What do Chanel, Dior, and Fenty Beauty all have in common? They’re all multimillion-dollar beauty companies with a considerable share of the beauty market. Yet, each is different with unique goals and aims, and the way they communicate with clients reflects this. The distinctness in how these companies communicate with their clients is called a brand voice, and we sat down With Delano Myers to help us understand it a little more.
Why do I Need a Brand Voice?
Brand voice is essential because it directly impacts your brand image—how clients see your business—and, consequently, how they relate with you.
Sounding stuffy and formal makes your brand look cold and unfeeling will alienate you from your clients, while sounding friendly and welcoming will make your company look warm and put your clients at ease.
Not having a brand voice is even worse than having an unsatisfactory voice because it confuses your clients. They don’t know what to think about you, and you seem mercurial and chaotic and therefore untrustworthy.
How Did Delano Myers Find His Brand Voice?
Daniel Myers asked himself the same question when he was just starting. He names finding his brand voice as one of the most significant challenges of his career. However, today he is an award-winning UI/graphic designer and web developer, and he has his brand voice pretty much in the bag. Here’s how he did it:
Identify Your Goals
What do you stand for? How do you want to come across to your clients? What adjectives would you use to describe your brand? These are all questions you should ask yourself before communicating with your clients. Answering them will help you build the foundation of your brand voice, and it will serve as your north star in any future messages.
When answering these questions, Delano came up with the answers: honesty, passion, reliable and hardworking. Now they guide him every time he communicates with his clients, whether through mail or social media.
Be Natural
You don’t have to use big-sounding words like “correspondence” or “compliance” before your communication is formal. A large part of building a brand voice is being natural and authentic. Simply be yourself with your clients and speak as you would with a friend. For Delano, that means being passionate, but since he became a father, it also means being caring and affectionate.
Delano Myers on How to Draw Inspiration from Others
Don’t copy them; that’ll only hurt you in the long run.
Think of it this way, say you have a friend named Jeff who does a pretty mean Dwayne Johnson Impersonation. Sure he might get a few laughs at your party, and if he’s terrific, maybe even an appearance on the Ellen show, but no one’s going to pass over the Rock himself when they’re making their next multi-million dollar movie to hire Jeff.
There’s a ceiling on how far you can get by copying others.
Instead, you should analyze people who have created strong brand voices and learn from them. How do they inject their brand voice when speaking? What are the unique identifiers that point out their brand? And how can you do the same with your brand?
I asked Delano where he found his inspiration, and he said, “a lot of Youtubers have set a bar that I have been trying to each for some time now. Peter McKinnon, Ali Abdaal, Marquees Brownlee, and Chris DO, just to name a few.”
Delano Myers Says, “Be Human”
Don’t be a robot or a company. People don’t want to talk to either of those. They want real human interactions. That means being imperfect, admitting your wrongs and deficiencies instead of trying to seem perpetually polished and refined, connecting with your clients, and considering their wellbeing instead of always trying to sell them your products. Delano says, “I’m not a robot, but I believe in doing good work, and good work takes time. I also think that if I don’t know something, it is honest and empowering to say, listen, I don’t know how to do this, and even if I lose out because I don’t have the skillset, this is just an opportunity to learn.
Be Consistent
I mentioned earlier that a disjointed brand voice makes you seem unreliable and even untrustworthy. So, you need to make sure that you’re giving the right vibes all day, every day. Over time, your unique style will solidify into a brand voice your clients can distinguish through the noise. As Delano says, “with consistency, you can reap amazing rewards over time.”
Conclusion
Building a brand voice takes time, consistency, and focus on what you want to achieve—like learning a new language, finding your voice online will be difficult and taxing. However, if you persevere, are willing to learn, and put your ego aside, you can create a voice that not only communicates but forges a relationship with your clients.
See the inside scoop on Delano Myers by following his Instagram.
