Imagine if Mr T had an effeminate British accent. Or if your Prime Minister called everyone a *bleeping bleep*. Your voice and how you say things has big direct outcomes for your brand and sales.
We have certain expectations of brands, professions, and businesses. And while there are always some personalities who place themselves out of the box (seen the divorce lawyer who is a perfect blend of funny and cynical?), certain ‘voices’ suit some industries and businesses.
What is voice and tone?
First, there is a difference between tone and voice. Your voice is the personality of your brand, in adjective form. Are you professional, energetic, authentic, or fun?
Your tone is the flavour of that voice, depending on the audience, medium and situation. This tone will still be your voice, but it might change depending if you’re on Facebook, Twitter, or in print media.
How to find your brand voice
Stephanie Schwab breaks your brand voice into four chunks. Your character, tone, language and purpose.
Character: This is what your brand sounds like. Are you warm, fun, and friendly, or authoritative and clinical?
Tone: This is (to quote The Castle) ‘the whole vibe of the thing’. Scientific, intimate, humble or honest?
Language: Do you use jargon and acronyms? They sound exclusive and technical- but, could put off people who aren’t in the industry already. Fun and whimsical? Serious and formal?
Purpose: Do you want to entertain and engage people? Or inform and educate them?
Now think about your target market
Part of your business plan should be identifying your exact target market, or, your ‘avatar’. That is the person you should be thinking of whenever you write something for your business.
My father owns a computer repair shop, and his content is written informally but still in a way that you know what he’s talking about. His clients are generally non-tech people who just want their computer to go; they don’t care about highly technical things. Dad is excellent at explaining complex computer issues in plain English; that’s his voice. It’s also a family-run business, so Dad knows most of his customers personally. His newsletter sounds like he’s writing an email to friends- that’s his tone.
But a lawyer I write for, they charge $300+ an hour. So they need to sound like they are worth $300+ an hour. They use formal language, highly technical words, and sound very authoritative.
Your tone dictates how your business is perceived, and if you get it wrong, you’ll miss your target market. So how do you get it right?
Develop your voice guidelines
Sit down and fill out a table like this for your business. I’ll do my Dad’s business.
| Character Helpful, friendly, trustworthy | This: We don’t sell you the most expensive system; we listen to you and help you choose the right computer for your needs. Not this: The top-of-the-line premium package gives ultimate functionality. |
| Tone Personal, informal, articulate | This: If you need to buy a new laptop, we can help choose from rebuilds, new, or second-hand. Not this: With a range of new, second hand or rebuilds, there is something for each customer. |
| Language Simple, no jargon, explainable | This: This laptop has enough memory to store all your photos and music on it. Not this: This has 4GB of DDR4 2666MHz ram and a 1TB 5400 RPM hard drive. |
| Purpose Inform, engage, sell | This: What’s important to you when buying a laptop? Screen size? Ease of use? Gaming? Not this: To buy this dull as dishwater laptop, it will cost you $1500. |
Breaking down the tone and language
There are some other ways you can think about this too; In first person, or third person? This helps determine how formal your tone is.
Formal writing: This is what you see from banks, accountants, and poncy professionals. Writing has no contractions, no slang, and is in the third person.
‘At 123 Accountants, you can trust our highly educated professionals to get the best outcomes for your business. We specialise in multi-national firms with international business with complex tax situations.’
This is good for formal businesses, but if you are fun or want a more human feel, you might want to turn it down a notch.
Casual/ informal writing: Generally, this is a great way for people to hear the ‘real’ you. It’s excellent at connecting with like-minded people (hopefully your customers). It’s written in first person, has contractions, slang, and local references. Kiwi websites can use Maori words when suitable. There are some fantastic brands like The Collective and Innocent who have developed their voice beautifully and have nailed this casual, fun feel to their brands.
Caveats:
Humour: If it’s really clear something is funny, and you’re a funny writer, then humor is awesome in the right place. But it can easily be misconstrued, seem unprofessional, distracting, and sloppy. If you write something and your editor doesn’t laugh, delete it.
Swearing: Some brands use swearing and it works well for them. But the majority of businesses should avoid it—there are loads of words in English that you can use instead of swearing. I *can* write a lot of profanity, but I honestly think it’s overdone and rather than sounding refreshing and authentic, just sounds…. Sweary.
Make a start today
If you’re writing a blog or a page for your website, start implementing your sparkly new voice and tone guidelines. In the back of your mind, just remember who your ideal customer is, and write to them. Be super consistent – if you speak in first person on one part of your site, make sure it’s throughout all the pages, otherwise it’s quite jarring for the reader.
And finally, be authentic. NOTHING sounds as great as the owner of a company writing their copy, it’s so genuine, and really inspires trust. You can always hire an editor to clean up any scruffy grammar or spelling. Don’t be scared to be you.