Capturing the Voice of Your Social Community

Capturing the voice of your brand is a crucial aspect of managing your social community. It’s extremely important to be aware of what you’re communicating, how you’re communicating it, and how it’s going to be received by your followers.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), a non-profit organization fighting to find a cure for blood cancers, is one of our clients here at Silverback Social. Included in LLS’s organization are two sub-organizations: Team In Training (TNT) and Light The Night (LTN). TNT is a program that enables members all over the United States to participate in walking, running, hiking, swimming, and biking events to raise money for blood cancer research. LTN organizes evening walks that take place around the world to honor and raise funds for blood cancer patients.

LLS, TNT, and LTN all have the same goal: to find a cure for blood cancers. However, each entity goes about reaching this goal in a different way. Therefore, the voice of each of these organizations is different. For example, the Light The Night community brings help, hope, and healing to those battling blood cancer, honoring friends and family and remembering loved ones who have passed on. Members make shirts and signs, hold balloons, and carry candles as they come together to walk for a great cause. The Team In Training community, on the other hand, has a more competitive, upbeat mentality. Hundreds of participants from all different cities and states train with coaches and mentors to prepare for marathons, half-marathons, triathlons, and other athletic events.

The way we, at Silverback Social, interact and share with the LTN community is different from the way we interact and share with the TNT community because each community has its own unique identity. A Facebook post, therefore, should be written much differently coming from TNT than from LTN.

Here’s an example of a Light The Night Facebook post:

And here’s an example of a Team In Training Facebook post:

As you can see, there is a clear-cut difference in the voice of each post. While LTN conveys a heartfelt effort to “bring light into the dark world of cancer,” TNT provides a supportive, motivating post to encourage people to make a difference, join TNT, and help fight blood cancers. LTN includes a sentimental picture of men, women, and children coming together and holding balloons, while TNT shows a photo of an enthusiastic athlete posing victoriously while competing in a marathon event.

At Silverback Social, we work very closely with Natalie Barreto, the LLS Social Media Manager and Jack Nazarian, the LLS Digital Marketing Director to curate content, optimize it for each social platform, and determine how to communicate it best to the LLS online audience. Knowing your audience is a HUGE part of managing your social media community. In order to capture the right voice and convey your brand’s image appropriately, you need to get to know your audience. Figure out how your followers are going to receive the information you share, and put it in a language they can easily digest.

Have you noticed a company that truly understands its audience? Do you know a brand that really listens to its followers? Share your thoughts in the comments below.