How you speak to your audience is just as important as the visuals you present. If you don’t speak to your audience in a way that’s relatable to them, they won’t relate to you (or your offer). Creating brand voice guidelines for your business doesn’t have to be difficult, but it does need to be consistent. So here are some tips for creating the right brand voice for your business

Who is it That You Are Speaking To?

Think of it like this:  how would you write an email to someone in your target audience. Think of one single human being who represents your audience. What would you say? Would you speak to them like one of your girlfriends or a professional colleague? Knowing your customer, knowing their fears, insecurities, hopes, dreams all go a long way in being able to reach them on a personal level. 

Write How You Talk

This is especially true if you are the face of your brand. How you speak to your audience in an Instagram story is how you should write for your brand copy. This establishes brand consistency. Imagine sounding like you’re speaking to your best friend and then writing as if you’re speaking to your boss. It just doesn’t mix (and shouldn’t)

What is the Personality of Your Brand?

Now that you know who you’re speaking to, you need to figure out who you are in relation to your audience. Is your brand fun and quirky? Serious? Casual? Pick 4 single words that describe your brand and keep those words with you at all times when you’re writing brand copy. Whether it be for your website, blog, social media or email, make sure that the voice you are using matches the 4 words you used to describe your brand. 

Be Consistent

It is important to be consistent in your branding and that also goes for your brand voice. Your brand voice is just as recognizable as your visual branding. Your brand always needs that hook to spark attention, especially the attention of your target audience. That hook doesn’t always need to be something clever, it just needs to grab the attention of your target audience. Think of all the work that goes into just creating a single social media caption. Now think of all that work wasted if what you wrote doesn’t speak to who you wrote it for. Even worse, if you’re consistently inconsistent you risk losing that customer altogether because you’re no longer a trusted and relatable voice for them. 

Creating a consistent brand voice isn’t difficult, but it does take practice. Think about how many times you’ve been conditioned in school to write in one particular way. Remember how boring that was? How much you hated it?It’s hard to break away from. But go ahead, break the rules. Have fun again! Develop a set of brand voice guidelines that speaks to your business and your customers. All it takes is some practice.