Voice Overs: The Secret Sauce for Good Branding

When you’re in business, your brand image, and most importantly, how people perceive it, is everything.

A brand encompasses all that you (and those who represent or work for you) do from PR to customer service. An effective brand has incalculable wealth to be sure, but just how does your brand assume a life of its own in the image you desire?

Before the rubber hits the road, a brand must first be developed and represent something of use that has value or you’ll have nothing to promote, minus the shell of a product.

To set the stage for success, you’ll need to consider the kind of language used when describing the brand, names, ad copy, imagery, iconography and the mission of the brand (why it exists and how it can benefit people).

Good marketers know that they need to build trust and shape perception through public relations. Usually, a marketer finds ways to develop, promote and maintain a brand through mediums such as broadcast, print and in recent years, the Internet and mobile devices.

It goes without saying, but businesses have budgets that are set aside for marketing including commercials to be aired on television and radio, publicity campaigns, and advertisements with creative photography and ad copy that circulate industry trade magazines, infiltrate pop culture, and begin their journey to the center of the consumer’s mind.

How does a brand stand out? Each person see thousands of advertisements every day and it can be very difficult to cut through the clutter of commercial media to drive your message home.

One way to stake your ground and deliver your message in a unique, persuasive manner is to include the use of voice overs, one of the most underrated marketing techniques.

Although a voice over comprises of only one element in post-production, you’d be surprised just how amazingly effective a good voice over is when it comes to shaping perception, communicating directly to the potential buyer, and building trust on an intimate level.

Referred to by those in the know as “the secret ingredient” for effective branding, voice overs are able to get inside the head of their listener to present relatable concepts, situations, and resonate with their needs and wants in a friendly yet authoritative way.

Without realizing it, the listener receives the endorsement as if the message were being delivered from a friend, not the marketing department, and acts accordingly.

One of the styles that is very popular right now for voice overs is the “Real Person”, essentially, the voice of an ordinary guy or gal that you might meet at your church, work or in your neighborhood.

The Real Person can be portrayed as your best friend, the smart aleck in history class, or the omnipresent voice of reason. Real Person voice overs can also employ situational copy, for example, voice over is able to present the feelings of someone who is going through a universal experience that we can all relate to such as buying a home for the first time, back to school shopping, or visiting the dentist.

Voice over, when done well by a professional voice actor, can do all of these things and more for your branding and communications efforts. You can find voice actors online by visiting sites such as Voices.com to start your branding journey with voice.

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Technorati Tags: Branding, business voice talent, communications efforts, public relations, voice over