Welcome to the journey of finding your brand voice and tone! This crucial step ensures your brand stays consistent across all platforms, establishing a strong brand identity. Whether you have a marketing team or are considering hiring one, these exercises will lay the foundation for your brand’s unique personality.
Finding Your Brand Voice and Tone: Start with Adjectives
Begin by browsing a list of adjectives and highlight those that resonate with you. Think about the values your business holds dear and the adjectives your audience has used to describe you. Feel free to add your own as well!
Example: You might choose adjectives like “friendly,” “innovative,” and “reliable.”
Narrow Down the List
Discuss your selections with a trusted friend, team member or partner, and narrow it down to your top 3-4 adjectives. This step ensures you have a focused and clear direction.
Example: After discussions, you settle on “friendly,” “trustworthy,” and “dynamic.”
Imagine Your Brand as a Person
Now, imagine your brand as a person and answer these questions:
- What kind of person is your brand (e.g., a mentor, a friend, a leader)?
- How does your brand communicate (e.g., formal, casual, humorous)?
- What are your brand’s hobbies or interests (e.g., technology, community service)?
Example: Your brand is like a friendly mentor, communicates in a casual yet knowledgeable manner, and is passionate about community service and innovation.
Share Reflections
Gather your team, a friend, or review the information on your own. Examine the common themes, adjectives, and personality traits from your reflections. This will help you identify the core elements of your brand’s voice and tone.
Example: Common themes might include being approachable, supportive, and forward-thinking.
Write a Short Story About Your Brand
Based on the information you’ve gathered, write a short story about your brand. Include its origins and values. Reflect on the emotions and personality traits it embodies.
Example: “Our brand started with a vision to make technology accessible to everyone. From day one, we’ve been about fostering trust and driving dynamic innovations that support our community.”
Finding Your Brand Voice and Tone: Bringing It All Together
Brand Voice
Crafting a brand voice chart is a vital step in defining how your brand communicates. This example demonstrates the structure and components of a brand voice for Virtual Spirit Strategy. It outlines key voice traits and provides a clear, structured approach to ensure your brand’s communication remains consistent, engaging, and true to its core values. By developing a comprehensive brand voice chart, you can create a recognizable and trustworthy brand voice that resonates with your audience.
How To Create Your Own Brand Voice Chart
- Identify Key Voice Traits:
- Start by identifying the primary characteristics that define how your brand should communicate. These could be traits like warm, assertive, playful, professional, and so on. This will help set the tone for your brand’s overall personality and ensure consistency across all platforms.
- Write a Voice Description:
- Next, craft a detailed explanation of how your brand speaks. This should encompass the voice, style, and general approach to communication. Make sure it reflects your brand’s unique personality and values.
- Create a Voice Chart:
- Finally, for each voice trait, provide a description that encapsulates the essence of that trait. List do’s and don’ts to guide the use of each voice trait. Do’s should include positive actions that align with your brand’s voice, while don’ts should highlight behaviors to avoid.
Brand Tone
Crafting a brand tone guide is vital for ensuring your communication remains consistent across various scenarios. The example provided showcases the structure and components of Virtual Spirit Strategy, demonstrating how to align your brand’s tone with its unique personality and values. This approach helps maintain a recognizable and trustworthy brand voice that resonates with your audience and reinforces your brand identity.
By following these steps, you can develop a comprehensive and consistent brand tone guide that ensures all communications reflect the essence of your brand, making it easier for your audience to connect and engage with you.
How To Create Your Own Brand Tone Guide
Let’s identify the key attributes that define how your brand should communicate in various scenarios. These attributes align with your voice traits. For instance, “supportive” could be an attribute of a warm voice, “confident” for an assertive voice, and “energetic” for a playful voice.
- For Each Identified Key Tone Attribute:
- Provide specific scenarios where the tone will be used. Think of how your brand’s tone changes in different contexts to stay relevant and effective.
- Include Tone Descriptions:
- Ensure clarity and consistency by writing a clear description of the tone for each scenario.
- Provide Example Phrases
- Share practical example phrases that align with each tone attribute and scenario. This will serve as a handy guide for your team to stay on brand.
Conclusion
Finding your brand voice and tone is an invaluable exercise to ensure consistency and authenticity across your brand’s communications. Remember, this exercise is just one of many in my VSS Branding Series—check it out, it’s FREE! Happy branding! 🎉
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