How to Integrate Your Brand Tone of Voice

How to Integrate Your Brand Tone of Voice

The voice and tone in your brand communicate your personality to the world. Your customers will find it everywhere: on your website, social media channels, videos, and marketing. 

Keeping a consistent tone of voice in your content is essential, but it can’t contradict your brand.

Why Your Brand’s Tone of Voice Matters

Although brand tone and voice work together, they actually cover two separate functions. Your brand’s voice revolves around what’s being said. 

A steady brand voice helps users perceive you as trustworthy, reliable, and understandable, which helps foster loyalty.

Your brand’s tone is focused on the message being conveyed and what it sounds like. Brand tone can be changed based on context, whereas your brand’s voice can’t. 

When it calls for it, using the right tone can help create the emotion you’re trying to send, like serious or friendly.

Branding agencies like Shape can help you establish a consistent voice in your content, which will demonstrate your core values, goals, unique quantities, and company culture all at once.

How to Connect Your Brand with Your Content

The best way to create a consistent tone of voice is by establishing guidelines for your business. But before you do that, you need to know what your brand is saying.

What is Your Target Audience?

Your target audience uniquely connects to your brand, and their voice should guide you on your journey. 

Once you know whom you’re selling to, you can communicate a message that resonates with them. 

Conduct customer research by asking the following questions:

• Where do my customers live?
• What are their demographics?
• What are their likes? Dislikes?
• How do they speak to each other?

By using analytics software, you can track your target audience’s buying and click-rate habits. With this knowledge, you can define your goals and core brand values.

What Are Your Goals?

We both know your goal is to sell products, but what are you saying to your customers that make them want to buy from you? 

If you sell clothing, what entices your buyers to recommend your shirts? Is it their quality, value for the dollar, environmental message, or durability?

Once you have a goal that’s driving your message, you can think about how to communicate it. Let’s assume you’re selling high-quality, environmentally friendly clothing for the next section.

What are Your Core Values?

As a high-quality, environmentally friendly clothing company, you’re likely trying to address the waste issues with fast fashion. 

Of the total fibre input used in clothing, 87% of it is in landfills or incinerated. Your clothing won’t clog up landfills since it’s well made and biodegradable.

Your core value to address waste and climate change should be in every piece of content you make, every message you send, and every business-based social interaction you’re a part of.

If you want to find your core value, ask yourself these questions:

• What does my brand stand for?
• What sets me apart from others?
• How do I want to make people feel?
• How do I want others to perceive me?

With your core value in place, you can create a list of standards and share it with your team.

How do I Make my Content Consistent?

Your brand should have a list of standards for how you can communicate to your audience. Laying out specifics, like what words or tone to use, can prevent your team members from going off-script. 

Choose whether you want to be serious with your audience or quirky and casual.

In our environmentally-friendly clothing example, we would recommend a light-hearted tone. Addressing climate change is a serious issue, but your customers already know this. 

If this brand approaches its customers with a friendly disposition, they’ll be more willing to help.