Copywriter for the glazing industry, Helen Savage, explains what marketers mean when they talk about ‘tone of voice’ and explores why it’s important and how businesses can find the right one.
Tone of voice (TOV) is important for every business employing any marketing or PR, but it can be a bit daunting for those that don’t know where to start.
What is ‘tone of voice’?
If you think about the different ways you talk to various people in your life, you are likely to use a different pitch, volume, speed, and perhaps even slightly different language depending on whether you’re at work, home, or out with friends.
Depending on your tone, what you say will be interpreted differently. A brand’s tone of voice works in a similar way. The things that you say and the way that you say it will help people to build their perception of you. When done well, your audience not only understands you, they want to work with you too.
Top tips for TOV
Consider how you want people to feel
When you think about the right tone of voice for your brand, think about your brand’s personality and what you want people to feel when they see your name. Do you want them to feel comfortable, happy, relaxed, or serious? There’s no right or wrong here, it depends on what type of business you have, the ethos of the business, and how you want to present yourself.
Make a list
It can also be useful to consider the different groups of people you interact with – prospects, different sets of customers, competitors, suppliers, etc. Make a list of them all and write a few descriptive words about how you would like each group to describe you in an ideal world. What do they want from your type of business, and how can your brand values deliver? Once you have collated all of this information, you should be able to produce your brand’s tone of voice guidelines.
Be consistent
Guidelines are useful because to establish a tone of voice you need to be consistent across all your marketing communications, so all copy sounds like it’s from the same business. It’s the same as making sure all your marketing materials look the same with consistent brand design. If your website looks a bit different to your packaging, which looks a bit different to your social media pages, audiences won’t recognise you easily and may scroll past or walk on by.
Build brand recognition
In a more fragile market, building strong relationships with customers and prospects is even more critical. Achieving the right tone of voice for your brand can help to foster trust with your different audiences, develop brand recognition, build deeper connections and encourage greater loyalty – all of which helps set you apart from the competition.
For more top tips on copywriting for your business, visit blogwrite.co.uk/blog
