Brand Writing 101: The Secret to Defining Your Brand Voice
A lot of times when people hear the word "brand", they think of logos. Color palettes. Images. Aesthetics. But the truth is, there's far more to a brand than just visuals. In fact, the core of your brand's identity is actually your brand voice.
What the hell is a brand voice?
Great question!
Your brand voice is a unique way of communicating your brand's values and identity as well as its products, services and industry knowledge to your audience. It's a blend of personality and emotions infused into your content to give your messaging a more personable, human appeal. It's how your audience engages and connects with your brand, and it's what makes your brand stand out from the rest. To sum it up, your brand voice is what helps your audience identify your brand's personality (or as we millennials like to call it, your brand's vibe).
Take my brand, According to Kori (A2K), for example. This post you're reading at this very moment (along with every other piece of content on my website) is written in my brand voice. Tah-dah! People often tell me that when they read my blog posts, it feels like they're having a conversation with a close friend. And that's exactly how you should feel when you read my content. Not like I'm talking at you, but like I'm speaking directly to you and with you.
Your brand voice should make your audience feel like they can connect with and relate to your brand on a more personal level. You almost want to think of your brand as its own, separate person(a). Even though it's ultimately an extension of you, your brand should still have its own, distinct personality that engages and builds a genuine connection with your audience.
So how do you define your brand voice?
Another great question. The secret to defining your brand voice is to start with the person behind the brand -- YOU.
But Kori, you literally JUST said that we should think of our brand as its own, separate person.
I know, I know. But remember, your brand is an extension of you. Your mission, your values, your story. YOU. It is your brand, after all. So while you should treat your brand voice like its own person, your actual personality can be the blueprint for developing your brand voice. Does that make sense? (nod your head, yes lol)
Okay, so take my brand voice, for example. Although it essentially is me, my brand voice is basically a more outspoken, wittier version of my real-life personality. I kind of think of it as my alter ego, in a sense. When I launched this blog in 2014, I thought about about how I wanted my "voice" to translate through my writing because I really wanted to connect with my audience. So, I took all the real personality traits that I love most about myself:
Smart.
Confident.
Quirky.
Candid.
Then I thought about how I actually wanted my audience to feel reading my content:
Comfortable.
Inspired.
Like they can relate to me.
Like they can trust me.
9jk
And voila! A2K's brand voice was born.
Perhaps you're starting a blog or launching a website for your business. While your logo and web design are important, how you actually communicate with your audience is key. As you're developing your brand voice, take some time to think about and/or write out the following:
Personality traits you'd like to portray through your brand messaging.
Feelings/emotions you'd like to evoke from your audience.
If you're having a hard time gathering your thoughts and need help developing your brand voice and/or content, book a Writing Style Session with me and we'll figure this thing out together.