Wednesday, October 5th, 2022
When it comes to marketing communications, your brand’s tone of voice is one of the most important aspects to consider. It’s not just a tool used to appeal to potential customers. It’s an integral part of your business that conveys your values and makes your brand stand out to everyone from prospective partners to the rival brands you’re competing against.
In this blog, we’ll cover what a brand’s voice is and the reasons why establishing a strong one is so vital.
Before we look at why this is such an important part of your marketing, let’s delve into what a tone of voice actually is. Put simply, your TOV is the way in which your brand conveys itself to the world, both written and spoken. It’s not necessarily about what you say, but more about how you say it and the impression this will have on your audience. To craft an effective, engaging tone of voice, you need to know who your audience is and what they want to see in a brand.
For example, a B2B brand operating in the engineering sector will target fellow professionals who know what they’re talking about. Colourful language, colloquialisms and other techniques you see in broader marketing won’t be applicable here. Instead, a mature, technical tone of voice is required, one that speaks the same language as those who are reading.
This encompasses everything you put out, both spoken, written and even visual content. Whether it’s Facebook ad copy or internal presentations, consistency is key. Your voice needs to be distinctive and present in order to increase brand establishment. Trying to be as broad as possible and change the tone of your marketing for different audiences could be a hindrance and set your brand development back significantly.
Imagine for a moment that the audience isn’t reading your copy on a phone or laptop, but that they are instead listening to a person. If there is no recognisable personality or consistency to what they are saying, do you think your audience is likely to trust them or take on the message being conveyed? No.
When you have a strong, recognisable voice, your audience will build a character and view messaging as a conversation, rather than a piece of standard advertising.
In short, it makes your brand more personable. People don’t want to feel like they’re just getting information relayed to them or, on the other end of the spectrum, that they’re being fed lots of unnecessary filler. By creating a distinctive tone of voice, you’re making it easier for them to relate to your brand and ultimately see themselves become a part of it.
We have already touched on the idea of consistency. When building a tone of voice, you have the chance to bring stability to your brand’s messaging. If your audience sees conflicting messaging, then they will view your brand as fractured and lacking any identity.
However, if consumers can see a clear ‘theme’ in your messaging, then this will reassure them that you know what you’re talking about. The importance of consistency in the type of content, ad copy and the way it is delivered cannot be overstated.
The tone of voice doesn’t just help to make you appear reliable in the eyes of potential customers, it can also make you seem more authoritative. However, this requires both personality and deep knowledge of the subject or industry you’re working in.
When we talk about authority, this doesn’t necessarily mean bombarding your audience with a lot of jargon and technical talk. Instead, it’s about being confident in your messaging and having the intuition to know when and when not to use specific terminology.
This is quite basic, but it is still a hugely important part to consider. When you have a good tone of voice, it sets your brand apart from the rest. As we’ve already mentioned, it’s a great tool to help craft a unique identity, making both copy ad and content instantly recognisable as belonging to your brand.
This can be incredibly valuable, as once you have set a tone that connects with your consumer base, it means they’ll remember your brand. You won’t just be a random company in the field, instead, you’ll be a name they link to your industry. The important thing to remember is that, while you can of course take inspiration from competitors, you shouldn’t try to emulate them. You need to craft a truly unique voice that represents your brand.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, tone of voice can massively improve your relationship with the audience and how you communicate to them. An effective tone of voice can cut through the endless sea of online content available, clearly conveying your message in a way other brands can’t.
It can also help focus your campaigns and marketing angles. Instead of coming up with loads of content and copy to test that might not produce results, you can follow a theme and slightly adjust what’s working. Don’t be afraid to turn away from the broad appeal, some of the most successful campaigns work because they operate in a niche.
Knowing that tone of voice is important and being able to effectively craft one are two very different things. If you’re struggling to convey your brand in the best way through messaging, why not get help from the experts. At Social Nucleus, we work to establish a consistent tone of voice from the get-go that can be used in all aspects of your campaigns, from ad copy to email marketing and beyond. If you’d like to take your advertising to the next level, get in touch and start connecting with your audience now.
