Understanding Your Brand Voice

The way you communicate is one of the most powerful tools that you could ever have. This can be intimidating, but when done effectively can transform your relationship with your audience!

Your brand voice is the personality your business expresses through its communication. It’s not just a logo or color palate, but it’s the tone, style, and overall attitude that makes your brand recognizable and relatable. Having a clear and consistent brand voice helps build trust and connection with your audience. Make sense? Cool. Now, let’s get into how to define it, communicate it, and tailor it to your audience.

Defining your brand voice begins with understanding who you are as a business. Things to ask yourself:

1. What are your core values? Clarifying your values helps shape the tone and style of your communication.
2. What emotions do you want to evoke? – How do you want your audience to feel when they interact with your brand?
3. What makes you unique? – Highlight what sets your brand apart from competitors. This uniqueness will help you establish a voice that’s incomparably yours.

Once you’ve answered these questions, create a list of descriptive adjectives that encapsulate your brand. For example, if you’re a wedding planner, your brand voice might be joyful, warm, and personal. If you run a tech startup, it might be innovative, forward-thinking, and authoritative. If you need more help with this specific step, take a look at our last blog for some Easter eggs!

Once you’ve defined your voice, the next step is to communicate it across all platforms.

1. Develop brand voice guidelines – Create a document outlining your brand’s tone, style, and word choices based on the values. Should you use formal or informal language? Are you humorous? (Be honest..you don’t want to be wrong about this!) This guide will help you (and your team) maintain consistency across emails, social media, and marketing materials.
2. Tailor content to different platforms – While your brand voice should be consistent, it needs to adapt to each platform. Social media, for example, might require a more conversational tone than your website copy or email newsletters.
3. Engage with your audience – You can do this through comments, direct messages, and replies. Be personable and use language that reflects your brand. If your voice is fun and playful, respond to feedback with light humor. If it’s professional, keep responses concise and respectful.

(Olivia’s tip: Consistency is key to building recognition and trust. Think of it like a relationship. Who wants to give the person who never texts back their attention? Even when you do, it can be hard to keep up with multiple platforms, so feel free to reach out to us for help!)

No matter how well you define your brand voice, it won’t matter if you’re not communicating it to the right people.

1. Create a customer avatar – Creating a detailed profile of your ideal customer (their age, gender, occupation, hobbies, and pain points) helps you tailor your voice and marketing efforts to attract the right people.

(Olivia’s tip: Give your customer avatar a name. That way, it will feel like you are talking to that specific person every time you post.)

1. Research where your audience hangs out – Are they on Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok? Do they prefer blogs or podcasts? Understanding where your audience spends their time online allows you to meet them where they are.
2. Analyze your competition – Look at similar brands to see how they’re engaging their audience. What’s working for them? How do they interact with customers?
3. Experiment and gather feedback – Don’t be afraid to test different approaches. Whether it’s a new tone on social media or a fresh content style, gathering feedback will help you refine your voice and better connect with your audience.

BONUS TIP: Understanding what kind of business you have can also help you understand who you’re talking to. Here are some common business categories that you may fall under:

• B2B: Business-to-business, where a company/brand sells to other businesses, often in bulk or at wholesale prices
• B2C: Business-to-consumer, where a company/brand sells directly to consumers/clients
• D2C: Direct-to-consumer, where a company/brand sells directly to consumers/clients without using traditional retail channels or intermediaries

Take some time to research these different business types and how they may affect how you should talk to your audience.

Your brand voice is the heart of how your business communicates with the world. By taking the time to define it, understanding how to communicate it across all platforms, and tailoring it to the right audience, you’ll create a unique impression that resonates. Remember, your brand voice isn’t set in stone—it can evolve as your business grows, but it should always be an authentic reflection of who you are and what you stand for.