What is Brand Voice?

It's been a while since I blogged and I've noticed an upsurge in interest in the 'brand voice' concept so I am going to explain it here. Please note, this is a expansion on ideas you can find on my company website.

Brand is a lot more than just a logo.

So much of branding is about how your business communicates. And yet so much corporate communication is purposeless, empty spin.

To reach your people and your customers effectively with your brand message – to powerfully provide information about what you do and why people should engage with your business – your business needs to develop an authentic and consistent voice.

Speaking with a brand voice is quite simply the alignment of your corporate and marketing communications with your organisation’s brand.

For example, a company selling surf gear won't resonate with its market if it uses a bland, corporate voice or old fashioned speech idioms. Nor will it succeed if it adopts a fake-surfer voice using hackneyed surfer expressions and ends every sentence with "dude." It's more subtle than that.

Show some respect

There has got to be on some level a recognition that you are not generally your own market. Your market knows that. So when you speak to them, give them credit for knowing you are a salesman, marketer, executive or other corporate identity. Don't fake your voice in an attempt to be somehow 'like' them.

Every branded purchase is an identity project

It makes sense to investigate your market's values rather than your market's voice. Then you can develop your own brand voice that addresses the values of your market. Let's take surfer values as an example. Some of the things surfers may value include freedom, unconventionality, caring for the environment, being attractive, being authentic and having fun. Here's the important bit: just because they value these things doesn't mean they have achieved them. Or that they aren't interested in fnding new ways to achieve them. This is where your brand comes in. Speak to what they want, not necessarily what they are. You be the things they want to be. Then when they buy your brand, it is helping them with their identity project.

Don't deviate

Once you've found your brand voice, stick to it. I don't mean forever - evolution is fine. But don't switch from bland corporate to funky young thang and expect your market to follow. You brand voice is like telling a story. If you change erratically from gingerbread houses to haunted castles in the same story, you will lose your audience. Help people make sense of your brand so they know what it contributes to their identity project when they purchase your brand.

For help in identifying and developing your company's brand voice, feel free to contact me.

Is Marketing a dirty word?

I think it is.

I don't personally believe all marketing is evil. But I know people who do. And that's why it's kind of a dirty word. It conjures images of suited, rat-faced men sitting around a shiny oval table working out ways to manipulate toddlers into getting their parents to spend their hard earned dollars on something unhealthy and inherently amoral.

There are, however, ways to avoid becoming devilspawn if you're in marketing.

The first one is to like your clients and believe in their products or services. If you are lying about products and saying they are great when actually they are rubbish then you possibly ARE devilspawn. Not that I'm judging.

The second one is to help your clients identify what is truly special about their business or product and to find effective ways to say this. So even if you like the shampoo your client is selling because it gives you shiny hair, saying it will prevent male pattern baldness is not cool. Devilspawn again.

The third one is to settle on value propositions or unique selling points that your client can and will embrace and own. If they don't agree, then you are banging your head against a brick wall. For example, if you argue that the most special thing about them is their personalised service but they think it's really their fast response time, then the message will be diluted because the minute you're not around they will go back to the fast response time thing with prospective customers. You're doing them and yourself a disservice to push something they're not fully comfortable with.

Lastly, help them market to people who actually need/want/can afford the product. Not ice to Eskimos, but pest control checks to people in danger of termite infestation. Strong investment opportunities to people with investing capacity. Shampoo to people with dull hair. It's okay to market to these people because you actually have something they want and need - and you won't lose sleep at night because you've tricked or manipulated people.

Sweet marketing dreams!

The key principle of a good business website

I was visiting a client recently and while I was waiting in the waiting room, I suddenly caught sight of a sign in the foyer that said "WELCOME Sasha Wasley from Razzed Consulting!"

What a thrill! Welcomed...by name. In someone else's place of business. What a way to make me feel important and valued.

This got me thinking about how people who come to a website for the first time feel. It really is like coming to someone's place of business. You feel a little uncertain and lost. You don't know the people who work there or how much you're inconveniencing them with your arrival.

So it's wonderful to be welcomed. I'm not saying you should splash out the welcome message but to make your website user-centric is the best thing you can do to make your visitor feel comfortable, valued and welcome.

User-centric means:

1. Easily Navigable. Familiar navigation is good. Don't invent new words to describe the "About" or "Contact" pages of your site and also remember to put them roughly in the order people expect. Left to right or top to bottom: Home, About Us, Products and Services, Rates or Tariffs, additional Information, Contact Us. Surprises in navigation are not fun. You know when you change supermarkets how annoying it is to try to find your favourite brand of something when it's been catagorised differently to your regular supermarket? That's how users feel when you don't give them intuitive navigation.

2. Attractive. Some say that the visual appeal of a site is unimportant but I think we're a very visual society with a love of beauty. So harmonised colours and pleasant (preferably original) images are a good thing.

3. Unfrightening. No unexpected noises, pop-ups or scary warnings, horribly flashing banners or unexpected redirections.

4. Informative. How do you feel when you ask an assistant in a hardware store whether you should buy one product or another and they either stare at you blankly or simply read you the descriptions off the boxes? Don't tell people what they already know. Benchmark your visitors' level of knowledge and write for the lowest common denominator - but also provide new and useful information. You are an expert in your product or service, so give people something as a reward just for visiting your site. Tips, hints, recommendations, links, menus, photos of your work or hotel rooms, local sites to see, maps, and so on. This makes people feel it was worth typing the URL or searching for your site.

These things are the equivalent of the big "Welcome Sasha" sign that made me feel so special and pleased to be there. Of course , for the best ever website usability information, go to Jakob Nielsen's Use It website and sign up for his alertbox.

Feel free to leave a comment.

How to write effective headlines

Attention getter

Headlines have a few purposes but the first and foremost purpose is to generate interest from the reader. The reason is this: about 80% of your readers will choose whether to read on or ignore your ad/article/webpage when they read your headline.

That doesn't mean you should do this:

SEX!
Okay, now I have your attention, let me tell you about my products...

I think - nay - I know that sucks as a strategy because the readers who got interested in reading the article because they wanted to read about sex are going to be very disappointed.

There are a few emotions people bring to reading an ad/article/webpage. The first one is curiosity. Create interest, pique curiosity, and then make sure you've got something to back it up with. So sex may be interesting to some people, while your product's features might be interesting to others. Why disappoint one group and confuse the other by promising sex in your headline?

The second emotion is suspicion. Suspicion means people will not read your writing if they don't get enough information in the headline. For example, say you write an article about search engine optimisation and call it "Olly Olly Oxenfree!" Now that's kind of cute because it reminds us of Hide and Seek, and seeking is of course what searchers are doing. But it is too obscure for people to look at your content more deeply, just going on the headline. People will think "what's that got to do with me?" (or indeed anything).

And the third emotion is impatience. People seek speedy gratification when it comes to searching for information or product data. So unclear, misleading or obtuse headlines annoy those people because you may have just wasted their time leading them to something they don't want or need.

Are there 'formula' headlines that always work?

The short answer is no. The long answer is: there are certain headline formulas that often work when used in certain contexts. There are ways to word headlines that make them appealing. Here are some examples of headlines that people tend to like:

1. How to ... e.g. How to lose weight while you eat
2. Using numbers e.g. 7 vital reasons to start drinking black tea or The 3 top strategies for writing great headlines
3. The 'Psst, I've gotta a secret' approach. e.g. What car salesmen won't tell you about fuel efficiency
4. Benefits, benefits e.g. One utensil to save you time and money in the kitchen
5. Human interest e.g. Sarah had tried everything to cure her acne

This article on writing headlines has a few more tips. But remember, your context has got to be right. Think about what you're writing -

Is it an ad? Keep it snappy and use the above formula to your heart's content.
An article? Clearly specify your topic and spell out what's in it for the reader if they actually read your article.
A blog post? Optimise for web and again, be clear and simple.
A webpage? Think about usability. Your users don't generally want to learn how to navigate around your funky page titles. They don't want "Creedo" - they just want "About Us." They don't want "Offerings" - they want "Services."
A white paper? Give it a title with substance. Not Selling through Twitter but Using Twitter to sell your products via word of mouth: a Case Study.

Headlines are a critical element in the success of an ad or article, so they are definitely worth spending time and thought on. Next time I'll explain how to use headlines throughout your articles and webpages to help people read your writing.

Writing great marketing emails

Whether it's an e-newsletter or a direct email to your customer, I'd like you to remember one vital thing.

The reader will only read what is relevant to him/her.

I'm subscribed to a number of e-newsletters, bulletins and groups. Do you think I read each email I get? Not a chance. This is how I choose.

1. By scanning headlines. I prefer my headlines to be visible all at once (eg as links at the top of the email or as article snippets to click on) and to explain to me what the article is about.

2. By assessing how relevant and useful the information is to me personally. Generally it will pass the test if it can save me money, increase my knowledge, or make my life easier in some way.

3. By how much time I've got to read. If I know the newsletter usually contains long articles, I don't tend to read them unless I also know they're generally high quality and packed with useful info.

There are a number of turn-offs you can easily avoid in your email marketing:

• Dead click-through links


• Typos


• Articles that bleat on about 'messages from the CEO' or other such dull filler material that strokes the boss' ego but otherwise serves no purpose


• Obscure headlines that don't tell people what the article is about


• Click throughs that get jammed because they're identified as adware. Just put it on your website.

My 5 top tips for email marketing are:

1. Compelling subject lines (eg There are three things you can easily do to save on household bills)
2. Putting the hot news/benefits at the top. 50% off for 3 days, sale ends tomorrow, brand new product, etc.
3. Keep the articles fairly short and pithy.
4. Use calls to action at the end of each article, such as "find out more" or "click for your discount voucher."
5. Measure the success of your e-news by seeing which articles attract clicks and offer take-ups. Just don't get addicted to your web analytics like I am!

Have you got any tips on how to make email marketing work? Please post a comment.

How to write an on-hold message

As promised (in February!)

On hold messages are notoriously boring, bordering on annoying. There are THREE SIMPLE WAYS to avoid being boring and annoying.

1. Think about what you want to hear from a business you phone. Do you want to hear the story of their forefathers? The mission statement? No. You want to hear how this company can solve a problem for you or give you something you want. You want to hear about their complementary services that might add value to your purchase. You want to hear about the advantages of visiting their website or joining their mailing list. Savings, rewards, benefits.

2. Show some respect. These people are sitting on the phone waiting for you. Thank them occasionally for their patience and assure them that you're doing everything possible to get back to you. Respect also means avoiding aggravating sound effects, muzak and highly repetitive messages.

3. Clever choice of voice talent. You may not think you have much control over this, but you should ask your on-hold message recording company to give you a shortlist to choose from. It's best to go for a voice that's well suited to your demographic and communicates your selling points (e.g. if you're a sanitary product company, use a confident, youngish female voice) and has no especially distinctive characteristics that could start to irritate regularly phoning customers. Bubbly and chirpy, for instance, is only nice for the first couple of times you have to hear it.

Here are five important tips to remember when you write an on-hold message:

• Use fairly short sentences so the listener doesn't forget how the sentence started.


• Write simple, clear English and don't fancify things with tons of adjectives or adverbs.


• Avoid humour as this will grate after the caller hears it a few times.


• Think in keywords when you plan your copy. Pick keywords that identify customer benefits and build the sentences around them.


• Shop around. There are some good services available that provide inexpensive packages using web-based broadcasting services so you're effectively outsourcing your on-hold messages, making the whole thing more flexible and possibly easier to manage.

What's the best or worst thing you've heard in an on-hold message? Pleas leave a comment to let me know.

How to write an ad for radio

I will assume you already know these 3 things:
1. What you are advertising (product, service)
2. The purpose of your ad (i.e. to sell product, promote new product, build brand awareness, counter a negative perception of your business, etc.)
3. The key features or benefits you want to sell

Radio stations will often offer you their own ad-writing services. You might prefer to find your own writer because the quality of radio ad writing is (judging by many radio ads) pretty low. It will probably work out the same cost or cheaper if you use your own writer anyway.

What's your story?

To write an ad for the radio or to play in the background of a webpage, you have to start with a creative concept ... a story you will tell about your product.

The first factor in choosing a story is: is it authentic? Any product can lend itself to a creative story but you must be sure your audience will buy that story.

You must also be sure they will find the story useful. Resellers, for example, want to hear about how they can sell your product to their customers. Consumers want to know how it will improve their lives or experiences. Clients (B2B) want to hear how you will make them more profitable or efficient.

The reason you should use a story is that it is one of the only ways you can engage your audience. At least in Western society, we communicate by way of stories. Think about teachers you've had in the past. Whether trying to pass on an idea or a fact, I bet the teachers who really taught you something were the ones who told you a story. I will never forget my 11th grade science teacher or the story he told us about the soldier with the giant tapeworm (platyhelminthes - see? I still remember the scientific name).

The other thing is to be entertaining wherever possible, obviously within the bounds of good taste. Funeral directors and cancer foundations can't really go for hilarity in a radio ad. However, they can still stir emotion in the listener and they usually do - which, in a different way, is still being entertaining.

Ad writing toolbox

Finding the right story for your product is the hard part. The script writing should be easy once you've found a story that is 1. authentic 2. useful and 3. compelling. Start with these elements:

1. Scenario (at the gym, in a restaurant, a phone call)
2. Characters (gender, names, voices, ages, personalities)
3. A short list of key concepts or facts that must be communicated about the product
4. A decision on how you want your listeners to contact you (no more than two methods and preferably one, e.g. phone number OR web address)

Now you have everything you need to write a script for a great radio ad. Don't lose site of the key benefits you want to communicate or the need to entertain your listeners.

The top 7 mistakes of radio ad writers

1. Cheesy or corny scripts
2. Unpleasant sound effects (I always turn down the volume when the Domino's puff crust pizza ad comes on - the one with the guy talking with his mouth full. Yuck.)
3. Unrealistic scenarios
4. Copycatting (unoriginality)
5. Offensive scripts (e.g misogyny)
6. False and inane 'conversations' that sound like the performer is reading enthusiastically off a product brochure
7. Musical jingles that try to take themselves seriously

Next time, I will post about writing on-hold scripts. In the meantime, listen to commercial radio for a while and try to work out what you love and hate about the ads you hear - then use that information!