Finding Your Brand Voice

Building a business is a long and arduous process. It’s a labour of love and there is heartache, stress, tears and fears. There are things that seem pretty obvious; we all know a business needs a name, a logo and a website. But what about a brand voice?

In a world that is increasingly visual, it seems like there’s no urgency for a brand voice or a tone of voice guideline, but there is a huge amount of value in having a verbal brand that complements your visual brand. They are two sides of the same coin and they cannot exist without each other.

Most people are familiar with brand guidelines: your brand colours, logo, typefaces. These all make up your visual brand guide. A tone of voice takes your brand even further, it encompasses everything your business communicates to the outside world, and the most important thing is that it’s consistent.

If you’re still not entirely sure what a brand voice is, then look here: https://monzo.com/tone-of-voice/. I use this an example to show people why tone of voice matters, particularly for brands that do something ‘complex’. Monzo is a banking app, and was one of the first financial organisations to use clear, concise language to communicate with their clients:

The words we put on screen and paper are one of the most important ways we have of showing people what we stand for. Not just our marketing, but all our terms and conditions, every chat with us, all the nooks and crannies in our app, and how we communicate with each other on the inside. Every word adds up to people’s perception of who we are.

This is why your brand voice matters because you can have the flashiest website, a great visual presence and the finest interface in the world, but if how you communicate isn’t clear and consistent, then you’ve lost potential clients before you even knew they existed. As an example, a reputable Irish invoicing company recently got attention on Twitter for writing a poorly considered response to a query:

This tweet showed me that the business in question didn’t have a hugely thought out plan for their communications. Not only did their reply make a broad - and untrue - statement about their clients, on behalf of their clients, it came three months after the original communication. Of course, I looked deeper and found that their communications on Twitter were completely inconsistent. Their bio reads:

“Free Online Invoicing, Free Accounting & Payroll Software For A Community Of Digital Makers. We gather the best Media/Marketing/Tech art's & tweet them every hr”

I don’t know how that reads to you, but it reads very unprofessionally and is also untrue. They hadn’t tweeted any ‘art’s’ in over a year, certainly not every hour.

Monzo have drawn in customers with their down to earth, clear and friendly language, this company have offended existing clients, and come under scrutiny for their poor communications. If, for no other reason than not wanting to be known for being ‘that company who said that thing on social media’ you should consider your tone of voice.

If you want to know more, come to my workshop in Dublin on January 28th, 6:30-8:30pm.