An organization’s brand voice is how they communicate its mission, value, and impact to audiences through various channels – press release announcements, interviews with reporters, social media sharing & engagement, advertising campaigns, event presentations, research reports, etc. A solid brand voice strengthens the brand entity through consistency of message, media interaction, and visual identity.
When it comes to developing that brand voice, there are often a number of internal teams, departments, and individuals that add their own particular feedback and goals to the brainstorming conversation. And if you are crafting a voice across a multi-organization collaborative program or partnership, that adds the layer of external requests to the number of “must-haves.”
While it might seem like a heavy lift to bring multiple internal and external parties together to align on a cohesive brand voice, Bluetext understands how to best compile needed intel across stakeholder groups, choose strong messaging, and strategically advise the organization on how to create a consistent and credible brand voice across target audiences.
When it comes to cultivating a strong brand voice, there are three critical pillars.
1. Determine What We Do, Who We Are, and Why We Do It
Organizations often have extensive and convoluted descriptions for why they exist and what their mission is – which is not scalable across multiple platforms or usage requests. Establishing the brand as a known entity is undermined if it is being described differently by each stakeholder group either article-to-article, on social channels, or in presentations.
Bluetext believes in connecting with each stakeholder group and asking specific and select questions that uncover common themes to develop the full story the brand is trying to tell. Getting a clear and concise baseline description of the purpose is the first step in building a brand voice and lifts the burden from each stakeholder group to give their ‘best effort’ on messaging when they speak about the brand.
2. Identify Priority Targets
Who are you truly trying to reach with your message? Each group of stakeholders likely has their own answers, which can result in a wide range that includes B2B C-suite, market influencers, media, and users/customers.
While it’s important that each stakeholder feels their audience groups are properly recognized, priority targets should not be a broad ecosystem, but rather a focused group of targets that will maximize a brand’s sphere of influence. Determining exactly who needs to understand your brand is essential to achieving a company’s overarching goals.
3. Messaging Training is Imperative
With the nature of today’s news channels and social media platforms, cultivating a strong brand voice is as much about communicating legitimate information as it is combating misinformation. Bad actors can seize on messaging inconsistencies and potentially add commentary that questions which statements are factual and accurate – thwarting a company’s efforts to build a credible brand entity.
Building guideline documents and conducting ongoing messaging and media training to educate internal and external spokespeople is critical to ensuring consistency and eliminating risks to an organization’s identity or reputation.
Maintaining a solid brand voice is an ongoing process that requires constant attention and check-ins with various internal and external parties to ensure they feel their objectives are properly recognized. And if the goalposts do shift, as they often do, adjustments need to be made as externalizing a consistent brand voice is the key to building public credibility.
Need support in developing a unified brand voice? You’re not alone; this is a challenge felt by many organizations and one where Bluetext has a plentiful experience. Competing stakeholder voices can lead to internal conflict and muddled outcomes, but that’s where the value of a third-party perspective comes in. Bringing in an agency partner will ensure your messages resonates with new audiences and can act as a knowledgeable referee to consolidating many voices into one. If you’re looking for an experienced agency partner, contact Bluetext to learn about our approach and how it can be tailored to your business.