Brand voice and tone are the core pillars of brand personality that ignite a company spark in your industry. Let’s paint a picture: you are at a friend’s party, and one of the individuals has a distinct voice and tone depicting its rare personality to everyone there. It’s more likely that you remember that person even from a packed party—the same way your brand also needs a unique voice and tone to stay ahead of the curve. Although brand voice and tone are interconnected, there is a difference that singles them out. Let’s track down the brand voice, tone, brand voice vs. tone, why they matter, and how you can create brand voice and tone.
What is Brand Voice?
Brand voice refers to the company’s values and the position it holds. It is a crucial aspect of brand personality that must resonate with the target consumer. A brand voice needs to be consistent across all touchpoints, whether it’s on the website, social media, blog posts, advertisements, and emails.
What Is Brand Tone?
The brand tone is the manner in which you express your brand voice. It’s the way of talking that can be formal, conversational, emotional, or funny, just like you interact with others on a daily basis.
Your tone changes according to a situation, but you stay under your personality. Meanwhile, tone is adjusted to better connect with the target audience’s preferences, emotions, and expectations.
Brand Voice vs. Tone: Spot The Differences
Brand voice muses your brand personality and remains consistent on every piece of content. By brand voice, consumers recognize a company and have clear-cut expectations. On the other hand, the tone shifts based on the circumstances. The tone changes to stay in line with the kind of content.
For instance, when communicating with customers to apologize via email, the brand adjusts the tone to be formal and apologetic. However, if a company has to announce a new offer, then the tone would be exciting and lively.
Why do brand voice and tone matter?
Brand voice and tone shine your brand personality. They are powerful in conveying your brand values to customers. Here are some key reasons why brand voice and tone matter in branding and marketing.
1-Differentiation: A unique brand voice and appropriate tone help a company stand out from competitors and establish a distinct personality.
2-Connection: A well-crafted brand voice and tone make a solid emotional connection with consumers and boost trust and loyalty.
3-Understanding: Clear brand voice and tone guidelines help employees understand how to communicate on behalf of the company. It ensures consistent messaging across all touchpoints.
4-Audience Relevance: By tailoring tone to specific audiences or situations, brands can better connect with their target audience and make their communication more engaging.
5-Brand Perception: Brand voice and tone help shape the perception of a company. Consistently using an appropriate tone reinforces the brand’s values, professionalism, and trustworthiness.
6-Emotional Impact: Brand voice and tone allow companies to raise certain emotions and create a memorable impression on customers.
7-Clarity: A well-defined brand voice and tone navigate the messaging and content creation process, providing a framework for clear and effective communication.
Ultimately, brand voice and tone are crucial in building a strong brand identity, connecting with the target audience, and creating a consistent and memorable brand personality. Both help companies differentiate themselves, build trust, and foster meaningful customer relationships. Whether you’re looking to build a new brand from scratch or fine-tune your existing one, brand voice and tone hand in hand can help you stand out.
Brand voice vs. tone examples
1-Mailchimp
Mailchimp, a popular platform, has an informal brand voice and mostly uses a humorous tone. They use offbeat humor and simple messaging at their core. This fits well with their branding and email marketing. However, Mailchimp also highlights that the jokes should be natural rather than forced.
2-Harley-Davidson
One brand that stands out is Harley-Davidson, a motorcycle company that proves that even an “aggressive” voice can be effective when used correctly. Harley-Davidson uses a confident and powerful tone to showcase the strength of its products, inspiring freedom seekers to be bold and take the plunge. While this approach may not work for every brand, it resonates with Harley-Davidson’s target market.
3-Spotify
Spotify uses a casual and friendly brand voice to connect with music enthusiasts. It connects with Millennials and Gen Z to entertain them through their favorite music streams. Spotify’s tone is playful and energetic to deliver an entertaining experience to its consumers. This makes its users keep coming back to listen to trendy playlists all the time.
How to develop your brand voice and tone
Your type of brand voice illustrates the personality of the brand. To develop your brand voice and tone, you need to consider your brand values, target audience, industry, and desired perception. Follow these essential steps to define your brand voice:
1-Figure out what your brand stands for
First, understand your brand’s values, mission, personality, and goals. Write down what makes your brand unique and how you want to position yourself in the market.
2-Know Your Target Audience
First, research and understand your target audience, including their demographics, preferences, attitudes, and communication styles. Meanwhile, tailor your brand voice with the language and tone that resonates with them.
3-Define Your Brand Attributes
Determine the key attributes that describe your brand personality. Is it casual, professional, sophisticated, playful, or trustworthy? Consider adjectives that represent your brand and the emotions you want to evoke.
4-Develop Brand Voice Guidelines
Create brand voice guidelines that clearly define how your brand should sound in various situations. Specify the tone, language, vocabulary, and communication style that align with your brand attributes.
5-Build a Brand Voice Chart
Create a visual representation of your brand voice, showcasing your brand attributes, preferred tone, and examples of language usage. This visual reference will help guide your team and maintain consistency in your communication.
6-Train Your Team
Share your brand voice guidelines with your employees, especially those responsible for communicating on behalf of the brand. Provide examples, training, and ongoing reinforcement to ensure the implementation of the brand voice.
7-Consistently Apply the Brand Voice
Utilize your defined brand voice across all communication touchpoints, from marketing materials and customer support to social media and website content. Ensure that your brand voice is consistent and matches your company values and objectives.
8-Listen and Adapt
Last but not least, monitor and assess the effectiveness of your brand voice by gathering feedback from your audience, analyzing engagement metrics, and staying updated on industry trends. Adapt your brand voice as needed to stay relevant and resonate with your target audience.
Remember, defining your brand voice vs. tone is a repeated process, and it may evolve as your brand expand and adapts to market changes. Continuously evaluate and refine your brand voice to ensure it lines up with your brand vision and effectively speaks to your audience.
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