Authentic Branding

Create A Consistent Business Brand Voice

Why You Need To Create A Consistent Business Brand Voice To Make An Impact

Apple, Chick-fil-A, Coca-Cola, and Tik Tok. 

No, we’re not simply listing large companies. Instead, we would like to ask what comes to mind when you think of these brands. 

Whether you shop their products or not, it’s fairly clear that each of these companies has a very recognizable brand voice. If these brands were individuals and you heard them talking on the street, you’d probably have a good indicator of who they are and what they are about. 

Even for brands that have evolved over time, their immediate recognition is why it’s so important for brands – no matter how small – to build a brand voice.

Need help refining your brand’s voice? Watch what we can brew for you!  

4 Reasons Why You Need to Create A Consistent Business Brand Voice

Aside from having the potential to boost your revenue by 23%, your brand voice also builds trust between you and your audience in these 4 ways:

  1. How recognizable you are
  2. Your ability to build and maintain relationships
  3. Your uniqueness in the marketplace
  4. How authentic your audience believes you are

1. Your Recognition

What makes your brand stand out from the competition?

The content you produce can make your brand both memorable and immediately recognizable, which is essential to the customer journey. The more someone recognizes your brand, the more likely they are to convert to a buying customer. And, eventually, a loyal customer if you continue to think about the customer journey in every business aspect. 

2. Your Ability To Build Relationships

The more someone recognizes and interacts with your specific brand, the more likely they are to grow attached to you over time. By keeping your content transparent and true to your purpose, you continue to relate to your customers and build a relationship based on trust, similar interests, and mutual understanding. It’s kind of like dating with fewer strings attached.

3. Your Uniqueness

Most likely, you are not the only one of you out in the world. Likewise, we are not the only copywriting firm out in the marketplace. But we are the only FocusCopy out there. So we’re going to lean on our own uniqueness. And that’s something no one can steal from us. We combine our…

  • Years of experience
  • Ability to teach others
  • Love of coffee

…And other special tidbits to create a brand voice that’s credible and colorful. But that’s not quite all.

4. Your Authenticity

Authenticity should always be blended into your brand voice. In a world where only about 31% of customers trust most of the brands they use, continue to be true to yourself. Lying about your company, services, or products will set you up for failure and ruin your reputation. It’s best to be honest and connect to your audience on a human-to-human level than tell them whatever they want to hear. 

Ready to see more of your distinct brand in your copy? Let’s talk shop!

Breaking Down Your Brand’s Voice

Alright, from the top!

What exactly is a brand voice?

Your brand voice is broken down into 3 distinct categories: Consistency, Clarity, and Character. 

Different Cup Of Copy, Similar Quality

Consistency in your brand’s voice is where strategy and uniformity meet. Whether your audience is looking at posts on your TikTok, Instagram, website, or any other platform, your brand’s voice should be consistent across every single one of them. 

Apple is a fantastic example of a company that is consistent about its brand voice. They prefer short, clean copy that explains simply what their product has to offer. A few ideas from previous ads include:

  • Light. Years ahead. (MacBook)
  • Thinnovation (MacBook Air)
  • Privacy matters (iPhone)

Creating your own brand’s consistent voice doesn’t mean making 1 person responsible for creating all of your content forever. We do suggest hiring copywriters (like us) who can learn your voice and apply it to all future copy. Especially since it takes about 5-7 impressions before someone starts to truly recognize your brand.

Make It Simple To Understand

Clarity is just as it sounds in that any copy you create should be concise, direct, and easy to understand. Being too verbose or detailed can actually turn your audience off. Give them the big picture in a summary and tack on highlights to answer their frequently asked questions. An easy way to structure your content is by ensuring you answer the who, what, when, where, and why for whatever it is that you’re writing about.

An example of this can be found in Fitbit’s ads that use phrases like…

  • Know Your Heart Rate
  • Track Activity
  • Your best wellness tracker yet.

Their copy is straightforward and lets you know right away what you can expect from their products. 

Add Shots Of Flavor

Character is the pop of personality you decide to add to your brand’s voice. It’s that something extra that sets you apart from the rest of the crowd. You may decide to adopt a certain persona to fit what your audience likes. Or you may start using certain words or phrases to fit a theme you’d like to align your brand with. 

A large-scale example of a brand’s character is seen in the Houston Astros content. Their copy is, of course, aligned with baseball but also uses space themes and references to its hometown NASA roots. Another example is Chick-fil-A – known for its misspelled ads and a touch of Southern charm.

Create A Consistent Brand Voice With One Copywriting Firm

We write content for a variety of industries like bookkeeping, aviation, construction, and even chocolate (so much fun). And we like to partially attribute our portfolio to the process we’ve worked so hard to develop and define over time.

If you’re done sitting on copy that never seems to get published, we’re the copy baristas you need to bring your brand to life. Reach out today to get started.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
Authentic Branding

Salesy Copy Is Out, Authentic Branding Is In

Ever see an ad that makes you raise your eyebrows a bit?

You’re far from alone in that. In fact, today’s consumers are inundated with salesy marketing campaigns in every facet of their lives. You can’t open your email, social media accounts, watch a video, or even drive down the street without some type of marketing coming into your peripheral. 

If something seems suspicious, the facts don’t really matter anymore. That potential customer is already lost and may forever affiliate that brand in a negative connotation.

This is why it’s time to ditch the salesy copy. Instead, focus your marketing efforts on authentic branding that will comfort your audience and help them remember you.

So how do you make your marketing stand out for the right reasons?

You need credibility to show that your brand messaging is authentic. 

Otherwise, you’re just another fish in a pond of baseless sales tactics.

What is Authentic Branding?

Simply put, authentic branding and marketing is when you prioritize building your know/like/trust (KLT) factors with your audience over sales. It feels like you want to develop a relationship rather than a transaction. 

Remember the phrase, people do business with people they know, like, and trust. This mindset is the starting point to create an authentic brand. 

4 Tips To Ditch The Salesy Copy For Authentic Transparency

Getting the right message across isn’t as tricky as it seems. Sometimes all it takes is reevaluating your business’s mission and values. 

Don’t have time or the confidence to write your own brand messaging? Leave it to the pros at FocusCopy. Schedule your discovery call with us today.

1. Keep Your Authentic Voice Consistent In Your Brand Messaging

Have you defined your brand voice?

If not, then it’s time to discover, document, and implement your business’s authentic voice.

Your business’s brand voice speaks to your target market. Furthermore, a consistent brand voice builds credibility and helps your audience feel comfortable with your brand. 

On the other hand, an inconsistent brand voice can wreak havoc on your business’s marketing.

A few questions to ask yourself when honing in on your brand voice include:

  • How do you want people to feel about your brand?
  • What voice, tone, and words do you absolutely want to avoid affiliating with your brand?
  • Who is your ideal customer and audience?

FocusCopy has a whole workshop we go over with new clients. Sometimes, the questions are a little surprising – like which movie characters you relate to, how your friends describe you, and so much more. But I promise, there’s a method to the madness. Each question gets us closer to defining a business’s voice for the most effective brand messaging. 

Once you identify your brand voice, use it genuinely, consistently, and transparently. Moreover, don’t be afraid to show the highs and the lows. People relate to real life problems, it doesn’t need to be all sunshine and daisies. 

Additionally, if you make claims – back them up! Backlinking to reputable sources not only builds your own credibility, but can also improve your SEO efforts. (Psst…backlink to your own blogs and web pages, too!)

2. Show Your People, Products & Services With Authentic Photos – Not Stock

Sure, stock photos are great when you’re in a pinch. However, you may want to keep them in the last resort file.

This case study on Harrington Movers in New Jersey shows just how powerful authentic photos can be. When they decided to do away with the happy couple stock photo and get real, the results spoke for themselves.

In fact, they ran an A/B test with 2 new, yet authentic, photos. The first is a simple photo of their moving truck. The second is a photo of their actual team of movers in front of a moving truck. With both of the newer, authentic photos, Harrington Movers saw over a 45% increase in quote requests than with the stock photo.

Overall, marketing is a science. It’s why we love A/B tests! However, it’s important to not lose the human element. You can chase all the analytics and statistics, but you need to always remember that a real living person full of emotions and personal experiences is on the receiving end. 

On another note, make sure your photos are true! Have you been introduced to a new skincare product complete with before and after pictures? But when you look at the photos, you realize the person in the “before” is raising their eyebrows to create forehead wrinkles. The lighting is different in both photos and you realize that if this is the best they can do – it’s not a worthy investment. 

Investing in a brand photo shoot was one of my favorite marketing projects for FocusCopy. I now have a plethora of images that I own and use for featured images in blogs, newsletters, website copy, and more. Plus, it was fun! The trick is to hire a great photographer that makes you feel comfortable and that you trust (meet our favorite photographer).

3. Keep Your Marketing As Genuine As Can Be

On the same thread of using genuine and honest photos, your copy should follow suit. In other words, practice what you preach.

For instance, there’s been a lot of talk around the lack of regulations in the U.S.’s skincare and cosmetics industries. The facts can be quite shocking. Unsurprisingly, a lot of companies have jumped on the bandwagon to promote non-toxic products. However, are the people pushing these products concerned about all the toxins in their lives? 

If not, how can you be sure they even care and that their products are as safe as they claim?

People in this particular niche industry can show their genuine care and interest by showing that they take the same approach to other parts of their lives. As an example, they may show that they use effective yet non-toxic household cleaners or are making an effort to replace plastic containers with glass. 

The gist here is no matter your industry, your marketing will be most effective when it is genuine. 

Do you know what you want to say but not sure how to say it? Writing is the most cumbersome task in marketing campaigns and FocusCopy will work with you to define your brand voice for the most effective messaging. Schedule a discovery call today to learn more!

4. Grow An Organic Following (AKA Don’t Pay For Followers Or Engagement)

Social media brings us into each other’s lives like never before. Whether you keep a crisp profile that only shows the positives or get into the nitty gritty behind the scenes real life chaos, it’s amazing what people want to see!

It’s called social proof. And if done right, it can tremendously increase your brand’s reach. 

Having trouble getting started? Challenge yourself to show up on social media for a month straight. Yes, every day of an entire calendar month. I promise it’s not hard. Plus, you can have fun with it!

Been wanting to show off your dance or lip syncing skills? There’s no time like the present to pick a trending TikTok audio clip and go for it. 

However, make sure to keep the content focused on your target audience. 

Moreover, ask customers to send you or tag your company’s social media in their own photos using your product or service! There’s nothing like seeing real people enjoying what your business offers to instill social proof.

FocusCopy Writes Authentic Copy For Brands Worth Boosting

While writing comes easy to some, we’ve found the majority of people view it as their most cumbersome task. However, simple and direct communication is also very often the most persuasive and effective marketing tool. 

Whether you simply don’t like to write or don’t have time to write, it still needs to get done. FocusCopy allows business owners like you to focus on running and growing your business while we handle the copy. 

Ready to learn more about what FocusCopy can do for your business (and stress level)? Schedule your discovery call today!

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
Authentic Branding
Authentic Branding