What is a brand's voice and tone?

A brand's voice is one of the core elements of branding. It ensures that your message effectively reaches your audience and resonates with them. You may have heard of these concepts before, but you may still be wondering: what exactly are brand voice and tone? If so, I invite you to learn more by reading this article we have written.

The brand's voice and tone are crucial elements of brand strategy for effective communication with target customers.

Your brand voice encompasses the characteristics of your communication that distinguish you from others. Perhaps your brand is both motivating and amusing, or formal and welcoming. These distinctive elements assist your audience in identifying your brand, even without its logo, name, or other visual cues. This is precisely why it is important.

You want your customers to feel your presence in each word you share. It would be strange to announce your full name every time you call an old friend on the phone, right? They recognize how you sound without the introduction, so that would be unnecessary. The same idea applies to your brand voice.

In marketing, your tone is the way you adapt your brand's expression based on the message you want to communicate. This involves understanding your customer's mindset to determine the most effective delivery. Do your buyers appreciate a playful sense of humor, or would they find it inappropriate? Do they respond well to inspirational messaging, or do they prefer a more direct approach? By getting to know your audience and understanding their motivations, you can develop a tone that resonates with them perfectly.

Together, your brand voice and tone create the foundations of your brand expression: that key component that injects your specific personality into every word you share. If you want to build brand loyalty, your expression needs to be reliable, and brand voice and tone guidelines are the tools that will help you achieve that goal. Discover our branding services.

Tips for brand voice and tone guidelines

When it comes to implementing your brand expression strategy, there are a few important brand voice and tone guidelines to follow. Keep these ideas in mind to ensure your business’s voice and tone fit your brand perfectly.

Look to your target audience

In the development phase of your brand voice and tone, you will want to zero in on your audience personas. Who is buying your product or service, and what resonates with them? Here are a few questions to ask yourself to craft a voice and tone that will connect with each customer.

• Does your audience want you to speak to them like a trusted friend or an industry-leading authority?

• What are their likes, dislikes, and pain points?

• Where, and how do your customers like to engage with your brand?

• What are the emotions that drive their purchasing decisions?

Maintain your voice and tone across all communication

Once you have developed your brand voice and tone, it is essential to apply them to everything from huge marketing campaigns down to your comments on social media. Every word you share is a chance to solidify your voice in the minds of consumers, ensuring they get to know you better each time they hear from your brand.

Make sure your staff can use your voice and tone

To ensure your voice and tone are consistent across all channels, every staff member must thoroughly understand your voice and tone. You should support each team member with the information and tools they need to communicate using the appropriate language and style for your brand.

Apply empathy to adapt your messaging

Your voice and tone are not rigid. They should adapt to stay appropriate and engaging, regardless of what message you want to convey. Apply empathy to make sure your voice and tone are intact, even if you are delivering an unfortunate update or an apology email.

The best businesses put these guidelines to use, and it makes all the difference in how they connect with customers. Remember that you can adjust your voice and tone as your brand evolves, conducting audits when necessary to ensure they still work well for your business.

Brand voice and tone examples

The best way to understand brand voice and tone is by investigating how successful companies use them. Take a look at a few stand-out brand voice and tone examples so you can see how businesses bring them into their messaging.

Starbucks:

Starbucks is transparent with its creative expression, sharing its brand voice and tone online. They combine functional and expressive language to connect with their audience, inviting them to share an indulgent moment in their shop and offering helpful tips to bring out the coffee’s best flavors.

Slack:

Slack makes a point to speak to customers with clear language and none of the tech jargon. Their published brand voice and tone document starts, with “We are humans speaking to humans,” highlighting the focus on customers and the benefits they receive from the software.

Branding your business

Developing your brand voice and tone may seem complex, but our team has mastered it. We distill your values, purpose, mission, and vision into a formula and incorporate it into all of your brand's messaging. By working with our experts, you can establish a consistent brand personality that customers can trust and become familiar with. They will learn to rely on your brand to consistently deliver messages in the unique voice and tone they have grown to appreciate.

If you are ready to delve into the core of branding your business and create impactful messages, the Semiya Agency team is available to assist.

Contact us to establish an authentic brand for your business.