Brand Voice: What It Is & Why It Matters
In branding work, people often think about how a brand looks visually, from fonts to colors to design styles. What is sometimes overlooked is brand voice. With the inclusion of social media in marketing efforts, brand voice has become more important than ever as a way to stand out from the crowd of digital chatter.
What is brand voice?
Brand voice is the distinct personality a brand takes on in its communications. Imagine you went to a dinner party and you’re chatting with all the guests. One person stands out because they’re great at storytelling in a distinctive, unique way. The flow of their words, the language they used and their personality all combined to make for a memorable experience. In fact, when you’re retelling that story, you immediately think of that person.
Now extrapolate that dinner guest into a brand voice. Who is your brand online? If your brand was a person, what personality traits would they take on and what would they actively avoid? What phrases and stylistic choices does your brand use on a consistent basis?
All of the above combine to create your brand voice. This personality is applied to everywhere your brand speaks, including newsletters, social media posts, internal official communications like company announcements and advertising.
Why does brand voice matter?
Why should you care about your brand voice? Why not just write whatever you want in whichever style you feel like that day?
The digital landscape is crowded. It’s filled with chatter from brands and individuals alike. You can only stand out so much on the basis of your visual content or product features alone. Your written content needs that same attention and consistency you give to the other elements of your brand presence.
Content is not just about photos or videos. It includes words and graphics. How you present yourself is important to consumers. The same Index researched why consumers unfollow brands on social media. Forty-five percent of consumers cited irrelevant content. Posting content that doesn’t match your brand’s perceived style is one way of getting your account unfollowed.
Lastly, brand voice matters because you want your brand to be consistent and recognizable. Brand awareness succeeds when you can identify a brand only by their content before you even see who posted it.