Have you ever been to a networking event where everyone sounds exactly the same? Or online, trying to get through to an agent - only to end up with a chatbot that sounds exactly the same no matter what site you are on?
That's what most businesses sound like online - a monotonous sea of sentences out of the box. But what if I told you that your brand could be the quirky, sarcastic voice everyone wants to talk to? What if your messages were opened and shared by your subscribers because they are unique, useful and entertaining?
Here's a mind-blowing fact: B2B emails outperform B2C emails by almost double the click-through rates. But here's the catch - this only works if people actually remember and trust you. That doesn’t happen if your website says one thing, your social page says another and your welcome message a third. It’s not even the information! It's the way you say it.
Your brand is EVERYTHING your business does. From invoices to phone calls, from chatbots to email signatures - every single interaction tells a story.
Let's talk about a brand that nailed its personality: Compare the Market. They're so consistent that when you hear their squeaky meerkat voice, you instantly know it's them - without even seeing their logo!
Key Takeaway: Be So Distinctive, People Can Recognize You Blindfolded
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1. Pick Your Persona
2. Consistency is Your Superpower
As one marketer put it: "Consistency in brand is like wearing matching socks. It shows you've got your act together."
3. Practical Brand Voice Guidelines
Marketing channels are evolving. Email marketing still delivers an average of £35 for every £1 spent. But today, it's not just about email - think chat, SMS, WhatsApp, push notifications. Your audience don’t think in terms of channels and touchpoints. They think in terms of “Susie from Waymo who helped me.” The channel is secondary to the service.
For a small business, the brand voice is you. But what happens if you don’t want your face to be out there? Or if you are a growing team, with employees or freelancers on the payroll?
That’s where you need a brand side-kick. For example, Clap-Trap from Borderlands, the meerkats from Compare The Market or Genie from Aladdin. Their voices are so memorable that you can identify them with your eyes closed, or by reading their dialogue on the page. Whilst the main character (that’s you!) runs around delivering the service, the side-kick is doing a beautiful job of telling people what is happening.
Can you create a "Clap Trap" for your business? A character so distinctive that people eagerly anticipate your messages, check out it’s latest clips or log onto your website to talk to it, in chat?
In a world drowning in content, being forgettable is the real business killer. Your brand voice is your secret weapon. With 100+ messages a day in the inbox, you need your audience to recognise and anticipate what you offer.
Once it is embedded, it becomes second nature.
Good luck!