We all know at least one person with such a distinctive voice, you can hear them above the noise of all others. We often say, “I could pick out that voice in any crowd!” Well, your brand’s voice should be no different.

Why Your Voice Matters

First of all, what exactly is a brand voice? In simplified terms, it’s how you display your brand’s personality in every form of communication (emails, social media, website, advertising, etc.) It’s essential to define your brand’s voice whether you’re a start-up or a one-hundred-year-old company because what you say and how you say it will have the most significant impact on consumers. Your voice is your best asset to form meaningful connections with your audience and remain relevant as culture and communications evolve.

How To Use It

Your brand’s voice should stay the same no matter what, but its tone of voice can vary depending on three factors:

1. Your audience
2. The context of the situation
3. The platform you’re communicating on

Having a thorough understanding of your audience will help your team determine which tone of voice to use when it comes to communicating on various platforms. Some practices to understand your audience better could include but are not limited to social listening tools, online surveys, focus groups, and general scrolling. And just remember—you wouldn’t speak the same in a business email as you would in a social media post, so being “verbally aware” is crucial when it comes to utilizing your voice and tone(s) of voice effectively. Knowing and using your brand’s voice in creative, relevant ways is the best strategy to create authentic relationships and stand out above the noise—not as the loudest voice, but as the voice that makes your brand uniquely itself.

Where Do I Start? The best way to determine or redefine your brand’s voice is to start from the beginning. To know your brand’s voice, you must know who your brand is. Brand guides are great tools for internal teams—they create the skeleton of your brand, organizing its who’s, what’s, and whys for better internal and external communication and operating systems. A brand guide will include your mission, vision, and value statement; your brand’s personality, persona, archetype(s), audience, and voice and tone(s); and your brand’s visual identity. Creating a brand guide challenges you to sit down and ask yourself “Do I really know my own brand?” If you want to discover (or rediscover) your brand’s unique voice through this exercise, contact us!