by Rebeca Moss
I’m going to tell you a secret.
Lean in.
A little closer.
No that’s too close.
OK, ready?
…
Creating a brand tone of voice isn’t something only professional copywriters can do.
In this blog, I’m explaining the first step in my brand tone of voice (TOV) process.
If you get to the end and think a DIY approach will take too long, or you need a bit of guidance, you can contact me for TOV support.
Brand tone of voice: Create a character
When I’m working on a brand’s tone of voice guidelines, I like to think of the company I’m creating it for as a character.
If you’re at all familiar with any online fan fiction communities (and I am 100% definitely not), then you might know that some people get really heated when the characterisation is not canon.
That means when the fanfic version of the character acts or speaks in a way that’s totally different to the original material.*
“She would never say that!” is a common complaint (or at least that’s what I’ve heard. At a bar. Full of cool people).
I like to think of brands in the same way. A company’s brand should feel like one person with one voice. It has a distinctive personality and a distinctive way of speaking.
Brand tone of voice: Stay consistent (or risk irking your audience)
If you’re following any branding experts on LinkedIn, you’ll know that the one thing they preach above all else is consistency.
When you think of a company as a character, that need for consistency makes total sense.
Hermione would never tell Ron: “Listen babes, love that you’re jealous of me and Viktor, but the way you’re acting right now is giving straight-up gaslighting and I’m not here for it.”
Likewise, it would be pretty jarring if Monzo Bank started writing things like: “Use our arranged overdraft cost calculator to help you work out how much your anticipated arranged overdraft borrowing will cost over different periods of time.”
Why? Because that’s a bit of copy from the Lloyds Bank website. But also because we’re used to Monzo’s down-to-earth, upbeat and friendly tone of voice.
To avoid saying anything out of character (and freaking out your customers in the process), it’s worth imagining your brand as a thinking, feeling person.
Brand tone of voice: Try it yourself
If your brand was a person, what kind of traits would it have? Would it be brave? Outspoken? Cheeky? Or maybe it would be quieter and more reflective.
Once you’ve built out your brand’s character, understanding how it would talk is fairly intuitive. You’ll have a much better sense of how it would introduce itself, how it would speak to its customers and how it would react when things go wrong.
Next steps
Have you tried this technique? Or if not, would you give it go? If you’d like help with your brand tone of voice, get in touch.
*Unless it’s OOC. Which means it’s deliberately out of character. I assume. I mean, how would I know because I’ve never read any fanfiction?