Speaking comes pretty naturally for me, however, writing does not. Funny how the words that come out of your mouth don’t always flow as smoothly when you write, am I the only one?? It’s a whole struggle. An unavoidable struggle, let’s face it running a business takes a lot of words. Blog words, social media words, website copy words, pricing guide words, okay okay you get the point. So today I wanted to take some time and explore the methods I used to find my brand voice, keep it consistent, and how it has evolved with my business.
So what is your brand voice? Put simply it refers to the personality that’s infused in your business communication. Just like consistent visuals help build a foundation of trust, your brand voice is a key component in building authentic connections with your audience. Your brand voice tells your clients what you are selling and why they should care.
Whether you’ve given it much thought or not, your brand has a voice is also telling your audience a lot about you personally. For instance, does your brand use a lot of acronyms? Does it use a lot of trendy buzz words? Is it a straight shooter? Does it use emojis? These are all things to consider when establishing your writing style and showing your personality.
I never write directly into the platform where I will be sharing the content. What does that mean? Well if I’m writing a post for Instagram or a blog post or even just a thought for twitter I always pre-write in Notes on my phone or even the back of a receipt in my purse (even though I have a million TJ Maxx journals). This gives me time to let the thoughts flow and to see the text without any special formatting. I read it out loud a couple of times to make sure it sounds like me and then I sprinkle a few emojis in for good measure.
So here’s a little exercise, next time you get ready to write a social media post, try recording yourself explaining it to a friend. I’m sure you and that friend have some commonality and that’s the angle on which your conversations are built. The same thing applies to your audience and clients. When you show up as your unique, beautiful, talented self – someone out there WILL resonate with that!! Building a brand voice based on how you naturally communicate is going to make connecting with the right clients much easier.
How you write on twitter is not how you would write on Linkedin and vice versa. Some platforms are more casual than others. Some platforms your audience is different. For instance, if you are a senior photographer, on Instagram and Snapchat your audience is probably teenagers who are using hashtags to find you. But on Facebook, you are speaking directly to the parents who will be signing the checks. Both platforms are important but you could see how your tone may vary slightly.
Another factor that may impact your brand voice is TIME! You’ve been in business now for a few years and you have a much clearer vision for your business now than when you first started out. Perhaps your favorite services have changed, you’re now offering more education pieces in your business, or you’ve simply discovered a new niche. No matter if you’re Beyonce 2006 or Beyonce 2016 give your clients something they can count on.
The moral of the story. No matter what your brand voice is short and sweet, sassy and bold, funny, and sarcastic, you want to make sure it comes across knowledgable and welcoming to your client. Your content should speak from a place of authority letting your client know that you are confident in what you are telling them and you believe in the success of whatever you are offering, whether that’s a service or a product.
A fundamental component of consistency in your brand is automation. Once you’ve found your brand voice, don’t forget to automate it!
© 2017- 2024 BRANDED BY BERNEL, LLC
TERMS AND CONDITIONS