what do you stand for?

Nov 23, 2022 1:01 pm

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Hey ,


Voice is one of the most important aspects for your brand. It's what sets you apart from others in your industry and helps you connect with your audience on a deeper level.


If you're not sure how to develop a voice that's unique to your brand, I've got you covered this week. We'll be exploring the ins and outs of developing an engaging brand voice.


I'll also give you some tips for staying true to your voice while writing content, as well as share some resources that can help you with crafting and maintaining a strong brand voice.


And, if you know someone who would enjoy this, be sure to share it with them. When sharing it with at least 1 person, you'll earn a free course or workshop from me (your referral link is at the bottom).



What is your brand's voice, and why is it important?

Developing a brand’s voice is essential to its success. It encompasses the overall tone, language, and sentiment that a brand communicates to its audience. Establishing a strong and unique voice helps your audience recognize and trust the business, conveying a sense of consistency through every message.


Whether it’s an email, an article on the website, or product packaging – having a distinctive style is crucial for making an impression on potential buyers. Whichever direction is chosen to represent your brand's personality, it needs to be consistent across all platforms to reinforce the values of your business.


People often respond more positively when they detect empathy from your messaging, which can be best conveyed with warmth and understanding in your words instead of using solely cold marketing concepts. Being mindful of your audience's preferences can help you find your own individual communication style and help you make better connections with your audience.


Ultimately, having strong branding through consistent messaging has immense potential for benefits: creating long-term relationships with your audience while differentiating yourself from others in your industry. All these elements combined form a powerful tool that can help your brand succeed in today’s noisy landscape.



How can you develop a voice that's unique to your brand and engaging for your audience?

To stand out, your brand needs a strong, distinct voice that will capture the attention of potential customers or clients. By carefully cultivating this voice, you can tap into meaningful connections with your target audience and generate engagement.


To do this, examine your brand's values and mission statement, as well as the interests of your target market. Consider not just what they’re interested in but also how they talk about it – the words they use and their general tone. From there, create an authentic voice that reflects your brand's identity while still being engaging to your audience. Finally, stay consistent, so your audience always knows who you are and what to expect from your brand. Never lose your actual voice — how you speak, and think, and value, and do.


When done effectively, developing a unique, compelling voice for your brand (one that channels your own) can help you attract new followers, deepen relationships with your existing audience members, and foster lasting connections with people across all platforms.


For further support in developing a unique and convincing voice for your brand, sign up to be notified when our next cohort launches. Crafting your brand voice with clarity is one component of several we outline in A Creative Brand. Reply to this email or sign up for free here.



What are some tips for staying true to your voice while writing content for your blog or website?

Writing on the internet can be extremely daunting, especially when you’re trying to stay true to your own voice. It can be difficult to craft content that is informative, interesting, and still uniquely yours.


Here are a few tips for writing content that is authentic and true to your voice:


  1. Know your subject. Before putting words on paper, make sure that you understand what it is that you’re writing about. The more educated you are on the topic, the easier it will be to communicate it in an engaging way.
  2. Brainstorm stories or anecdotes relevant to the topic. Using personal experiences makes a piece of writing far more relatable than just facts and data alone. I've shared more about using analogies and examples in a past edition. Go there now >
  3. Use sensory language. Describing visuals, noises, textures and flavors can help to bring your story to life.
  4. Be yourself! Circling back to my main tip from the last section. Don’t try too hard to sound authoritative or overly clever; don’t force quips or puns if they don’t come naturally – readers will be able to tell when something sounds off-key.
  5. Finally, trust your gut. Read through your finished piece out loud and notice how it sounds. Does it sound like something you would truly say? If something doesn’t feel right, or doesn’t sit well with you as the author, don’t be afraid to go back and make adjustments until you feel like it truly reflects who you are, and what you want to say.


Writing content doesn't have to be a challenge; trust yourself and trust your words - they will take you far! Good luck and let me know how it goes.



How can you make sure that your voice is consistent across all of your branding materials, from social media to email marketing campaigns?

Ensuring that your voice is consistent across all of your branding materials is an important part of creating a cohesive, recognizable brand. When crafting a campaign strategy, it's important to be mindful of the language you use and how you communicate your message.


Start by creating guidelines around voice and tone. Do you want to be playful or professional? Is humor appropriate, or should you stick to direct messaging? Once these guidelines have been established, make sure everyone on your team (if you have a team) has access to them. This will help ensure that everyone is familiar with the expectations for language usage when developing new campaigns.


Creating user personas. Give yourself some insight into who you are targeting and how best to use your content to reach them.


Developing a core set of values. We explored this in past editions, most recently here. Developing your values will give you a clear guide to reference when crafting messaging that resonates with potential customers or clients.


Finally, consider setting up a style guide for visuals as well as copy. Visuals also play an important role in brand messaging. This could include things like logo rules, color palette suggestions, image formats, and overall design principles. Following these guidelines will help create consistency in both verbal and visual messaging across all branded materials.


With proper planning and guidelines in place, you can ensure that every email marketing campaign and social media post reflects the same core values that make the core of your brand - helping you build a strong recognition among your audience while ensuring that nothing gets lost in translation.



Here are tools or resources that can help you with crafting and maintaining a strong brand voice.

Crafting and maintaining a strong brand voice is crucial for any business. Here are some tools that can help:

  1. Grammarly – An automated proofreading tool that helps you identify mistakes in spelling, grammar and punctuation. I use Linguix.
  2. Hemingway Editor – A great tool for improving readability of your text by checking for long sentences, adverbs and passive voice.
  3. Brand Voice Cheat Sheet - A useful cheat sheet created by Content Marketing Institute that outlines the different elements of an effective brand voice, such as tone, language style and messaging.
  4. CoSchedule Messaging Matrix – This tool allows you to build comprehensive messaging guidelines and keep track of different styles, tones and voices you use in all your content.
  5. Thesaurus – A great tool for finding alternative words or phrases to help vary your language.
  6. Online Copywriting Course – If you want to take a more in-depth look into copywriting and creating effective messaging, there are plenty of online courses that can help you become a better writer.
  7. Style Guide Templates – This helpful resource contains a variety of templates for creating comprehensive style guides for your brand and content.
  8. Brand Monitoring Tools – Staying on top of how your brand is being perceived and discussed online is important for maintaining a consistent voice. There are many tools available to help you monitor what’s being said about your brand, such as Google Alerts and Talkwalker.
  9. Editorial Calendar Software – Editorial calendar software helps to keep track of all your content and messaging in one place. This ensures that everyone on your team is aware of what needs to be developed when, and helps you stay consistent with message delivery.


Your brand's voice is one of the most important aspects of your business, and it's something that you should put a lot of thought into developing. A strong brand voice can help you engage with your audience, build trust, and stand out from those in your industry. Join our next cohort if you want to develop yours. Sign up for free to be notified when we launch.


And, remember to share this newsletter with a friend for a free course or workshop of your choosing. I have some exciting new courses and workshops to share with you.



Enjoy,

Matt




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