How to create a brand voice that carries across channels

One of the first steps in creating a brand is creating a brand voice. The essence of your brand distilled into human form – anthropomorphization as it’s officially known.

Our big brand voice in advertising was balanced with a very high touch quality from the Nike team.
Peter Ruppe, VP Footwear, Columbia

Peter Ruppe spent 25 years building the basketball and Jordan brand at Nike and knows that keeping your brand voice as consistent in person as in big-budget advertising campaigns will lead to success.

All brands strive to ensure a consistent brand voice in advertising and marketing and should aim to retain a brand voice in customer experience channels yet, sometimes we see this slipping. Why?

Change over of agents

Often, teams of CX professionals work shifts, especially in the case of brands that need to be online 24/7, like airlines. When there are multiple agents handling one inquiry in your workflow, the need for consistency is paramount to the customer feel valued. To be passed off agent to another agent is often a discombobulating experience, though we have seen it done well when an agency acknowledges the previous conversation.

Corporate speak

2002 called. It would like its monotone voice back. You buy a pair of shoes from an edgy direct-to-consumer brand and then speak to customer service and all of a sudden, it’s like you’re dealing with a lawyer. The contrast between the brand voice and the voice you encounter online makes for a feeling that you can’t quite put your finger on. Though, It is possible to retain a brand personality without sacrificing professionalism.

Channel breakdown

Consider how your brand sounds over different channels. If you’re playful over social, yet corporate over email it creates a disjointed effect that can be alienating to customers. Brands must appreciate how much customers buy from them for their voice and persona, if that is lost in a customer experience on email, social or in person, it can have a detrimental effect.

There are simple ways you can humanize your engagement.

A good way to achieve this is by creating a ‘brand character’ for the team to respond as.

This person should manifest the qualities outlined in your brand’s blueprint and have a very distinctly human voice and personality.

Once this character has been introduced to your team, use Lexer's drafting and review features to:

• Encourage agents in training to submit posts for approval
• Keep track of their work through bespoke classifications
• Restrict publishing access to only those who have passed the test
• Teach the team to mimic your character’s qualities and a cohesive, human voice will begin to infect each and every response

Whichever tactics you employ to ensure you maintain consistency, it’s key to ensure your agents are as passionate about your brand as your brand team. To instill passion, take agents through a brand session to ensure they buy into the vision as much as everyone else. CX agents (as well as retail workers) have the highest contact with your customers and the ability to make it an unforgettable experience. Embrace the opportunity!

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like to read our other CX focused resources:

• How to establish impactful CX reporting practices
• Essential workflow tips for delivering an A+ customer experience
• Clienteling: The Secret to Closing the Loop Between Brand and Buyer

Ready to level-up?  Download The 2019 CX Playbook, the ultimate resource and guide for CX professionals looking to level-up their customer engagements across owned social media.

During a recent global review of brands using Lexer, we have identified the essential steps to establishing a world-class workflow that improves the customer experience while saving time and money. Whether it’s setting your brand’s tone of voice, reporting or collecting customer data and accessing important customer history, this guide will step you through these essentials and show you how to implement them across your business.

Keen to take the next step in your CX journey? Talk to us about adopting a better social customer service platform for your enterprise business. Request a demo and see the Lexer difference.

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