How do you create a consistent and memorable brand voice and tone across different channels?

Your brand strategy can, and should, evolve over time. Consider inviting your team to take part in creating or revamping your mission statement and other tools. Last spring, we took an hour during our semi-annual retreat to brainstorm our values with our team. They each wrote down what they thought the company’s values should be. Then, we identified similar themes across the team to create Full Swing PR’s new values which helped shape our brand strategy. As one employee told us: “Being part of the values conversation made me feel more invested in the company and its growth.”

Your brand name is your single greatest asset in business. It's worth taking time to be thorough and thoughtful when naming your company. It's not a big deal to redesign a logo next year, but you risk sacrificing a great deal of brand equity and brand awareness if you rename. There are 7 marks of a great brand name. If you can hit all of them, you've struck gold. 1) Distinctive from competitors 2) Arouses curiosity 3) Appropriate, but not overly descriptive such that it sounds generic 4) Satisfying to say aloud 5) Easy to pronounce after reading 6) Suitable for “brandplay” 7) Timeless—not dependent on a current trend for context

When you're selecting colors for your brand's identity, it's important to keep one thing in mind. You are NOT the audience for your brand. Your customers are. Your brand doesn’t exist to make you happy—it exists to communicate a message and position you memorably in the minds of your customers. Over 70% of human communication is nonverbal. Your brand’s colors are a vital piece of your brand’s nonverbal communication. You don’t want to be changing these constantly over time. You want to get them right the very first time. Every brand building process should begin with one thing: building an insightful Customer Persona. Otherwise you'll waste your time designing something that only you care about.

Brand voice and tone set quality thought leaders apart from the masses of “influencers.” Editors look for writers who are confident and consistent in their style, and who are willing to put in the work to follow the publication’s guidelines. They don’t want wishy-washy content that they could find with a simple Google search. They want concrete, expert advice that is well-researched and unique. Solid thought leadership adds value to the lives of readers or viewers.

There are 2 crucial components of developing your voice. 1) Consistency 2) Clear, purposeful messaging It doesn't really matter what tone you choose for your brand's voice as long as you stay consistent. What does matter is making sure you are speaking effectively to your target audience. Addressing their problems and pains, reiterating a clear value proposition, and creating a differentiated perspective for your brand. This is ultimately what will determine if your brand voice is effective or not.

Consistency across channels improves SEO, making you easier to find and it makes you more relatable to your target audience. While your social media bios should be similar, they should not be the same because each platform is unique. For example, LinkedIn users will expect a more business-oriented bio than Instagram users. Pay attention to the platforms’ algorithms and utilize features like emojis to boost engagement.