The Importance of Brand Voice | How to Establish Your Personality Through the Written Word

When building a brand there are many things to consider, one of them, and arguably the most important, is the brand voice i.e. the personality and tone of a brand's messaging.

So why is it important? 

Well, an established and strong brand voice helps brands to:

• Differentiate and stand out from competitors
• Establish a relationship with its customers. 
• Build trust and credibility with its audience.
• Create a cohesive brand image
• Ensure all messaging is consistent and aligned with their values. 

Having a well defined brand voice can also make messaging more memorable and effective. For instance, if you have a fun, playful brand voice that’s in tune with your audience and is relatable to them, then it’s more likely to engage and retain customers than a more formal, serious tone, which may be off-putting if not reflective of your product or service.

Now, before you think you need to add a joke to every piece of content, consider these things first:

• Audience: Who is your target audience? What kind of tone and personality will resonate with them? 
• Values: Your brand voice should align with your values and reflect what you stand for. Don’t make light of, or crack jokes about, things that are important to you.
• Differentiation: A strong brand voice can help you differentiate from competitors and stand out.
• Consistency: It's important to maintain consistency in your brand voice across all channels and communications. Chopping and changing your tone just confuses your audience.
• Adaptability: While it's important to maintain consistency, a brand voice should also be adaptable and be able to evolve as the company grows and changes. What may have been appropriate for a 10 person company might not be for a 100 person company as things become more serious.

In short, think of your brand voice as the personality of the company. But how do you ensure this comes across within the written word effectively?

• Use a consistent tone: Choose a tone that reflects your brand's personality and values, and try to maintain consistency in your writing.
• Use descriptive language: Use descriptive language to help convey your personality and bring your messaging to life.
• Use active voice: Using active voice, as opposed to passive voice can help make your writing more engaging and dynamic. A handy tip to spot passive voice is, if you can add ‘by zombies’ to the end of a sentence and it still makes sense – then it’s likely passive. Think ‘the zombies attacked the village’ as opposed to ‘the village was attacked…by zombies’.
• Use storytelling: Storytelling can be a powerful way to connect with your audience and convey your brand's personality. 
• Be authentic: It's important to be authentic and genuine in your writing. Avoid using language or tones that feel inauthentic or forced. Inauthenticity can be hugely off putting for a prospective customer, undermining trust.

Here at Pic, we offer a variety of copywriting services that can help transform your voice, get in touch to see how your brand can stand out within the market. By Zombies (OK, yeah, we’re good).