Best 6 Things To Build Your Brand Voice As Government Agency

This article discusses brand development. A complete social media strategy is necessary. Prior to material planning and scheduling, a great deal of effort is expended behind the scenes. Nevertheless, brand voice has a substantial effect on the effectiveness of our social initiatives. It’s not only about appearing eccentric and cool.

Best 6 Things To Build Your Brand Voice As Government Agency

In this post, you will learn about developing your brand; the following are specifics:

Defining the language and tone of our brand is one of the most challenging tasks. Ultimately, everyone on social media wants to be relatable and interesting.

Check out Sprout Social’s research on what makes a brand’s social accounts “best in class” to gauge the size of this effect.
The Voice and tone of a brand are mostly or entirely responsible for audience engagement, memorable content, distinct personality, and captivating narratives.

In light of this, a panel at the Social Media Strategies Summit for Government Agencies, led by Sarah McQuaide, Communications & Marketing Manager for the Columbus Regional Airport Authority,

featured views from:

• Jennifer Davies, supervisor of digital content for the City of Las Vegas

• Stephanie Hill is the Social Media Lead for the All of Us Research Program at the National Institutes of Health.

Here are the six most important takeaways.

1.Brand Voice Must Evolve with Your Audience

Let’s dispel the notion that building a brand voice is a one-time endeavor.
Your brand’s voice evolves with time, and it must be updated to suit changing consumer expectations and brand demands.
Jennifer Davies asserts that the City of Las Vegas’s marketing voice focuses mostly on fostering a sense of community. This has always been the case, and this is likely to continue. However, the pandemic has altered the tone and social media content of the city.

“During the outbreak, much of the fun and lighthearted banter we had with our residents and other social media accounts had to be toned down because it wasn’t appropriate,” she adds.

Jennifer’s current focus is on supporting followers with COVID-related worries and providing accurate information on testing and immunizations, or, as she puts it, “attempting to bring calm to the storm.”

Jennifer, on the other hand, does not want her communication style inspired by the pandemic to continue. She anticipates a return to hilarious content on the City of Las Vegas’ social media platforms, which were experiencing phenomenal growth before COVID-19, in the near future.

“We’d like to return to that.” In May of 2021, she says of their social media posts, “[We’re] attempting to take incremental steps and gain confidence since we aren’t witnessing the reaction that we would have experienced even just a few months ago.”

Stephanie Hill’s team has had to adjust its messaging as well, not just because of the pandemic, but also because some folks don’t want to be entertained by emojis and jokes.

This is especially true for the All of Us Research Program, which works with a number of underrepresented populations.

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“If there is a significant news cycle, we may need to take a couple of days off from posting.” Stephanie says, “We also post messages that say, ‘We hear you, we’re here for you.’”

Their team must avoid sounding tone-deaf. “It’s simply [about] getting to know your audience and figuring out when you might need to tweak your approach a little bit chevalier.”

2. Brand Voice Gives a Personal Touch

Information overload is a valid concern in a society when over 9,500 tweets are sent per second. Also check the voice changer when making a call

Simply put, we have grown practically desensitised to online content, making it more difficult for social media managers to engage with their followers. Stephanie observes, “[As consumers], we may hear a health statistic or discuss information that is significant to a specific community, but it doesn’t necessarily resonate with us as individuals.”

Therefore, All of Us Research’s social channels tailor their content to the populations they serve.

We aim to provide a more personal touch to our channels. We focus on health observances with a strong desire to establish a personal connection.”

Also, keep in mind that your brand voice does not exist in a vacuum; it must be intimately connected to the company’s guiding ideals. Something is amiss if it does not.

Stephanie demonstrates the proper implementation of this. Our program emphasizes the so-called ‘precision medicine’ People desire to be treated as unique individuals, and we recognize this. What works for one individual may not be appropriate for another. Therefore, we apply the same concept to our social media networks.”

3. Content and tone can (and should) differ.

This essay is about developing a single brand voice, not multiple distinct ones; although, you should maintain some flexibility. Your voice will naturally vary based on the platform and circumstance. If it does not, you are probably not maximizing its benefits.

The objective of your branding strategy should be to establish a cohesive voice and tone that can be modified to match the needs and preferences of different personas and platforms.

According to Stephanie, the brand voice of All of Us Research is divided into three unique characteristics:

• Relatable\s

• Factual\s

• Interesting

Nevertheless, this can differ according on the platform. She continues, “We observed that the Facebook and Instagram audiences were interested in health information.” “Many of our Twitter followers were scientists and others interested in science.”

This necessitated that she determine how to “reach these varied audiences with the same content while making it relevant to their needs” so that they would continue to follow us. Jennifer concurs with this assertion. She created multiple identities to help provide material that resonated with the different media audiences of the City of Las Vegas.
They have a strong interest in history on Facebook.

On Facebook, I believe we have a bit more space to express visual stories, which seem to engage with our audience more. Then, on Instagram, we hope to showcase the beautiful side of Las Vegas, from the city to the public places, as well as the desert’s wonderful hiking and breathtaking landscape.” You may need to adapt to the many social media settings you encounter, just as you may alter your brand’s voice and tone between platforms.

Over time, Sarah emphasizes, this level of adaptability has grown increasingly crucial. “In the past, communication was unidirectional, and we would publish something without caring if anyone would comment or enjoy it. Now is the time to develop communication in both directions. You wish to converse with someone.”

But how do you choose the appropriate tone and voice for various settings and interactions?

Experimentation is crucial. We probably wouldn’t work in social media if we wanted to continue sharing the same content daily. On the other side, Stephanie proposes that you study your competition.

She says, “Just call them up, get in touch with them, and talk it out.” “When considering how to handle responses at HHS, we consulted with the CDC and NIH to see how they handled it.” In addition, we met with other government agencies to obtain a deeper comprehension. In the end, we are all engaged in some type of social conflict.”

4.Use Data to Inform Your Brand Voice

 

Regarding defining your brand’s voice, there should never be any room for guesswork. You may have some intuition about what your audience wants to hear, but you should always make decisions based on evidence.

For instance, Stephanie observed that more than half of All of Us Research’s Facebook readers are over 65. “It’s a bit older than we anticipated,” she admits.

Consequently, she has altered the Facebook stuff they share. “We frequently distribute successful blog posts and longer-form articles. They are still based on science, but are presented differently.”

The majority of the organization’s Instagram followers are, not unexpectedly, between the ages of 25 and 30. Stephanie notes that while they are still interested in science, they are not “particularly deep into genetics and genomes.”

We can communicate with the population on this channel more effectively by utilizing narrative and other channel features.

5. Remember, you don’t have to be Wendy’s to be successful!

Wendy’s (and Arby’s and a plethora of other firms) have been dominating on social media by tweeting like your witty and intelligent college friend.

However, you do not need to be this person in order to build a conversational, engaging brand voice.

That is impossible to be you. On social media, inauthenticity is something that users abhor.

Jennifer acknowledges that adopting this point can be challenging due to the pressure she feels to figure out how to be this fantastic, sarcastic, and hilarious person on social media.

“I merely wish to reassure everyone that this may not be the optimal fit for your brand.” In addition, certain regimes have this characteristic, which is to their advantage. Nonetheless, I do not feel that establishing your brand’s voice is a need for success.”

The well-known photograph of Bernie Sanders wearing mittens and appearing glum that dominated social media at the beginning of the year is cited by Stephanie (you know the one). She had internal disputes regarding whether or not All of Us Research should participate, as many individuals desired to do so.

“Ultimately, we realized that even if it was trending on Instagram and everywhere else, it was not a good fit for us,” she says.

“You may be whimsical and fun in other ways when appropriate.” “Does this make perfect sense to me?” Stephanie and her colleagues pose this question to themselves. Would it be problematic if this person saw this? Is there a way to expand this in terms of finances or in any other way?”

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According to panel moderator Sarah McQuaide, the Columbus Regional Airport Authority was having the same discussions.

“We joked, ‘How hilarious it would be if Bernie were sitting in the airport wearing his mitts!'” Additionally, we must consider the diverse audience personalities. Would they find it humorous?

In other words, developing a conversational, engaging brand voice does not always necessitate adhering to the latest fad. There are various alternatives, some of which may be more pertinent to your business and target audience.

6. Metrics can help you figure out what works (and what doesn’t).

Appropriately, the importance of data was a recurring theme throughout the panel. As social media experts with access to vast amounts of data, we have no reason to base our strategy on intuition.

“Many people ask me, when it comes to trial and error, ‘How do you know when you’re on the correct path?'” Jennifer asks. You’re doing something well if your accounts are increasing and you’re receiving likes and retweets without a lot of sarcasm. Continue to do what you’re doing.”

“I want to analyze the analytics, then try something new, evaluate it, and see how it performed,” she says.

But don’t be fooled by the numbers. Sarah insists on delving into the meaning of the facts in order to derive useful, applicable conclusions. This requires moving beyond superficial indicators that provide no insight into genuine performance.

Additionally, Sarah notes that data may not always represent the whole story. “Sometimes a single meaningful interaction with a single individual can mean so much. It has the potential to elevate your brand and build trust, both of which are essential for government organizations like ours.”

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