Every social media post develops your voice.
Now more than ever, a brand can directly interact with its target audience. Creating a unique voice for social media helps distinguish your business and puts it in a better position to rise above the noise.
What is a brand voice?
Even if you are not familiar with the topic, you start to notice a different tone from each account by simply scrolling through social media. A youth-focused brand may use more playful language and images, while another business might communicate more directly.
Your voice is part of the brand itself in the eyes and ears of intended audiences. It interacts with the public across the digital landscape, beyond design and other types of messaging.
A voice can build connections with your audience, encouraging engagement and interaction. A study by Customer Thermometer found that 65% of customers emotionally connect with a business when engaging with their brand. You can tap into that connection to increase trust and awareness of your brand. When on social media, people want an authentic approach – after all, your content is on the same news feed as their friends. The goal of developing a unique voice is to develop a memorable brand and establish lasting connections.
Take time to brainstorm
Sit down and develop a strategy. Write down what makes your company unique and identify audiences to target.
Who are you trying to reach? That is one of the most critical questions when determining your voice. Leverage a social media management tool or use native analytics on each platform to measure demographics for every page. Facebook, in general, may skew older than other platforms such as Instagram.
From this data, you can see your current audience and compare that to your target demographics. Adjust your tone on social media to engage a different audience, if needed.
Use language audiences can understand
When creating content for a business, it is easy to fall into the trap of using language specific to your industry. To expand your audience, avoid jargon and write from the reader’s perspective.
People are less likely to interact with a brand if they feel like they are being sold something. Create content that adds to the existing conversation online. Social listening tools are a great way to measure what people are saying about a brand.
Social listening allows businesses to track, analyze and respond to conversations about their brand and the entire industry on social media.
Consistency matters
The voice is your brand’s persona, and it should stay consistent. Tone, however, can change from platform to platform.
Just think of it as how you act in different settings. With friends, you might be a little more casual. That is your voice for Instagram. In a business setting, you are more professional, use that language for LinkedIn. Even with these tweaks, the messaging should still sound like it is coming from one “person.”
Be careful not to make your social media only about the brand – engage with the community.
Check the data
Developing your voice should not just be a one-off venture. It should be reviewed and analyzed on a regular basis.
Analytics is everything when it comes to social media. Measure your outcomes, including engagement and impressions, on a weekly and monthly basis. Make slight adjustments to your voice and tone based on these metrics.
It may take some time but developing a voice for social media will elevate your brand above the rest.