I've written in the past about the importance of brand voice, and why every organisation needs to develop a consistent tone of voice for their team members to use in their internal and external communications. What I didn't discuss in detail was the importance of having an external consultant create this tone of voice. However, this is a crucial step in the process. 

Internal team members are often too close to the brand to recognise the things that need improvement.

Given that brand voice needs to be agreed upon by the key stakeholders in an organisation, often this means the founder or creative director is involved in the process. This is something I openly encourage and request before starting work on a brand voice; it enables me to understand the origins of the company and the ultimate goal of the founders. 

Marketing and communications teams are also crucial to the process but when there is an outdated or non-existent brand voice, they may feel limited. They may also be required to adhere to the standards set by the more senior management team. I'm not saying that C-level executives are detrimental to the work done by marketing and comms, but that sometimes C-level executives are simply too close to see the bigger picture.

At a high level, the C-level executives know the product and the company inside-out. They understand the founding principles, the overall objectives and how they want to achieve it. What they may lack is the ability to take a step back and ask: what is it that our clients need and how can we better communicate that we offer it?

This is why hiring an external consultant to audit the existing tone of voice (if there is one) and/or all the marketing and communications materials is a worthwhile investment. They don't have the same level of deep personal and professional investment in the process. They come in with an objective view to improve your brand voice and messaging, with the goal to get to the core of what your clients need and how they will best take in that information. 

The fresh eyes of an external auditor are a huge advantage to the effectiveness of a new or updated tone of voice guideline.

This is due to their objectivity, of course, but also because they are experts in their field. They may not understand your company and its offerings as well as your C-level executives, but it means they can use the language and tone that your clients will relate to. They can collate this information with competitor research and provide you with a consistent and effective tone of voice guideline to implement across the company. 

An external consultant will have the ability to look at everything as it stands, and point out the that need updating, reworking or omitting. They will work with C-level executives to ensure their voices are heard, and their unique knowledge of the company is taken on board. This ensures that the knowledge and expertise of the C-level executives are informing any and all decisions made about the brand voice.

If you break it down: a new or updated tone of voice guideline is created to complement a new or updated brand and brand identity. The trends that existed five, ten, twenty years ago are no longer applicable today and while they may be integral to the overall vision and mission of the organisation, their implementation and communication methods may be outdated. Trends change quickly, and it is up to the external expert to bring these communication methods up to date. Ultimately, it will reflect better on the company, and lead to increased success and professionalism.

This same principle applies to everything we create: writers often don’t spot their own typos, designers may not notice the rogue line in their poster, web developers might leave a broken backlink. We are too close to comb through our work with a fine-tooth comb and a red pen. Hiring an external brand voice consultant, even to audit your content is worthwhile, as their eyes are looking at your brand for the first time. They’ll notice the tiniest anomalies you didn’t even know were possible.

If you want to find out more, get in touch with me for a free 30-minute consultation and see what could possibly be done for your brand voice.