Top Signs Your Brand Voice Isn't Working

Just imagine answering your phone without looking.

Eek, I hope it’s not a scammer/political survey/the mother-in-law.

And you hear, “hey, it’s me.” Phew!

Chances are, you know exactly who it is. The voices of the people who are near and dear to you have voices that are instantly recognisable.

It’s not too dissimilar to your brand voice. Your brand voice should be:

·?????Recognisable

·?????Clear

·?????Consistent

·?????Engaging (not to absolutely everyone but we’ll get to that later)

Your brand voice is how you sound to whoever is reading your stuff.

And you convey your brand voice through your communication channels. That might be:

·?????Website

·?????Email newsletters

·?????Social media

·?????Marketing collateral

Can They Name that Brand?

Consider your existing audience. If someone were to anonymously send one of your social posts to them without any branding and they were asked to Name that Brand, how well do you think they’d do?

Top Signs Your Brand Voice isn’t Working

Numero Uno – You can’t stand to read it.

If you avoid pushing traffic to your website, and - let's be honest - you can’t stand to read it yourself because it gives you the ick, chances are the brand voice on your main digital asset is no longer aligned with your brand voice.

It’s like reading a Facebook status update from 15 years ago.

Do I want to share this memory?

Do I f***.

Numero Dos* – Your audience has changed

Your clients are a lot different now than they were 3 or 4 years ago. But that's a good thing. You are now working with the right people.

Someone recently asked my partner what I do for a living. When he said “copywriter,” they asked for more clarity.

He said… "you know the property descriptions that real estate agents put up online? She writes those."

Hilarious! I don’t write those. However, in his defence, I did do a couple of those when I first started out. But that’s what he still thinks I do!

Any copy that you wrote way back when will be geared towards the clients you a) thought you were going to get or b) the clients you did get.

I doubt your target market now engages with it.

Numero Tres – Your. Marketing. Just. Isn’t. Working.

You spend more time on socials than you’d care to admit, and the only people liking your stuff is your mom and your sister-in-law.

And even if you are getting a sh*t-tonne of likes, its merely a vanity metric - they aren’t converting.

No website enquiries. No DMs. Nada.

BUT, you probably do well at networking events or via word-of-mouth and referrals.

Sound familiar?

Your work is good. Your copy isn’t.

Numero Quattro – You’ve changed your offering

The products and services you offered in the beginning are not the same as what you offer now. Or you are introducing a new product or service.

(Similar to Numero Tres)

But here’s the good news.

A service offering shift is a great opportunity to reassess your brand voice. It’s far easier to implement smoothly when other changes are taking place.

You can change your brand voice without a full rebrand.

Though if your visuals are outdated, be my guest, but after just 3-5 years they shouldn’t be.

In a previous article, “Hiring a Copywriter isn’t Enough” I break down my easy 6-step formula to create your very own authentic brand voice.

But, I can do one better than that now.

I have condensed my Female-Founder Brand Workshop - the one I use every single time I create kick-ass brand voice guidelines with my clients - into a mini workbook for you to download.

Subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll send it to you for FREE.

And if you want access to my entire brand voice process… sign up for Let’s Write for Business starting November 1st.

$250 buy in.

20 days of writing prompts.

Fresh Brand Voice Guidelines to implement across all of your channels.

You’ll be a new you by Christmas ??????

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With love,

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Natalie

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*Don’t ask me while I’m all bilingual all of a sudden.

Perhaps I’ve been reminiscing about my teen summers spent in Spain ?

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