What’s a TOV (Tone of Voice)?
If you’ve been in marketing or advertising in some capacity you’ll be familiar with the term ‘TOV’. You’ve seen it in pitch decks and heard the creatives (especially the ‘word nerds’) throw it around like a football.
However, if you’re a small or medium size business and done all your own marketing without the help of someone with experience then this might be something new for you.
A lightning fast Google search will tell you a brand’s TOV is how you express your brand’s identity (and values) through all forms of communication both internally and externally.
To put it simply, it’s how you communicate to your audience (internal or external) consistently across all channels. Whether it’s via your social feed, company blog, website, or in customer EDMs, your tone of voice will essentially become your brand’s persona.
Do you need a TOV?
Absolutely!
No matter the size of your business or the industry, if you’re producing any kind of content you’ll need to create a TOV.
So, if you’re a one-person operation that wants to give your brand/business a distinct ‘voice’ to differentiate yourself from your competitors, here are some things you’ll need to consider when going about creating your tone of voice.
1.Know the difference between ‘voice’ and ‘tone’.
Your ‘voice’ is the distinctive personality of your writing. It’s what makes your brand unique and recognisable from the perspective of the written word, and shows your character.
Your ‘tone’ changes to reflect the mood of your writing. For example, you may take a more sombre approach to advising your customers of a price increase. Or you could be a little more excited when telling them of a new product you’ve added to your inventory.
2. Research some good examples of tone of voice.
When trying to determine what direction you want to take your tone of voice it’s always good to take a look at some brands who are doing it well.
Here are some brands that I believe have nailed their tone of voice:
Rollin’ Car Insurance
I could’ve added Apple to the short list above, but let’s be honest, they differentiated themselves ages ago with their ‘Think Different’ campaign, and have set the tone ever since.
If you’re looking to disrupt your industry and throw down a challenge to the leaders, then definitely look at their journey.
Also, drop me a line. We could have some fun taking on the big companies.
3. Identify the main traits of your brand.
If you’ve done an exercise like this in the past then you may be able to dig out your old notes and use them as a starting point. However, doing it again won’t hurt either.
Here are some quick points to consider:
- Is your brand/business formal or informal? Witty and sarcastic? Fun and light-hearted?
- What are your values? What does your brand/business stand for?
- What makes you different from your competitors? (Here’s a hint, it’s not your price)
4. Look at your own personality.
And no, we’re not talking about swearing.
If you’re a small or medium business that’s been getting clients without too much reliance on marketing or advertising, then you’ll have something to draw on; your own personality.
Take a moment to consider how you interact with clients, internally and externally, and the kind of emails or SMS you send them. You’ll be surprised to find out that you may already have a tone of voice that’s perfect for your business.
5. Pay attention to what your customers are saying.
More importantly, how they are saying it.
While a tone of voice is designed to give your brand or business an identity or persona your customers can connect with, the language your customers use can be adapted to help influence how they relate and react to your brand.
Take gamers for instance. They have their own language and ways of communicating with each other. Brands such as Fortnite use this language to help create engaging content for their audience, that helps them buy-in to the whole experience.
What next?
Now that you have some thought starters, or have a great direction for where you want to take your brand’s tone of voice, what do you do next?
Creating your tone of voice guidelines.
Now it’s time to get down to work and document your findings. Spend some time thinking about the above questions and flesh them out even more.
How you document your tone of voice is completely up to you. You can create a 157 slide PowerPoint presentation deck that’ll drag your internet back to dial-up speeds when you try to upload it to the cloud.
Or you could write it on the back of a soiled napkin from lunch.
No matter the format, the important part is that it becomes an integral part of all communications crafted under your brand.
Below are some sections you may want to include in your guidelines:
- Do’s and Don’ts – Create a list of things you say and things you don’t say as a brand.
- Use examples – show, don’t tell. This is the best way to show your team (and remind yourself) how to write for your brand. Take examples for your website, social channels, EDMs, etc…and put them in your tone of voice guidelines.
- Vocabulary – do you have terminology that’s exclusive to your brand? Is there a certain term you use for your customers or products? Create a glossary that can be easily accessed to help your team when crafting comms.
- Tones – think of situations where your tone may need to vary. This could be service interruptions, delays in shipping, price increases, and even Happy Birthday messages. Again, provide examples for your team to follow.
- Style guides – we’re not talking about fonts or graphical elements, we’re talking about punctuation and capitalisation. Do you use American or British English? Provide as many examples as you can to ensure consistency across all your comms.
The sales pitch.
Let’s be honest, you knew this part was coming.
If you’re a small operation that’s doing its best to keep the business running, then I hope I’ve given you enough information to get the ball rolling on growing your brand and tailoring your tone of voice.
However, if you feel you could use a little help getting your tone of voice nailed then drop me a line.
I’ve been working in marketing and advertising for over ten years and worked across a wide variety of customers spanning many different industries from manufacturing and pet food to automotive and cyber security.
Visit the Contact Me page and let’s get the ball rolling!