You’ve probably received a fair share of advice on how to build your brand. A first step many people hark on is building your “brand voice.” A consistent way of speaking to your customers, your voice is a distinctive element of your brand’s communication. However, have you thought about your brand’s tone?
If not, you might want to take notice. While your voice is your clear communication element, tone is something you don’t want to skip over. Let’s dig a bit deeper.
What is brand voice?
Your brand’s voice is how you communicate with customers, and will vary depending on your business. For instance, if you’re a healthcare company you wouldn’t necessarily want to be humorous. Instead, you might aim to be straightforward and informative, without sounding harsh or cold. If you’re a baby and parent product, you’ll want to be positive and nurturing, without sounding like you’re babying the parents themselves.
This might seem confusing at first, but once you sit back and consider the identity of your brand it becomes easier. Think of your brand as a single person, who has their own way of speaking and their own set of values, attitudes, and behaviors. If your brand values consist of honesty, hard work, and determination, that’s the way you’d be speaking. It wouldn’t be a, “Maybe we can…” It would be a solid “Yes, we can!”
Ask yourself questions like:
- What makes my brand persona unique?
- What is my backstory?
- Why is my brand passionate about what we do?
Understanding the answers to these questions will provide you with a clear picture on your brand identity, allowing your brand voice to take shape. Remember, your brand voice is what customers will come to expect and recognize from you. Your voice is your personality. Remaining consistent will build trust as well as brand loyalty and brand affinity.
What is brand tone?
Have you ever heard of the saying, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it?” When understanding brand tone, it’s easiest to still think of your brand as a person. Just like a human voice, your brand’s voice should carry an array of emotions and adjust depending on the context or scenario. And while brand voice is your personality, your brand tone is your attitude.
Your distinctive voice should always embody your brand identity. However, just like a person, you would switch gears slightly depending on the situation. While what you’re saying can be in-line with your brand voice, your tone is what dictates your attitude. Think of it this way: If you decide that your brand voice is going to be more humorous and lighthearted, your tone could be:
- Sarcastic
- Dry humor
- Knock-knock jokes
- Memes and GIFs
Two brands can both have a funny brand voice, but one that uses a GIF to thank a customer is different than the brand that writes back a sarcastic reply. And, this is where tone truly designates which is which.
Easy tips for brand tone
Trying to sort out the difference between brand voice and brand tone can be a little confusing, and we get that. Once you’ve determined your brand’s personality and developed your brand’s voice, try following these tips to craft your tone:
- Switch up your vocabulary: Word choice speaks volumes (literally). Even swapping out “thanks” for “thank you” is a big change.
- Play with punctuation: Read, “Okay!” and now read, “Okay.” While periods can denote neutrality as just a plain end of the sentence, sometimes they can come across as stuffy, or underwhelming. While we don’t suggest adding three exclamation points after every sentence!!! which can be incredibly distracting, sprucing up your communications with varying punctuation can convey separate attitudes.
- Analyze the situation at hand: Answering a customer’s question about services and responding to a positive review are two very different scenarios. While you don’t have to lose your lighthearted tone, answering a business question with a joke or a smiley face might be out of scope in certain situations. However, adding an emoji or sticker to a friendly review shows off your approachable, friendly attitude. While both can be reflective of your overall personality, understanding what is appropriate and when is crucial.
Are you having a hard time mastering your brand tone? It doesn’t have to be so difficult after all. Contact Marketing Maven today to begin collaborating, and soon your brand’s tone will be just as unique as you are.