How to write with your brands voice
We all can be accused of focusing on the visual aspect of our branding for a business and neglecting the content that is encompassed into our designs. Too often we will find a business website which has a great company brand image, but it is being dragged down by thoughtless copy, with no connection to its customers. What would we recommend to those businesses?
1. Listen to your customers
Everything you do to improve your business is for the customers, you might be building high-quality partnerships to enhance your reputation or updating the images on your website. But why not listen to your customers and write precisely what they want to hear, in a way that resonates with them? Small changes in your content can have a huge difference on your brands through engaging a suitable and expert voice.
Do
Use phrases that the customers would use to describe their desire.
Write the content to match their education
Include humour to boring subjects
Don’t
2. Define your voice
Finding your voice can be difficult especially when you’re new to an industry and aiming to establish a new voice that different to your competition. Unfortunately finding that voice is all down to you, however, consider some important elements:
3. Personify your brand
Who would you want to represent your brand? Sadly, not many of us have the financials to have Hugh Jackman perfectly act some video introductions for our business but, you can implement a “celebrity” voice into your content. Initially, discovering who you want your customers to hear when they read can be complex. There is more too deciding than a ‘lovely’ voice, but rather the attributes associated to them that would be suitable to your industry and someone to reflect your business.
A prime example was Apple who up-ended how the industry was envisioned to re-associate the technology with a younger generation who saw their products as ‘in-season’ and ‘the must-have’.
So discovering a persona for your business needs to use means more than the voice, but also the attributes associated to that persona because it will seep through the content to the customer.
4. Differentiate from the competition
No business took on an industry by falling in line and copying the leader, meaning they were 10 steps behind their competition. Be bold and stand out from the crowd, no-copy will resonate because it has ‘just do it’ as the grab line and automatically get the same results than when Nike use the phrase. Find your niche content brand that raises the attention of your target market.
Now is the time to put as much effort into your content as your visual representation. Even if you don’t follow the points we’ve highlighted, if this article makes your reflect, improve and consider the importance of your content, then you’ll be moving towards a great brand.