If you’ve read any of our other posts about social media, you’ve probably realized that managing social accounts is not exactly the walk in the park that it seems. Let’s be real: there’s a lot more to social media than posting pretty food pictures and writing witty captions. One of the most important, and often glazed over, social media musts is to find and commit to your brand voice.
Sure, finding your voice is a simple concept, but in reality it takes a significant amount of thought and work to determine how you want to communicate and come across to your audience from a strategic standpoint. So let’s first take a step back: why do you even need an established brand voice? Why not just put the information that you want to get to your customers out there? Why make it so complicated?
Understand this: every single thing you put out on social media is a direct reflection of your company and who you are at the core. Every tweet, email, response to a comment…it all matters! Your brand voice is how you communicate with customers and it is how you tell your story. It’s especially important on social is because that is your most direct and front line communication to your customers. Whether you are speaking to them directly or indirectly, they are building an impression of who you are based on these “conversations” and impressions, so it is incredibly important to be intentional about it. Your brand voice is what will help differentiate you from other companies who provide a similar product or service—and what will help consumers realize why they should care about you and what you are saying (and selling). Without a brand voice that resonates with people, you risk being seen as a replaceable commodity.
Now that you have a better understanding of why having a brand voice is important, how do you get started?
Find—and Maintain—Your Brand Voice on Social Media
Determine what kind of adjectives fit your brand personality.
Think about how you are in relationship to your target audience—what do you bring to the table for them? Are you functional and reliable, or are you fun, charming, and cheerful? Just with these two examples alone, you can see that these two hypothetical companies would communicate with their audience in completely different ways. If you don’t take the time to recognize your bran’s personality, you could be speaking to customers in ways that don’t resonate with them at all!
Speak in language your general audience would understand.
Don’t overdo it with the fancy jargon. When you are writing content on social, make sure you’re speaking in a way that you would speak to someone in everyday life, like you’re talking to a friend. It’s okay to keep it simple! This is going to not only help your customers understand you and your business better, but also help them relate to you and feel connected on a more personal level, making them more likely to remember and choose you.
Be consistent across social media channels.
Regardless of the social platform you are using to reach your audience, you should be speaking with the same voice that you determined fits for your brand. This is especially important if you have multiple people writing content for your accounts. Be sure that everyone is on the same page and agrees with the brand voice that your company has chosen to emulate.
Regardless of the voice and overall tone you shape for your brand, make sure that it fits with the overall company goals. Take a deep dive back to the heart of your company and ask yourself some important questions: What are our core values? What does my target audience look like? How do I want to be perceived by that target audience?
Once you take a solid look at these questions, you will be able to start truly committing yourself—and your company—to a consistent brand voice. And the impact goes far beyond social media: understand that every bit of good marketing you execute is helping transform your company from a commodity to a brand.
Have something to add? Leave us a comment below, or tweet to us at @TheCoreBlog!
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