BRAND VOICE
Messaging That Fosters Trust
CUSTOMERS TRUST BRANDS THEY KNOW
One of the best ways to build trust is to behave in a consistent manner. Consistent communication using an established brand voice is crucial to getting your intended audience to feel like they “know” your brand (see: Brand & Campaign Design). If they know your brand, they’re more confident to pursue an interaction, because they already have an expectation of how it will go.
INCORPORATING A BRAND VOICE
A great example of this was the trend of dealerships incorporating a service introduction into every sales delivery. Many customers buy from a dealership never to return for service, whether from intimidation, perception of higher pricing, or simply inconvenience.
Physically walking sales customers to the service area so that they become familiar with the layout and where to go and introducing them to an actual person with a business card that they can seek out next time, made service retention rates skyrocket.
Today nearly every automotive brand incorporates this practice because the benefits are too obvious to ignore. People trust what they know and developing a consistent brand voice is the fast track to earning that trust and overcoming consumers’ hesitation to interact.
HOW TO FIND YOUR BRAND VOICE
A good test for brand voice is to ask yourself if your logo weren’t there, would a customer recognize something as being from your company? If not, there is work to do. We suggest developing a messaging framework, also known as messaging architecture or infrastructure, that clearly outlines your brand’s identity and communication characteristics. This framework represents your company’s “personality”.
We start with brainstorming adjectives and narrowing them down to just a few that represent who your company is, as well who your company aspires to be. From these adjectives we develop guidelines and examples that are straightforward and clear-cut for every single person involved in the communication that comes from your company. For instance, a dog toy company may want to be perceived as playful and fun, but an insurance company may prefer honest and straightforward. Details such as sentence length, complexity of vocabulary and narrative POV can all affect these perceptions.
Brother3 has years of experience shaping brand voice, and we know exactly what details make the most impact and how to put them into practice. Reach out to learn more about how we can help you develop a consistent brand voice that will help your audience get to know who you are--which in turn leads to more customers, more repeat customers, and a reliable, loyal customer base.