The age of social media marketing is real and every brand worth it’s salt is on social media showcasing themselves. When brands get on social media, one of the first things that they need to do is find their brand voice there. If this exercise is done correctly, it goes a long way in making social connections, messaging and conversations very smooth
Brands that accurately hone in on a consistent brand voice for their social media accounts can more effectively build followers, establish trust, and generate better engagement rates. To get to the right brand voice, which is essentially the center-piece of everything social for the brand, there are a few key questions that the brand and it’s team of stakeholders have to answer. If these are handled clearly, the rest is easy. Let us take a look at this process today. Here are the questions in no particular order.
What’s your organizational culture?
Whether you have it carved in stone or not, whether you have written repositories to show it or not, your business has a culture all its own and in most cases it is reflective of the amalgamation of all the people that make your team . You have a mission statement, business values, a brand promise, and ideals that go into the process followed in the making every decision and taking of every action. It is imperative and makes absolutely perfect sense to reflect your culture in your social media communications. That way, there is a human or humanizing element to your brand and people who read what you have to say or interact with you on your social media handles will be more comfortable connecting with you. Also, this being consistent goes a long way in lead conversions and superior brand perception on social media
What’s the community you are addressing/serving?
What is your product or service? Who are the people who use it and how do they communicate? The tone and tenor of your voice on social media must match theirs. That way the connect is through and through and you get bonus points on credibility. If you’re in a niche industry – such as a mobile phones or cloud data services – do a detailed analysis to understand your customers and peers and study their tone of voice. You most definitely want your audience to feel like you know them and quite literally speak their language. Developing a brand voice that comes across as their peer or an approachable expert is a way to stand out and get your social audience’s attention. If there is a mismatch between expected voice and the actual voice, this leads to brand disconnect and eventually all your social messaging will add up to zilch. Even if figuring this out needs time and effort, it is something that is well spent and will stand your brand in very good stead in the long run
What’s the level of your conversation?
The days of brand broadcasting on social media are done and dusted. It is an age where the pull is more effective than the push. So the level of your conversation on social media – mainly comprising of the regularity, tenor and frequency of your updates and the difference between response time and resolution time will be key here. People like engaging with a brand the communicates often. listens well and gets back with solutions when posed with a query. Even if you have the best creative team running your social media, constant broadcasting will never get you there. Also it is critical to decide whether you handle is that of a subject matter expert, a mentor or a customer service executive. While there is no thumb rule for this, in most cases a mix of all three is good. The actual percentage of each is something that your team has to figure out on an ongoing basis based on feedback and analytics.
So these are the three questions that are key to finding your brand voice on social media. Let me know if there is anything else that you and your team have factored into this process.