Watch your tone!
It is easy to associate the wording ‘tone of voice’ as the sounds that come from someone’s mouth, but in branding it has a deeper meaning too.
The tone of voice relates to every single thing you write in all of your branding; from your social media accounts, your flyers, your leaflets and even your website. It is so easy to allow anyone to write up your content and have different contributors to your branding, however, this can be oh so confusing for your audience.
After all, as with your logo and colour scheme, written content is a key part of how your potential customers perceive you and how they form those vital impressions of you and your brand.
Let’s look for example at how wording and tone of voice can have an effect on some simple sales copy. For arguments sake, let’s say you sell dried pasta. You could quite easily choose from three different tones of voice:
- Handcrafted in Italy; pasta to remind you of home.
- Want to make your tummy happy this evening? Try our new super spaghetti?
- From Sicily to Your Home. Taste the authentic.
Each of these pieces of sales copy comes with a different tone of voice and portrays a different personality to each other. Sure, they all do the same job, but keeping in mind the branding and image you want to portray is vital to ensure your customers do not get confused over what you stand for.
Why Should We Choose a Tone of Voice?
Your brand wants to gain familiarity and relatability with your customers. . As is the same with your thought process behind your logo and your other elements of branding, you want your tone of voice to gain trust with your audience and to attract new customers. One of the best ways to build trust is to remain consistent – and written content is no different.
The same can be said for the need to remain relatable. Using the same tone of voice throughout your whole branding allows your customer to feel valued and to relate to your company on a more one-to-one level as opposed to dealing with a vast, large organisation.
How Should I Choose my Tone of Voice?
There is no wrong or right answer to this question. You can choose whichever tone of voice you feel will suit your brand and target market – but you have to remain consistent with it!
You will find that some companies opt for a very serious, and reassuring tone of voice. Whereas others opt for a cheekier, tongue in cheek approach to their tone of voice. Of course, one thing to think about deeply is your audience and how they may perceive your tone of voice. Remember; branding should never be confusing or misleading to the consumer. This is why consistency is key. You would not want to have a cheeky type tone of voice in all of your social media and digital marketing strategy, and yet have a serious and stern tone of voice in your leaflets and pamphlets.
Remember; you set the rules on the tone of voice that you set out. There is no wrong or right answer. But do take into account the need to remain consistent. No matter who is writing your content; ensure the whole team is speaking from the same hymn sheet.
