What is Brand Voice for Apartments?
DEFINITION
Show your brand through words. Connect to your audience. Bring in your:
- Personality: through tone; your
- Style: through descriptions; and
- Clarity: through explanations.
Brand voice for apartments is the hidden string that ties your content together, to create a seamless, connected experience across channels and all content (and all verbal identity pieces). Brand voice brings your multifamily brand to life through words, and is one part of the full verbal identity. There’s that phrase again: verbal identity—keep reading if you’re wondering what that is.
PARTS OF THE VERBAL IDENTITY
You’ve heard of visual identity. Maybe. That’s what a brand looks like. The verbal identity is what it sounds like: words, content, messaging.
Brand Statements – What you do and why (and why you’re so special).
Brand Voice – We just told you, but no worries: it’s how others hear you and perceive you in written word.
Brand Tone – This is how you say it, depending on the occasion or the audience
Brand Story – This is the behind-the-scenes, get to know us for real, part of your verbal identity
Brand Vocabulary – Semi-style guide; this adds different word usage rules—especially proprietary or made-up words, plus how you use grammar and punctuation, and what’s off limits or definitely discussed in your content.
More Important Than The Logo
The logo seems important. It absolutely is. You’ve heard us say this before, but it bears repeating: Your logo can’t do everything for your brand. In fact, brand voice is more important to your apartment community because it is directly communicating your brand to your current and prospective residents.
BRAND NAMES ARE KEY
The part of your brand voice that tops the list of importance here: apartment community brand names to accompany that logo. While both are essential, the name holds more importance. Here’s why…
- The verbal identity (the apartment name) informs the visual identity (the logo design)
- Words can create imagery that speaks volumes
- A good name with a bad logo is painful
- A bad name with a good logo is absolutely tragic
Bring them both together, and you can thoroughly explain who you are, define first impressions, form brand recognition and leave a lingering flavor. The question you most need to answer when you’re creating that brand voice is: What do you want your communities to “taste” like?
This can be done through brand personality choices that are portrayed through your voice and in your tone.
Brand Voice vs. Brand Tone vs. Brand Style
What’s the difference? It’s subtle. But it’s there.
BRAND VOICE
This is what your brand talks about. It’s your brand, through words. Brand voice is what you always use to relay the core, most foundational aspects of your brand—the soul (through your mission, vision, and values.) It’s consistent and reliable. It tells your audience who you are, what you do, what you believe, what we stand for, and what you have to offer.
BRAND TONE
Brand tone is how you say things. It can vary based on the audience, the channel, and the subject. Brand tone allows you to ramp up emotion or connect on a deeper level with your ideal resident. Tone can keep your brand flexible in its verbal identity. According to Forbes, “When communicating, there is a necessary balance for brand voice to bring consistency and tone to create a relatable space.” Residents who relate are residents who remain in the community.
BRAND STYLE
Brand style is what the eyes (instead of the ears) take in. Up for a quick game of word association? Let’s go with “style.” We’d say “fashion, looks, couture, tailored.” Right? So, brand style is how the brand looks: logo, colors, fonts, designs, images. We use our eyes first—and that’s when the first impression comes in. And we love a good first impression. But that’s not the only bit apartment brands need.
VOICE IS OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE
Go deeper: Your brand voice counts just as much. After you grab the attention of your ideal residents with a sweet logo, then the viewer slows down to read just a quick headline, for instance. And these words can penetrate their minds more deeply and provide greater understanding of who your brand is and what you do. That’s if you’ve taken the time to create an engaging brand voice full of personality that will draw them in with useful, relatable content.
Where and How to Use Brand Voice
BRAND STATEMENTS
Use your brand voice in your brand statements. This includes your mission and vision statements. Your values. Your purpose statement, your brand positioning statement, and your brand attributes. Bring out the voice there and make sure it aligns with the personality traits you’ve identified as part of your brand.
BRAND VOICE FOR APARTMENTS
But how do you incorporate that? You’re going to have to write how people speak. Why do I have to write that way? Because that’s exactly who’s reading it. People. (And sometimes Google bots.) A quick test for this is to literally read your copy and content outloud. Does it sound natural? Does it sound like a conversation you could have with a friend? Most of all: does it sound the way you want your brand to sound—does it use the personality you’ve set aside for your exact brand? Here are a few personality spectrums to get you started:
- Trendy vs. Classic
- Casual vs. Elegant
- Matter-of-Fact vs. Enthusiastic
BUDGET FOR STRATEGY AND COPYWRITING
Finally, are you putting enough weight behind your apartment’s brand positioning? We mean strategy and professional copywriting when you’re branding or rebranding an apartment community. (Wondering what makes a good apartment brand? Read this blog next.) If strategy and copywriting are not in the budget, get it in there now—it will be worth the amount you spend on it.
Pro-tip: When you get a professional copywriter (like the ones here at zipcode creative) make sure your strategy is clear. If you don’t have a strategy, get one. That will save you a lot of time when it comes to aligning all the copy around your super magical, one-in-a-million brand voice for your apartments.
