“Finding your brand voice” — it sounds just as nebulous as when people say they went on a trip to “find themselves.” Both come off as pie-in-the-sky statements that make you want to roll your eyes. 

In many ways, brands are like people. A brand voice isn’t something you accidentally stumble upon, nor is it something you decide on by throwing darts at a wall and seeing what sticks. Similarly, as a person you don’t miraculously just discover yourself one day. Even if you were to have an epiphany, you had to change and refine yourself over time to get to that point, and the way you present yourself to the world is an active choice.

Building a brand voice takes purpose. It’s easy to tell the difference between a brand that has put time and effort into their messaging, versus one which hasn’t. Where some brands come off as superficial, others seem old or bland, others have yet to understand how to captivate effortlessly and always seem to draw a crowd. Why is that? 

Let’s examine a few common mistakes made when establishing a brand voice, followed by a few tips to keep in mind as you work to craft yours.

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Mistake #1: Not paying any attention to brand voice

A first mistake is just not paying attention to brand voice, period. It’s normal for teams to not focus on brand voice in their early stages while they’re figuring out product roadmaps and GTM. It’s also normal for a brand voice during that stage to match a founder’s voice - they’re the ones often speaking on behalf of their company. 

But once a business reaches a certain size (usually around Seed), developing some sense of brand identity is essential. Again, brands are like people. Carl Jung’s famous quote about identity comes to mind here:

“The world will ask you who you are, and if you don’t know, they will tell you”. ‍

Teams who don’t focus on crafting a voice often end up latching on to whatever latest trend is out there, seeming reactive in the process. Don’t do this.

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Mistake #2: Not speaking your customer’s language

The language we use to communicate is deeply tied to our identity. Our axioms, sayings, slurs, expressions… all of these are more than simply words that convey meaning, it is the decision itself of which words to use that conveys meaning (ie, an expression which only a subset of the wider population uses implies that that brand is one of those people).

Using language that resonates with your customer is essential. A common mistake brands make is that they adopt a voice they want to use instead of adopting a voice that will speak to their customers. It’s not about you - put yourself in your customer’s shoes. 

Taking it one step further, some brands even craft their messaging and taglines by directly repurposing what others have said to them and/or about them, pulling quotes from reviews into their messaging. Study this.

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Mistake #3: Being too boring 

Another common mistake made by companies is simply not taking enough risks. Technical teams in particular make this mistake by over-indexing on the complexity of their products in their external communications. There’s several issues with this. 

The main reason is that even your primary audience (most likely technical developers) won’t want to just hear technical speak. Even they will likely want it conveyed with some personality behind it. A Nielsen Norman Group study recently showed that even across ‘serious’ industries (hospitals, banking, healthcare, security, etc), tones that are conversational and enthusiastic go a longer way than serious tones. Being respected does not need to come at the expense of also having charm. 

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So, how do you craft a brand voice?

1 - Refine your audience and collect data 

You can’t refine your brand voice without knowing your audience well. Define your demographic, then use analytics to cross-reference how well your intended audience matches with reality. Look at your competition and analyze what type of content is converting for each. 

Create user profiles with examples of copy that speak to each. If you’re about to branch into a new market (geographic or product), start with some market research to see how others operate in those markets.

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2 - Test, test, test

Once you have your key audience mapped out and a prototype of your voice, A/B test different phrasing options to see what people engage with the most. You’ll want variety here. The goal isn’t to find the specific formula that converts, it’s to find a range of tones that are all “on brand” and can be used under varying circumstances. 

How do you respond if you’re offended? How do you respond to something funny? How do you respond to a complaint? You get the idea.

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3 - Tailor your brand voice to different platforms 

Once you know broadly speaking what your voice/tone is and are comfortable with how much leeway you can take when speaking to your audience, you can then strategically think through where to engage your audience. Growth isn’t just saying the right thing to the right people, it’s also doing it in the right place. 

You can have the perfect pitch prepared for a potential new LP, but the time/place you communicate matters just as much as anything else. You wouldn’t want to pitch a potential LP at a rave in Ibiza, for instance. So don’t do the digital equivalent. For instance, there are platforms I expect to see ads on, and platforms I don’t. 

The channels you use matter, the way you communicate on them matters, and even the time at which you do so - all of this matters.

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4 - Be Authentic

Don’t try to be too polished. The modern day customer wants real and authentic more than anything else. The constant pressure to release content also means that sometimes you’ll make mistakes and say the wrong thing or phrase something in off the cuff manner. 

That’s ok, and if anything, more attention to you will be good for you, provided you can handle the blunder. The best way to address those is to state facts, keep them to a minimum, and then look ahead. Authenticity means being real with one another. We crave it in one another as much as we crave it in our brands.

I hope this was helpful to you on your brand journey. To round it off, here are a range of brands I think have done a good job crafting their unique voice.

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5 - Some Brand Voices We Love

BeraChain: BeraChain’s voice is fun and light in a way that manages to capture a reader’s attention without detracting from the topic at hand. What I love about the brand voice they’ve created is that it took on a life of its own, translating into its own branded language of sorts. 

If you sift through their socials, you’ll see terms used like “Poking the Bera”, the “Berritory”, “Ooga booga”, etc, even as far as saying “Bm” instead of “Gm”.

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Boys Club: Something Boys Club did well from Day 1 was start with a specific audience in mind and speak directly to that audience from the get-go. They targeted women in crypto and spoke to them as if speaking to a friend in a casual way, which made them feel welcome. Ironically this likely grew the community faster than the alternative of trying to speak to everyone would have. By being hyper targeted, they were able to foster a strong community which then continued to attract others.

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Chainlink: As one of the largest institutions in crypto, Chainlink faces a unique challenge: speaking to multiple different audiences at any point in time. Something I love about their brand voice is that they don’t try to be something they’re not. In other words, they are a decentralized computing platform and they don’t undersell or oversell what that means. They keep their brand voice credibly neutral and factual, while still being able to provide some big-picture vision. For instance, their #LinkTheWorld hashtag has taken on a life of its own and has eclipsed just technical references and is now used as a community rallying cry of sorts.

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Considering reworking your brand voice but don’t know where to start? We’re happy to help.

Reach out here if you’d like to set up an initial consultation, and let’s have a chat!

Abigail Carlson

Content Genius