Why You Need To Define Your Brand Voice In Your Copywriting
A strong and consistent brand voice is hard to achieve.
Go too generic and your copy will be forgettable, or easily confused with another brand. Use too much slang, cultural references or colloquial language and you risk not being understood. But strike that balance between clear writing, distinctive personality and consistent delivery, and your content will stick – because it is memorable, effective, and uniquely yours.
Many smaller brands and businesses, especially when starting out, think they don’t have the time to develop their brand voice, or believe that their own personal voice and style is all they need. My hot take: You are hurting your brand and stunting its potential.
While a well-defined brand voice may feel like a “nice-to-have” for brands with limited resources, I’m here to say that it’s worth the investment, and may pay off in ways you didn’t expect.
Authenticity
We talk a lot about authenticity here at Starling Social, and that’s for a reason. In a recent blog post, I wrote about how brand authenticity wins over marketing perfection every time – and that is inextricably linked to having a strong brand voice in your copywriting.
People respond to authenticity. A lot of research and surveys are bearing this out lately, showing that Millennials and Gen Z consumers are especially inclined to support brands they see as authentic and aligned with their values. (Check out that post for some of the data!)
I sometimes hear clients worry about alienating people – concerned that by focusing too narrowly on their target audience, they may lose potential customers who don’t see themselves in that profile. But here’s the thing: authenticity is attractive, even when it isn’t in the mirror.
What I mean to say is that we aren’t just attracted to what matches us perfectly. Sure, we like brands who show that they are like us in some way, that they understand us, but they can also be aspirational, or draw you in because of what's different. Which leads us to…
Connection to your audience
A well-defined brand voice helps foster connection to your target audience. That includes both existing and new customers. Your copywriting can (and should!) be doing a lot of things at once, and one of those things should be cultivating a personality that connects authentically with your audience.
Done well, your brand voice should be appealing to your audience, help earn their trust and loyalty, and ultimately be something they are proud to adopt as part of their own identity.
One of the best-case scenarios for any brand is a repeat customer who brags about supporting your brand to their family and friends. And, along with the quality of (or experience with) your product, your brand voice and story is often what will help make that happen.
To be clear, this isn’t just for physical or retail brands. The exact same principles can be true and helpful for nonprofit organizations, health or professional services, restaurants and beyond. Some industries can be trickier when defining a brand voice, but getting that established will make all of your marketing and copywriting even easier.
Reinforcing your brand story, mission and values
For any brand, part of your connection to your audience is your brand story, your mission, and your values. These are increasingly important to consumers, especially younger ones seeking brands that reflect similar values.
While your brand voice is different from your mission statement, story or values, they should be compatible, and a natural extension of each other. Your copywriting is an opportunity to reinforce these things, and doing so in a well-defined brand voice should help that to feel authentic and natural.
I’m not asking you to beat your customers over the head by repeating your mission statement in every post, or with cliche reminders of your brand story at every turn – but making casual reference to these things and incorporating the language you use in them can help strengthen all aspects of your copywriting, marketing and brand overall.
A place to start
Every copywriter and marketer has had the experience of staring at a blank screen, willing the content to come (not telling whether or not that was me when starting to write this blog… Shh.)
While hopefully you have some direction for every piece of copy you have to write, having a defined brand voice can actually help you here too. Part of that brand voice should include what your voice is and isn’t, what it tries to do and what it doesn’t – and all of that can provide helpful direction for getting the creative juices flowing.
Many creative types (myself very much included) agree that they work better with more constraints or within some kind of box. Let your brand voice be a set of guardrails and help push your copywriting forward.
Differentiation from A.I.
A new and emerging concern for marketers and writers is the juggernaut of A.I.-generated content. While A.I. can be genuinely helpful in our industry in a lot of ways, the content it produces is still often easy to spot.
It’s not just A.I. “hallucinations” or false information you have to watch out for – it’s also personality and voice. Even the highest-quality A.I. copy will lack personality and fall short of what a great copywriter can do with a well-defined brand voice.
Not sure where to start?
If you need help developing your brand voice, or a great copywriter in your corner to help deliver it, we would love to chat. Get in touch and find out how Starling can take your copywriting to the next level.
