When writing for your business, firstly you should think about your brand’s voice, but what does that mean?

What is a brand voice?

When thinking about your brand’s voice, you are really thinking about the ‘personality’ of your brand and how that is expressed through the written word. The tone of voice governs what you say in writing, and how you say it.

As with all areas of your business, having a ‘voice’ will give your brand consistency, will also allow your audience to instantly gauge what your business is about and give your brand an identity.  There are so many routes that audiences can reach your business now. You want your communications to be in harmony and voice is the perfect way to do that.

But how do you find your voice?

The first thing you think about is your brand and its values.  Your brand personality and values go hand in hand with your brand voice.  So consider,

• What’s important to your brand?
• What does your brand inspire to be?
• What websites and blogs do your brand read and why?

Once you understand your brand’s personality and values, you can think about how they translate into the kind of language it will use. 

Ask yourself – if your business was a person, how would they sound? 

Who are you ‘talking’ to?  Are you approaching other businesses?  Parents?  Buyers?  Creatives?  Scientists? Who you are speaking too could affect how your business ‘speaks.’

Defining the register of your writing is often a case of choosing a point on a continuum. For example, you might need to decide where your tone of voice sits between these extremes:

Formal	Chatty
Detached	Warm
Professional	Wacky
Serious	Humorous
Laid back	Lively

For example, I knew I wanted Nicola Bourne Copywriting to sound informed, as I am usually approaching other businesses, but also to sound fun and personable, like me!  I want it to seem like we are having a chat and passing on knowledge.  I want to put the companies and people I work with at ease.

Brand V’s Company

So far, I’ve predominantly talked about brand voice, which is slightly different from your company’s voice.  A company can have several brands, each with its own tone of voice.  The audiences for the brand or corporate content might be utterly different, with no overlap whatsoever – or they might be aimed at the same audience at different times, or in different situations.

You can examine each brand within your company individually and apply the above questions or, look for the middle ground and there the brands overlap and find common language.  Obviously, this will vary slightly depending on where the overlaps occur and how extreme they are.

Keep it simple!

Although you want to find your voice and keep it consistent, don’t let it create you stress.  As with speaking, your written tone of voice will naturally change in different situations.  Your aim is to express yourself effectively and in a way that feels natural to you.

Let me help

If you would like to discuss this further and see how I can help you develop and write in your brand’s voice, feel free to drop me a line at nicolabourne@icloud.com