Marketing Tip Tuesday: Raise Your Voice
Hello everyone, and welcome to another week of Marketing Tip Tuesday!
A few weeks ago, I covered some basic aspects of brand tone and how subtle changes in that tone can influence the way that your audience receives your message.
Today, let's talk about brand voice. You can think of your brand's voice as its overall "personality", whereas brand tone can be considered your brand's "attitude".
Think about what words come to mind when considering your brand. Most brands are an extension of the owner's personality, so what words describe you? Are you outgoing, silly, flirty, enthusiastic, sophisticated, understated, cool, nerdy (in the best way possible), etc.? We could list countless descriptors, but the point remains: find out what words best relate to your personality and evaluate how closely your brand aligns to it. If it differs even slightly, then go through what you desire your brand personality to be. This could be based on your product or service, USP (unique selling proposition), industry, competitors, and more.
For instance, many companies - especially startups - in the sports-technology industry often seek a brand voice that's cool, straight-forward, knowledgeable, cutting-edge, and up-to-date on industry jargon. On the other hand, a dog-treats company would likely want to cultivate a brand voice that's fun, cutesy, lovable, and enthusiastic - just like our four-legged friends.
When developing your brand voice, it is also key to strive for authenticity. What does this mean, exactly? Well, as it has been briefly mentioned, you want to ensure that your brand doesn't come off sounding like a corporate bot. Once you have an idea of your brand voice/personality, it's important to interact with your audience as if the brand is a "person" - to a certain extent. Professionalism must always be considered during these interactions, but it's important to maintain a level of humanity in your brand's engagement! Read more about this aspect here.
Overall, here are the key points to consider when evaluating your brand voice:
- Who you are as a person vs. who you are as a brand
- How you want your audience to view the brand: casual vs. formal, straight-forward vs. enthusiastic, etc.
- How your brand's voice can extend into your audience interactions for maximum authenticity
Hopefully this helps to clear up the difference between voice and tone, and you now have some ideas for developing your own brand voice. And if you get stumped: allow me to help!
Have a great week!