In business, marketing, public relations, personal branding, the goal is to communicate who you are, your unique brand voice, or brand essence, effectively. For example, let’s say you’re an insurance agent. You’ve found a great insurance deal, and you want to market yourself as the best insurance agent available. To do this, you need to create a personality profile, one that is very distinct from your typical marketing voice. In fact, it might be a voice and tone all your own.
To develop your unique brand voice, you first must understand who your target audience is, and then, in turn, define your brand voice. For example, if you’re a medical malpractice attorney, your voice and tone would be more clinical and calm. On the other hand, if you were an auto accident lawyer, you would most likely sound more indignant or aggressive. This is simply the way that you talk to people, regardless of your niche. When you apply your brand voice, or personality to your voice and tone, your communication is consistent across all messages, whether they are intended to be professional or personal.
Your brand personality is your unique brand voice, which you must cultivate. But how? The process requires building trust, positive relationships with others, as well as solidifying your expertise. However, before you can accomplish any of those tasks, you need to identify and understand who your target audience is. Your brand voice should not only resonate with the audience, but it also needs to be a positive contribution to their lives. If your brand voice comes across as being arrogant, overbearing, or intimidating, your message will likely be overlooked or misunderstood.
Your brand voice and tone need to be in line with what your product or service does. For example, if you own a fitness franchise, you probably have a friendly voice and tone. However, if you sold dog obedience courses, you would sound more authoritative or commanding. Similarly, if you sell financial planning, your brand would most likely be soft spoken, with a conversational tone.
You need to carefully consider how your brand personality will be perceived by your target audience. How will they know that you are different from the rest? How will they recognize your brand personality in their daily interactions? Will they pick up on your unique brand cues, or will they just mistake you for another professional or dull sounding business owner?
You can start by thinking about how you personally embody your brand voice. What types of words do you use or have used, that reflect your unique brand voice? If you have a friendly, approachable brand personality, people will probably think you’re friendly too. If you are known for your straight-forward approach, people will assume that straight-forwardness is part of your overall brand personality as well. Asking yourself questions like this will help you develop an understanding of how your brand will be perceived by your target audience. This will help you determine how you should alter your voice and tone in order to more clearly communicate your brand personality.
Next, think about how your voice and tone will differ from those of your competitors. Analyze your voice and tone in order to determine whether you are on the same page as your audience, or on the opposite side of the spectrum. Analyze your competition’s voice and tone in order to determine if there is something they did that you could learn from. Find out what makes them effective, and implement it! If you are not an expert at marketing yourself, hiring a professional marketing coach might be a good way to get your foot in the door.
Once you have identified your strengths and weaknesses in regards to your brand, you can use these strengths and weaknesses to better understand your customer’s needs. From there, you can craft solutions that address their concerns. By properly addressing the concerns of your target audience, you will be able to create a unique brand identity that will ensure your product and brand stands out. From there, you can use your strengths and weaknesses to increase your market share, and make your company one that people want to do business with.
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