An
introduction to tone of voice
Some useful
expressions
Tone of voice –
How your business speaks – the expression of your values and identity through spoken
and written language. Shortened to TOV.
Conversational –
This is used to describe a personal TOV that speaks to your audience in an
informal, genuine and friendly way, which is especially important on social
media.
Feed –
A list of content relevant to an individual user, that is curated for them by
each social platform. It’s often created by gathering a recent selection of
social posts from within that platform. Each platform gives it a different
name. On Facebook, it is called News Feed.
TOV Guideline Document –
A definitive description of what your business’s TOV actually is, and how it
should be used. It’s designed to be shared with your employees so all
communications from your business are consistent.
Why is tone of voice
important?
A unique TOV helps
differentiate you from your competitors. It gives your business a distinct
identity, and helps build an emotional connection with your audience. Get it
right and they’ll feel like they’re developing a one-to-one relationship with a
person rather than a business.
Your TOV also lets people
know what sort of business you are and what they can expect from you. For
example, a bank will often speak with a factual, authoritative and reassuring
tone to let you know they are experts you can trust with your money:
“Our secure saver accounts offer steady
returns year-on-year.”
On the other hand, a
clothes store might take a lighter, more personal and conversational tone to
show that they’re a fun, friendly place to shop:
“It’s time to get dressed for summer –
and we’ve got the latest looks!”
Top tip: Think about how
you speak to your customers through your traditional marketing. You should
mirror this through your social media marketing to create a consistent voice
across all customer interactions. But remember, social media is an opportunity
to really develop a relationship with your audience. Your social media TOV can
be slightly more friendly, and conversational, than other contact points.
Be conversational
Social media is
conversational by nature. People don’t want long, dull corporate messages
filling their feeds – they want engaging, entertaining, informative content
from everyone they follow, including businesses. So be professional, but
include personality. Be friendly. Invite responses. Stay relevant and be
interested in what your audience are into.
A good way to start your
thinking is to recall times you’ve delivered great customer service, or had a
really fulfilling chat with a customer. What did you do to make that a special,
or fun, experience for them? Take this style of verbal conversation and apply
it to your written communication.
Top tip: Remember that
social media is an opportunity for a casual and fun two-way conversation with
your audience. Try and avoid sounding overly formal.
Create a TOV
guideline document
It’s time for you to start
creating your TOV. Think about what your business does, and the personality
that best represents it and you. Start by writing down your business’s values
and personality and then think more about what these characteristics actually
mean.
Thinking of opposites can
help here. For example:
Witty NOT Slapstick
Friendly NOT Stand-offish
Human NOT Corporate
Friendly NOT Stand-offish
Human NOT Corporate
These are the most
important elements of your personality to convey when writing social media
content.
Once you have those written
down, start to think about how you can convey these characteristic’s through
your TOV – how can you apply this insight to your business’s personality on
social media? Equally, what should you avoid doing?
We have some examples to
illustrate this below:
Characteristic (value): Enthusiastic
Description: We’re enthusiastic and passionate about our products, and our customers enjoying them
Do: Show your thought leadership and what makes your product unique. Champion your products, and see yourself as a cheerleader for your industry.
Avoid: Being too formal, or not conveying enough excitement about your product
Description: We’re enthusiastic and passionate about our products, and our customers enjoying them
Do: Show your thought leadership and what makes your product unique. Champion your products, and see yourself as a cheerleader for your industry.
Avoid: Being too formal, or not conveying enough excitement about your product
Characteristic (value): Knowledgeable
Description: We pride ourselves on knowing a lot about our industry, and what we offer
Do: Convey your authority on your subject through your TOV. Be honest and direct. Use clear language to simply explain your offering to your audience.
Avoid: Using overly complicated language – even though you understand it and it’s relevant to your product, it will alienate your audience
Description: We pride ourselves on knowing a lot about our industry, and what we offer
Do: Convey your authority on your subject through your TOV. Be honest and direct. Use clear language to simply explain your offering to your audience.
Avoid: Using overly complicated language – even though you understand it and it’s relevant to your product, it will alienate your audience
Characteristic (value): Fun
Description: For us, business is not “all work and no play”. Enjoyment plays a very big role.
Do: Add elements of fun and entertainment to your visual identity and how you showcase your products.
Avoid: Being too serious, but also, going too far and coming across as slapstick or unprofessional
Description: For us, business is not “all work and no play”. Enjoyment plays a very big role.
Do: Add elements of fun and entertainment to your visual identity and how you showcase your products.
Avoid: Being too serious, but also, going too far and coming across as slapstick or unprofessional
Top tip: Try and create a
short and focused list of a few key characteristics – this will make it easier
to apply these insights to your business’s social media content.
Consistency is the
key
Shifts in TOV can be
incredibly confusing for your audience. Once you’ve defined your voice, use it
consistently in all of your communications. People need to know what they’re
getting from every interaction with you – it’s reassuring and lets them know
you’re a reliable business.
However, while your TOV
needs to be consistent, it also needs to be adaptable in certain situations.
For example, you might be a fun, chatty brand. But while you might post
something humorous to engage people on social media, you wouldn’t respond to a
customer complaint with a joke.
Let's recap
- Your TOV is a key element of
your business’s identity, and will help you stand out from your
competitors
- Your TOV should be unique to
your business – it’s how you interact with your audience
- Be consistent, but give
yourself room to adapt your TOV depending on the situation
- Create a TOV Guideline Document
to share with other employees
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