Why does it matter?

Creating a consistent tone of voice humanises your brand and lets it take part in conversations naturally. This is a major key to performing in the digital world, if you don’t have a voice then how can you be heard? Having a structure for your tone of voice means that anyone in your company is able to get a sense for how your brand communicates in the most efficient way possible. That keeps communication simple which means that you’re better able to create a unified character across your channels. Just like consistent feel is important when it comes to design, having a strong tone of voice across your channels establishes and reiterates trust with your audience. What does trust mean? Sales.

How do I establish my tone of voice?

First things first, decide how you want your brand to be seen. This comes back to your key messages and objectives so if you haven’t done the work there, take a few steps back and do your homework. Consider how these impact the way you speak. Do you want to be considered fun? You would then keep your tone of voice lighthearted, casual and energetic. Your tone is your HOW when it comes to delivering your message. A few questions to ask yourself when establishing tone could be:

• If your brand was a person, what kind of personality would they have?
• What would their relationship to the consumer look like? Are they like a coach, a mum, a friend?
• Dust off the whiteboard and write down every adjective that comes to mind when asked, what adjectives describe my brand? Once you have a big list, pick the best ones
• How do you want consumers to think about your company?

Keep in mind your tone needs to feel authentic, not forced but aligning your key values with how you communicate them makes this easy. So if you’re a law firm who value privacy as a key value, avoid joking about clients or using casual throw-away language about cases.

Once you have an idea of what you think your tone is, write out your rules and practice implementing then whenever you write copy, be it internal or external. Match your rules and adjust as you go until you nail it.

If this has gone over your head and you want us to deep dive into your tone of voice, get in touch to discuss our strategy packages here.