The majority of businesses will fail if they’re not solving a problem or providing a service their audience cares about. But some will fail simply because they are not conveying that they have a solution to a problem or a service their audience cares about.
We can make sure this doesn’t happen by crafting a compelling brand voice. A brand is an artificial person and has unique characteristics just like any person. A brand voice helps the target audience recognize the brand personality when it interacts with them.
It is very important today that you create a humanized brand with a relatable mission. By putting a story and passion at the heart of your brand, you create something people can get behind. Plus, this makes marketing the idea super easy.
We do this by starting with your why.
Too often we focus on our what, the product. We rent cottages, they are one the water, we have kayaks and great fishing. This is not your brand.
Your brand is your why? Why did you get into this industry? Why is it important to you? Why do customers keep coming back? Or Why should they care? Answer these questions to help start to shape your brand story.
If you don’t think you need a brand story a good test is to read your about us page aloud to someone. See if you can make it through the whole thing without cringing? Or the other person falling asleep?
Rework your about us page to include your why. Your journey. What keeps you getting up each morning and heading to work. Remember a brand is a personality. Make it personal. If you are passionate about what you do this should be easy.
And, remember not to get caught up in what your product is. It’s about why you have it and how it benefits your customers.
Once you have refined the page so it resonates the next step is to find the people out there who will care about your brand. If you have a well-defined audience this is an easier task.
Be sure to check out episode two of Let’s Talk Tourism if you need help defining your audience.
When communicating with your audience you need to translate your brand story into your brand voice. This is to ensure that the same personality and image are used for every customer touchpoint, such as your website, social media, emails, ads, etc … Of course, your brand voice is meant to be heard by your audience so make sure it sounds pleasant to their ears. Here are some ways to get started:
- Assign your brand voice an adjective first like adventurous, friendly, informative, etc. and build your voice based on it.
- Try the ‘We’re this, not that’ exercise. By filling in the blanks. We’re (blank) but not(blank). EG. We’re funny, but not sarcastic.
- Talk like a human and communicate benefits, not products.
S0 now that we know who our audience is, ep 2, and how we want to talk to them, your brand voice next is to reach out to your audience through content marketing, which we’ll save that for the next episodes.
Scott Adams is the president of Birchbark Media, a digital marketing agency based in Peterborough, Ontario that focuses on helping to market and improve the online presence of travel brands and destinations both regional and abroad.