Creating the right tone of voice for your brand

In conversation with Gabriella Devoy

Gabriella is a content writer, helping independent brands tell their stories through succinct copy and engaging content, with experience across lifestyle, interior and jewellery e-commerce businesses. Having produced copy for websites, email marketing campaigns, press releases and socials, these are her top tips for finding and honing your brand tone of voice.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Understand who your target customers are; their demographics, interests, and preferences, and tailor your tone of voice to resonate with them. To target a younger audience for example, you might want to soften your tone and use less formal language. If you want to reach a consciously-minded audience with a sustainable product, use informational language, using relevant key words to boost your SEO, for example 'sustainable', 'ethical', 'eco', 'recycled', 'organic' and 'conscious'. Adapting your tone to suit your audience will help them to feel understood.

DEFINE YOUR BRAND PERSONALITY

Determine the characteristics and traits that define your brand whilst considering those brands you wish to align with, and those that you want to set yourself apart from. Whether it be friendly and conversational or professional and authoritative, it's essential that your brand message and personality is clear from the get-go. Consider other aspects of your brand identity here to ensure they speak to one another - your brand colours, website design, social presence and core values and brand principles.

BE CONSISTENT

Consistency is essential for building brand recognition and for carving out your space in a crowded market. Ensure that your tone of voice remains consistent and cohesive across all touchpoints, including your website, social media, email communications, and marketing materials. This will help you to build a strong brand identity and will build trust amongst customers.

CRAFT YOUR BRAND VOICE GUIDELINES

To ensure this consistency, develop guidelines that outline your brand voice, including adjectives that describe it, examples of how to communicate, and tone do's and don'ts. This will ensure unity across all communication channels and will save you a tonne of time in briefing when you come to welcome new team members.

ADAPT TO YOUR PLATFORM

Within your brand guidelines, it's also important to consider the context in which you're communicating and adjust your language accordingly. For example, your language might be more casual and chatty on social media (particularly in an age where social audiences favour authentic content that speaks to them directly), more formal in customer service emails and more succinct across your website.