How to keep the brand voice consistent across your content
It is a widely established fact that content marketing is an effective tool for creating brand awareness, projecting thought leadership, and eventually increasing market share. It is the heart and soul of digital marketing, with 92% of marketers reporting content as a valuable business asset.
Brands today are creating various kinds of content – blogs, infographics, videos, GIFs, social media posts, and more – to engage with their target audience. They are also present on numerous platforms to ensure maximum reach. With so much content flooding the internet, it is easy to get lost in the clutter. That’s why a business needs a brand identity, a personality, a voice.
Why it’s important to have a distinct voice
A brand voice is what tells the audience who you are and what you represent. It enables them to identify you without your brand name or logo. This essentially means that if they read a blog put out by your company, they are immediately able to recognize that it is from you – before even seeing the brand name.
Having a voice also humanizes the brand and gives it a persona. Just as you would remember only a couple of people for their characteristics from dozens you meet at a party, a brand voice helps your target group identify your brand and makes it stick. By enabling brand recognition, it helps you stand out from the endless chatter on the internet and gain an edge over the competition.
But it’s not enough to have a humanizing voice that resonates with your brand; it is imperative to have a consistent one as well. A consistent voice ensures every piece of communication is aligned to the company vision. It enables clear and effective communication, capturing attention in the first few seconds, and helping to build a strong connection with the audience. Lastly, it also goes a long way in building strong customer loyalty and trust.
However, it is vital to not confuse brand tone with brand voice. The latter defines the underlying personality of the brand, while the brand tone conveys the message depending on the context. A tone can change to suit the content platform and context, but a voice should be unwavering.
5 Tips for developing an authentic brand voice
These simple yet effective tips will help you create a bespoke brand voice and keep it consistent through different content pieces.
Research, research, research
Before you sit down to decide the voice of your brand, you need to put enough thought and research into it. Talk to your audience. See where they are and what they like. Conduct a survey to understand their preferences. Additionally, see what your competitors are doing. Check if there is something they’re doing right that you can emulate or if they’re making any mistakes you can learn from. Look at market trends to see what seems to be working. Study what various brands are doing and pick up examples that resonate with you. Once you have narrowed down, conduct A/B testing to understand what works better. Putting in enough research at this stage will ensure that you don’t feel the need to change the brand voice very often.
Give your brand unique traits
Ask yourself who your brand would be if it were a person. Would it be the sweet person everyone likes? Would it be witty and quirky? Or would it be serious and dependable? This will help you create a unique persona that will stand out from your competitors. Use three words to describe your brand and the way you want it to be perceived by your customers. Then see how these traits reflect in your communication. So, if your brand is dependable, the content should be trustworthy, reliable, and authentic. To cite an example, Amul’s traits would be sweet, witty, and realistic as it picks up real-life incidents and engages the customer with witty and heart-warming content.
Create a detailed brand book
This is the Holy Grail for branded content. It is essentially a style guide that ensures your communication does not waver from the defined brand voice even if the content is being created by different people. This will have details of the brand traits, persona, language, approach, style of English, grammar, tone, colors, visuals, and more. It will also mention the dos and don’ts for your brand. For example, use US English, avoid slang, etc. Once you have created this brand book, circulate it and train everyone who is involved in content creation. If you often hire freelancers, ensure they understand your voice and style thoroughly.
Maintain your brand voice across platforms
Today, brands need to have a presence across blog sites, social media such as Facebook and Twitter, business networking sites such as LinkedIn, and more. They also need to create various content formats to cater to these platforms, ranging from photo posts to articles to videos. It is important to stay true to your voice irrespective of the medium. This will ensure brand recognition, wherever you are. For example, Apple has a simple and direct approach. It doesn’t indulge in technical jargon; rather, it uses vocabulary that its audience is familiar with. The images it employs are minimalist, just like its logo. And if you noticed, this doesn’t change whether the company is writing a one-line caption or doing an hour-long presentation.
Adapt with the changing times
While it is necessary to be consistent with your brand voice, you should also remember that it is not set in stone. With changing times and situations, you will have to adapt and evolve. As new competitors emerge, market dynamics change, and your product offering pivots, it is important to revisit and change your brand voice. For example, the current pandemic situation is sensitive and unpredictable. So, a witty or snarky approach won’t work. In such situations, brands should adapt their voice to be empathetic, encouraging, and reassuring.
Keep these things in mind before you decide on a brand voice and you’ll have a content approach that is uniquely you.