Finding and Mastering Your VOD Brand’s Voice

This isn’t so much about what your video business says as much as it’s about how it says it. Your brand’s tone of voice covers everything from the language you use to the style you write or speak in.

The way you write the VOD website copy and speak in your videos is the way you’re going to communicate your brand values to your audience. Getting the voice right ensures your brand sounding authentic and genuine to your audience.

Is your brand’s voice funny? Poetic? Professional? Laid back?

It’s time to find your voice

Our favorite ways of looking at brand voice are through this four-part formula suggested by Stephanie Schwab on Social Media Explorer:

Schwab did originally write this formula specifically for social media brand voices, but it’s been proven relevant to finding an overall voice that’ll seep into every piece of content you will create–from blog posts to social media posts to the script you’ll use in the videos you offer for money.

This formula basically breaks down a brand voice into four distinct cornerstones that together magically form a concise and purposeful voice.

Character and personality

A brand personality is basically a set of human character traits that come together to make up your brand.

So if your brand were a person, who would it be?

Your answer to this will depend on the audience you’re trying to attract. You need to craft a brand personality that would appeal to your target audience. Knowing as much as you currently do about your audience, ask yourself:

• If my brand were a person, would they hang out with it? Would they relate to my brand? (relevant)
• Will my brand resonate with my audience? Would they listen, trust and respect my brand? (credible)
• Is my brand personality unique among my direct and indirect competitors? (unique)

Aim to be relevant, credible, and unique. Refer to Schwab’s formula above for examples of what makes a brand personality, and list 4-6 of them for your brand.

Here’s a great exercise to help you better picture the type of personality you may want for your brand. Think of a famous person, someone with a personality that resonates with your brand, and complete the following sentence:

{Your brand name} is the {famous person} of {niche topic}.

So for instance:

Cookfactor is the Steve Jobs of cooking.

Having a human example will help you come up with that list of traits that make up that brand personality.

Tone

When your brand says something, what’s the general vibe it gives off? Is it…

Needless to say, your tone is directly related to the personality you chose to go with for your brand. If you’re going for a warm and friendly character, you’ll likely take a simple, welcoming and inclusive tone to your communication. If you’re going for an authoritative and quirky, a witty and funny tone is what’ll work best for you.

Refer to Schwab’s formula above for examples of what makes a brand personality, and list 4-6 of them.

Language

Based on the tone you chose, it’s time to determine the language you will, and will not, use.

What kind of words are you going to use?

Aiming to sound inclusive? Avoid industry-specific jargon and insider language. Want to sound relaxed and cool? Use the latest slang and talk like all the cool kids are talking (although careful with this one, you don’t want to seem like you’re trying too hard)?

Will you be using contractions? Acronyms? Are you going to start a paragraph with “but”?

These are all little things that build up into your overall brand and how people perceive you.

Refer to Schwab’s formula above for examples of what makes a brand personality, and list 4-6 of them.

Purpose

We’ve already figured this one out in lesson 4 of Ideation. This is your “What” and your values. List them here.

Bring it all together

So now you have your brand’s personality, tone, language and purpose laid out in front of you. Bring all four lists together to make a roadmap for your brand’s voice.

This roadmap will serve as a guide for you and anyone else involved in writing for or speaking on behalf of your brand. This guide is as simple as a single sheet that outlines the lists you created above, along with some dos and don’ts to be followed.