Originally published on 12/07/2020. Last updated on 03/02/2024.
You’ve crafted a unique brand identity. You know what sets your business apart. But somehow, when it comes to expressing that identity online, something gets lost in translation. It feels like your brand’s personality has become muffled. How do you ensure your true voice shines through? This post will unpack how to discover your authentic brand voice and ensure it shines through in a crowded online space.
Discovering Your Brand Voice
So how do you pinpoint your own unique brand voice? Here are some key steps to guide you:
- Start with Your Why: Emphasize that your brand voice should stem from your business’s core values and mission statement. What are you passionate about? What problem do you uniquely solve for your customers?
- Know Your Audience: Understanding your ideal customer is key. Ask yourself:
- Who are they, demographically?
- What are their pain points and aspirations?
- How do they speak and communicate online?
- Personality Brainstorm:
- List 3-5 adjectives that describe how you want your brand to be perceived (e.g., innovative, trustworthy, approachable).
- Imagine your brand as a person – how would this person speak and interact with others?
- Analyze Your Competitors: Take a look at how similar businesses communicate. What do you like about their tone? What feels off-brand for you? This helps you understand what makes you different.
- Review Existing Content:
- Evaluate your website, social media, and marketing materials.
- Identify any inconsistencies in tone or messaging. What works well, and what doesn’t?
How to Project Your Brand Voice
Now that you have a solid grasp of your brand’s personality, it’s time to ensure that voice carries through everything you do online. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Share Your Brand’s Values
One thing that customers enjoy finding out about your business is that you share the same values as them. It helps foster brand loyalty and also helps get people involved in the causes you care about the most.
Making these values known to your audience will help grab their attention and help reinvigorate a sense of community, both within your brand and your area. It tells your audience that you are on the same page, and makes them more willing to support you.
However, it’s important to remember why you are acting on these values in the first place. As a small business owner, it’s important to give back to the community and act on the causes that are important to you. You cannot support an organization or do volunteer work as a marketing stunt. Customers are usually able to see through this and, overall, it doesn’t really benefit anyone.
Show the values that you have built your business on. It helps give new depth to your brand and tells your customers who they’re really buying from. You’ll find much more authentic engagement and a stronger sense of community when you display your values proudly.
Look at Your Brand Voice in Content
Everything that you publish online, whether it be on your website or social media channels, should all use the same tone of voice. Consistency will help customers feel more comfortable interacting with your business because they will know what to expect. Plus, it helps solidify your brand’s ever-important personality.
With that being said, take a look at what that voice “sounds” like. Is your writing conversational? Is it using the “show, don’t tell” method? Does your writing sound like you are attached to your thesaurus?
A good general rule is to write the way that you talk. As people skim through your site, they probably don’t want to be bogged down with too many large words or complicated sentences. Try to keep sentences under 20 words whenever possible and stick to one or two syllables. Also, you always want to use active voice.
And if the writing isn’t coming naturally this way, take a hard look at what you’re actually saying. Is it interesting to your audience? Is it a topic they will take the time to sit down and read about for several minutes?
People on the Internet move fast. Keep your language and topics light and easy to digest, and then you can keep up with their pace.
Use Your Brand Voice Appropriately
When conducting a small business in an online space, it’s important to practice active listening. Know what your customers are saying about you. Get a sense of how they feel about your business. Be present on your channels.
If you are solely posting content about your products or promotions, your audience might start feeling like you’re shouting at them. Social media and online posts are all about having a two-way conversation. That’s what has made our current digital situation so unique. Never before have customers been able to instantly talk to their favorite companies, providing feedback and asking questions. It can make business owners feel a little bit vulnerable.
Instead of shying away from the comments, try to embrace them as much as possible. You’re getting immediate feedback, and that can be a very good thing. It allows you to adjust your strategies in the moment when they aren’t working, or lean into them if they are.
Then, after you have thoroughly listened, be prepared to respond. This may mean responding to direct messages and comments or putting up a far-reaching post on your main feed. Whichever way is most appropriate, you cannot use silence as the way to handle customers. They want to know that there is someone on the other side of their screens.
Even though making adjustments after receiving negative feedback can be uncomfortable, it will increase your brand reputation overall. People will be more willing to listen to you in the future because you listened to them. Your brand’s voice will be heard loud and clear.
Putting It All Together
It can be frustrating when you feel like you’ve worked so hard on your brand only for it to seem muffled as it goes out online. However, the worst thing you can do is stop trying. Keep making adjustments little by little as time goes on, and be ready to adjust to the needs and expectations of your audience. As you continuously get to know what it is your customers are looking for, they will be more receptive to your message.
Building your brand messaging can be time-consuming, but if you need a partner, Vervology is here to help! Our expert team can handle building your online brand while you focus on running your business. Get in touch with us; we’d be happy to help you.