Every company should have a clearly defined “corporate voice”. Whether you are a newly formed business, or one that has been around for awhile, your corporate voice should be at the heart and soul of your communication and marketing strategy.
Your corporate voice is the tone in which you speak to your audience. More than just the words and phrases you use, your voice is how you “speak” to your customers. It’s part of your corporate personality.
Knowing (or defining) your company’s character or personality is key to defining your corporate voice. Your corporate voice should represent your corporate mission and should be used across every piece of content (your website, brochures, white papers, videos, etc) you produce.
Your company’s voice can differentiate your company from it’s competitors, show your corporate personality, and help you attract and retain customers.
But how do you begin to define your corporate voice?
Start by asking questions like:
- What is our company personality?
- If your company were a person, what type of person would it be? Would they be fun? Would they be stoic and professional? Would they be hip? Would they be a daredevil?
- How do we want to sound?
- Who are we targeting?
- How do we sound to our target audience?
- Are we authentic?
Then, take it further by doing some research:
- Talk with company stakeholders to help determine your voice. Your stakeholders are, in some ways, representative of your company.
- Do some audience research
You’ll surely gather a lot of information, but it should allow you to narrow down & better define your corporate voice. Once you’ve determined your voice and tone, be sure to use it on each and every corporate marketing and communication piece you produce!
