Learn How To Define A Brand Voice That’s Memorable, Engaging, and Stands The Test Of Time…
Listen to this – the average person is bombarded with 10,000 marketing messages every single day.
Which begs the question…
In a world where attention is the most valuable commodity – how do you command atttention instead of demand it?
In this blog, I’m going walk you through how to create a spectacular, never the same, totally unique Brand Voice that helps you STANDS OUT.
Hey, Posse! What’s up? It’s Alex.
Coming at you this week with a brand new tutorial about one of my all-time favorite topics – branding! Now, if you’re reading this and rolling your eyes thinking…
“Yeah, ok Alex. Everyone knows that a ‘Branding’ is just a fancy term for big brands with big budgets…”
Let me stop you right there, thank you very much…
Because yes, while it’s true that having a clearly defined brand voice and positioning strategy is the secret behind just about every single successful brand that has ever existed
It’s not just for the big guys…
No matter WHAT size of business you have, your Brand Voice literally has the power to make or break you.
So it is WELL worth putting forth a little extra effort into creating a solid Brand Voice before you start selling any products or services. That’s right – your messaging should come before your marketing.
And when you do this RIGHT…
You’ll effortlessly magnetize your ideal customer directly TO YOU (which means marketing your products and services just got 1000000X easier).
SOOOOO….
How do you build a brand beyond compare?
Let’s find out, but first, if you’re new to the crew, welcome!
On my blog, you’ll learn about all things marketing, copywriting, branding, and social media. So if you’re into that, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to know when my next blog goes LIVE.
Alright, now here are the most important elements of crafting a memorable and engaging Brand Voice….
1. Brand Convictions
First things first – you need to answer the question: “Why are you doing this?”
Your brand convictions represent what your brand stands for, which is also what YOU, the person or team behind the business, stand for.
These are the guiding principles or values that will shape every single aspect of your business — from your message, identity, customer experience, buying journey, policies, and so much more.
And most importantly…
They are often the very reason WHY a person is so drawn to your brand…
So brainstorm the values most important to you… I recommend picking at least 4 core values – and then writing a brief sentence or two explaining more about WHAT this value really means to you as a brand. Here’s a quick snap shot of TWO of our core values from the Copy Posse Brand Voice Guide:
Alright now, moving on to the second element…
#2. Customer Profile
Here you need to answer the question: “Who do you serve?”
Yes, your brand voice is about YOU – the brand. But remember….
Everything you do and create as a brand should ultimately ALWAYS come back to the customer.
As a brand, you want your values, your messaging, and your positioning to mirror and directly reflect what your CUSTOMER is seeking.
So if you haven’t already created a detailed – and I mean DETAILED – customer profile, then now is the time to do so.
- Who is your ideal customer?
- What’s their age, demographics, and income?
But most importantly…
- What are the specific challenges they’re looking to overcome?
- What are the benefit they’re looking to achieve?
- What are their values, desires and drives?
And what is ultimately the NUMBER ONE driving factor that influencers their every action and decision?
Answering these questions is going to give you a lot of insight into how to build out the rest of your messaging and Brand Voice…
Here’s a quick snapshot of our Customer Profile in the Copy Posse’s Brand Voice Guide.
Alright, now on to element #3…
#3. Positioning
Here you need to answer the question: “How do you create unique & specific transformation?”
Now that you know WHY you exist and WHO you’re serving…
It’s time to determine the HOW – how do you do it? How do you create unique and SPECIFIC transformation?
These are your three MOST important messaging assets:
- Your Mission Statement
- Your Brand Promise
- Your Positioning Strategy
But wait… what’s the difference?
Think of it this way…
Your Mission Statement is an organization-focused statement that showcases how YOU (the brand) want to show up in the world. It communicates the larger impact you hope to make.
Your Brand Promise is a customer-focused statement. It showcases how you help your customers overcome specific challenges and the big promise you deliver.
And your Positioning Strategy is where your Mission and Brand Promise meet. It summarizes the unique way you are going to change the world AND how you will help your customers achieve the benefit they want, in a way that sets you apart from the competition.
Now, this is one of the strongest messages you can communicate as a brand or business because it’s setting the intention behind your brand.
It conveys your purpose in a way that intrigues, inspires, and motivates BOTH your customers and the people within your organization.
We all know that there are other brands, other businesses, other people who are there who are doing, selling, or offering something very similar (if not identical) to what you’re offering…
So WHY then, would they choose to buy from you?
What is it exactly that you do better, or different?
Here’s a quick snapshot of the Copy Posse’s positioning statement from our brand voice guide.
Okay now on to the fourth element (and my personal favorite)…
#4. Brand Story
This is where you answer the question: “What got you here?”
Your story is the window to your brand’s soul.
It’s how your customers connect to you, rally behind you, and stay with you.
Every great brand has a powerful story – a domino effect of defining moments, scary pivots and late-night a-has that led you to where you are now…
And while most people tend to shy away from sharing their story, the truth is that…
According to research, 70% of emotionally engaged consumers will willingly spend up to two times (or more) on brands they are emotionally loyal to. And 80% of customers are more likely to recommend brands they can emotionally connect with.
And how can you foster an emotional connection?
Yep – through a powerful and relatable brand story!
This is where the art of storytelling comes into your brand voice and messaging.
Think about it… most people know the backstory behind their favorite heroes and villains because they are compelling and memorable!
Honestly, there is soooo much that goes into creating a great Brand Story – it could truly be an entire tutorial on its on own…
But in general, you want to include these 3 pivotal turning points based on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey..:
- The Status Quo: This is the old norm or origin of your situation, that eventually led you to…
- The Challenge: Basically some form of problem, conflict or adversity that disrupted the status quo and motivated you to find a solution. And finally…
- The Discovery: This is the epiphany or resolution that led to a personal breakthrough your customers can emotionally relate to.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the first part of the brand story in the Copy Posse’s Brand Voice Guide…
And if you want a whole tutorial JUST about creating a powerful brand story, comment below and let me know!
Okay now – on to the 5th element for a memorable Brand Voice is…
#5. Personality
Your brand personality is about the real qualities, expressions, and quirks it embodies.
Yes, you need to give your brand HUMAN characteristics.
Identifying your brand personality will play a huge role in determining the tone, feel and flow of your copywriting and messaging…
Is your brand conversational and playful? Loud and assertive? A young millennial who loves to travel? A genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist?
What are the defining characteristics that make your brand YOU?
Now another part of brand personality is your phraseology – or the common phrases, sayings, words, sign-offs or slang that you tend to use most often in marketing, content and customer communication.
You might’ve noticed that here at The Copy Posse, I tend to say a few things over and over again…
Things like:
- “Benny” (yup, that’s what I call a benefit)
- “De-douchify”
- “Empathy Empire”
- “Rad”
These are all go-to phrases that I come back to and reuse again and again. My audience knows they’re my foundational phrases and they’ve come to expect them in my messaging…
If I were to suddenly stop saying one of these phrases – or use a different phrase in its place – it would probably throw my audience off and make them think, “What?! That doesn’t sound like Alex and The Copy Posse.”
So having a few phrases and words that you always use as a brand or business is important because it keeps your messaging consistent and cohesive across ALL platforms and lets your audience know: Yep – that’s The Copy Posse!
When I am working with clients to create a Brand Voice Guide, I’ll create a Glossary of their most common phraseology so it can be given to anyone who communicates on behalf of the company.
Here’s a quick snapshot of some of the phraseology in the Copy Posse Brand Voice Guide Glossary…
Ok, and our final must-have brand voice component is…
You maybe guessed it…
#6 Brand Voice Guide
YES. And believe it or not, THIS is probably the most important step…
Putting everything together in one beautiful, cohesive and powerful Brand Voice Guide!!
You saw a little sneak peek of a FEW of the 43 pages that make up the Copy Posse’s Brand Voice Guide…
Your Brand Voice Guide becomes your messaging manifesto.
Think of it as your Brand’s Personality Profile. Basically, if your business could have a “human design” chart, this would be it.
A great Brand Voice Guide….
- Guides communication, informs marketing efforts and magnetizes messaging…
- Crystallizes a brand’s personality…
- Shapes your email marketing, social, and PR strategy…
- Keeps your copy consistently powerful across all brand touchpoints…
- And is the backbone of good marketing today.
Not only that but it acts as the central command center for every new team member you onboard.
It is the reference point for anyone and everyone that is creating content, sending emails, writing captions, or communicating on behalf of your brand.
THIS is how you make sure everyone is on the same page and that your message is congruent and consistent at all levels of the organization and across all your marketing, branding and PR efforts.
I’m telling you – this is key to growing a brand that maintains trust and customer loyalty.
And honestly… this is an area where I see a lot of business falling short.
So if you want help crafting a powerful brand voice guide, make sure to check out my FREE Brand Voice Checklist – which walks you through exactly what you need to define FIRST to drastically improve your marketing campaigns, team building, and customer retention.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Alex.
Ciao for now!
