Three steps to finding your brand voice
So, with that in mind, today’s article aims to bring you up to speed on how to build your brand, why it’s so important that we talk about it all the time, and how you can go about developing brand awareness and a unique cellphone number philippines format brand voice that will set you apart from your competition and put you on the path to content marketing success .
Want to learn more about how you can use Inbound Marketing techniques to build your brand's credibility?
Brand Voice: What is it?
Ask yourself this question:
"If someone read our latest LinkedIn update without seeing our brand name or logo, would they know it was us?"
If the answer is “No, probably not,” your brand voice needs some work.
Simply put, brand voice is how your brand represents itself to the world at large. There are two main aspects that, when combined, give your brand’s content a unique voice: style and tone.
Style: At the core of your brand voice
It's the way the content is written. The grammar, diction, sentence structure, etc. Style is largely based on what you know about your target audience and their preferences. For example, if your audience is primarily senior managers, decision-makers, and C-suite people, you might want to keep the style formal. Using professional language, complete sentences, and a thorough paragraph structure, avoiding internet slang or abbreviations, and employing clear and concise diction are all good ideas.
However, if you're targeting the average software developer, using jargon is probably acceptable - it shows that you understand your audience and can help them connect with you and your content. Short, punchy sentences are also great.
Tone: Closely follows the style
Technically a subcategory within style, tone has a feel of its own. It consists of the attitude or sentiment of the writing and sets the tone for the content.
Many beginners forgo it in favor of grammatically perfect content. This inevitably leads to dry and boring content. Make it your own! Make sure all contributing writers are well aware of your content guidelines so they can stick to the established tone in their articles.
Humor is often considered taboo in content creation . It’s NOT true that you can’t crack a joke, be witty, or even a little sarcastic in your content. Check out Wendy’s Twitter feed for a great example of humor used well. We’re not saying that level of sarcasm is appropriate in all contexts. If you’re primarily writing for a B2B audience, you might consider sticking to the topic. Maybe an occasional daddy-type joke is enough to endear you to that audience and keep them reading.
How to develop your own brand voice
Investigate.
To develop a brand personality that speaks to your audience and showcases your company and product in the best possible light, you need to know your audience, your product, and your company inside and out. This is the first and last tip we want you to take home today.
Step 1: Know your audience
This is where you'll want to put the majority of your research efforts. We truly believe that research is the foundation of every good content marketing strategy , targeted advertising campaign, and social media presence. Not to mention every product that sold millions of units or became "the next big thing."
You’ve done your marketing research, right? That means you should have buyer personas – they’re a great starting point for researching your brand’s audience. Talk to the marketing department and find out who their target buyers are . What can you glean from their data?
Age
Sex
Level of education
Sector
Where they spend their downtime online
Each parameter defined for your buyer persona is a parameter you'll want to consider when developing your content audience. Ultimately, your goal is to get people who will ultimately become satisfied customers.
If you find that your audience spends their free time on Reddit and Twitter, you know that internet slang and memes are your secret weapons for resonating with them. On the other hand, you might find that their preferred platform is LinkedIn, and that they are mid-career professionals with advanced degrees. You'll find style tips for that audience above. Suffice it to say, they're not the same as redditors and tweeters.
Step 2: Know your product
This may sound redundant at first. Trust us when we say that the amount of content that indicates the author has never touched, or even seen, the product they are supposed to be promoting is mind-boggling.
Schedule some time with the product team, designers, developers, etc. If anyone has been involved in the design and production of your company’s widget, sit down with them and explain in detail your knowledge of the widget. Next, sit down with the sales team. Find out what questions they’ve received from buyers, what language works for them, and how they’re positioning the company among its competitors.
Ask questions. Then, really listen to the answers.
Get a widget. If it's a software widget, install and configure it yourself, then use it. And if it's a practical, tangible widget, take it and try it out. Figure it out, use it as intended, and then see if you can use it in ways that it wasn't intended to but that you think your audience is likely to try.
All of this serves a couple of purposes. First, it will make you almost an expert on that widget. And in order to talk to your audience properly, answer their questions on social media, and connect with them in the comments, you need to know that damn widget. And second, this process will allow you to get to know that audience better. Seeing how they interact with your product will help you connect on a deeper level, which will lead to more conversions.