What if your tone of voice doesn’t align with your branding strategy? Would your audience engage with your brand? Would someone view your content? The answer is a big NO! If you’re not careful with your brand’s tone of voice, you may end up with a random assortment of voices and tones that may not align with your brand. That way, your content won’t provide a consistent picture of your brand.
The point is crystal clear – tone of voice matters! It informs all of your written and visual content, including your website, branding strategy, social media messages, emails, packaging, etc. It not only defines what you say, but also how you say it. This includes the words you choose, their order, rhythm, and pace.
The Tone of Voice Explained by the Best Branding Agency
The tone of voice is how your brand communicates and connects with its target audience through customer interactions. It encompasses everything from emails and newsletters to landing pages to social media posts, helping the brand stand out and differentiate itself from the competition. For instance, Old Spice often uses an amusing and unique tone of voice. Their absurd yet memorable ads set them apart from others.
5 Steps to Clearly Find Your Brand’s Tone of Voice
88% of people choose to purchase from brands they trust. Here, having a consistent tone and branding strategy will make your content sound human and enable your brand to be easily identified. Follow these steps to define and create your own voice.
Step 1: Determine Your Brand Values
Cast a wide net and define your core values that reflect on what makes your brand unique. This is important if you want to find the best language to communicate your message effectively. To determine your core values, you will need to do two things. Write a proper mission statement and create a brand message architecture.
Step 2: Identify Your Target Audience
Another way of formulating your tone of voice and branding strategy is by knowing your target audience and marketing personas. Your brand ought to understand, anticipate, and respond to the needs of your target audience. So, build a personal connection, list out their traits, and determine the most effective ways to communicate with them. For instance, if your audience is younger, use friendly language that nicely resonates with them.
Step 3: Know Your Tone of Voice
Depending on your target audience, your tone or branding strategy may vary. It could be funny, serious, formal, or casual. So, document how and when to implement certain tones in certain situations. For example, the tone you use to announce a new product should not be the same as a customer complaint. Identify the most common scenarios you’ve ever come across as a brand. Categorize them into the different tones that you would like to take on. You can go one step further and take on regional slang. Be sure to not stray away from your brand values.
Step 4: Create Tone of Voice Guidelines
Before implementing your tone of voice, set clear brand guidelines that include a portrait of your target audience, brand values, the mission statement, the message architecture, and the vocabulary to be used. Review them with the help of the best branding agency, especially if there is any change in your target audience. Write the guidelines in the tone of voice you have defined earlier. Ask your team members what to include and what to avoid.
Step 5: Audit, Analyze, and Adapt
Now that you have a brand tone in place, it’s time to identify what it sounds like. Keep in mind that creating a brand tone isn’t a one-time effort. It takes a lot of reviewing and refining at designated times, such as once a year or during major business events. So, take some time to audit your existing tone and content to understand what it represents. Identify the gaps that may be hindering the connection or communication. If it doesn’t align with your brand strategy, then circle back to your brand values and use them.
Congrats!
You are now armed with more information about your brand’s tone of voice. It’s time for you to create your own tone of voice for your branding strategy. Don’t be afraid to be creative and different. Remember, the goal is to set yourself apart from the crowd. So, stick to a consistent and unique tone of voice, so that your brand would gain authority within your niche.
Let’s create a great branding strategy!
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