How to ensure a consistent brand voice across all channels

Establishing a tone of voice and style for your brand is one of the most difficult aspects of the branding process. For some companies, the product is the voice of its brand. Just take one look at the iPhone and you know what Apple is all about. But how do you establish what your brand is all about when it isn’t a neatly packaged, attractive thing you’re selling?

Be consistent.

Your brand, like a person, should have a certain consistent manner in the way it communicates. Consistency builds trust. And trust leads to sales. I'm sure you know exactly how your mom, dad or best friend talks and the mannerisms they use. That style of talking and those mannerisms become part of their personal "brand." If they were to talk differently, or in a different style, you'd notice and be concerned.

The same is true for a brand. The challenge, however, is that you often have many different people communicating on the brand's behalf—from social media folks to marketing writers (and everyone in between). This can lead to a brand voice with multiple personalities.

To be effective, a brand's voice must be consistent in all of their communication. And not just the material that comes from their ad agency, but in every piece of communication they undertake. So to make sure everyone in the company is speaking with a uniform tone of voice, we often suggest conducting a workshop for those that will be communicating on behalf of the brand.

The workshop outlines the established brand voice and all its characteristics. It also covers tips and tricks that help to create consistent body copy and headlines for print and online. Moreover, we develop a guideline for grammar and vocabulary for the brand, especially if the brand has a unique tone and style.

As with any skill, practice makes perfect.

Workshop attendees get the chance to put what they learn to use by participating in writing exercises on the brand voice. The result of all this hard work is a consistent voice in every piece of communication that comes from the brand—from a tweet to a print ad— and a consistent experience for customers.

Establishing your brand's voice is not an easy task, but it can get a whole lot easier if everyone is speaking in the same manner.

(Btw, if you'd like more information on our workshops, contact The Duffy Agency. As an international advertsing agency, we can conduct a workshop for your brand anywhere in the world).

Kevin Duffy is the Creative Director for The Duffy Agency's Boston office.