The Ultimate Guide to Creating Your Brand Voice

The best companies have strong brand voices that let their personality shine through. The stronger and more consistent this brand voice is, the more likely people are to pay attention.

But what actually is a brand voice? Your brand voice is the distinct personality a brand uses across all their different communications, your voice should be unique and reflect your company values, this will help you stand out from the rest of your competition.

If you’re still not quite sure what we’re on about, take a look at these three real examples which could maybe inspire your own company's voice:

Coca-Cola

Coca-colas brand voice focuses on positivity and friendliness, their marketing is full of examples showing how lives are made better when you drink coke, over the years they’ve built a strong connection between their product and having a good time.

Starbucks

Starbucks use a functional and expressive tone to help navigate customers through their purchase, whilst also passionately explaining their story. Using a mixture of these two tones allows them to help customers connect with their products whilst also evoking feelings of joy and happiness with their content.

Tiffany

Tiffany has a witty yet elegant brand voice to emphasis the luxuriousness of their brand. All their messages are clear and concise which have helped to their customers paying the Tiffany prices rather than shopping with other lesser-known competitors.

Now you’ve seen how big companies use their brand voice, use our top 4 tips to start creating your brand voice today.

1.Have a Look at Your Current Voice

Starting completely from scratch can be hard and isn't always necessary. Have a look at the content you’ve been putting out recently and take inspiration from that. You may find that you’ve been inconsistent and regularly changing your voice and tone, have a look at your top performing posts and ads and see what they have in common. You’ll be able to see what you're doing well and what you want to change and from here you can begin brainstorming new ideas.

2.Decide What You Don’t Want Your Voice to Be

Asking what you don’t want your brand voice to be can often be easier than deciding what you do want it to be. You could create a list with all the things you want to avoid:

-not too serious

-not too professional

-not too unfriendly

Once you see all the things you don’t want, it will be easier to create your brand ethos. For example, you could say ‘our brand voice will be positive, simple and friendly.’

3.Know Your Tone

Your brand tone is how you say certain things. This may vary between audiences and channels, to make it easier to remember you should document different situations where you would use a different tone. For example, if you’re dealing with a customer complaint or a serious topic, you won’t sound the same as when you’re announcing something exciting like a giveaway.

4.Keep Reviewing and Refining If Needed

Changing or creating a brand voice can’t be done in a day. It needs to be continually reviewed within the first few months to make sure that your audience are responding well and it’s a good fit for your brand. You also need to remember that language evolves and your companies' priorities may shift, so you should have a designated time once a year (maybe when you go over your marketing strategy) to review and refine if needed.

And there you have it! Now you've read our top tips for creating your brand voice, you're well on your way to creating your own.