Branding
How to Find Your Brand Voice
First of all, what is a ‘brand voice?’ Every company and brand has a brand voice. It’s the personality, mood and intention distilled into a company’s communications (ads, copywriting, blog posts, video scripts, etc.) A brand voice includes everything from the words and language you use, to the personality and image of your marketing assets. That being said, does your brand voice match..you?
Once upon a time, writing copy meant you had to be formal, use complete sentences and fancy words you wouldn’t actually use in your daily conversation. And it was acceptable. Until it wasn’t.
What happened is, more everyday people became their brands. And those brands started kicking ass and connecting with other real people. And the need to keep the brand voice real and consistent became imperative.
As audience members, we’ve decided ‘formal’ isn’t real, or even necessary. We’ve taken a more forgiving road, accepting smaller words and even grammatical errors for a more authentic voice. We are in an age where transparency is what we want. Show us your warts and back hair!
Ok, not really.
Seriously, though, we’ve moved beyond reality TV and want even more of the authentic side of everyone. Why? Because humans like to connect with real people. We are wired for connection and empathy. We are repelled by dishonesty.
Marketing has evolved and (thankfully!) the manner in which we speak to our audience has evolved, too. Marketing, for most of its smarmy life, was seen as deceiving and greasy. It doesn’t have to be like that. You and your brand don’t have to approach marketing like that.
How to Find Your Brand Voice
What does your brand voice currently sound like? Is it authentic to you and how you speak to a friend, or is it some stuffy version of your voice filtered through the ‘I fart in a wine glass’ persona?
The first thing you need to know is this: You are your brand. If you are not speaking to your audience (your tribe!) as you would at a dinner table, then you either aren’t using (or haven’t found) your brands’ voice.
So the key to finding your brand’s voice
How to Write When You Hate Writing
Writing emails, blog posts and copy are one of the biggest groans I hear from my clients. They hate to write. They don’t know what to write. They don’t know how to put everything in their head into an easy-to-consume body of text. But they’re screwing themselves by not taking the time to just connect. The whole point is to connect. If you’re personally attached to your business products and/or service, you can’t sell anything until you connect with your audience.
Not sure what to say? For starters, you can take all of that information sitting in your head and turn it into snippets of information for a newsletter or blog post. It doesn’t have to be written perfectly. It just has to be real and consistent. Even better, create several snippets of video for your YouTube channel.
The truth is, I don’t love writing, either.
I don’t consider myself a writer, but I am a communicator. And I’m big on thoughts and feelings. And getting those thoughts and feelings out. If you can approach your writing like journaling, sharing or writing a letter to a friend, I think you’ll find it a lot easier to just sit and write for 15 minutes a day. Look at it as your own form of therapy, also.
“Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed. It is only when you open your veins and bleed onto the page a little that you establish contact with your reader.” -Paul Gallico
Speak about what you know, about what you’re passionate about. Speak with respect and consideration. Share, laugh and as Paul Gallico said, “open a vein.”
Use your authentic voice. Don’t be afraid to storytell a little bit, share some insider secrets with your people. Don’t feel like you need to hide behind anything. Let your words flow. The right people will love you for you. Once you remove all of the unnecessary filters and expectations, you will find your voice.