It’s not just what you say but also how you say it — a fundamental element of your content’s design.
Your brand’s voice and tone are not just about the words you use; they are about the personality and emotion your content conveys. It’s this dimensionality that gives your audience a memorable, engaging user experience.
By bringing your brand to life with a unique personality, your voice and tone make your brand relatable and trustworthy to your audience.
Now, the big question — how do you find and establish your brand’s voice and tone?
In this guide, we unwrap it all.
You’ll learn that your brand’s voice and tone hold potential in shaping your brand’s personality, values, and, most importantly, how you connect with your audience.
Let’s dive in.
What is a brand voice?
A brand voice is the unique and consistent personality your brand shows through its communication. It reflects your brand’s character, values, and beliefs, expressed through the words you use in your messages.
In short, it’s how your brand ‘speaks’ and interacts with the world.
A robust brand voice:
- Makes your brand unique and easily identifiable.
- Helps you stand out from the crowd and differentiates you from competitors.
- Resonates with your target audience.
- Builds familiarity, leading to trust and a stronger bond with your audience.
- Cuts through the noise to communicate your brand’s messages and values clearly.
Brand voice examples
Let’s explore some examples of popular brands mastering their voice.
Apple
Apple consistently stands out when the discussion turns to brand personality.
They present their brand as clean, minimalist, and innovative. Their communications emphasize simplicity and user-friendliness, focusing on how their products ‘just work.’
The statement, “If you can dream it, Mac can do it,” perfectly captures Apple’s brand voice. It declares that its products empower individuals to bring their creative dreams to life effortlessly.
Old Spice
Old Spice carries a humorous, confident, and slightly arrogant brand voice, appealing mostly to a younger demographic.
They completely turned their brand image around through their impactful, humorous campaigns.
The ad campaign, “The man your man could smell like,” counts among Old Spice’s most popular campaigns, thanks to its distinctive and memorable voice.
LEGO
LEGO’s brand voice is imaginative, playful, and creative, reflecting the brand’s foundation on building and imagination.
“Only the best is good enough” is one of LEGO’s well-known mantras that defines its brand voice, reflecting its commitment to quality, excellence, and innovation.
By engaging the audience with a mixture of creativity, playfulness, and a pledge of high-standard products, LEGO’s brand voice stands out as a reliable and imaginative brand.
Slack
Slack’s brand voice is conversational, friendly, and smart, mirroring the platform’s reliability and user-friendliness.
It aims to make work communication simpler and more enjoyable, which is reflected in their witty yet clear messaging.
One of Slack’s key taglines is “Where work happens.” This simple statement not only reveals the platform’s core purpose but also aptly exemplifies its conversational and direct brand voice.
Duolingo
Duolingo’s brand voice is playful, expressive, and encouraging.
Its approachable and supportive voice turns the task of language learning into a fun journey rather than a daunting to-do list. This aligns perfectly with its mission of making education free and accessible to everyone.
Duolingo conveys its brand voice through catchphrases such as “Yay! Fun is my specialty!” and motivational comments like “You got this!” peppered throughout its communications.
What is tone or tone of voice?
Brand tone or tone of voice refers to the emotions and feelings that your brand’s messages convey. It communicates the mood and the emotional state behind the message.
Essentially, if brand voice represents the ‘who’ (personality), tone of voice symbolizes the ‘how’ (expression of personality).
While a brand voice stays consistent, representing the brand’s character, the tone can change depending on the situation, audience, or platform.
For example, the tone in a social media post might be more light-hearted and informal, while in a customer support message, it could be more professional and empathetic.
The importance of the tone of voice in communication lies in its ability to add an emotional touch to your brand’s messages. It humanizes your brand, affecting how your audience perceives your brand and influencing their responses accordingly.
The tone of voice examples
Let’s explore how the brands mentioned above use the tone of voice depending on the context.
Apple
Old Spice
LEGO
Slack
Duolingo
How do you develop your brand voice & tone?
Armed with these voice and tone examples, it’s time to embark on the journey of defining your own unique brand voice and tone.
Defining brand voice and tone is a strategic process that requires a good understanding of your brand vision, values, and audience. There can be various obstacles, too. Recognizing these issues early on can help you overcome them methodically.
Follow these steps to build your unique brand voice and tone:
- Personify your brand: Think of your brand as a real person. What personality traits would they hold? Would they be energetic or more laid-back? Extroverted or introverted? The challenge here is to avoid cliches and stereotypes. Think beyond the surface level to uncover deeper, more nuanced aspects of personality.
- Identify your core values: What does your brand represent? If your brand were a person, what would be the guiding principles or values they live by? Use your brand’s core values as the bedrock of your brand voice and tone. You may feel tempted to choose values that seem attractive or trendy, but stick to what genuinely represents your brand.
- Understand your audience: Who are they? What’s their age, gender, social background, interests, etc.? Understanding your audience helps you tailor your brand language to suit their preferences and needs.
- Identify their needs and preferences: What does your audience want? How do they prefer to be spoken to? Your audience’s needs and communication preferences will strongly influence your tone. Consumer feedback, complaint data, and online interactions are rich sources of information on what your audience expects from you.
- Develop your brand’s personality and emotional appeal: Once you know who your brand is and the audience it caters to, it’s time to map out your brand’s behavior in various scenarios. Will it be formal, casual, humorous, sincere? To what extent?
- Establish your tone: Your tone will vary depending on different factors like the communication channel, situation, or audience’s state of mind. Draft guidelines for changing your tone while keeping your brand voice consistent.
- Practice and refine: Use the voice and tone you’ve defined consistently across all communication platforms. Regularly review and refine it to make sure it evolves with your brand and stays relevant to your audience.
How to implement voice & tone in your content strategy?
Once you have your voice and tone defined, it’s time to implement it—in your headlines, website hero text, push notifications, social media updates—everywhere.
Successfully implementing your brand’s voice and tone in your content strategy involves carefully weaving these attributes into every piece of content you create.
Here’s how you can do it:
- Create a style guide: Build a comprehensive brand style guide that includes the specifics of your brand voice and the various tones your brand takes on in different scenarios. This should be shared with all content creators in your team to ensure consistency. Take inspiration from Duolingo’s writing style guide.
- Stay consistent: Whether you’re crafting a blog post, a social media caption, or a customer email, consistency is crucial. Every piece of content should sound like it’s coming from the same brand, affirming your brand’s character and values.
- Know your audience: Tailor your tone according to your target audience’s preferences and the channel you’re using. A business email may require a more professional tone, while a social media post can exhibit a more relaxed, playful tone.
- Consider the context: The situation or context also affects the tone. Casual conversations, product promotions, and customer complaints—all require distinct tones while maintaining consistency in brand voice.
- Review and evolve: No content strategy is static. Regularly review the effectiveness of your brand voice and tone. Update as necessary based on audience feedback, market trends, and your brand’s own evolution.
Wrapping up
Developing a consistent brand voice and tone isn’t just about branding; it is instrumental in crafting a memorable user experience that resonates with your audience.
Your brand’s voice is the persona that people relate to, while the tone provides the much-needed context, making every interaction meaningful and personalized.
Remember, the most successful brands are those whose voice and tone we can recognize without even seeing their logo, and that comes from consistency, understanding your audience, and staying authentic to the brand values.
I hope this guide serves as a starting point. From here, explore, experiment, refine, and witness the transformation it brings to your brand’s communication.
