Finding your company's voice

Have you ever thought about your company’s voice? This isn’t for a singing contest you’ve thought about competing in. Yet, it is a competition all the same.

Which businesses in the market you serve are heard? Not because they are louder and flasher than other companies. The successful brands “speak” to the market in a way that attracts prospective customers.

"People don’t always remember what you say or even what you do, but they always remember how you made them feel,” author Maya Angelou once said,

Getting your company’s voice right is important. In fact, it’s critical and just as essential as anything else you do in business.

A wonderful product or service tied to an earth rattling strategy and a bunch of nifty tactics just won’t cut it in today’s noisy marketplace. If your tone doesn’t match what you stand for and resonate with your target audience, then you’re barking up the wrong tree.

Just like people, businesses develop a particular character, hopefully positive, over time. Some go to great pains to craft their marketing voice while others seem to evolve naturally.

Take control of your marketing voice!

No matter their size, every company has a personality. Of course, like that smelly person that sat next to you on your last cross-country flight, it may not be the persona they should portray.

The voice your company uses to speak with customers must strike the right tone. It can be playful, serious, enthusiastic, casual, powerful, humble, friendly, innovative, fun and exciting, or even goofy and wacky.

Many companies struggle to articulate their stories and value in their market. Here are a few tips on how to find your company’s voice, get it just right, and put it into practice.

Listen to your inner voice. Give a tremendous amount of thought about your personality and how comfortable you are replicating that across your company. Start by determining three to five words or phrases that describe your personal identity and character. Next examine which values are most important to your business and look at where these overlap your personality traits. Before going any further get other people in your company involved and then see what everyone’s answers have in common. Identify recurring themes. Now stop to reflect on your gut intuition and what needs to be ruled out. Maybe your friends know you as a jokester and the life of the party -- you know where this headed! Ignore your intuition at your peril.

Who you’re speaking to. Yes, I know, it seems like I’m constantly hammering at this point. There’s a good reason too. A deep dive into finding and defining your audience sets the stage for everything you do, including finding your company’s voice. Ultimately, your marketing has to resonate with your target audience — as long as it’s in line with your vision. Over time you may have pigeonholed yourself into a proficient provider of your offering with a “be careful what we say” approach lacking personality. Companies that do this try to walk a line. Many of your competitors are doing the same thing and that’s when you all start to sound the same. The good news is they don’t have your perspective and unique personality! Change your marketing voice so that during the early phases of the buying process the stage is set to quickly to attract ideal customers and establish solid relationships. It’s all right to use certain popular buyer buzzwords as long as you wrap your tone of voice around it.

Your tone of voice. A tone sets the mood and tells the world what to expect from your brand. A tone also gives you a clue on how to use your voice in different situations. However, describing your tone of voice using personality traits is very subjective. For instance, “professional” may represent a stiff or reserved approach to some people while others will see this as something totally different. List the personality traits you want to project for your business. Take each word and phrase you’ve decided to use to describe your marketing voice and define them with an example that embodies that trait and in what situations they work best. Then come up with samples of the wrong way to use them. This will help shift you away from a specific term and towards the feeling you’d like people to experience with your business. Also consider that the more your company’s voice feels like a conversation, the more it’ll put people at ease. No matter what qualities you choose, the goal is to connect with your audience in a way that breaks down barriers and differentiates.

Your marketing voice is what you say and how you say it. It’s time to put your marketing voice into use. The “how” may seem simple enough, yet that’s far from the case. You’ll separate your business from the pack with a well-thought out marketing voice only through consistent use by your team -- across different channels and media formats. From one-person companies to Fortune 50 corporations, a team goes beyond actual employees – think distributors, outside vendors, and freelancers. To help you keep your eye on the prize and promote uniformity consider creating a marketing voice usage or style guide. The first thing to include is an uncompromising reminder that prospects and customers are always present and come first. Construct a few examples such as, “You may want this, which is why we do that” as much better than, “We do this, when you want that.” Now dive in and create a benchmark guide with a handful of pages that clearly lay out what your marketing voice is, why it’s that way, what it means, and how to use it and when. Give plenty of examples illustrating each personality trait and include content samples for presentations, social media, advertising, networking events, and even emails. This will it will make your job easier along with your extended team.

Your business has a “best fit” ideal customer in mind. You also have strengths and wonderful benefits to offer that the competition can’t touch. You need to communicate in a way that highlights those differences while resonating with your target audience.

That’s exactly what a marketing voice does. You’re in a people-to-people business. And people form impressions as soon as they begin to hear or read words.

Develop a unique way of speaking to your audience that’s distinctive, recognizable, and genuine. Words matter here of course and so do color, logo, fonts, visuals, and even sounds. They all help to set the tone that truly represents your company that you’ll use in all of your online and offline interactions.

Do target buyers and customers recognize your distinct marketing voice?

Ron Stein is President of FastPath Marketing (www.marketing-strategies-guide.com) and the author of the Rapid Impact Marketing & Selling Playbook. As a speaker, coach, and consultant he works with small business owners helping them to accelerate the path between their vision and the actions needed to reach, win, and keep customers. Ron is the creator of the FastPath to More Customers Now! 7-step marketing system based on more than twenty years as a successful business owner, corporate CEO, business development executive, and salesman. He is also a mentor at two nationally recognized business accelerators. Ron offers one-on-one and small group mentoring, conducts seminars, and consults. He can be reached at 727-398-1855 or Ron@FastPathMarketing.com.