Messaging is how your brand’s voice “sounds” in all external communications
We take your brand story and mission and help you create a guide for your brand’s tone of voice and messaging priorities — to guide how your brand’s voice sounds.
In some ways, a standardized messaging guide is even more important than a visual style guide. Your messaging guide governs how you talk to people. Imagine if you walk into a store and the clerk greets you with: “Hello sir, how can I be of assistance?” The next day, the same clerks says, “Howdy, how ya doin’?” and the next day just gives you a simple nod but says nothing.
You would wonder — is this the same person? Is he formal or casual? Friendly or apathetic? Would you recommend the place to your friends over a store where the staff always greets you the same? You don’t want your customers thinking this about you. Your brand should communicate with your customers the same way in every interaction.
Consistency in your messaging means solidifying your communication style.
It means knowing what kind of language your audience responds to and speaking to them in that resonant way every time.
We will work with you to create a guide to your tone of voice. This will include identifying keywords that note how you sound and examples of those traits in writing. For example, a “neighborly” sounding brand will use colloquial phrases, contractions, and second person narration. A “savvy” sounding brand will explain complex ideas in simple terms without jargon to demonstrate mastery. The combination of character traits will create a sound that unique to your brand. It should be a real reflection of the people behind the brand. However, the brand voice will be will be adjusted to be strategically aligned with the target consumer.
This will be a written guide that can be distributed throughout the orgnization. It will serve as a handbook for the production of any communication materials.
Want to learn more about messaging? Here’s a great article on messaging principles.