B2B Myth of the Week: B2B Companies Don’t Need a Brand Voice
by MGB2B
The Myth: B2B Companies Don’t Need a Brand Voice
The Truth: The Tone and Style of Your Brand Voice Differentiates You From Your Competition
It’s easy for B2B companies to overlook the importance of creating a brand voice. Many companies forget that they are selling to real humans who are emotionally engaged when making buying decisions – even in the B2B world. Because of this, content can often be full of jargon and technical terms. This type of content clouds your brand’s personality and leaves customers confused about what they can gain from using your product or service. This problem can be solved by developing a B2B brand voice just for your company.
A brand voice includes personality, tone, and attitude and allows you to differentiate your business from competitors. Developing a brand voice might seem like a daunting task, but it’s likely that one already exists within your company; it just needs to be uncovered.
Here Are 3 Reasons Why Your Company Needs to Develop a Cohesive Brand Voice:
- A Brand Voice Connects You with Your Audience. In order to ensure your voice resonates with your audience, you first have to understand who they are. This may require a bit of research into your current customers. Once you know exactly who your audience is and what they want from you, developing your voice will be easier. Is your brand more professional, or are you bold and witty? Tailoring your voice to your specific audience helps develop content that buyers relate to. B2B buyers are humans after all, and they want to purchase from brands who they believe are genuine and trustworthy.
- It Differentiates You from Competitors. Your voice should be unique and make your company stand out. A great place to start is by identifying values that are important to your company and using them to shape your brand voice. If you stay authentic to your brand, buyers will remember you over the competition. Look to companies such as MailChimp, who have successfully distinguished their voice and personality. To create a successful brand voice, your company needs to be aware of what your competition is doing. For example, if your competitors use a boring or dry voice, adding a little bit of humor or conversational tone can attract buyers to your product.
- It Encourages Consistency Throughout the Entire Company. Consistency is key when it comes to developing your brand voice. In an ideal world, your audience should be able to recognize your content before seeing your company name attached to it. Your voice should be clear across all platforms: blogs, social media, websites, emails, and more. If your voice lacks consistency, it can create confusion and disconnect between your brand and customers. Inconsistency can also lead to confusion among sales and marketing teams. One way to ensure your brand voice remains consistent is by creating a style guide that employees can reference.
Developing a brand voice is not a one-time thing. It’s important to maintain your voice over time and keep up with industry changes while remaining consistent and authentic. Help your brand remain relevant by keeping up with your audience and competitors. A well-developed brand voice will generate interest among buyers and, most importantly, keep you a step (or ten) ahead of the competition.
Tags: B2B brand voice, competitive analysis, importance of brand voice, standing out from competition