How to Develop a Brand Voice

How to Develop a Brand Voice

How to Develop a Brand Voice

Are you looking to make your business stand out amongst your competitors? Developing a brand voice for your business is essential to achieving this goal.

HubSpot states, “A well-defined brand voice can underscore your authority, play up your playfulness, or simply bring the directness and relatability that consumers look for in brands. A poorly defined voice that changes frequently undermines your brand and alienates customers or clients.” In other words, your brand’s voice helps you effectively communicate messages to your target audience in a way that resonates with them.

A study by the Statista Research Department in April 2024 revealed that 90% of consumers say it’s important to trust the brands they purchase from or use. This statistic highlights the impact of brand voice on consumers and brand loyalty. As we delve into developing a brand voice for your business, we’ll explore its significance in the crowded digital landscape and how it can elevate your brand.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the key elements of an effective brand voice that resonates with your target audience and why a brand voice is important.

What is a Brand Voice?

HubSpot explains a brand voice as your brand’s personality in messaging and communications (advertisements, newsletters, blog posts, social media, pages on your website, etc). Your brand’s voice is unique to your company, reflects the company values, and shows your target audience what to expect from your brand’s content and services.

A brand tone and voice help your target audience know and understand your brand, as you create a dialogue. When your brand voice resonates with people, you can make lasting connections with them, ensuring brand loyalty.

Why is a Brand Voice Important?

SproutSocial states, “Brand voice is essential to being consistent and recognizable. All popular forms of content—from testimonials to videos—are driven by brand voice. The power of a strong brand voice is also important as social media becomes more saturated with artificial intelligence-generated content, as your brand voice helps you maintain authenticity.

Although AI can be a helpful tool for marketers to streamline processes, it can often lack a human tone. As AI-generate content becomes more prominent, incorporating your brand’s unique voice will allow your brand to stand out amongst competitors. When done well, your brand’s voice establishes brand awareness, as it helps people identify your brand by its content.

Now that we’ve discussed what a brand voice is and why it’s important, we’ll go over how to develop an effective brand voice for your business.

4 Tips for Developing a Brand Voice

 

  1. Identify your audience, brand personas, and brand identity.

SproutSocial explains that when you start formulating your brand voice by considering your target audience and marketing personas, you should list out personality traits and adjectives you want your brand to exude. For example, if your brand serves all 50 states in the United States and is targeting the Gen-Z population, you could use Gen-Z slang and other language that resonates with them. Make sure to conduct research on your target audience to ensure the language your brand is speaking their language.

A brand persona is a representation of your brand derived from your company values, voice and tone, and brand archetype. Essentially, this means constructing a fictional person as part of your target audience and providing them with a name, hobbies, income range, etc.

Your brand’s identity may include color schemes, logos, and slogans that set your brand apart from others. When developing your brand’s voice, keeping your identity in mind is essential because the identity you convey to others helps you resonate with them and gain new customers.

2. Audit your current content.

Take a look at high-performing content on your company website and social media channels. Identify what type of content is resonating with your audience. HubSpot recommends making a list of adjectives that describe your voice in top-performing pieces and highlight the most common elements.

Additionally, you can research content that performs well in your industry and geographic location. You can use this information to help you decide what tone to continue or discontinue using in content moving forward.

3. Tailor your content to different social media channels and content.

Your brand’s voice and tone will need to change based on the type of content and channel, therefore, you need to tailor it accordingly. For example, a social media post could be more light-hearted and contain a meme with a joke, while a more professional tone is necessary for responding to customer concerns and inquiries.

Your company may find it helpful to create a brand style guide to keep your brand’s tone and voice consistent, especially as your team tailors it to different content while maintaining authenticity and consistency.

4. Monitor, review, and regularly adapt.

Make sure to regularly review and adapt your brand’s voice. SproutSocial explains that, “Language evolves and the words you used five years ago might not be in style—or even have the same meaning—-today. Without a consistent check in on your brand voice, you risk sounding out of date, especially to your target audience.” In other words, your brand’s voice evolves over time and needs to change so your brand can stay relevant and continue to resonate with your target audience.

Final Thoughts

Developing a well-defined brand voice is essential for standing out in today’s competitive market. A strong brand voice establishes trust with consumers, resonates with your target audience, and reinforces brand loyalty.

By identifying your audience and brand personas, auditing current content, tailoring your voice across different platforms, and regularly adapting to evolving language trends, you can create a consistent and authentic brand identity. Maintaining this authenticity, even in the age of AI-generated content, will help your brand remain relatable, recognizable, and trusted by your audience.

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