Brand Voice vs Tone... What’s the Difference?
Hey Friends,
Was having a conversation with a coaching client of mine, a social media manager (amongst other jobs) with a niche e-commerce seller, and the question came up we’ve all been faced with before.
“How do I respond to social media comments on our posts that are negative?”
We have to remember that no matter what, our audience is watching and how we respond matters more than we think. If you respond appropriately, a negative comment on your business Facebook page could be the start of a conversation with a customer to learn how best you can serve them.
Having this conversation with my client got me thinking about voice and tone for brands and the opportunity understanding its correct usage could have on all your internal and external communications.
With an almost infinite amount of communication touchpoints, how do we as a brand know how to navigate the channels with the appropriate voice and tone?
First, let’s define voice & tone so we’re all on the same page.
Brand Voice
Voice is the character of the brand. These are the core tenets, the evergreen principles. Perhaps they evolve over time, but slowly; their value is routine and predictable.
This is less how a brand speaks and more how it acts. Ideally, it transcends writing to encompass all expression: written, presented, acted.
We are confident, never cocky.
We are personable, not invasive.
We are fun, not juvenile.
Brand Tone
By contrast, brand tone is the expression of that brand's character to the audience. Tone changes all the time. It must change — that’s how empathy and relevance are surfaced.
Brand tone is based on situational context. The way we present the brand on social media could be different than in a blog post. A podcast ad should sound different than an emergency response press release.
For first-time sales pitch: Upbeat & positive.
For new customer on-boarding: Cheerful & encouraging.
For emergency response: Brief, precise, and careful.
Tone guidelines are hard to define because they’re entirely driven by context. Outlining and defining these different situations your brand more routinely faces will help all communications. With parameters set, you can be more consistent (and consistency builds brands).
Understanding this difference, we are now able to put together 2 strategic frameworks to be included in your brand book or brand guidelines to ensure the brand is at all times indeed ‘staying on brand’.
Tone Guide
Chose no more than 10 characteristics of your brand
Identify the “do” and “do not” usage of this characteristic
Ensure the tone is aligned with the core values and strategic pyramid of the organization
Voice Matrix*
Identify core brand situations in which you usually communicate with your audience
Determine how the brand voice will be utilized in this setting
Determine any variance in messaging to be used
* the trick to the matrix is understanding that this is ever-evolving and should be reviewed and updated quarterly.
That’s it for this week. If you have any questions or need help in either identifying your voice and tone or how to pull it through with everything you do, reach out to me.
I’m all 👂’s
- Steven