A brand voice, though, isn’t about the creation of a non-human voice. Which of these examples could have come from any of your competitors? Your goal is to whittle your examples to a small group of pieces unique to your brand – examples of the brand voice you want to embody. How do these characteristics show up in how you communicate with your audience? Create a brand voice chart With your brand’s voice defined, illustrate how it turns up more concretely in your content with a brand voice chart. Ensure that your writers understand how to put your brand voice into action You’ve defined your voice and tone and shown it in an easy-to-understand chart. Revisit and revise the brand voice chart as the company changes over time A brand voice chart is not meant to be a one-time, set-it-and-forget-it tool. As your brand messaging evolves or new competitors come into your market, it’s good to take a look at the chart and refresh it with new examples. Quarterly, convene your key content creators and communicators to find out if any voice attributes haven’t worked well or are more aspirational than possible for whatever reason. Use your voice to make the case for your content marketing team to participate in Content Marketing World Sept. 4-7 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Editor’s note: You may have missed this article when CMI published it a couple years ago. Interestingly, brand voice remains a critical need and this guide can help you create a helpful one.
If your logo didn’t appear with your content, could your audience identify the content as coming from your brand? Would someone viewing your content on different channels know it all came from the same brand?
If you’re not careful, you can end up with a random assortment of voices and tones in the content produced across your marketing ecosystem that doesn’t provide a consistent picture of your brand, or even use the same language consistently.
This inconsistent brand experience is more common as an organization grows and is often exacerbated as external entities such as freelancers and agencies get thrown into the brand’s content creation mix.
You may be asking why a brand voice matters – isn’t it more important to work hard to make your brand sound more human? A brand voice, though, isn’t about the creation of a non-human voice. It’s about being consistent with the voice you are creating – positioning yourself as an easily identified and authoritative source for your area of expertise. Similarly, a consistent brand voice and vocabulary is essential to implementing localized content and intelligent content strategies effectively.
Luckily, you can create a brand voice chart to help address the issue. I’ve outlined the five steps to establish, create, and maintain a desired brand voice to drive consistency in your content creation efforts.
1. Gather a representative sample of your content
You want to cast a wide net – gather everything from videos to web pages, e-books to your social media calendar. Now, cast a critical eye on the content. Which of these examples could have come from any of your competitors? Set those aside. Your goal is to whittle your examples to a small group of pieces unique to your brand – examples of the brand voice you want to embody. Print these examples and put them up on a whiteboard, grouping together pieces with a similar feel.
2. Describe your brand voice in three words
In the same room as the whiteboard (or with the board visible to all in a
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