Social media has become a prominent marketing arena for brands. Here, various brands fight for attention to stand out and attract their target audience.

When you think about some brands, chances are you can easily recognize their distinct voices and styles. They have developed this over the years when communicating with customers.

Whether it's the creativity that Canva embodies, or the professionalism Slack exudes, these distinct brands have defined their voices and consistently showcased them in their content and communication.

Your brand voice is the personality of your business. It’s what sets you apart from the competition.

So, to answer the question of how to build a brand voice that stands out, I’ll uncover key strategies in this article to get you started.

Let’s begin.

Strategies for How to Build a Brand Voice That Stands Out

If you’re considering how to build a brand voice to outshine competitors, here are some actionable strategies you can follow:

1. Define Your Brand Core Values

Being clear about your core values is a key step in how to build a brand voice. Ask yourself: What does my brand stand for? Are we friendly and approachable or serious and authoritative?

Brainstorm three to five core values that would serve as a compass to guide the tone and messaging you’ll use across social media. When you understand your core values, you can start building a story and message that communicates your brand's unique personality.

For instance, if your brand values innovation, your tone might lean towards forward-thinking and inspiring language.

Consider how Nike embodies inspiration and motivation in its messaging. Its social media posts and campaigns often focus on empowerment, using language that encourages people to push their limits. This is apparent in the example below:

Nike | ProductiveandFree — Image via *Instagram*

A well-defined brand core also plays a significant role in your marketing strategy and sales playbook. Aligning your sales strategies with your brand’s core values can ensure consistency in communication and strengthen your connection with customers.

2. Understand Your Audience

Another important part of how to build a brand voice is understanding your audience. To effectively showcase your brand voice, you must know your audience — their preferences and behaviors. This ultimately shapes your tone and communication style.

For instance, if your target audience consists of Millennials who appreciate humor and relatability, infusing these elements into your posts will resonate well with them. Conversely, if you're targeting professionals, a more formal tone may be appropriate.

For example, notice how Slack tailors its brand voice to appeal to its professional audience on social media while maintaining relatability in its New Year in and out social media post.

SlackHQ | ProductiveandFree — Image via *Instagram*

To understand your audience better, you can analyze social media statistics and trends. This can provide valuable data, such as which platforms your target audience uses often and what kind of content they engage with the most.

3. Create a Brand Voice Guide

Consistency is an important factor in how to build a brand voice that stands out, and one way to achieve this is through a brand voice guide. This document includes details on your brand’s tone, language style, vocabulary preferences, and examples of dos and don’ts.

Ensuring that this guide is accessible can help all team members, whether they’re writing social media posts or crafting blog articles, maintain the same voice across all platforms.

Moreover, include platform-specific guidelines in your guide. Your content should vary depending on the platform. For example, as explored in Attrock guide shows how to write content for Instagram, which is ideally very different from how content should be formatted on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

To fully harness the power of social media, you must understand each platform’s unique characteristics and ensure that the core elements of your brand voice remain intact across all channels.

Even while collaborating with social media channel sales partners like influencers or affiliates, ensure that your partners understand your brand voice and reflect it in their communication.

4. Incorporate Visual Elements

Social media is an inherently visual platform. This is why learning how to incorporate visual elements is crucial in knowing how to build a brand voice that stands out. Visuals can enhance storytelling and make messages more engaging.

Use images and videos to complement text. A good example you can emulate is how brands like Airbnb use stunning imagery on their social media accounts alongside their captions. This helps evoke emotions related to travel experiences, reflecting its aspirational brand voice.

airbnb | ProductiveandFree — Image via *Instagram*

Additionally, creating consistent visual branding elements, such as color schemes and graphic styles, also contributes to building a brand voice that’s recognizable across platforms.

Ensure that your visuals go hand in hand with your message and the overall aesthetic of your brand on social media.

5. Engage and Interact With Your Audience

It’s not enough to simply broadcast your message, interaction is one of the strategies on how to build a brand voice and identity that stands out on social media. This means monitoring and engaging with comments, messages, and mentions across all platforms.

When followers comment on your posts or send you messages, take the time to reply in a way that reflects your brand's personality.

6. Monitor The Market and Adapt

One of the best approaches when learning how to build a brand voice that stands out is staying flexible. Your brand voice isn’t set in stone. You can update your guide as your brand evolves. If your audience shifts or your values expand, you can reflect those changes in your brand voice guide.

It’s important to keep an eye on trends in your industry. Use social listening tools to monitor conversations around relevant topics in your industry. This will help you identify emerging trends or shifts in consumer behavior that may impact how you communicate.

Don’t hesitate to analyze your competitors’ strategies as well. Look at how they engage their audiences and what works for them.

Be open to experimenting with different types of content based on market feedback. If certain posts gain more engagement than others, consider why that might be the case and how it aligns with your overall brand voice strategy.

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Final Thought

Mastering how to build a brand voice requires intentionality and consistency across all touchpoints with your audience. By defining your core values, creating comprehensive guides, and engaging authentically, you can position your brand for success on social media.

Remember, the process on how to build a brand voice is ongoing rather than a one-time task. As you implement these strategies, be open to feedback and willing to refine your approach.

Reena Aggarwal

Reena is Director of Operations and Sales at Attrock, a result-driven digital marketing company. With 10+ years of sales and operations experience in the field of e-commerce and digital marketing, she is quite an industry expert. She is a people person and considers the human resources as the most valuable asset of a company. In her free time, you would find her spending quality time with her brilliant, almost teenage daughter and watching her grow in this digital, fast-paced era.

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