Finding Your Online Voice
You have a website, a blog and a number of social media platforms, your online marketing strategy is in place and you’re ready to start spreading the word.
However, you don't know who you want to address, what you want to say or how you want to say it.
It’s a stumbling block facing many businesses and finding the right voice for your brand is crucial when it comes to communicating and standing out on social media.
Giving your company consistent character by using a single, recognizable voice will allow you to enter into more conversations with your followers. It will also add personality to your brand, setting you apart from your competitors. Even better, if consumers like what you’re saying, they will start sharing your content and marketing it for you.
Developing and conveying an authentic online voice for our clients is something we pride ourselves on and will always be one of the first things Cake Media addresses when taking on a new marketing role.
Need Help? Here are Some Key Things to Think About:
Who is Your Target Audience?
Are you a bar, hoping to catch the attentions of the 21-35 year-old market, a hotel targeting families, a pet store going for animal lovers or a cafe, aiming to bring in local foot traffic?
We recommend a brainstorming session, to determine exactly what kind of customers you want to target. This will help you to define WHO you will be addressing online and will allow you to think more about how your brand will communicate.
This Fourth of July tweet from @Macys was obviously written with female customers in mind and is conveyed in a chatty, friendly voice:
What Do You Want to Say?
Will your social media channels promote new products, will you be showcasing recipes and pictures of food and drink, will you be a resource for information about a particular subject such as financial advice or mechanics, are you selling clothes or showcasing a hotel?
Planning WHAT kind of things you want to say to your target audience can help to shape the online character of your business.
Posts from brewing company @newbelgium are targeted at beer lovers/bargoers and are focused on their product line. This gives them a relaxed, informative and often-humorous delivery.
How to Say It
Ask yourself—if my brand had a personality, what would it be? Fun, young, reliable, healthy, older, professional, educational, motherly, whimsical, casual?
Before you start posting, try to have a strong grasp of your online character. It will prove central as to HOW you are going to get your message across.
This tweet from @Target is friendly and relatable. It appears to be targeted at women, it is pushing the Target product line, while maintaining a casual and conspiratorial voice, furthered by the use of a winking emoji.
While it's important to maintain an authentic voice (i.e. your brand's consistent personality) online, we should note that the tone of your posts can change and you shouldn't feel restricted by one single type of delivery.
Think of tone as being the mood your business is currently in and ask yourself - if my brand was speaking right now, what would it sound like? Funny, serious, casual, informative, professional, friendly, sassy?
Telling customers that you are going to be closed for the day or talking up your new happy hour specials—they'd be communicated very differently in real-life. Think of conducting your online conversations in exactly the same way.
Still confused or (we hope not) even more confused? Connect with Cake Media and we can help!
Thanks for visiting, Laura and Jenny.