Developing a tone of voice for your brand and business may not be on the top of your to-do list, but it is extremely valuable when developing an overall content strategy and communications plan.
Because as we all know, creating effective content is not just about what you say, but how you say it.
From website copy and social media posts, to email marketing, posters and adverts, the tone of voice an organisation develops can inform all the written copy it produces. How you choose to communicate can help develop your business into a brand by informing customers’ perceptions of you.
For instance, Google’s fun and casual way of communicating underlines the idea that they are a young and innovative company. So ultimately, the way you communicate with your audience will be a significant deciding factor in the impression they form of you.
Our top four reasons for developing a brand tone of voice
(and why it’s vital for your business!)
1. Set yourself apart
In a busy marketplace, a distinctive and easily recognisable brand tone of voice can help your business to stand out from the crowd.
Take a look at notonthehighstreet‘s brand tone of voice, which aligns perfectly with their overall image:
The way they communicate through all content across a variety of channels, perfectly complements their overall brand tone.
2. Show off your personality
By effectively showing off your business’s personality, you are able to better represent your core values. Your style of communication clues your audience/consumers into what makes your business tick and who is running it.
Innocent are a perfect example of a brand showing off their personality through communication. Their Twitter account is a goldmine of character:
Disclaimer: It is very important that the personality you portray through different channels aligns with your overall business and brand function. For example, innocent smoothies’ laid back brand voice effortlessly complements their general ethos that has allowed them to stand out from the crowd. This isn’t always the answer for every business.
3. Easily communicate across channels
By developing an overarching tone of voice in your communications, you can deviate slightly on this tone depending on the channel you are communicating on. We know that all social media channels are used for different reasons. Some require less formal tones than perhaps your website or print collateral, so amending your tone of voice for individual channels will give you the best opportunity to communicate with your audiences.
Take Coca-Cola for example, their brand tone of voice on social media does differ from their highly informative website. Their Twitter account is updated regularly with content in a more casual tone of voice:
The overall tone of voice you develop will ensure that your brand narrative is consistent. But amending it slightly for different channels will ensure you understand the different audiences that dwell within.
4. Build trust
Finally, a company that puts effort into constructing a consistent tone of voice becomes familiar to customers. When we are accustomed to something it takes us far less effort to mentally process the message. So we are more likely to feel at ease around it.
But how will this benefit your overall content strategy?
Let’s summarise. Developing a tone of voice for your brand can benefit your content strategy by:
- aligning all of your brand’s functions together (look, feel, sound)
- complementing your existing brand tone
- enabling you/your brand to easily communicate across a range of channels
- seamlessly building trust amongst your target audience/consumer/customer
So, what next?
A tone of voice can be difficult to maintain, and takes dedicated attention to detail to keep consistent. Deciding that your business needs a content strategy or communications plan is one thing. But actually creating and implementing one is another. Not sure where to start? Give Mackman’s experienced Communication Specialists a call on 01787 388038 or pop us a message on our contact form and we’ll get bak to you.