6 Steps to Discovering Your Brand Voice

Have you ever followed a business on social media because they were funny, made you think, or taught you something with every post? Or are there any businesses you follow and you’re excited every time you come across one of their posts? They probably have a great understanding of their brand voice.

Here at Bolt Marketing, we’re here to help your business become one of those businesses ⬆️. This blog will make discovering your brand voice feel effortless, but first let’s address the elephant in the room. 

What the heck is brand voice anyway?

Brand voice is how you display your brand’s personality. 

Imagine if someone were to say “I’m extremely extroverted and bubbly!” but went on to say that they loved spending time alone, curled up with a good book, in peace and quiet and they hated going to large group activities….

Red flags. They’re obviously neither extroverted or bubbly.

So, why do businesses do this?

I’d argue it’s because they don’t understand their true brand personality or voice. Just like people, businesses’ voice and tone should match up to their personalities and be consistent no matter what’s trending or what marketing channel they’re using.

Why is this important?

Because your brand voice distinguishes you from competitors and can create an emotional connection with your audience leading them to 1) decide to do business with you and 2) come back again and again. 

Let’s get to work and discover your brand voice.

Identify your core values

If you’ve been in business for a while, you probably have a list of core values. Are they up to date? Accurate? Does your business embody them? Perhaps it’s been a while since you evaluated these or maybe you inherited values that don’t sync up with the new and improved version of your company. 

Your core values are imperative to nailing down your brand voice, so make sure you have these settled and documented. 

Determine your target audience

Who are you speaking to anyway? If your target audience is young professionals, you’ll speak to them a lot differently than you would retirees. 

To find your brand voice, it’s important to think about the people who buy your products or services, what circles they’re in, what words they use, and how they want you to address them. 

Think of your business like a person

It’s time to stop thinking about our businesses as intangible. Instead, answer this. If your brand was a person, what would they be like? 

Would they wear a full suit, jeans and a t-shirt, or lie somewhere in the middle? Would they be structured and professional or go with the flow and creative? 

Now, how would they talk? Serious or cheerful? Casual or formal? Conversational or authoritative?

By answering questions like these, you’ll be able to identify your brand personality and voice a lot easier.

Ask your team

One of the worst mistakes you could make would be to decide your brand voice without the input of the people who make up your brand. 

We would recommend having your team think through all of the things listed above (core values, target audience, personality, voice) individually and then bring everyone together to share their ideas. 

Sure, some people will disagree about certain aspects, but the majority of your team will probably have very similar answers. If not, there’s probably some misalignment and you may need to reevaluate and get everyone working in the same direction. This is a great time to get your whole organization on the same page and aiming for the right goals.

Evaluate your content

Take a look at your social media accounts, advertisements, website, and other marketing channels. 

What kind of personality do your posts portray? Do they align with who you think your brand is? Are they way off? Is this style working for your business?

It probably isn’t a good idea to do a complete 180 with your brand voice. For example, if your posts are normally formal and educational, it would be confusing to switch to witty and cheeky. If you are wanting to make a big change, we recommend taking small steps to help your customer base evolve with you.

Set guidelines and be consistent

Once you have found your brand voice, it’s time to stick to it. Create a word bank of terminology that your business should use. Give examples to your team about how to say things and how not to say things. 

By discovering your brand voice and uniting your team around it, you’ll create a likeable brand that your target audience will fall in love with. You’ll create an emotional connection with the people who need your products or services and they’ll become loyal customers for years to come. 

To help you along the way, we’ve put together a list of companies that are killing the brand voice game. Check them out below.

1 - Wendy’s

Outrageous, witty, and savage. Wendy’s is always roasting everyone in their sight from competitors to every day people. This humorous brand voice is the reason why people might follow a fast food chain on Twitter.

3 - Old Spice

Extremely masculine, but in a humorous way that catches everyone’s attention. We’ve all seen their commercials and could probably whistle their catchy tune right now. In the body care aisle of wherever you shop, one brand you’re always going to recognize is Old Spice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owgykvbfgue

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owgykvbfgue

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4 - Duolingo

Cheeky and persistent. Duolingo’s mascot, Duo, is widely known on social media and has a great track record for getting people to finish their daily language lessons. Duolingo does a great job at being consistent with Duo’s voice across all platforms, including their app. Here’s a quick look at the guidelines their whole organization uses when creating content from Duo

Need help finding your brand voice?

You’re not alone. We’re here to help! Reach out to any of us here at Bolt Marketing or contact us here.