Voice

Language and voice are critical components of your brand – and sadly, it’s the element that is often overlooked. Whether it’s social media, email, or your website – anywhere you’re interacting with your users or customers – it is best practice to develop a consistent tone in your communication.

Personality

Give your brand a personality your desired customers will want to be friends with. If you’re trying to reach a young, cool crowd – be young and cool*. If you’re trying to reach a more business oriented audience, a more formal voice will work best.

*being young and cool does not mean being lame and cheesy.

“Be the brand your customer wants you to be.”

Figure Out Your Audience

Take a look at your analytics: what do your customers respond to the most? Identify your target and direct your language to appeal to their taste. It’s also helpful to take a hint from your existing competitors. Research your competition and see how they interact with their customers. Make a note of what works, what doesn’t work, and what you think you can do better for your market.

Know Your Platform

Familiarize yourself with the platforms your message is going out on. Each social media site has their own audience, “feel” and preferred topics. You want to promote the “social” aspect of the sites by giving your posts a conversational feeling. Your topics and approach may change slightly depending on which platform you are using, just as they would depending on who you are chatting with in life.

Twitter is a quickly flowing stream of thoughts and ideas. Each tweet is just a blip on your audience’s feed so it’s important to catch their attention. Sharing thoughts and links to interesting articles works well with Twitter’s 140 character limit.

Your personal Facebook is full of family and friends, so think of them when you post as a brand. Facebook gives you over 60,000 characters to describe the day-to-day. Share some pictures from around the office! (your mom will love it).

While Google Plus is all about communities. Posts on Google Plus should contain content that your colleagues would enjoy. Get involved in a community and join the discussion as a specialist in your area.

Posting on LinkedIn can be thought of as having a discussion with your boss. (If your culture is very laid back like Metova’s and you talk to your boss like a friend, think of a business-savvy Grandmother). Your voice should be professional. This is the place to really display how your company is an expert in the field. Other professionals will be looking at your company and what you post could convert them into a new sale!

Summary: pick a voice, keep it consistent, and don’t forget to have fun!

Need help figuring out your brand or audience? We can help!