Why Voice Matters For Your Business
“I’m the only person who knows my voice
and how I write for my marketing.
Nobody else can nail it.”
This is one of the biggest challenges for business owners thinking about bringing in writers to their team – whether it’s for social media posting, web copy, sales copy, ads, newsletters, or emails.
And it’s understandable…
The way we communicate is like a fingerprint, unique to each and every one of us, shaped by our upbringing, our life experiences, our beliefs, our characteristics, and what we want our business to stand for.
There are both unconscious and conscious factors at play, which is why it can be tricky to answer when someone asks “What’s your voice?”
You know what sounds and feels ‘right’, and you definitely know when someone hasn’t quite nailed your voice, but you can’t articulate the actual building blocks your voice consists of to give useable feedback!
Your brand voice is a big part of what makes your business stand out
No doubt you’ve worked hard to build your business identity and create a connection with your audience, and YOUR authentic voice is a big part of that – whether you’ve developed it intentionally or not, so it’s no wonder you might be nervous about ‘outsourcing’ it to a writer.
Businesses are moving towards being more personal in our ever-more-connected times and the know, like and trust factor is underpinned by your voice.
People who are on your email list and read your content expect consistency, and if you’re inconsistent they WILL notice, and wonder who the heck kidnapped you!
Inconsistency feels inauthentic and creates disconnection. It’s like when you’re immersed in the plot of a great film and suddenly notice the weird camera-facing way the actor is holding a bottle of coke (or wrist watch, or car…you get the drift). You get yanked rudely out of the story and all you can focus on is the product placement which is super distracting and makes you lose all sense of story you were wrapped up in seconds ago .
The same is true for your marketing – the moment the reader notices that your voice somehow ain’t quite right, something feels off. They’re suddenly no longer focusing on the message you’re trying to communicate but wondering IF you wrote it. Is this new voice the real you? Or if this is the real you, who were you being in all your previous communications?
The more inconsistent your voice is, the flakier you seem and the seed of distrust is sown which is the last thing you want.
I see it a lot in the online marketing world – people sign up for high ticket coaching with a favourite ‘guru’ and before you know it all their posts start to sound completely different, like a watered down version of the guru’s voice, and you’re left wondering if they just had a personality transplant!
For you as a business owner, the challenge is that if you want your business to grow, it’s very likely you’ll need to bring on additional writers, if you haven’t already, to help create content such as blogposts, emails, sales copy, ad copy, newsletters and more.
So you need a solid understanding of WHAT your voice is, and HOW to ‘codify’ it, so your trusted copywriter(s) can more consistently stay on-brand and recreate your voice in the content they’re writing on your behalf.
As Maya Angelou said:
“Words mean more that what is set down on pager.
It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning”
You might be wondering…
Do I really need to define voice and have a voice guide for MY business?
My answer would be – if you value building an authentic relationship with your audience, through having a consistent intentional approach with all your marketing messages and content – then YES this will be of great benefit to you.
You most likely fall into one of two categories. Read on and you’ll see which one describes you, and why it matters to be clear on voice…
Are You a Business Owner Getting Clear On Your own Branding?
You may assume that you only need to codify your brand voice once you’re ready to bring on additional writers, but this belief is doing your business a disservice. ALL business owners who produce marketing content (so that should be everyone then, right?!) can benefit from being super clear on their brand voice for the reasons I’ve listed above. So if YOU are producing any marketing content at all this will benefit you.
Your logo, your website…these get plenty of attention when you’re figuring out your brand, but all too often voice gets forgotten because you assume ‘it’s just the way you speak / write / communicate – by second nature’
A better approach is to be as intentional with defining your brand voice as you are with things like your website design. That way you’ll be building consistency (and trust) from the outset, which is very attractive to your audience.
Are You a Business Owner Bringing Additional Writers Into Your Business? (Or Wanting A More Robust Process With Your Existing Additional Writers?)
If you’re a personality-lead business – typically you’re the face of the business and you probably started off producing all your own content. Either you’re thinking of expanding and bringing writers onto the team, or you already have – and you want to be sure they truly ‘get’ your voice and can recreate it in the writing they’re doing on your behalf.
If you’re a larger organisation with multiple people on the team producing content – you want to make sure there’s consistency across your marketing message at all times and that it stays within the brand voice you’re known and loved for.
There’s a Chinese proverb which says:
“The tongue can paint what the eyes can’t see”
If you want your marketing to be multi-dimensional, and really tap into your audience’s emotions (which is a huge part of why people will give you their attention, loyalty and potentially buy from you by the way) you simply can’t afford to ignore brand voice.
Want help nailing YOUR Brand Voice?
CLICK HERE and enter your details and I’ll email you a copy of The Brand Voice Guide to…
Find, define and codify your brand voice to build trust, win more clients, and make more sales.
