Branding can sounds like an overwhelmingly large topic to cover. If you are wondering what a brand is and what it means for your marketing, check out our blog post about that here.
This post is focused on how to establish a brand, exercises you can do to help your team establish that brand, and strategies to implement the brand in your marketing.
- Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We suggest starting by looking at examples from other companies with similarities to your brand. Of course, it’s important to to actually imitate or copy their look, but use what you find for inspiration, ideas, and feel. Sometimes when you come to a team meeting, it can be hard to articulate what you’re looking for and giving your team an example can help everyone visualize the look together. Look beyond just your industry competition, though. If you’re a corporate candle company, don’t just search other candle companies. Look at other business/corporate gifts, B2B companies, or brands. Find companies who have a well-established brand, focus on what they’ve done right, and implement that into your own, unique branding strategy.
- Name three words that describe the personality of your company. Keep it short and simple. Which three words or descriptions sum up your brand? For a good list of words to start with, check out this graphic from ESL Buzz. Sure it’s talking about characters in a novel, but view yourbrand is the character of your business. Thinking of your brand as a person can help you to describe “their” sense of humor, their voice, and the way they interact online. Big brands like Oreo, Nike, and Apple all have very distinct qualities about them that separate their voices from the millions of other brands.
- Make a list of what your brand is not. Sometimes thinking of the opposite can help guide your content. If we are working with a fast food brand that is a snarky and quick-witted brand, chances are they probably won’t post about luxury or use dark images, unless it’s in a comical way. They’ll keep their brand light and playful to symbolize fun, energy, and a fast-paced atmosphere, all things you’d expect to find at a fast food joint. If your brand appeals to the wealthy, words like “discount” and “cheap” aren’t going to fit in your brand’s voice.
- Take your brand on a date. What would your brand order for dinner? Are they the kind of date that talks the whole time or do they let you have a say? Is he going to open your door and be polite or let you be an independent woman? Think of branding as describing your brand on a dating website. You need to find the qualities your brand needs to have to attract the right kind of customers. Here’s a hint: Sprout Social says most customers look for a brand that is honest, friendly, helpful, and funny (sounds like a good date to us!). What does the brand choose to talk about?
- Practice, practice, practice.. Once you’ve nailed down the characteristics, style, and feel of your brand, it’s time to practice! Take a topic or a post idea and write it out in three or four different ways that could fit into this voice/style you’ve created. Have multiple team members take a stab at it. Brand and voice aren’t just in the copy, but the images, the emojis, and the overall aesthetic of a post or a social profile. A cohesive Instagram feed can say wonders about your brand. For example https://www.instagram.com/apple/. There aren’t any photos of Apple’s products, just photos #ShotoniPhone. Consider how images can work for your brand, as well. No one would ever confuse a Victoria Secret ad with a Bath and Bodyworks ad. The colors are different, the look is different. When creating your practice posts, choose images that match the look and feel you’re creating for your brand.
Coca-cola wouldn’t be where they are now without the classic, refreshing feel to their ads. Through the years they’ve changed up the delivery and characters (polar bears, Santa, supermodels, etc) but it’s always been about “that refreshing taste.” It’s because of consistent branding and voice that they’ve stayed on top as the #1 soda in America.
We learn from Coca-cola that, after all the planning and strategizing you’ve done, the best way to nail the brand is to stick to it. Be consistent and your brand awareness will be a valuable asset to your marketing strategy in 2019.
Frequently Asked Questions
+ What are the 5 exercises Duo Marketing Group recommends to help find your brand’s voice?
The five exercises covered in this post are designed to help you and your team get aligned on what your brand sounds like and what it stands for. They include defining your brand personality with adjectives, identifying who you are and aren’t, writing in your brand voice across different scenarios, analyzing how competitors communicate, and doing a brand voice audit of your existing content. Each exercise is practical and can be done in a team setting, making them a great starting point for businesses that have never formally defined their voice. The goal is to walk away with a clear, repeatable standard for how your brand communicates.
+ How does a defined brand voice improve your social media marketing?
A clear brand voice makes every piece of content — captions, replies, ads, stories — feel consistent and intentional, which builds trust with your audience over time. Without it, your social media presence can feel disjointed, especially if multiple people are creating content for the same account. When your followers know what to expect from you, they’re more likely to engage, follow, and eventually buy. A defined voice also makes content creation faster and easier, because your team has a clear standard to work from rather than reinventing the tone with every post.
+ Can Duo Marketing Group help implement my brand’s voice across social media platforms?
Yes — once your brand voice is defined, Duo’s team can help apply it consistently across every platform you’re active on. They work within your brand guidelines to write captions, respond to comments, and create ad copy that all sounds like you. For businesses that are still working through what their voice looks like, Duo can facilitate the brand voice discovery process as part of their onboarding. Having a professional team manage your accounts means your voice stays consistent even as your business grows and more people get involved in marketing.
+ How do these exercises help create a more consistent brand presence?
These exercises force you to put into words things that often live in your head as a business owner — your tone, your values, how you want customers to feel after interacting with your brand. Once those things are written down and agreed upon by your team, consistency becomes much easier to maintain. You’ll have a reference point for every piece of content you create, so decisions about tone and messaging feel less subjective. Over time, that consistency compounds into a brand that people recognize and trust.
+ What should my team do after completing these brand voice exercises?
After working through the exercises, the next step is to document everything in a brand voice guide that your whole team can reference. This guide should include your voice descriptors, examples of on-brand vs. off-brand writing, and any platform-specific nuances. From there, audit your existing content — website, social media, emails — and update anything that doesn’t align with your newly defined voice. Finally, share the guide with anyone who creates content for your business, from in-house staff to outside agencies, so everyone is working from the same playbook.