Want to transform your business into a brand that connects with people in a way that builds trust and gets results? It’s time to watch your tone, says WebBox content expert, Vicky.
It’s an area that’s often overlooked in a marketing strategy. But how you convey your message has the ability to transform your business into a brand that stands out from the crowd. It’s the personality that makes your content distinctive, memorable, and impactful – and it’s what keeps your audience coming back for more.
I’m talking about your tone of voice.
You can have a cool logo, punchy slogan, and branding that’s on point, but if your marketing communications don’t sound right, then you risk damaging your image, alienating your target audiences, and ultimately harming your revenue.
Nobody wants that.
The good news is that setting the right tone of voice won’t take you hours on end. But taking time to establish how you want your brand to sound can help you convey your core values, build trust, connect with your audience and get you some serious results.
What exactly is a tone of voice?
More than just your choice of words, tone of voice also refers to other written elements such as rhythm, pace, tense, the length of your sentences and the style of language you choose to use.
It’s not about what you say, but how you say it — and the impression it makes on everyone who reads it.
The tone of voice documents or guidelines is used by brands around the world to shape marketing communications. These handy guides apply to any and every piece of content and communication you have with your audience — from website content and blogs to social media content, PPC campaigns and everything in between.
Why the tone of voice matters
Your target audiences are served a constant stream of content choices every day — which is why it’s never been more important to make what you say (and how you say it) count.
Here’s why the tone of voice is such a big deal:
- It reflects your brand’s core beliefs
- It creates a memorable image of your brand
- It creates consistency
- It builds trust with your audience
- It aligns values
- It allows you to connect with your audience
- It eliminates jargon
- It gets results.
How to establish your tone of voice
The first step to finding your tone of voice is to do your research. You’ll want to get a solid understanding of your company and its employees, products or services, target markets (both existing and potential), customers and values.
Once you’ve gained an insight into these areas, the next step is to translate these into a set of characteristics that clearly define your brand’s core values. You’ll also want to think about how these characteristics affect the feelings of the reader. If you’re having trouble establishing these then my Tone of Voice Discovery Workshop will help you quickly establish, define and elevate your key characteristics — and how this translates into your tone of voice.
The next stage is to create your tone of voice guidelines. This handy document will detail everything from your core characteristics and what you want people to think of you, how your written content should leave your audience feeling, and how to sound (and how not to sound) to achieve this.
It’s by no means a straightjacket, but rather a useful guide that will give you — and anyone writing on behalf of your brand — the confidence to express its personality through words.
The final step is to familiarise your staff and writers with the guidelines and to get writing.
Need a little help to find your tone of voice? Click here to drop me a line today to see how I can help your brand set the tone and get results.