strong and unique characteristics.

For example, in Sprout Social’s 2020 Index what helped brand stand out to consumers was:

• Memorable content (40%)
• Distinct personality (33%)
• Compelling storytelling (32%)

And everything mentioned aboves comes from the brand’s voice.

So in this post, we will learn:

• What brand voice is
• How to create your own

Let’s get started.

What is a brand voice?

Brand voice is the brand’s character in its communications.

And the brand voice should be consistent on all communication channels.

For example, a strong brand voice will be the same on:

• Social media
• Email communications
• Blog posts

A good brand voice will help your brand:

• Stand out from the others
• Help consumers remember you
• Help consumers relate to your brand

Done right and this helps create strong brand loyalty.

Also, brand voice attracts potential consumers before they know about your products or services.

A brand voice can be powerful by being:

• Funny
• Inspiring
• Emotional
• Bold
• Casual
• Formal
• Poetic
• Direct

How to Create a Brand Voice

Your brand’s mission

Your brand’s mission helps determine your brand voice’s characteristics.

For example, including your values in your content, like:

• Transparent
• Eco-friendly
• Modern

Make the writing clear, straightforward and direct about your brand’s values. 

And express opinions in your content confirming this.

So, when creating a brand voice, think about your values.

Because these values become part of your brand’s voice.

Research your audience and buyer persona  

Your audience determines if you’ve created a successful brand voice.

So, it’s important to think about your buyer persona.

Because your voice isn’t right if it doesn’t impact your audience in the right way.

Also, research your audience to know which type of content will perform best for them, helping create a strong voice.

For example, surveying your audience or using tools like Google Analytics to find websites your readers navigate.

Your voice will be different depending on the type of content your readers consume.

Some will want casual and funny writing but others want academic content.

Your best content and why they work

Check your content that does the best and note down the voice you used.

Because your audience already likes these pieces of content, which is likely because of the voice.

So, note down parts of the voice you can use across your brand.

Do and don’t list

Deciding what you don’t want your brand voice to be helps pick the right brand voice.

A few examples of what you don’t want your brand voice to be could include:

• Not pretentious
• Not too serious
• Not unfriendly

Then you can have a clearer picture of what your brand voice should be:

• Down-to-earth
• Authentic
• Funny
• Casual
• Humble
• Helpful

Communications document to align on brand voice

After creating your brand voice, make sure your company is on the same page and use it for all marketing materials.

If you have in-house writers, create a training course so new writers learn how to write for your brand.

And for guest contributors, publish guest contributor guidelines so all your writing aligns with your brand voice.

Make a brand voice template

Now it’s time to get out your spreadsheet.

Write down important brand voice characteristics and how writers can use them in their writing.

Make sure you give some examples so it’s easier to weave your brand voice into all of your content.

Conclusion

Now it’s time for you to build a strong, compelling brand voice for your business.

Just remember, a good brand starts with the brand voice and then its content.

Now it’s over to you.

Tell me about your brand voice and how you built it.

Let me know in the comment section below.