Photos can make or break your marketing. You’ve heard us say this once or twice. Well, words can make or break your marketing, too. Imagery is an important piece of the puzzle, but it’s only a piece. Writing is just as important when it comes to creating a cohesive brand.
Good writing can be a powerful marketing tool. Whether it’s on social media, your website, in a newsletter, or on the packaging of your product. Good writing gets people reading, and that helps them build a relationship with your brand.
We fully admit it. We are word nerds through and through. Writing is second nature to us, but we also completely understand it can be tricky for some people.
We see you, and have a four-step plan for finding your brand’s voice.
#1: SELECT YOUR STYLE
Is your brand technical, conversational, or professional? Figuring this out is possibly the easiest and most important part of finding your brand’s written voice. You’ve probably already put a lot of thought into this when designing your tasting room or bar and building your brand, so use this information to start!
Take 21 Brix for example, it doesn’t matter if you’re reading their website or the label on their wine bottles, they keep things straightforward and somewhat technical while still being approachable for people who are new to wine. Lost Borough Brewing, on the other hand, has more of a laid back feeling to their voice. They play with beer descriptions on their website and use this more conversational tone on their crowlers.
#2: DICTATE YOUR DICTION
Our conversational tone includes saying “100%” and “aka” kind of a lot in our blogs and social media posts. We know that. It’s on purpose. Because it’s how we talk in real life (yes, we admit to saying “oh 100%” in normal, verbal conversation).
If your brand isn’t catering to our demographic, you probably don’t want to create a voice that talks like that. That’s 100% ok, and we have a little trick to help you decide which words to use. Pretend that your brand is a person. What is he or she like? How does he or she talk? If your brand could best be described as a beefy whiskey loving biker, he probably would never say “Omg you have to try this beer”
That’s an extreme example, and it honestly made us giggle a little while writing it, but you get the picture. The bottom line? Make sure your word choice sticks with your brand’s personality.
#3: BEWARE OF JARGON…UNLESS IT’S YOUR THING
Sure, people in the industry love a little jargon, but it can also make it hard for someone new to join the conversation. Craft beer geeks may be on board with everything you’re saying, but craft beer novices will be intimidated with the product because they’ll have no idea what you’re talking about.
If your target audience is the nerdiest people in your community, then keep the jargon. But if you want to be approachable to new, less knowledgeable customers, stick with basic terms. Don’t worry, not all technical terms are jargon. A complete novice might not know what to expect from a “juicy” or “dank” IPA, but these words are common and descriptive enough that they can take a hint.
#4: DON’T BE AFRAID TO EDIT
If after all of this, you’re not sure if the words you’ve written go with your brand, then edit them! You might need to take a little extra time at first to make sure you have everything just right.
Don’t worry, when we work with new clients, we take suggestions for edits, too. We like to make sure that what we’ve written really represents the brand and that our clients are happy. That’s why we offer a free edit on everything we write before it goes live online!
And if you really aren’t sure where to start or don’t have time to get this all together, let’s set up a free consultation.