Here are 10 reasons why you need to take your brand voice seriously. After all, Everything you say or write on behalf of your organisation adds up to your brand voice. You may not have planned it, but by default or design, it exists. However, the chances are, that unless you’ve seriously thought about it (ideally with some expert external help) it will be inconsistent and lack the distinctiveness every brand needs to succeed.
See ‘Why do you need a manifesto’
Top 10 reasons why you need a brand voice:
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To join up all your comms channels into one consistent personality
If you speak one way on your website, another way on LinkedIn and use another style again on your social channels, customers or clients who read more than one will be confused. Are you informal or traditional, snappy or flowery, hard sell or seductive, humorous or earnest? If the answer is ‘it depends who wrote it’, you have a problem. -
To stand out against your competitors
In every industry the market leader tends to set the tone. Their challengers often fall into the trap of thinking that sounding the same is the only way to be seen as legitimate and trustworthy. But the opposite is true. What can you do to provide a recognisable alternative? -
To avoid making generic statements
In most markets the same stock phrases come up time after time. Everybody’s ‘celebrating success’, being ‘solutions oriented’, and committing themselves to being ‘sustainabily-focused’. Yadda, yadda. The question is, what makes you different? And if you don’t sound it, are you really?
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To find original ways to say familiar things
Of course, sometimes there are ‘hygiene’ factors and must-haves that you need to cover to provide reassurance. But that shouldn’t mean pasting it in from a competitor. Every sentence you write or publish is an opportunity to be memorable. -
To maximise your spend and avoid splintered and ineffective messaging
Good websites don’t come cheap (sadly, nor do bad ones). Advertising costs a pretty packet too. So what’s the point in spending company money on a style of messaging in one channel, if it’s not reflected in the others? Why run a social media campaign that links to a website that looks and sounds totally different? Or relaunch your website without updating your LinkedIn page?
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To remind yourselves what makes you special and different
Even the most senior and long-serving people in an organisation can forget what makes their brand special. The day-to-day can take over, allowing tactical considerations to submerge any idea of an overarching narrative. A strong brand voice ensures you know who you are, new recruits do, and so do people who interview for roles at every level from the C-suite to the suite cleaners.
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To remind clients or customers why you’re special and different
Most importantly, a strong brand voice ensures clients and customers both existing and new, know who you are and feel they’ve made a distinct choice that’s right for them. -
To simplify your offering into easily communicable human terms
Emotion is a word we use a lot to Brand Voice Agency. Especially to clients who work in fields where they imagine everything they do is rational. Humans aren’t like that, and whether they’re choosing cereal, or Exchange Traded Funds, they’re ultimately guided by their gut. Your brand voice helps you speak to them, human-to-human.
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To stand for something
At the heart of every distinctive brand voice is an organising thought. Once you’ve uncovered that, your brand voice flows naturally from it. -
To avoid standing for just anything
As the saying goes, ‘if you don’t stand for something, you’ll stand for anything’. Your brand voice helps you remain distinctive at all times and create affinity with a loyal core of customers. You can’t be everything to everybody, but the aim is to be the perfect fit for enough people to make your brand a consistent success.
We’ve helped every kind of brand, from those needing a sensitive approach to men’s health, to those needing to add humanity to management consultancy.
Talk to Brand Voice Agency today, to uncover your distinctive brand voice. Email contact@brandvoice.agency
