Just as it happens in face-to-face communication between people, the tone of voice adopted can radically change the meaning of words. To give a concrete example, the phrase “Everything will be fine”, which became the motto of spring 2020, took on many different shades of meaning depending on the context in which it was used. It expressed worry, confidence, anger, doubt, irony… and all thanks to the tone of voice used. So we have quickly clarified what it is about, and you can sense how important it is for your company to work on this topic.
The voice of your brand
All company communication has a tone of voice, whether we like it or not. You can rely on the inspiration of the moment or work on a targeted content marketing strategy: but choosing the right tone, making it clear and understandable, and applying it to all company communication channels (print, email, social media, online site…) will ensure better results and consistency across the messages you produce.
An effective TOV will be aligned with the company vision and will adapt to the buyer persona of your communication: more or less professional and formal, depending on your audience. It will be part of the essential tools for working on the brand, helping to give a consistent and precise image of your company.
Define your tone of voice
SWOT Analysis: who you are and how you present yourself
Understanding the image and the communication approach to adopt for your company is essential to defining the tone of voice. One of the most useful tools for working on branding is SWOT analysis: this acronym refers to four English words. Strengths are the strong points, the main activities and products of the company that have defined its success over the years. On the contrary, Weakness are the weak points, those activities that still need to be refined, or certain phases or steps in the company history that did not turn out to be winning ones. They are therefore topics to be handled with care but also with great clarity. Opportunities means looking ahead to future prospects, to the medium and long-term projects that represent the path to take. Threats are the threats to the solidity of the company, understood both as market elements and as non-economic factors but with wide-ranging consequences. You will thus have understood how the company presents itself to the outside world and how you can decide to represent it.
The specific variables
The tone of voice is defined around a series of scales, and each sender can decide how much to emphasise one value compared to the others. Jakob Nielsen created a concise but useful definition of the four dimensions around which a communication style is structured. Here they are:
1. Funny/Serious
A company can choose to use witty tones and themes, also taking into account its sector of activity and its products. Of course, humour is a winning choice if you know how to modulate and manage it with accuracy and timing.
2. Formal/Informal
This specific factor is heavily affected by the company history and its management. Moreover, if the company is foreign, you will also have to take into account an approach that is probably different depending on the country.
3. Respectful/Irreverent
In this dimension, your positioning relative to the competition comes particularly into play. You can decide on an irreverent approach, both towards competitors and towards the audience. But you will have to be prepared for countermoves in case of annoyed reactions.
4. Enthusiasm/Reality
Do you want to work on engagement and emphasis? It is a winning approach, especially when your audience is young and trendy.
The guidelines for producing communications in line with the chosen TOV
For you and all your colleagues who produce communication material or write company emails and informative newsletters, it will be extremely useful to propose a sort of briefing, which will serve as a reference manual. Here are some points to include:
- Keep your audience in mind: create a profile of your audience, so you will have a clear picture of its needs.
- Consider what this text will be used for: sales, informative, support? Think about who will read it and when they will read it, as well as how much time they will be able to devote to it.
- Define the company voice: who is speaking and in what role. Provide enough background information to help the user understand how authoritative the person addressing them is.
- What is the point of view of the company voice: decide its attitude towards the reader, the product, the market and the competition.
- Language: consistently with all the aspects defined so far, decide on the language to adopt. Its placement between informal and formal, for example. Also, define the vocabulary to use (refined, popular…).
- Text structure: is it a text that goes from the general to the particular, or one that – in journalistic style – introduces the key points and then goes into detail? Do you want to include lists or questions?
- Include examples of communication to use.
- Specific terminology: the production department, marketing and management may have already made decisions about “official” terms and definitions, to be used in every communication or perhaps to be avoided. Find out about this.
- Links to relevant sources: for example to graphic sources, style guides, sector texts.
Inform your colleagues about the usefulness of this approach and organise briefing and follow-up meetings, to review and define the coordinates of your company communication.
Let’s get to know each other.
Let’s develop your company Tone of voice.
Write to us for information or to set up a video call to talk it over.
You will find the full journey, from the guided interview to the brand voice document, in Brand voice.
