Memorable companies often make language their own. Learn the tactics to create a brand voice your audience will love and remember. Erica McGillivray from Moz will walk you through what creating branded language means, how to do it, how to scale and advocate for it, and how to keep it fresh. We'll explore: - Creative language team exercises for defining brand lingo and the psychology behind it. - What it actually looks like to teach and get input on language from your team. - Crafting a brand voice guide from statements of purpose and addressing different audiences to dictionaries. - How to humanize your brand through word choices. - Empowering your staff or clients to be internal and external advocates of a shared language. - Using your voice to own your audience and culture across your marketing channels. - Real life examples from brands such as Stitch Fix, Basecamp, SuperHeroStuff, theSkimm, and more that use language to bring their community in for shared dialog. Presented at Content Marketing Conference, Las Vegas, May 2016

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Content Marketing Conference 2016
7 Steps to Developing a
Resonating Brand Voice
@emcgillivray
Erica McGillivray
Senior Community Manager
Moz

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Problem:
Someone must
write the words!

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“
#CMC16
Voice is a mission
statement. Tone is the
application of that mission.
- Kevan Lee at Buffer
@emcgillivray

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Find What Your
Brand Already Has
1
@emcgillivray

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Historical documents
@emcgillivray

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Case study: Netflix’s Jessica Jones
@emcgillivray
All the
marketing
channels

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Know your channels
@emcgillivray
TV ad

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Know your channels
@emcgillivray
social
images

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Know your channels
@emcgillivray
social
responses

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Know your channels
@emcgillivray
events
and
press

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Know your channels
@emcgillivray
landing
page

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Visual design assets
@emcgillivray

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Visual design assets
@emcgillivray

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Office space
@emcgillivray

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Office space
@emcgillivray

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Emails outside your company
@emcgillivray

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PR (press and speaking)
Mike Ramsey at
Nifty Marketing Someone at Google
@emcgillivray

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PR (press and speaking)
@emcgillivray
“
It’s not really about asking for a
raise, but knowing and having
faith that the system will give you
the right raise.
- Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at
Grace Hopper Celebration of
Women in Computing

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Intranet
@emcgillivray

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Leaders
@emcgillivray
“Howdy, Moz
Fans!”

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Leaders
@emcgillivray
#Nerdland

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Leaders
@emcgillivray

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Brand Values
@emcgillivray
• Have fun
• Do exceptional work
• Experiment
• Pay attention to the details
• Treat people right
• Tell the truth
• Give back
• Keep learning

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Brand Values
@emcgillivray

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Brand Vision
@emcgillivray
• spirit of innovation and excellence
• desire to create positive change
• commitment to transparency

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Personas
@emcgillivray

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Building a Team
of Feedbackers
2
@emcgillivray

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Makers
@emcgillivray
Customer success
Content UX tech writer
Customer support
Community
PR
UX content

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Other stakeholders
@emcgillivray

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But we don’t have “writers!”
@emcgillivray

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Who is already doing this work?
@emcgillivray

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Team Exercises
and Psychology
3
@emcgillivray

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Personas
@emcgillivray

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Demographic: location psychology
@emcgillivray

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Local culture go!
@emcgillivray

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National: tone it down
@emcgillivray

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National: tone it down
@emcgillivray
"Don’t use UNC-Chapel Hill lingo and
insider references…. For instance, spell
out all acronyms and explain proprietary
items such as the OneCard or C-TOPS."

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International: tailor it to countries
IKEA India IKEA US
@emcgillivray

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International: tailor it to countries
Siemens US Siemens South Africa
@emcgillivray

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Interest affinity: psychographics
@emcgillivray

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Affinity: Spotify and Star Wars
@emcgillivray

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Affinity: Spotify and Star Wars
@emcgillivray

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How is your brand helping?
@emcgillivray

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How-to: find adjectives
@emcgillivray

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How-to: find adjectives
@emcgillivray

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How-to: find adjectives
@emcgillivray

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Activity: card sorting
@emcgillivray

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3 current adjectives
@emcgillivray
step #1

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2 aspirational adjectives
@emcgillivray
step #2

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3 negative adjectives
@emcgillivray
step #3

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Defining brand adjectives
@emcgillivray
Fun
We're engaging, not snarky.

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Creation How-To:
Voice & Tone
4
@emcgillivray

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bit.ly/brand-voice

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A)
Statement of
purpose

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B)
Explain brand
adjectives

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Brand lexicon
@emcgillivray
Trademarks are not verbs.
Correct: The image was enhanced using
Adobe® Photoshop® software.
Incorrect: The image was photoshopped.

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Grammar: pick a guide
@emcgillivray

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C)
List how the
brand's
communicated

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Context is everything!
@emcgillivray
Broken reports 404 page:
Oops! Roger MozBot got lost exploring
and our system is temporarily down. We
hope to find him soon, so check back in
a couple of hours. Meanwhile, why
don't you watch a puppy battle himself?

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Context is everything!
@emcgillivray

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D)
Address specific
audience needs

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Non-marketer: this is creepy
@emcgillivray

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CRO tool = intense personalization
@emcgillivray

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E)
How-to:
humanize
your brand

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My, Your, We
@emcgillivray

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My, Your, We
@emcgillivray

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My, Your, We
@emcgillivray

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Humanizing
@emcgillivray

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Humanizing
@emcgillivray

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Humanizing
@emcgillivray

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F)
Good and bad
examples

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Overweighthaters.com
@emcgillivray

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Cheerios
@emcgillivray

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G)
"When in doubt"
disclaimer

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Great brand guides
@emcgillivray

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Empowering
Staff and Clients
5
@emcgillivray

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Teach and empower
@emcgillivray

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Time and consistency
@emcgillivray

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Shortcut
@emcgillivray

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Words provide meaning and ritual
@emcgillivray

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Words provide meaning and ritual
@emcgillivray

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Words provide meaning and ritual
@emcgillivray

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Words provide meaning and ritual
@emcgillivray

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Internal: too big to fail
@emcgillivray

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Show Results
(Channel Audit)
6
@emcgillivray

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“
#CMC16
Plans are nothing;
planning is everything.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
@emcgillivray

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Your audit coverage
@emcgillivray
Audience
Messaging
Topics
(audience +
messaging) Content
Purpose
Voice
and tone
Sources
(who will
create this)
Overall
category

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Audit worksheet
@emcgillivray
bit.ly/cmc-audit

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Case Study: Superhero Stuff
@emcgillivray
Audience: Star Wars fans

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Case Study: Superhero Stuff
@emcgillivray
Audience: Star Wars fans
Messaging: May the 4th
discount

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Case Study: Superhero Stuff
@emcgillivray
Audience: Star Wars fans
Messaging: May the 4th
discount
Topics: Star Wars

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Case Study: Superhero Stuff
@emcgillivray
Audience: Star Wars fans
Messaging: May the 4th
discount
Topics: Star Wars
Purpose: holiday sales

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Case Study: Superhero Stuff
@emcgillivray
Audience: Star Wars fans
Messaging: May the 4th
discount
Topics: Star Wars
Purpose: holiday sales
Voice and tone: fun,
love of fandom, ritual

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Case Study: Superhero Stuff
@emcgillivray
Audience: Star Wars fans
Messaging: May the 4th
discount
Topics: Star Wars
Purpose: holiday sales
Voice and tone: fun,
love of fandom, ritual
Sources: email marketer

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Case Study: Superhero Stuff
@emcgillivray
Audience: Star Wars fans
Messaging: May the 4th
discount
Topics: Star Wars
Purpose: holiday sales
Voice and tone: fun,
love of fandom, ritual
Sources: email marketer
Category: email

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Case Study: Buffer
@emcgillivray
Audience: potentials

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Case Study: Buffer
@emcgillivray
Audience: potentials
Messaging: who’s Buffer
and why work there

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Case Study: Buffer
@emcgillivray
Audience: potentials
Messaging: who’s Buffer
and why work there
Topics: company

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Case Study: Buffer
@emcgillivray
Audience: potentials
Messaging: who’s Buffer
and why work there
Topics: company
Purpose: recruiting

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Case Study: Buffer
@emcgillivray
Audience: potentials
Messaging: who’s Buffer
and why work there
Topics: company
Purpose: recruiting
Voice and tone:
welcoming, unique

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Case Study: Buffer
@emcgillivray
Audience: potentials
Messaging: who’s Buffer
and why work there
Topics: company
Purpose: recruiting
Voice and tone:
welcoming, unique
Sources: HR

105. #CMC16
Case Study: Buffer
@emcgillivray
Audience: potentials
Messaging: who’s Buffer
and why work there
Topics: company
Purpose: recruiting
Voice and tone:
welcoming, unique
Sources: HR
Category: landing page

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Case Study: Stitch Fix
@emcgillivray
Audience: fashionistas

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Case Study: Stitch Fix
@emcgillivray
Audience: fashionistas
Messaging: spring trends

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Case Study: Stitch Fix
@emcgillivray
Audience: fashionistas
Messaging: spring trends
Topics: on trend color
recommendation

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Case Study: Stitch Fix
@emcgillivray
Audience: fashionistas
Messaging: spring trends
Topics: on trend color
recommendation
Purpose: branding

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Case Study: Stitch Fix
@emcgillivray
Audience: fashionistas
Messaging: spring trends
Topics: on trend color
recommendation
Purpose: branding
Voice and tone:
authoritative, seasonal

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Case Study: Stitch Fix
@emcgillivray
Audience: fashionistas
Messaging: spring trends
Topics: on trend color
recommendation
Purpose: branding
Voice and tone:
authoritative, seasonal
Sources: sm marketer

112. #CMC16
Case Study: Stitch Fix
@emcgillivray
Audience: fashionistas
Messaging: spring trends
Topics: on trend color
recommendation
Purpose: branding
Voice and tone:
authoritative, seasonal
Sources: sm marketer
Category: social media

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Going beyond
Guidelines
(Your Own Voice)
7
@emcgillivray

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Allow employees to lead
@emcgillivray

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Disruption
@emcgillivray

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How can you
push your
brand’s voice
and tone?

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THANK YOU!
Erica McGillivray
erica@moz.com
@emcgillivray
@emcgillivray