Happy 2022 Voiceover Achievers! We made it, and we’re happy to say the first month of the new year is off to a great start.
We know there are many wonderful brands to come and voiceover projects to be done this year. If your New Year’s resolution is to bring in more business or improve your website and social media channels, then we’re here to help you achieve your goals. There’s no better time than right now to create a standout brand and optimize your digital presence.
Whether you’re just starting out or you have years of experience under your belt, use this new season to take inventory of your VO assets. Once you know what you’re working with, the key to success will be maximizing those assets. Here are the most important things to keep in mind:
Maximize Your VO Assets
In order to reap the best returns as a voiceover artist, you need to know your voiceover assets.
Your Voice. It might seem obvious, but your talent as a voiceover actor relies on the power and presence of your voice. Knowing the ins and outs of your voice– its strengths and weaknesses– will help you find your unique niche in this industry.
Your Brand. The better your brand, the better your business. By creating and cultivating a strong brand that is so distinctly you – one that emphasizes your niche and illustrates your talent, values, and personality – you become recognizable and unique. You can then translate your brand into business growth.
Your Team. Your assets are strengthened when you’ve got a team of people backing your success– a team to develop and market your brand, optimize your digital presence, and promote your talent to prospective buyers. Whether that’s your family, your colleagues, your agents, or your manager, lean into them. Teamwork makes the dream work.
Your Home Studio. It doesn’t have to be StudioBricks, but the importance of a quality home recording space can’t be understated. Owning and having easy access to a home studio means that you’ll be able to fulfill clients’ needs more quickly and with guaranteed quality and consistency– that’s a huge plus.
Your Timeliness. The world waits for no one, and this is especially true in VO. Timeliness is extremely important in this industry and having a reputation that involves doing work in a timely manner without sacrificing quality is critical for a successful career.
Your Searchability. Having a consistent and branded online presence, through social media and a personal website, makes you more searchable. If you can capitalize on your VO niche through your branding and digital tools, the likelihood of potential buyers finding you goes up exponentially.
Letting the Brand Lead Your Success
Having a truly great brand will lead you towards success– that’s for sure. But there are other elements that can help a great brand reach its full potential. Using the brand Glossier as a case study, we’ll show you how one beauty brand used all the tools available to them to maximize their success and gain huge momentum from the beginning.
A Case Study in Great Branding: Glossier
Beauty brands have never been in short supply, but when Glossier shot to the top of the beauty market in the late 2010s, it was easy to see why. Their products, which are revered by their customers, were only one small part of their successful strategy.
Forbes attributes Glossier’s success to the 5 C’s: Consumers, Content, Conversations, Co-Creation, and Community. Not only did Glossier create a product, but they created a community and expertly marketed their product to that community, mainly via social media. Glossier also focused on engaging consistently with their customers to learn about what products were desired in the marketplace– this kind of engagement allowed customers to have a say in product development and made them more likely to follow through with purchasing products.
The brand, known for its more authentic approach to beauty and skincare, may have risen to fame quickly in 2018 but has managed to stay relevant. With a cool 2.6 million Instagram followers, Glossier rivals the followings of many more well-established makeup brands. In its short history, Glossier has been named as a top beauty brand by Allure, Teen Vogue, Glamour, Nylon, Women’s Wear Daily, and Cosmopolitan. Glossier has also been featured on the LinkedIn Top Startups of 2018, 2019, and 2021 lists.
What’s even more impressive is that Glossier was able to reach such acclaim while having only 3 brick and mortar shops as well as limited-time-only pop-up shops in major cities around the U.S. The brand has navigated the digital world well, making its social media presence strong and creating most of its revenue via online sales. As of 2021, the newbie brand is valued at $1.8 Billion, and they show no signs of stopping.
Glossier’s branding blueprint is surprisingly translatable to VO. You can find success as a voiceover artist if you can identify your brand and use it to engage with potential buyers in an authentic way, while also using social media tools to digitally promote your brand to your audience. You don’t have to have years of experience or the best equipment money can buy to reach success– having a standout brand and a team to help you promote it will get you far.
Becoming A Brand in 2022
Are you ready to take your brand to the next level this year? We want to lead you towards success! Here at CSM, we have a team of branding and digital media specialists who are excited to help you grow your brand and nourish your social media. Don’t wait for your VO career to take off – let us help you launch!
You can email Caitlin at caitlin@celiasiegel.com to get a free social media consultation and learn more about our social media and PR department or Schedule a free 15-minute consultation with me to start developing your own personal brand.
Also, check out my book Voiceover Achiever to get moving on your own branding journey with my expert guidance and tried & true methodology. We will be holding a few workshops to get direct feedback throughout the new year so keep your eye out for that if you choose to go the DYI route.
