Keeping a consistent brand voice or brand identity is essential for helping your customers feel connected to you. It conveys a clear message, lets them know they can trust you, and assures them they’re in the right place for solving their problems.
While it’s well known that a strong brand identity is essential to show in your copy, some content can fly under the radar when sharing your message.
One mistake that many brands can fall victim to is assuming small, or temporary sections of copy on their website don’t need the same attention to detail that their main content does. This could be costing them sales and pushing existing customers away.
One example is when a business has a sale. The offer copy is generic, disconnected, and not all that interesting to a first-time visitor to the website.
It’s easy to assume a few sentences on a sales banner won’t make a difference, but it could be the very thing stopping them from making a purchase.
So, how do you ensure your brand voice stays consistent through your sales copy? Let’s take a look at how you can share a strong, consistent message throughout all the content you create.
Tips for Creating a Strong Brand Voice
Define Your Voice
Do you have a clearly defined brand voice? If not, your content risks coming across as disjointed, unsure, and less trustworthy to a potential customer who is getting to know you. If your content doesn’t convey a clear and distinct message, it will be difficult for your audience to connect with your brand, and you will struggle to keep your copy cohesive. Your brand voice is like a compass that keeps your content on the right track. Think about your brand’s core values, mission, and the type of audience you want to connect with. These elements are all crucial for crafting a clearly defined voice that will echo throughout all your content.
Example: Apple’s brand voice is confident and simple. Their messaging is straightforward, focusing on innovation and quality without unnecessary jargon.
Distil Your Voice
When you have a clear idea of your brand identity, you can start refining it. Keeping your core values, your goals, and your customers in mind, can you describe your brand in just a few words? By attempting to reduce a clear description of who you are into a short sentence, you can start to create a strong identity. Once you’ve crafted this, you can think about tone. How does your brand communicate through copy? Is your tone formal, or do you like a cheeky joke? Perhaps your audience loves nerdy in-jokes. Making sure your copy reflects this tone is essential for sharing a message your audience wants to see.
Example: Mailchimp’s brand voice is conversational and compassionate. They use friendly, approachable language that makes their users feel supported and understood.
Use a Brand Voice Reference
Have you heard of a brand style guide? It’s a guide that contains every core element of a brand’s identity, from logos to color palettes, and it provides a crucial reference for designers, copywriters, and marketers when creating something new for a brand. Ensure you include your brand voice in references for copywriters so they can convey your message through every element of your written content.
Example: Slack’s brand voice is clear, concise, and human. They prioritize simplicity and clarity, making their communication easy to understand and relatable.
Compare Copy
When your brand voice is defined, distilled, and easy to refer to, you should read through your existing copy to see where you could change things. For short, temporary copy such as sales copy for a limited offer, you have a golden opportunity to share impactful statements that will resonate with your audience. For example, a space education brand with – “Enjoy 50% off a selection of our telescopes this weekend” isn’t all that inspiring. Their audience is proudly nerdy, loves a weekend spent indoors watching the skies, and prefers stargazing to partying. Something like – ‘Sorry, I can’t tonight, I promised the stars I’d watch them’. Survey the skies this weekend with 50% off our XL scopes” – would resonate much more.
Example: Nike’s brand voice is motivational and inspirational. Their slogans like “Just Do It” and “Find Your Greatness” reflect their commitment to empowering athletes and encouraging people to push their limits.
Conclusion
Maintaining a consistent brand voice across all your content, including sales copy, is crucial for building trust and connection with your audience. By defining, distilling, and referencing your brand voice, you can ensure that every piece of content you create resonates with your customers and reflects your brand’s identity. Remember, even the smallest sections of copy can make a significant impact on your audience’s perception of your brand. So, take the time to craft a strong, cohesive message that will engage and inspire your customers.
