7 steps to developing a resonating brand voice

#CMC16

Content Marketing Conference 2016

7 Steps to Developing a Resonating Brand Voice

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Erica McGillivray Senior Community Manager Moz

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Problem: Someone must write the words!

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Voice is a mission statement. Tone is the

application of that mission.

- Kevan Lee at Buffer

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Find What Your Brand Already Has

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Historical documents

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Case study: Netflix’s Jessica Jones

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All the marketing channels

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Know your channels

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TV ad

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Know your channels

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social images

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Know your channels

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social responses

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Know your channels

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events and

press

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Know your channels

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landing page

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Visual design assets

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Office space

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Emails outside your company

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PR (press and speaking)

Mike Ramsey at Nifty Marketing Someone at Google

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PR (press and speaking)

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“It’s not really about asking for a raise, but knowing and having

faith that the system will give you the right raise.

-  Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at Grace Hopper Celebration of

Women in Computing

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Intranet

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Leaders

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“Howdy, Moz Fans!”

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Leaders

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#Nerdland

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Leaders

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Brand Values

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•  Have fun •  Do exceptional work •  Experiment •  Pay attention to the details •  Treat people right •  Tell the truth •  Give back •  Keep learning

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Brand Values

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Brand Vision

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•  spirit of innovation and excellence •  desire to create positive change •  commitment to transparency

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Personas

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Building a Team

of Feedbackers

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Makers

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Customer success

Content UX tech writer

Customer support

Community

PR

UX content

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Other stakeholders

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But we don’t have “writers!”

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Who is already doing this work?

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Team Exercises and Psychology

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Personas

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Demographic: location psychology

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Local culture go!

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National: tone it down

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National: tone it down

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"Don’t use UNC-Chapel Hill lingo and insider references…. For instance, spell out all acronyms and explain proprietary items such as the OneCard or C-TOPS."

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International: tailor it to countries

IKEA India IKEA US

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International: tailor it to countries

Siemens US Siemens South Africa

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Interest affinity: psychographics

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Affinity: Spotify and Star Wars

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How is your brand helping?

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How-to: find adjectives

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Activity: card sorting

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3 current adjectives

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step #1

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2 aspirational adjectives

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step #2

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3 negative adjectives

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step #3

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Defining brand adjectives

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Fun We're engaging, not snarky.

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Creation How-To: Voice & Tone

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bit.ly/brand-voice


A)

Statement of purpose


B)

Explain brand adjectives

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Brand lexicon

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Trademarks are not verbs. Correct: The image was enhanced using Adobe® Photoshop® software. Incorrect: The image was photoshopped.

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Grammar: pick a guide

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C)

List how the brand's

communicated

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Context is everything!

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Broken reports 404 page: Oops! Roger MozBot got lost exploring and our system is temporarily down. We hope to find him soon, so check back in a couple of hours. Meanwhile, why don't you watch a puppy battle himself?

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Context is everything!

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D)

Address specific audience needs

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Non-marketer: this is creepy

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CRO tool = intense personalization

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E)

How-to: humanize your brand

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My, Your, We

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Humanizing

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F)

Good and bad examples

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Overweighthaters.com

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Cheerios

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G)

"When in doubt" disclaimer

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Great brand guides

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Empowering Staff and Clients

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Teach and empower

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Time and consistency

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Shortcut

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Words provide meaning and ritual

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Internal: too big to fail

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Show Results (Channel Audit)

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“ “#CMC16

Plans are nothing; planning is everything.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Your audit coverage

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Audience Messaging

Topics (audience + messaging) Content

Purpose

Voice and tone

Sources (who will

create this) Overall

category

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Audit worksheet

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bit.ly/cmc-audit

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Case Study: Superhero Stuff

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Audience: Star Wars fans

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Audience: Star Wars fans Messaging: May the 4th discount

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Audience: Star Wars fans Messaging: May the 4th discount Topics: Star Wars

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Audience: Star Wars fans Messaging: May the 4th discount Topics: Star Wars Purpose: holiday sales

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Audience: Star Wars fans Messaging: May the 4th discount Topics: Star Wars Purpose: holiday sales Voice and tone: fun, love of fandom, ritual

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Audience: Star Wars fans Messaging: May the 4th discount Topics: Star Wars Purpose: holiday sales Voice and tone: fun, love of fandom, ritual Sources: email marketer

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Audience: Star Wars fans Messaging: May the 4th discount Topics: Star Wars Purpose: holiday sales Voice and tone: fun, love of fandom, ritual Sources: email marketer Category: email

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Case Study: Buffer

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Audience: potentials

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Case Study: Buffer

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Audience: potentials Messaging: who’s Buffer and why work there

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Case Study: Buffer

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Audience: potentials Messaging: who’s Buffer and why work there Topics: company

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Case Study: Buffer

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Audience: potentials Messaging: who’s Buffer and why work there Topics: company Purpose: recruiting

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Case Study: Buffer

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Audience: potentials Messaging: who’s Buffer and why work there Topics: company Purpose: recruiting Voice and tone: welcoming, unique

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Case Study: Buffer

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Audience: potentials Messaging: who’s Buffer and why work there Topics: company Purpose: recruiting Voice and tone: welcoming, unique Sources: HR

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Case Study: Buffer

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Audience: potentials Messaging: who’s Buffer and why work there Topics: company Purpose: recruiting Voice and tone: welcoming, unique Sources: HR Category: landing page

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Case Study: Stitch Fix

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Audience: fashionistas

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Audience: fashionistas Messaging: spring trends

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Audience: fashionistas Messaging: spring trends Topics: on trend color recommendation

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Audience: fashionistas Messaging: spring trends Topics: on trend color recommendation Purpose: branding

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Audience: fashionistas Messaging: spring trends Topics: on trend color recommendation Purpose: branding Voice and tone: authoritative, seasonal

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Audience: fashionistas Messaging: spring trends Topics: on trend color recommendation Purpose: branding Voice and tone: authoritative, seasonal Sources: sm marketer

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Audience: fashionistas Messaging: spring trends Topics: on trend color recommendation Purpose: branding Voice and tone: authoritative, seasonal Sources: sm marketer Category: social media

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Going beyond Guidelines

(Your Own Voice)

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Allow employees to lead

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Disruption

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How can you push your

brand’s voice and tone?

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THANK YOU! Erica McGillivray

[email protected] @emcgillivray

@emcgillivray