maintaining your brand's voice

Alexandria SadorfContent Marketing

Winter 2017

“A brand’s voice articulates its personality, culture, and

positioning within its industry. It’s not something to be made

up on the spot, but rather developed over time.”

http://www.cision.com/us/2016/08/3-keys-to-creating-great-brand-content/

https://blog.bufferapp.com/social-media-marketing-voice-and-tone

A few tips from The Content Marketing Institute on Voice:

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2015/03/consistent-brand-voice/

Word Choice1. Word Length

Would it be odd for you, as a consumer, to read a blog post and watch them deliberately switch back and forth between elongated, sophisticated words and short, plain words?

Word Choice2. Pronouns

Stick with a consistent pronoun choice for your company. Is it always “WE” or maybe a third person styling? Pick what fits and stick with it!

Word Choice3. Jargon

If you’re in law, finance, or engineering, chances are you have some jargon. If the people reading your content are likely to know what your jargon means, then it is useful to include. Knowing your audience is useful for knowing whether or not jargon should be part of your voice.

Word Choice4. Buzzwords

Like jargon, you need to know that your audience will understand your industry buzzwords before using them. If your voice is very modern and up-to-date, then buzzwords could elevate your brand by elevating your voice.

Word Choice5. Colloquialisms

Though it varies culture to culture, how familiar will your language be with your readers? Are you going to throw in slang and profanity, because you know that’s how your readers speak and you want to be on their level? Or will you maintain a formal tone of voice, creating an image of prestige?

Word Choice6. Contractions

A colloquial brand won’t shy away from using contractions to connect with their audience. They’re trying to connect with the people they want reading their content! A formal or high-end brand might prefer to avoid contractions, on the other hand. It is all part of the voice!

Sentence Choice7. Sentence Length

Like word length, consistency with a bit of variety is important in sentence length. Are you a “to the point!” brand or more of an “I’ve got a lot of points that need to go in one sentence” kind of brand?

Sentence Choice8. Tempo

Your sentence length is a big part of tempo as well. Are you going for more a stream-of-consciousness type of writing or straight to the point? This can vary slightly based on the post and type of content, but it will be hard to maintain your voice if you switch this up every single time you write a post.

Sentence Choice9. Conciseness

Do you get to the point or are you an eloquent brand, adding in adjectives and descriptions? Again, some variety in sentences and words is important though.

Sentence Choice10. Mistakes and Rule Breaking

This, again, goes with the formality of your brand often. A more colloquial brand might choose to forgo some of the common grammar rules because it feels like a more natural conversation.

Where in the Journey Are You?

The SageThe “Recognized Expert” in their field

The SherpaThe “Trusted Guide” in their field, though not an expert.

The StrugglerThe “Fellow Traveler” also on a journey.

https://michaelhyatt.com/traction.html

In what instances do you think it is smart for a brand to change their

voice?

Do you think it is wise for a company to entirely change their voice if

they rebrand?

What are some companies that you think do a really good job maintaining their voice?