One of the key parts to writing content that is going to represent your brand and engage your consumers, is finding the right voice and tone for your business.
Voice AND tone?
Yes, trust me they are different!
Voice is who you are as a whole, the personality, the bulk of what makes you, well, you. Are you playful and personable? Or are you straightforward and professional?
Tone can be summarised as your attitude as opposed to your personality. Your tone, very similar to real life, is how you chop and change it depending on who you are talking to and about what. For us, our articles are written with a different tone, to the main content throughout our website – but all with the same voice. We have a very clear personality, yet depending who the author of each article is and the topic you can see distinctions in the tone. Honestly, read a few more of them you will see what I mean!
And…. Style?
Style encompasses both voice and tone, to create your brand. This can include your slogans or sayings, how you use design elements such as logos or fonts. This is sort of the house ‘style’ that all your writing follows.
If you haven’t already found the voice for your business consider these tips –
- Who are you trying to engage with? Write as though you are writing directly to that consumer rather than aimlessly rambling.
- Once you have decided who you are trying to engage with, copy them. Not literally. But think how do they communicate? Are they formal and precise? Or are they casual and informal? Match them.
- Think about how you want to make people feel. Ensure everything you write is a reflection of that.
- Narrow down exactly how you would want your brand described and channel that. Pick three words (e.g Passionate, Humorous, Bold)
So now you’ve got the voice for your brand, what about the tone? Consider this –
So, you are informal, passionate, humorous let’s say. Are you boisterous, do you push boundaries, are you a bit out there? or are you more niche, quiet and quirky? Both of these work, with the voice. You need to decide within your voice, what sort of tone (attitude) you want to convey within that.
And finally the style of your brand –
This is how you encompass your general house style. Do you have a specific layout you follow, is there a tagline or saying you use regularly, what fonts do you use. The style is something which will come naturally following your voice and tone. Its how your brand is recognisable within your writing. Do you ask a lot of rhetorical questions? (See what I did there).
Once you’ve outlined your voice, tone and style, stick to it! Across all channels (website content, articles/blogs, social posting, branded stationary etc.) This will help your audience recognise you and help you stand out in a sea of other businesses trying to do the same thing!
Start chatting to us to see how we can help you make your brand stand out.
