The Daily Carnage

“Or you’ll sink like a stone…For the times they are a-changin.” – Bob Dylan

The times are certainly changing, especially for us marketers.

Brands are finally coming around to the reality that ‘authenticity’ must be at the forefront of their strategy. Today’s customer is way too savvy for anything less.

So, how do you rethink traditional marketing practices and build a more authentic brand?

1. Define Your Core Values: Some folks call it their ‘true north.’ Your core values are all about what you stand for. Don’t confuse these with your logo or how your website looks. These values will guide your brand purpose, personality, and proposition. Without defining them, you’ll flounder.

A brand that’s killing it in the authenticity game: Levi’s

“Levi’s recognizes that trend-following may be the simplest way to attract attention and raise short-term revenue, but following someone else’s lead usually causes a company to stray from its own brand identity,” says brand-building expert Denise Lee Yohn.

2. Engage With Your Customers: Customers want to feel good about buying from you. There has to be a connection. It all starts with understanding what they need and want on a deeper level. One way to do this is to take a high-level view of your current customer experience. Simple things like your response rate, your website, hours of availability, etc.

3. Be Real: We see you Jenny and Ja Rule. But seriously, if you wanna be authentic, you have to humanize your brand. We know this is easier said than done. For example; the marketing team at Red Bull versus your local bank. Who’s able to push the envelope more? Regardless of your industry, don’t let your communication style create a barrier with your customers. Avoid the contrived persona that many brands feel they need to squeeze into.

When you think of iconic brands, what comes to mind?

Nike, Apple, Ford, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, etc. 

Sure, there’s a visual component to all of these brands, but what about the voice and tone?

These are two things that often get overlooked. But, not today.

We’re sharing 5 ways to develop your brand voice.

Before we do that, you need to know the difference between voice and tone.

Voice: How you convey your personality to your audience. This should remain consistent.

Tone: The expression/moods/attitudes conveyed by your messaging. This will change frequently.

Now that you know the difference, let’s talk about establishing your brand voice.

1. Look at your mission statement: Your mission statement (or whatever you refer to it as) is a great place to start when determining your brand voice. It’s all about connecting your marketing efforts to your values. Mailchimp does a bang-up job with its content and style guide. Check it out here.
2. What are you working with: If you’ve already produced content and copy, it’s time to take a look at your current assets. Are there consistent themes? Do those themes match your values? Also, take note of your best-performing content. This should indicate what resonated with your audience.
3. Audience survey: If you have an engaged audience, ask them how they view your brand. Keep the survey simple with 3 questions or less.
4. Research your audience: Heard that before, right? But, try this. Google the names of your top 5-10 customers and check out their social media channels. What do they like? What do they read? Get your creep on.
5. Put together a brand voice chart: Do this, but don’t do that. That’s what your voice chart will dictate. The folks at Co-Schedule put together a template here. Download it and make it your own.