What is tone of voice?

Tone of voice is integral to any successful marketing plan. It communicates the personality of the business, helping to shape its relationship with clients. The right tone can evoke an emotive response from customers, building trust and credibility.

In turn, this encourages customers to purchase the products or services on offer. Ultimately, tone of voice is imperative for any business to consider, because it ensures consistency and cohesiveness across communication platforms.

How does a business choose the right tone of voice?

A business needs to be clear and consistent when it comes to brand identity. These are examples of questions that should be asked when choosing a suitable tone of voice:

  1. Can we improve upon our current tone of voice?
    • What does it currently sound like?
    • What are its advantages or shortcomings?
    • How is it helping (or not helping) us reach our marketing targets?
  2. What type of relationship do we wish to cultivate with our clients?
    • Is there any feedback from clients that we can consider?
    • Is our tone of voice making our messaging more or less persuasive to them?
  3. What language will be used in our marketing?
    • Formal or informal?
    • Serious or funny?
  4. Are there certain platforms (e.g. LinkedIn) where our tone of voice is unclear or inconsistent with other channels?
    • Is there a specific platform where we have mastered our tone of voice? How can we replicate this?
    • Should we establish guidelines on tone of voice for all of our employees to follow?
  5. How does our tone of voice compare to other competitors in the market?
    • Is it allowing us to stand out from them or is it hindering our growth?

How can you adapt the tone of voice?

Finally, it is important to note that each business will rely upon a different tone of voice. A financial services firm will have a different communication style to a company working in the leisure industry. Thus, the first might adopt a serious and formal tone of voice, whilst the latter adopts a more informal and relaxed one.

However, this does not mean that tone of voice is static or cannot adapt. In fact, it should also be able to shift in order to match the style of different platforms. This means that a post on LinkedIn will be more formal than a post on Instagram.

That is why tone of voice is such a powerful tool for a marketing strategy; it allows a business to effortlessly communicate with its clients across a range of platforms.

Why is it important for a business to define?

Without a clear tone of voice, a business risks having inconsistent and incohesive communication across channels. This can undermine their reputation, even if the product or services are successful because it comes across as disorganised.

Overall, tone of voice is important for a business to define because it shapes the type of relationship it will have with clients:

  1. The right tone can set the business apart from its competitors, encouraging new clients to purchase their services or products over other businesses.
  2. Over time, a consistent tone of voice builds credibility and trust with clients. This encourages them to remain loyal to the company in the long-term.

Therefore, tone of voice is not only important for attracting new clients, but for building a durable relationship with existing customers too.

Final reflections

Tone of voice is extremely important for a business to define, because it affects how that business will be perceived by prospective and current clients. Thus, a business should be clear on what its tone of voice is, how it will help it communicate core values, and what its impact will be on the relationship with its clients. Once these questions have been answered, it will become easier for a business to create a successful marketing plan.

Would you like some help with your communications or marketing plan?

Get in touch with Momo Media at [email protected] for a free consultation now!