Social media is all about attraction and connection, and in order to capture your ideal audience, you must first know your social media voice. In order to know your social media voice, you must first find it and embrace it, and that’s what I’m going to teach you how to do.
When I talk about your social media voice, I’m essentially talking about your brand voice. How you write on your blog or present your products in your shop should carry over to how you communicate on social media. There needs to be a consistency to your voice that others can pick up on and identify you with. You want your audience to know that it’s your voice before they even see that you were the one to share that content or write that description.
Finding your social media voice is easier than you’d think. You don’t need some crazy, elaborate strategy when it comes to finding your social media voice. Your voice shouldn’t be something that’s forced or faked, it should always be natural and authentic.
[bctt tweet=”Your voice shouldn’t be forced or faked, it should always be natural & authentic.” username=”SummerTelban”]
While finding your social media voice isn’t hard to do, it can be overwhelming at times, especially when trying to incorporate all of the values that you want your voice to echo. Trust me, I know the struggle is real. Because of this, I have put together some points for you to consider when you’re developing or checking in on your social media voice.
ARE YOU CONVERSATIONAL & RELATIONAL?
Social media is all about connection, so it’s important that when you’re representing your brand online that you’re doing so in a conversational way. The best way for me to make sure I’m being conversational is to pretend I’m having coffee with everyone one-on-one in my community. When you’re having coffee with a friend, you’re not going to sit there and only chat about yourself, right? Right. One of the most huge parts of being conversational is to be relational! If you’re looking for connection, the best way to get that relationship is to be genuinely interested in the other person. You want to find common ground, so that you can then expand on it. Are you preaching at a crowd? Or are you having real conversation with a friend?
ARE YOU SPEAKING NATURALLY?
Your voice should never make you feel uncomfortable to share it with others. Try to not let yourself get caught up in the “does this sound okay?” stage of creating content. Yes, acknowledge it, but don’t get so focused on it that you end up forcing a different voice than your own. Be natural and talk how you would to anyone in real life. If you’re more casual in real life, then be causal online; you don’t have to use big, fancy words. Just do your thing. Your ideal audience will be so grateful for that! Your voice is your voice, so own it, my friends.
Another part of speaking naturally is putting thought into the tone you want to portray through your words. It can be so hard to interpret someone’s words online because you don’t always know the tone they’re speaking in. If you put thought into what you want your tone to be and spend time choosing the right words to get it across, your voice will be even more recognizable and understood.
ARE YOU LETTING YOUR PERSONALITY QUIRKS SHOW?
I know some of you are probably confused by this question, so let me explain a bit more. Are you letting the special parts of your personality shine through in your social media voice? Are you using the phrases you resort to most? Are you using you favorite funny or silly terms? You SHOULD be! Don’t hide what makes your personality great and unique to you. If you’re more of a quiet and reserved person in real life, then don’t try to be over the top online. Don’t force yourself to be something that you’re not. The same goes for if you’re really outgoing and loud, don’t try to calm yourself down online to fit in with what you think everyone else is doing. If you love to use exclamation points, then use them like crazy!!! If you like to write important words in all caps, then TOTALLY do it.
For me, I have always been more reserved, but once you get to know me, I’ll chat away about anything. That’s how I aim to be online, too!
Never hold back your true self. Let your silliness and joy, or seriousness and wit show!
[bctt tweet=”Never hold back your true self. Let your silliness and joy, or seriousness and wit show!” username=”SummerTelban”]
ARE YOU SPEAKING WITH PASSION?
Your brand should be something that you’re 100% passionate about, so the passion that you have for it should always be evident in your social media voice! Even when you’re not directly chatting about your brand, your audience should still be able to recognize a similar excitement or passion to all that you share. Always remember that your passion is the “why” behind your brand and all that you do. Your voice should be full of passion for what you do, and remember that people can really tell when you’re just faking that passion. What you may be passionate about will not always be what another blogger or entrepreneur is passionate about, and guess what? That’s okay! Stay true to yourself and stick to your passions. Rock them out.
ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT YOUR IDEAL AUDIENCE?
When you’re carrying your brand voice over to social media, it’s always important to make sure you’re always keeping your ideal audience in mind. What do you want your ideal audience to look like? Who is your ideal audience? Always be sure to consider age, gender, life stage, and of course, interests. Once you answer these questions, you should always keep yourself aligned with these: Are you sharing content that your ideal audience wants to see? Or are you sharing content that has nothing to do with they want to see? Balance is a huge key for sharing on social media. Totally share things that are relevant to your overall brand, but you can also share the occasional funny post or life update. This can look different for you, depending on what your focus is, but whatever you post and voice, always make sure there’s balance.
ARE YOU KEEPING YOUR AUTHENTICITY?
Authenticity will always be one of the most important factors, not only in your social media voice, but in your overall voice of who you are as a person and in your brand. With the comparison trap always on the prowl, it can be easy to get caught up in it. This can cause us to try and become something we’re not or make our lives seem like something they’re not, instead of just being real. When you’re unashamedly real, your audience will thank you for that. And I’ll say it again – people notice when something is fake, so all the more you should cling to genuineness. This ties into the personality factor; don’t be a completely different person than you are. I promise you, all it will do is exhaust you and drag you down. When you’re true to your authentic self, you’ll feel free and more connected to your audience and brand mission.
Do you have your social media voice or overall brand voice figured out? Are you still working on it? How are you finding ways to balance your voice? How are you celebrating your voice? Let’s chat, my friends!
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