Crafting your communication style as a tool for building stronger customer relationships
Helping our clients craft a unique and authentic brand, and bringing it to life is one of the highlights of being in this business.
This is because clearly defining your brand personality is one of the most effective tools your business can utilise for cutting through the noise and grabbing hold of your customer’s attention.
No matter how large or small your next marketing project is, whether it’s a TV commercial or an e-newsletter, taking a big picture view of your brand strategy is where the creative process should always begin.
What makes 'personality' an important part of your brand?
While your logo, your colour pallet and your imagery style define how your brand looks, it’s just as important to have a clear sense of how your brand sounds and behaves.
Your ‘brand personality’ or ‘brand voice’ are expressed through your style of communication and the tools of expression you chose in order to bring unique character to your brand. Language is the most common of these tools, but your style of expression can also be portrayed through the type of media you use and the values you weave into your marketing strategy.
If you get your brand personality right, and use it consistently, it’s a great tool for helping your audience appreciate what your brand stands for, which in turn will help foster a genuine connection with them.
Steps for defining your brand personality
Taking some time to consider these four questions is a great starting point for defining the core elements of your brand personality:
- Be clear on what you want to achieve.
Ask yourself questions like; “What is the core message I want to communicate about my business?”, “What type of connection do I want to build with my customers” and “What are the short and long term wins we’re seeking?”. - Who is your customer?
Get as deep into the detail as you can.Ultimately, everything you say needs to resonate with your target audience, so they should always be your starting point.Clearly define who you’re talking to by first looking at demographics (age, gender, geographic location, job type) and then explore the things you know about what influences and motivates them. Are they inclined to keep up with the latest trends, are they likely to be swayed by emotion, are they health conscious, are they time poor?
The characteristics that define your customer will help you to identify what type of language they will find relatable. - What sets you apart from your competitors?
Dial up what makes you different!If you believe the knowledge and expertise of your staff is streets ahead of that of your competitors’, then an authoritative, informative style of communication should be your approach. If high energy is what makes you stand out, then go BIG and get loud when talking to your customers! - How does purchasing your product or having a relationship with your brand benefit your customer?
Are you helping them project an image of prestige? Do they need your expertise to make life simpler? Does your product give peace of mind to a health-conscious Mum doing the weekly family shop?Find ways to use your language style to remind customers of the benefits they are seeking, and link these to the solutions you offer.
With these questions answered, you can begin to formulate a list of the characteristics that define your brand personality.
Is your brand chatty and casual, or authoritative and direct? Down-to-earth or aspirational? Cool, calm and collected or a big ball of energy? Does your brand love to spin a good yarn or cut straight to the point?
Aim to create a list of 5-8 characteristics that describe your brand voice.
Would you like to know how Avodah describe our brand voice? We won’t give away all the magic ingredients to our brand, but a few of the characteristics that we always try to build into our style of communication are to be “relatable and like-minded’ and ‘warm with honorable character’.
Bringing your brand personality to life
Once you’ve defined your brand personality, the fun really begins as you start to develop unique stories to tell across each of your marketing channels.
To have your message heard, you want to craft engaging stories only your business can tell, or create new and exciting ways to share your story. And that’s where we can come in!
The Avodah team can work with you to develop compelling content and support your team throughout the creative process, including:
- Brainstorming unique and memorable ways to tell your brand’s story
- Message crafting
- Identifying new channels you can make use of to grab hold of your customers’ attention
Avodah’s team of storytellers are here to help bring life to the message you want to share. So if you want to work on ways to make your brand’s personality pop, then give us a call today.