Copywriting & Voice to Create a Better Brand

Voice is something that comes up most times in grade school grammar, but we never really grasp what it is until we are forced into the real world of copywriting. As a business owner, you may think that the way you are writing your blogs, website copy, and social media posts is just fine. Why settle for fine when that same copy can be converting people into real life sales?

Your Writing Voice is Not Your Internal Voice

This is a nuance that can be a bit hard to understand. The way you speak and think in your head isn’t necessarily going to be the best way to reach your audience. Stylized writing like advertising is a completely different kind of voice that can shift and morph depending on your goals. Many brands use a relatable, everyday voice that is similar to the way people normally communicate to relate to their audience.

Therapists, and those in more authoritative fields like this, don’t necessarily have the luxury of using ‘yes, queen’ as their go-to phrase when handling clients. There is a certain level of familiarity; however, it is laced with a level of professionalism and empathy that is unique to this field. Scientists have little wiggle room and have to stay in a factual register.

All this to say, do you know what your business voice should be?

Can you get away with a goofy, relatable voice in your writing, or do you need to keep it professional? That all depends on your brand and deeper than that, your audience.

What is Voice in the Context of Branding?

When you are creating a brand, you are launching off of you and your passions, but you are also considering your customer and their desires. If you have not, it's time to back up the train just a little bit. Understanding your audience is where your brand is going to grow from. A shaky basis for your who and why are going to lead to major problems down the line as you are forced to cater to people that are either not your ideal client or people that were never going to buy from you in the first place. Find your voice first through your brand.

Your voice is your deepest reflection of your brand.

Let’s put this in context a bit. Say you are a new, sustainable fashion brand that caters to midsize women in the corporate world that are in their late twenties to mid thirties. These women are most likely educated, established, have money to expend on quality items, and want their purchases to mean something. The voice of your business is not going to be the same as the fast fashion business next door that caters to those in their early twenties.

If you start out speaking to your target audience like that other business, you are going to attract THEIR customers, not yours. This is going to result in people who cannot afford your clothes, don’t resonate with your message, and ultimately poor fiscal performance.

Spend the time to really understand the needs and desires of who you are selling to.

Copywriting is more subtle than “Please buy my thing”.

Approaching your cold audience with constant demands to buy your product is going to drive them away, not attract them. There are more subtle ways to get your product or service to your audience than what you might think of as traditional advertising. It’s no longer about convincing them that they just need it because you have it. There is a new relationship between customer and brand.

Show them what problems you are solving with your product or service.

Talk with them like they are a part of something bigger.

Make your brand something that they can get behind after they purchase.

These are all things that you can do with how you are communicating via your copywriting. The way you are speaking to your audience makes a massive difference. People can absolutely tell when someone is just selling them a product and there is not a real reason behind it. That is why influencers and micro influencers especially are having such an incredible impact on the sales of products and services. To their audience, they have authority and trust. Above it all, they are relatable.

Is what you are talking about in the context of your website following the same criteria?

Think about that as you are writing your next social media post. Offer your audience reason after reason to trust in your brand and get behind what it is that you are doing. This will lead to better retention of your audience, better sales, and higher referral rates.

Needing Help With Your Voice?

That is where people like me come in! I take the time to dive into your brand and understand who exactly we want to be buying your product to extract the kind of copy that can convert people into paying customers. This can mean blogging about your business (gotta get that SEO in!) in a way that makes people connected and invested in your success, or this can mean revamping your social media to get serious about converting those followers into real life sales.

Either way, I have your back. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook for more little tidbits or book a free 30 minute consultation to see how I can serve your business’ copy needs.