Creating a brand voice style guide: Why it’s essential and what to include
Brand voice is the personality and tone of a brand’s communications. It’s how a brand speaks and engages with its audience and customers. Creating a consistent and clear brand voice is crucial for businesses to differentiate themselves from competitors and build trust with their audience. A brand voice style guide can help businesses achieve this goal.
What is a Brand Voice Style Guide?
A brand voice style guide is a document that outlines the personality and tone of a brand’s communications. It includes guidelines for writing style, language, tone, and voice. The style guide provides specific examples of how to use the brand voice in various kinds of content and channels, such as social media, email, blog posts, and marketing materials.
Why is a Brand Voice Style Guide Essential?
A brand voice style guide is essential because it helps businesses maintain consistency in their communication. Consistency is important because it helps build recognition and trust with the audience. If a brand uses a different voice or tone in different channels or content pieces, it can confuse the audience and weaken the brand identity.
A brand voice style guide also helps ensure that the brand voice is aligned with the brand’s core values, mission, and target audience. It provides a clear framework for writers and content creators to follow, which saves time and energy in the content creation process. The style guide can also help businesses to onboard new staff and contractors, ensuring that they understand the brand’s voice and how to use it.
What to Include in a Brand Voice Style Guide?
Creating a brand voice style guide requires careful consideration of the brand’s personality, values, goals, and audience. Here are some key elements to include in a brand voice style guide:
1. Brand Personality: Define the brand personality in terms of human characteristics. Is the brand friendly, confident, authoritative, playful, or serious? The personality should be reflected in the language, tone, and voice of the communication.
2. Language: Define the language that the brand uses. Does the brand use formal or informal language? Is the brand language technical or creative? Should the brand use jargon or avoid it? The language should be appropriate for the audience and the content type.
3. Tone: Define the tone of the communication. Is the brand tone conversational, empathetic, humorous, or inspirational? The tone should match the mood and context of the content.
4. Voice: Define the voice of the communication. Is the brand voice personal or professional? Does the brand speak in the first person or third person? The voice should be consistent across all channels and content types.
5. Guidelines for Specific Content Types: Provide specific guidelines for different types of content, such as social media posts, blog posts, emails, and marketing materials. Include examples of how to use the brand voice in each type of content.
6. Visual Guidelines: The brand voice style guide can include visual guidelines, such as color schemes, typography, and imagery. This helps ensure that the visual elements align with the brand personality and tone.
7. Audience: Define the target audience for the brand communication. This helps content creators to craft content that resonates with the audience and aligns with their interests and values.
Conclusion
Creating a brand voice style guide is essential for businesses that want to maintain consistency in their communication and build trust with their audience. The style guide helps ensure that the brand voice is aligned with the brand’s personality, language, tone, and voice, and that it resonates with the target audience. A well-crafted brand voice style guide can save time and energy in the content creation process, and provide a clear framework for writers and content creators to follow.