5 Tips for Getting the Right Tone for Your Audience

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Do you ever wonder how some people publish content with some humor or jokes that sounds right and hilarious? Well, the secret is in defining a tone that resonates with your audience. In this article, you will find a step-by-step guide that will help you find your brand voice and how to maintain it across the digital space.

Scientific studies and testimonials have proofed that tone is everything. In every conversation or communication process, the degree of effective understanding of the message will depend on the tone. For instance, tone can be detected in verbal communication by looking at the volume of your voice, facial expressions and the general body language. However, in written communication, you need to go an extra mile in ensuring your readers get the right tone since they can neither see nor hear you.

In marketing context, tone will help your target audience to put your message in the right context or level of formality. It implies that the tone in your written message can be perceived as friendly,authoritative, warm, crude, witty, uncertain or instructional. The tone in your written message influences your brand voice which in turn influences how your customers perceive your brand. Recent findings indicates that more than 80% of customers believe would build and maintain trust in your brand if your brand voice is authentic and consistent.

This article will give you insights on how to use the right tones in your writing and how to be consistent across your marketing channels. We will also take a look at the examples of brands that have figured out their brand voice and what you can emulate from them.

Establishing Tone in Your Brand’s Voice

Your company’s voice is a combination of the brand voice and various tones used in different communication scenarios. Before we proceed, do you know the difference between brand voice and tone?

Brand Voice vs Tone

Brand voice can be described as your brand identity or personality. It is the unique way that you present your brand to the world. For instance, if your brand was a person, would he or she be outgoing, serious, or the silent type?

The choice of your brand voice would vary from serious, friendly, informative or witty depending on the situation. For instance, you brand tone would sound more exciting when announcing promotional deals while you would sound formal in press releases. However, the choice of tone should still have your brand voice.

Now the remaining question is, How do you get the right voice for your brand? How do you define a brand voice that leads to the highest engagement rate from your audience? Well, we have summarized everything into five key steps.

1.     Conduct a detailed evaluation of your company

Everything starts with understanding your business what it stands for, its values and how it is perceived by customers. Imagine this, what kind of a person would your company be if it turned into a human being. Use the following questions at to get through this level.

-       What is the purpose of the content you are creating?

-       What are the do’s and don’ts in your company?

-        Areyou aiming at inspiring, educating or entertaining?

-       Is your content driving value, sales or both?

2.     Get to know the needs of your audience

Understanding your target audience is key in knowing how to communicate and serve them. Gathering such information will help you craft the best brand voice that appeals to your audience. This stage requires a good grasp of research and observation skills that will enable you collect views and analyze the data to get insights. Some of the pointers you need to know about your target audience include:

-       Age

-       Gender

-       Occupation

-       Values and interests

-       Location

-       Economic status

-       Pain points

-       Purchasing preferences

-       Use of social media

Some of these factors can help draw meaningful conclusions such as the age factor when determining social media use or types of jobs to determine one’s income level.

3.     Which digital platforms are you using?

Your target audience could determine whether your brand may be suited for a particular social media platform. When you finally identify your marketing channels, it becomes easier to decide your brand personality.

It is important to note that companies can have various tones across the digital platforms while maintaining a single brand voice. Some companies may be serious and formal on LinkedIn while casual and less serious on platforms such as TikTok.  

4.     Conduct a market analysis

You cannot understand the level of competition in the market without learning how your competitors are serving their customers. It would not be easy for your brand to stand out if it sounds like a few other firms in the market. While it may be good to copy some tactics, it is important to modify or improve on them so that you end up with something unique and outstanding.

5.     Get help where necessary

In cases where you are not sure of where to start or what to do next, consulting an expert could be a right decision. Talk to a brand strategist who can help you understand how branding works. Such an individual will ensure your logos, fonts, colors and all other aspects of branding are analyzed to suit your company needs.

Brand consultants such as Campaign180 are the best in the field since they have a team of specialists with years of experience. They also have access to cutting-edge technologies that has enabled them understand how tone influences brand voice in digital communication.

How to Maintain the Tone of Your Brand Voice

After defining the voice of your brand, the next task is to ensure you consistently use it throughout your digital content.

The primary goal of being consistent with brand voice is to get recognized by your target audience. Research shows that 68% of companies attribute the 10-20% revenue increase to brand consistency.

Being consistent with your tones and brand voice will enable you stand out among your competitors in the in the market. It is easy to be recognized by your customers and potential buyers when you have a unique tone and voice.  Follow the following guidelines.

Develop a style guide: A design guide will act as a blueprint that is used to present your brand through visual and content. This documentation comprises of specific colors, fonts and other writing preferences that are based on the brands guidelines. Example include the use of emoji, choice of words, and sentence structure.

Continuously review the style guide: Ensure the styles are being used by all employees across the company. The styles should be updated frequently to ensure consistency of the brand regardless of the marketing channels. Remember to remain updated with the standards of various platforms in the digital space to ensure your business remains compliant.

Use the right set of tools: Choose the best tools that will enable you create and organize content and still generate traffic to your platforms.

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Top 5 Examples of Consistent Voice from Popular Brands

1.  Innocent drinks

The brand maintains a sassy and witty voice on their website.

2. Slack

The company is known for a friendly yet clever brand voice. The brand uses emoji inits communication. It also uses a softer tone in the Chatbot.

3. M&M

This company combines sassy (in a naughty way) while proving to be cute or attractive enough.

4. Grammarly

Grammarly combines three features of its brand voice which include friendly, supportive and helpful.

5. Target

This company uses a clear, simple, and accessible voice for their known audience.

Final Thoughts

Brand voice and tones play a significant role in the recognition of the business in the market. Brand voice can be regarded as the personality of your business. When creating different types of content for different digital platforms, it is easy to miss out on including the right.  

Therefore, you can contact Campaign180 to learn more about brand voice, tones, and the most recent facts based on the research findings conducted on brand voice, tone and their influence on engagement.

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