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Choosing The Right Voice For Your Brand

Brand's VoiceDeveloping your brand’s identity is a multi-faceted process, which includes designing a memorable logo, typeface, and taglines that demand attention. However, more importantly, it involves developing your brand’s voice. Your brand’s voice is the authenticity and personality behind the brand. Ask yourself this question: “If my brand could speak, what would it say?”

Think of your brand’s voice as the framework for a piece of content you create. From blog posts to tweets, your brand’s voice should resonate to your audience. Inconsistencies on different platforms can lead to confusion, instantly sabotaging your entire social media marketing strategy.

Below are a few ways to simplify the process when establishing your brand’s voice:

Get to Know Your Target Audience

Sit back and think about your target audience. What do they want to hear from you? What do they expect? Social media tools like Facebook’s Audience Insights can help you become a better listener and learn more about what your target audience likes, dislikes and what they expect from you.

For example, if most of your followers are 65 and older, creating memes geared for Gen X won’t work. You need to identify and connect with your audience before you create content.

Define Who You Are

Defining your brand social media presence voice is more than creating content. It’s about truly understanding your purpose and then creating content your audience will want to share. It should define who you are as a brand. The “we are, we are not” approach works extremely well for determining social media boundaries. For example, “We are witty. We are not goofy.” This clearly defines the boundaries for content creation. Yes, you want content that entertains, but you do not want content that is slap-stick silly and leaves a bad taste in your followers’ mouths.

Use the “we are or we are not” exercise, shoot for at least 15 to 20 statement to help you when creating content. Narrowing down your scope of content is just as important and finding your target audience.

Find Inspiration

Creating content is tough. It seems that no matter what you try, someone, somewhere has already done it. Whether you’re just starting out or recreating your brand social media presence, look to others for inspiration. Look to the most powerful voices on social media and define what makes them successful. Do they speak to their audience? What type of content do they create and how is it implemented? Find ways to create your own digital marketing strategies. Keep in mind that inspiration doesn’t always reside in your chosen niche. You may find it in a brand voice you follow outside of the office. However, when it comes to online success, knowing how to define your social media tone of voice can take many forms.

Marketing Playbook

Digital marketing strategies are less about what you say and more about how you say it. Details matter, so it’s important to define brand voice from day one. What type of verbiage will you use? What about typography? What kind of emotional response do you want your customers to have?

The foundation you lay for content creation should dictate the type of copy you create. Consistency saves time and money when deciding whether you should try something “new and exciting.” Creating your brand’s social media tone of voice can be the difference between being known and being one of the faceless many online.