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Home Business How to define your brand’s tone of voice to build a strong brand identity
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How to define your brand’s tone of voice to build a strong brand identity

by Uma Rajagopal
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iStock 1271635505

By Karolina Turowska, Writer and travel enthusiast, PhotoAiD

There’s one thing that is common to all successful brands: strong communication. 

Strong communication has nothing to do with muscles. If you see in your mind a stereotypical gym member who wants to “speak” with you by the power of his fists – throw it away. It’s definitely not this kind of strategy. Strong communication is all about power, but its power comes from words and consistency.

In other words, when a company always speaks the same voice, it’s quickly recognizable for this unique style. Customers know that they can turn to its content whenever they want more entertainment/ information/ inspiration (cross out unnecessary.) Also, communication is what shapes the image of a company outside. When consistent and clear, all customers understand what this company is doing and feel more trust. In this way, through strong communication, a business builds a solid brand identity. Although, all this starts with the brand’s tone of voice.

So, do you want to increase your brand awareness and be more recognizable? It’s about time to establish your brand’s tone of voice. In this post, you’ll learn how to do so with three simple tips.

Define your core business values.

Core business values are the foundation of your company. They guide your actions and decisions, and they shape the way you do business – as well as your Tone of Voice.

Your values should reflect your company’s mission and goals, and they should be something you and your employees can stand behind. When crafted this way, they provide a framework for decision-making and act as the compass for all marketing, PR, and communication efforts.

How to identify your core business values? Consider your vision and mission statements and identify skill assets you have developed so far in your workplace. Then, boil it down to three to five words. They are words that describe your brand.

For example, if your mission is to simplify customers’ lives by developing innovative digital products, your values can be innovation, simplicity, and functionality. 

Once you know your core values, you know what you should communicate to your customers. In this case, all your messages about products should highlight the features that make them functional or simple. In the same vein, when speaking about your company’s upcoming improvements, emphasize the innovations they will bring. 

As you can see, relying on core values when crafting your communications help to keep them clear and consistent. It simplifies communication both for your audience and for your content creators.

But it’s just the first step in building your brand’s Tone of Voice.

Analyze your current brand voice.

Like it or not, your brand has had a Tone of Voice already.

-But I didn’t plan it yet.– you may say.

You are right. But all messages you have spread so far have established your current communication style. It may be pretty messy or unclear, but it exists. So, to build a consistent tone of voice, you must start by identifying how it has looked so far.

 

In other words – analyze your current brand voice in a few steps.

  • Gather the existing content you have already published on social media, blogs, newsletters, and advertisement campaigns. Every copy matters. 
  • Take the most representative samples – the best performing ones – and start to describe them. Would you say they are informative or entertaining? Funny or formal? Note down your thoughts for each kind of content separately.
  • Respond to questions: how do you feel when reading the content? Does it inspire, worry or entertain you? Most probably, your customers feel the same. At the same time, it’s really important to manage emotions which are the heart of communication. (Indeed, ads with the best emotional responses generated a 23% lift in sales volume!)
  • Ask for help. Consult someone besides your brand and ask them to do the same exercises with your content. It’ll ensure you honest and objective feedback. 
  • Compare results and create a list of common points. 

Done? Excellent. After finishing your analysis, you know what your communication looks like now. It’s the ideal place to begin improving.

Get inspired by successful brands.

So, what tone of voice would you like for your brand?

*crickets*

It’s impossible to come up with ideas when you don’t know the possibilities you have. The cure? Get inspired by others. In other words, repeat the same exercise as above but based on the content of your competitors and successful brands you admire for their style.

What do they do great? Where do they fail? How do you feel while reading their content?

What would you like to implement in your brand?

Tone-of-voice inspirations will help you shape your visions.

To spark your research, here’s a list of some amazing brands’ voice-of-tone examples:

Starbucks

Starbucks’ brand voice is evocative, direct, and joyful – and its strategy is well-designed. They know how to distinguish between expressive and functional tones of voice in various content, but at the same time, they keep their communication consistent. 

Here you can check the complete Starbucks brand voice guidelines. 

Dove

We all know what Dove is famous for: enhancing self-esteem. Their tone of voice is empowering, uplifting, and supportive, perfectly fitting the content about positive body image. Dove’s visual and verbal language immediately conveys all of the brand’s values to customers.

Patagonia

A truly mission-minded company? Of course, Patagonia. Patagonia’s tone of voice can be described as conversational, respectful, and caring. It doesn’t neglect to swear, making its content even more emotional and natural. Its messages are honest, brave, and always in line with its values, ensuring loyal customers. 

Final thoughts

Here are my final thoughts – but it’s not the end. It’s just the beginning of your journey if you decide to develop a firm tone of voice for your brand. It’s like with any brand’s improvement: once you establish it, you’ll always have to keep an eye on your voice and improve it on the go. As the world changes, so will adapt your copies to customers’ expectations.

 

The good news is it pays off. At some point, your business success depends on solid communication.

 

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