The voice and sound you use to represent your product in the market and on the Web is also the voice of your brand. Sonic or audio branding reflects your brand’s identity, personality, mission, values, and vision. It helps the audience identify how your product or service is different from your competitors.
Consequently, how your audience perceives and interprets your message depends heavily on the tone of voice you use. Be it your website copy, product description, social media posts, newsletters, promotional videos, or ads, the tone of your voice influences image perception with your target audience. According to Semrush, 65% of customers connect emotionally with brands that make them feel the company cares for them.
This is where Sonic branding comes into the picture.
What is Sonic branding?
Sonic branding is the use of sound to reinforce brand identity, and it includes everything from jingles and theme songs to the sounds that a product or service makes. Sonic branding creates a powerful emotional connection between a brand and its consumers, making the brand instantly recognizable through sound alone. Today, sonic branding extends from company culture videos to product advertisements. It can help set you apart from your competitors and prompt better brand recall with your customers.
A great example of a brand that effectively uses sonic branding is Intel. Its distinctive four-note Intel Inside sound effect is one of the most recognizable sonic logos in the world. It has been used in various forms across Intel’s global advertising for many years, reinforcing the brand’s identity and making Intel immediately identifiable through sound alone.
Who can define the tone of your voice?
Now that we know that the tone of your voice can make or break your brand’s image, the natural question arises – who can define this tone of voice? If you are looking to use this tone of voice in your company’s ads, promotional videos, etc., you need to look for a professional voice actor. A voice actor can help you determine the nature of the tone that would work best for your business.
Identify your target audience and identify what works best for them. Prepare buyer personas for your target audience and experiment with which tone of voice they respond to the best. Do they like a caring tone or a funny one? Does broaching the topic seriously work for them, or do they want you to make the voice careless? A joint IBM and Econsultancy report suggested that 56% of customers find communication from most brands irrelevant. With such high-figure insights, you must zero in on a tone of voice that your audience relates to the most.
When all this information is relayed to the voice actor, they can decide on a pitch, tone, pace, and accent for the voice over that will suit your requirements and work in perfect sync with your brand’s voice.
Ask your customers to help you in finding your voice
The best voice over and the best voice actor won’t be able to do wonders for you if you do not ask your customers to help you as well. Your audience can help you understand how they perceive your brand. The simplest way to go about this is to ask them to describe your brand or product using three adjectives on social media. If you are happy with the feedback, model your voice actor to deliver you results that align with it. If you see that your perception is the market is different from what you wished, work on developing a tone of voice that would tackle that problem.
Key elements in a sonic branding voice over
To make sure that you are clearing every corner and not missing out on any technicality, here are the key elements you need to pay attention to.
- Values
- Pace
- Volume
To narrow it down further, consider the four basic choices and choose what you wish to represent your brand.
- Formal vs. Casual
- Funny vs. Serious
- Respectful vs. Irreverent
- Enthusiastic vs. Matter-of-fact
Final thoughts on sonic branding
Even though it is a time taking process, sonic branding can help you revolutionize the way your consumers perceive your brand. Do research, find out the key elements that define your brand’s voice, hire a professional voice actor to do the voice over, and watch how the way your audience interacts with your brand changes.
And when you’re ready to give a powerful voice to your brand, check out the talented voice over artists on Voice123 who can represent your brand in innovative ways.
So invest in the process of sonic branding and tap into its power to influence your target consumers!
