Brand voice is emphasized by all but only used correctly by some. What does brand voice mean to you?
Some may think of your logo, colors, fonts, and the overall aesthetic of your brand. However, most don’t consider the overall marketing effort to convey your brand’s personality through various channels, like social media, your blog, and your website.
Your brand voice is what makes your business unique in its own way.
With an established brand voice, you’re like a Don Julio margarita. Without a brand voice, you may have a salted rim, but you’re missing the tequila… And who wants that? Not us.
So, What is Brand Voice?
Brand voice is the main ingredient that brings your marketing efforts together – it’s the tequila to your margarita! This is how you convey your business’s personality.
Have you ever tried to connect with someone that has the personality of a brick wall? It’s impossible! You don’t want your brand to be that brick wall. Build relationships with your consumers by displaying your company’s personality. It is essential for your business to have a personality of its own. When you do this, you allow your brand to be recognizable and you connect with more clients.
Remember consistency is key. Act as if your brand was a person. You want your personality to align with the language, slogans, phrases, and keywords that you use on a regular basis.
Personalities typically remain constant, and so should your brands! Your brand voice shouldn’t change from social media to blog posts to newsletters. Your language should be very consistent across all platforms and use the same voice regardless of what you are sharing. From creating content to creating your email marketing plan, your voice and tone should remain consistent.
Why is Brand Voice Important?
Why should you put so much time and effort into ensuring your brand voice is consistent? It shortens the sales cycle. Why? Because having a clear brand voice makes people feel like they already know your business. It helps build trust, and it makes prospects feel at ease as they’ve heard your brand voice consistently across your website, content, and social posts.
The digital space is flooded with competition in today’s world. However, the companies that stand out are the ones that have nailed their brand voice across all channels.
Inconsistent branding only hurts your company. There is only so much you can do to stand out without consistency in marketing. Your logo and visuals can be top-notch, but if you want to remain competitive in your market your written work needs to level-up.
In a study done by Sprout Social, consumers were asked why they thought brands stood out. The results were as follows: “40% said memorable content, 33% said distinct personality and 32% said compelling storytelling.” As you can tell, brand voice plays a significant role in the consumers’ eyes. Your clients recognize your brand voice even if you don’t think they will.
Your brand is successful when you are consistent and your clients are able to recognize it. Ultimate success is achieved when your brand is recognizable by its content without even seeing your brand name.
What are the Different Brand Archetypes?
There are 12 (yes, 12!) different types of brand voices or archetypes that your business’ personality can convey. The best part is that you don’t have to choose just one voice.
At Digital Storyteller, we like to choose two archetypes: One dominant that represents 90% of your brand and a second archetype, representing 10%, that highlights something unique about your business.
For example, here at Digital Storyteller, we are 90% Sage and 10% Jester. Read on to learn what this means.
The 12 Different Archetypes
Below we’ve listed the 12 different brand archetypes that every business can fall into.
- The Innocent: Renews faith in humanity
- Everyman: Relates to the everyday person and creates a sense of belonging
- Hero: Triumph over adversity
- Outlaw: Court danger defy the status quo
- Explorer: Find adventure at every turn
- Creator: Change the way you see the world
- Ruler: Exert control and structure
- Magician: Facilitate transformation
- Lover: Give love and partnership
- Caregiver: Protect and help others
- Jester: Bring joy and laughter
- Sage: Share knowledge
How to Determine Brand Voice
When picking a brand voice, don’t just slap two archetypes together and call it a day. Let’s break down the steps on how you can determine your business’ brand voice.
- Define your company in its simplest form. Think of the “why” of your brand to get to who you are at a basic level.
For example, Digital Storyteller is an organic outsourced marketing agency for financial services businesses. We like to do that with a glass of chardonnay in hand.
- Identify your audience or “hero.” Who are you talking to? It’s easiest for us to figure this out by creating a fictional character that would buy your product or service.
- Consider each of the brand archetypes, which ones appeal to you most? More importantly, which ones do you already exemplify as a business? Don’t just choose an archetype because you like the name, or you want to fit in that box. Put yourself in the shoes of your consumer and pick an archetype that fits their needs.
- Research the market. Take a look at your competition and see what they’re using. Consider what’s working and how the different archetypes can help make your business unique.
Now that you understand the importance of brand voice for your company, it’s time to make some changes to your marketing strategy. Remember, too much personality is better than no personality! It’s time to become the top-shelf margarita! Let’s chat about what your brand’s marketing strategy looks like! 😉
Want to find out more about brand voices? Read our next article on why your brand storytelling session is important? *and what is it anyway!?)
