“Brand voice” is just one of those brand-building things. It feels squishy and confusing and ever-changing in a way that you’re not even sure that you actually know what it is. Not only that, but marketers looooooove to use “brand voice” as a hot-button topic. You need it. No actually, you don’t need it. Before you know it, a simple Google search has left you with more questions than answers…

How do you put a strategy to personality?

What does “brand voice” actually mean?

How is it different from brand messaging?

Why does it even matter?

Honestly, it’s enough to make anyone’s head spin. Especially as a personal brand or solo entrepreneur, it likely feels like brand voice isn’t something that you need to worry about. But on the contrary, being a solo entrepreneur or lean team who outsources frequently is exactly why you need a solid brand messaging and tone of voice strategy in place. So that you can have consistency across your brand at every touchpoint. So that you can build the kind of recognition that high-level, large businesses have without dedicating an entire salaried team to it.

Basically, your brand voice and messaging strategy make it look, sound, and feel like you have your sh*t together. Which, when it comes to building your brand from scratch, is exactly what you need. A united front to show potential clients and customers that you mean business.

We offer a Brand Messaging & TOV Strategy service that helps you nail down exactly who your brand’s target audience is, what to say to them to make them your #1 fan, and how to say it. It’s also complete with campaign ideas, action items, and ideas so that you can easily implement your strategy because let’s be real–what good is a strategy document if you don’t know how to use it?

But if you want to try your hand at DIYing your brand’s tone of voice, here are five questions to get the creative juices flowing:

What would be your brand’s theme song?

We love asking this question because it’s fun! It’s a nice way to make sense of something that feels so intangible. 

What would your brand’s theme song be? Are you going off of lyrics, or vibes? What do you love about the song? Why do you feel that it aligns with your brand?

Answering those questions gives you a lot of insight into how you perceive your brand and want it to be perceived by others. Also, it’s a lot of fun to have a “pump up” song to throw on to get you in the mood whenever you have to create something for your brand.

 What are 3 adjectives you would like someone to use to describe your brand?

Not “how would you describe your brand.” This question is asking you to step outside of yourself and think about how you want your brand to be perceived by others. What words would you be happy to hear in relation to your brand? What works would make you feel like you’ve somehow missed the mark?

Don’t think about how you want your brand to be perceived visually. This is about personality and tone of voice.

What’s your brand archetype?

Your brand archetype is a great starting point for understanding and embodying how your brand best shows up and where your place is as a leader in your industry. When you know your brand archetype, making tone of voice and language decisions becomes a lot easier.

If you’re not familiar with brand archetypes, they are a set of personality types that can be used to categorize every brand in the world. How your brand interacts with your customers, and the world at large, can be greatly influenced by your archetype. For example, not every brand has to be a thought leader or provoker–some are more like companions or nurturers.

If you want to learn more about brand archetypes and discover which one your brand falls into, click here to read one of our favorite brand archetype resources.

What do you admire about your clients or customers?

What personality traits and qualities do you feel your brand and your target audience have in common? When you can define the traits that you admire in your audience, and the traits that your brand and your audience share, you can lean into them to create a more personal experience for the people interacting with your brand. 

Also, if you can’t think of anything that you admire about your target audience, then you might want to consider finding a new niche.

Which words, phrases, and emojis are in your brand dictionary?

This one is really fun. It’s our favorite part of our Brand Messaging & TOV Strategy service, because it really solidifies the vibe of a brand. We firmly believe that every single brand should have an ongoing “dictionary” so that any future team members or contractors can reference it and create consistency across platforms. So, in order to start building your brand dictionary, ask yourself the following questions:

• Which “power words” really activate and ignite your audience?
• Which words or phrases do people frequently resonate with, get a kick out of, or repeat back to you?
• If you’re a founder-forward brand, which words or phrases do you have on repeat?
• What emojis do you find yourself frequenting?

That’s your brand dictionary.

________________________________

Ultimately, your brand messaging strategy and tone of voice is NOT stagnant. It’s always evolving, shifting, and growing up alongside you and your audience. But, when you start with a solid strategy, you always have something to fall back on when you’re lacking inspiration or simply in need of a refresh.
If you’re interested in working with Cool Copy Club to strategize and develop your brand messaging and tone of voice, click here to learn more about our strategy service! This service has incredibly limited spots every quarter and goes onto a waitlist once all of the spots are filled. So, feel free to grab your spot if it’s available or put your name on the waitlist for next quarter!