A couple is enjoying a romantic candlelight dinner, one gets up, takes the other’s hand, gets down on one knee, looks deeply into their eyes and says:
“Would you enter into a legal union that bestows certain rights and obligations and provides me with access to your existing and future property until one of us dies or the contract is legally dissolved?”
Dinner is over.
In business, as in this ridiculous example, how you talk to your customers can be make-or-break. Fair enough, if you’re proposing to someone, you’re not trying to push a brand, but you do need to set the right tone.
What’s a brand voice?
You’ve probably heard a lot about the tone of voice (or TOV), which is essentially the personality we use to communicate with people. Brand voice is bigger. Your tone is part of it, but it incorporates much more – it’s your ethos, your values, the look and feel. It’s how the world sees and hears you.
Too many businesses make the mistake of thinking branding is just about visuals. Of course, your logo, colour palette, imagery and the general look of your brand can have a huge impact on the way people perceive you. But your language is as important and needs just as much attention.
Here are five key benefits to getting your brand voice right.
- Being memorable
Unless you’re selling something extremely niche, it’s likely you’ll have a few competitors out there looking to attract the same customers as you. If you’re all saying the same thing in the same way, you won’t stand out. Find out what makes you unique in that jumble of voices and run with it.
Just remember that you don’t have much time to grab their attention. Internet users make snap judgements in seconds, so it’s not just about having something memorable to say. You do need to be able to differentiate your message but you need to be able to land it quickly and efficiently.
- Having a recognisable personality
Your brand voice is basically the embodiment of your business’ personality out there. You need to make sure it’s one that’s likeable, authentic and relevant for your target market.
It all starts with having a clear, distinct brand identity. Do you wear your values on your sleeve? Can you sum up your brand in three words? If you’re not sure what you stand for, how are your customers expected to?
Consistency is also key here. People are more likely to remember your brand if they can rely on the same voice each time they interact with you. This is also important because it helps to build credibility and trust. We’ll get to that in a bit.
- Connecting with the right audience
You probably have a good idea of who your ideal customer is. Think about how they speak, what their interests are and what’s important to them. Then build language and ideas that will resonate with them into your brand voice.
At Uniquity, we use the StoryBrand framework to bring marketing content to life. At its most basic level, it’s about making the customer the hero of the story with you as their guide, navigating them through a problem. This kind of narrative builds an emotional connection by demonstrating how your business can make their life better. And who doesn’t want that?
PS. Just shouting about how good you are doesn’t work.
- Building trust
We finally got here. This is what brings people back to you again and again and makes them advocates of what you do. Trust is an especially important quality for financial services brands, but it’s vital in any industry.
Of course, you need to walk the talk to really earn your customers’ trust. But having a clear, consistent, relevant brand voice is the first step in building the confidence to get them to choose you over everyone else.
- Making your job easier
The benefits aren’t just about building customer rapport. A good brand voice should do the heavy lifting for your business, representing who you are and why you do what you do at a glance. It’ll also make it easier for you to keep creating content that’s relevant and compelling for the right audience. Nailing down some guidelines on your brand persona and tone of voice will help steer your writing in the right, consistent direction for your brand.
That’s a bit about why your brand voice matters, we’ll look at how to craft the right one for you another time.
