We’re officially to part four of the four-part series on why Brand Strategy, Brand Mission, Brand Values and Brand Voice matter to your brand. Today we tackle Brand Voice, a favorite topic and service provided here.
I talk a lot about brand voice, for a more detailed entry check out “What is Brand Voice?”. To me, how you speak and what you say is just as important as how you look! It’s why we’re drawn to our friends (I mean hopefully you’ve chosen your friends for more than just their looks! And our favorite brands. But for many organizations, brand voice is either not a priority or sometimes not a part of their conversation or experience at all.
At Ladder, brand voice is defined as the way you speak to consumers across all channels. The way you sound and most importantly the way you make them feel.
Our world has become quite accepting and expecting of visual brand identity and the importance of a logo and a certain look and feel as part of the brand experience. But people don’t often give verbal brand identity the same attention. Consistent copy and tone are just as important to your brand experience.
Here are Three Reasons Why Brand Voice Should Matter to Your Brand:
Definition and Alignment: Again, with the reference to the way you discover new friends and development relationships…brand voice is another great tool to help you and your consumers understand what you are and are not. By creating a voice to accompany your brand, you are defining yourself, what you look like, how you sound, the tone you want to set and then giving consumers the opportunity to identify with that and build a relationship.
Consistency: In more than one way a defined voice contributes to the consistency of your brand. First, by way of giving you a guide for your writing so that you sound the same across multiple channels and touchpoints. Second, it provides another opportunity for you to reinforce your personality and the image you are portraying by linking your voice and your visual presentation in a powerful way.
Recognition and Familiarity: There is nuance in tone that becomes familiarity, familiarity that then garners respect and trust. If you establish a clear brand voice your users and readers will come to know what to expect and come to know you, which means they’ll also be able to tell and look out for when something doesn’t quite sound or feel like you.
And whether you are a solo marketer or have a team of writers, your brand voice can always sound like it’s coming from the same person, with the development of brand voice guidelines. The same way you have logo guidelines, having brand voice guidelines is a document you can reference for every blog, social media post, email, product description or sales pitch you write. This consistency will you help you build a more meaningful relationship with your ideal consumer. Plus, it will also save you time and energy each time you write.
Brand Voice Guidelines should always highlight the following:
Brand Attributes
Voice Definition, Description and Do’s/Don’ts
Actual Examples of what things your brand Would and Would Not say
So now that you know the importance of all these brand assets, go and make them matter to your brand and the people who believe in it.