When it comes to Content Marketing, style goes a long way to determine whether or not your ideal customers will respond. And if your content marketing style isn’t resonating? It might be time for a new approach.

With that in mind, we’re looking at a few key elements of style in your content marketing.

Finding Your Voice

Every business has a voice. Unfortunately, many businesses haven’t defined what that voice sounds like and end up with inconsistent branding. This leads to confusion, mixed messaging, and missing the target with your ideal customer.

Your brand voice is the personality that consistently shines through your content. It comes from your writing style, tone, grammar choices, and language. This is what makes your writing…you!

Without a strong voice, your content will never rise above the crowd. If your content marketing style doesn’t accurately reflect your company, you’re missing important opportunities that you might never get back.

How to Develop Your Brand’s Voice

If you know your customer well, the development of your brand voice should come naturally in response to how your customer communicates. Beyond that, however, there are a few additional tips to developing this voice.

Is there anyone at your company who models your brand values? Are they the face of the company? Or even someone in the background who epitomizes what you represent? Modeling your brand voice after someone like this can bring consistency and personality to your marketing.

You can also pull inspiration from characters, other brands, and books that fit the voice you’re looking for. Think about some of your favorite brands, and try to describe their voices.

Now, think your own brand. How would you describe your voice? If you don’t have one, how would you like your voice to sound?

More than anything, it takes practice to develop your brand voice. The more you work at it, the more it will naturally flow.

Create Your Style Guide

A Style Guide is a “living” document. It provides context, direction, and rules every writer at your company should follow to keep your brand’s voice consistent.

What goes in a style guide?

• Consider your grammar and punctuation rules: Do you use a double space after a period? What about the oxford comma?
• Look at voice and style rules: Is it okay to make jokes? Is it casual and do you allow swearing? Who is the voice modeled after? 
• Think about design guidelines: Do you use many visual aids? Do you have a brand font? When do you use bold, italics, or underline?
• Use writing examples: What pieces are already written that can you show to model the voice/tone well? 
• Lastly, add anything else you want that would be of benefit to your brand.

Style Forward

There are many elements that go into content marketing, but style is a good first step. As you work toward growing your brand and elevating your marketing strategies, keep in mind that you don’t have to do it alone. Planify™ Agency is here to help develop your brand, market your services, and ultimately scale your business. If you’re ready to grow, we’d love to hear from you.