While the most obvious elements of a brand, such as packaging and logos of companies, are simple to design and create, other aspects like voice and tone can be more difficult to define and get right.
What is a brand? It is the feelings people associate with your company. It includes their feelings and thoughts when they see your logo, hear a name or use a product.
Branding is about defining the business’ personality. A strong brand creates trust and familiarity, which makes it memorable to consumers.
It is essential to establish and control a brand voice in order to increase brand credibility and awareness. Marketers don’t want to alter the business’s image. Communication is not effective if a brand voice seems inconsistent. Brands without personality are less likely to attract loyal customers.
Steps to Identifying a Brand Voice for Increased Awareness and Credibility
1. Know your brand
Are you struggling to find your brand’s voice and message? Know your brand. Begin by understanding your company and its goals, products and services. Next, gather information about the market, clients and competitors.
A brand style guide with a mission statement, clear selling points and a logo design is a great place to begin. This will help you define the purpose of your business and the unique offer it offers to customers.
2. Style is everything
Consistency is achieved by ensuring consistency in style. We maintain a consistent standard of quality across all websites, products and marketing. The copywriter behind the message is not visible to the customer when they read it.
The brand voice is the same personality that the business has always been. A style guide will help you define and control your brand’s voice. It is a good idea to print it and give it to all relevant people so they can have a look. No matter how you store your guide make sure it is accessible to all relevant stakeholders, including writers, salespeople, and agency professionals.
3. Identify the context
It is essential that branding communicates the right message to every customer touch point in order to make it valuable. Consumers can come across a company’s brand at many places. These include the website, social media and apps, software, email and advertising, messenger and media.
The message should be tailored to the context and audience. This can be done by choosing the right tone and voice. A promotional email may use a different tone than an online display ad. A post on Facebook or LinkedIn can have a different tone than one on Facebook.
Use the correct tone at the right moment. Be aware of how your message can change depending on readers’ emotions and use the right tone.
Small business owners, as well as those with large businesses, need to be able to brand. Smart branding can be a great business tool if you have a small budget.
