Dead Ahead: The importance of consistent tone of voice
Social feeds. Blogs. Newsletters. Advertising. As your business grows, there is pressure to generate more and more content to stay on people’s radar. The temptation is to rush something - anything - out, just to get it off the desk and tick the box. Or worse, just to copy the latest trend that is sweeping the socials. These are very dangerous waters.
When you put out messaging that doesn’t match what’s gone before, or isn’t relevant to your brand and its values, you risk alienating your audience. There is a strong direct relationship between communication consistency and brand trust and loyalty.
In fact, 81% of consumers say trust is a deciding factor in their purchase decision. And according to Forbes, loyal customers are worth up to 10 times their initial purchase.
So, your business needs the trust that comes from consistently reflecting the same values, and the same tone of voice. As you plan for growth, it’s worth setting these down in writing, so you can explain clearly to new joiners and to collaborators what you mean by your tone.
Start by laying out your brand’s values: the principles that it lives by, the lines it won’t cross. Then use these values to set down 3-5 adjectives that describe how your brand should speak. If your brand were a person, would they be friendly or formal? Technical, or down to earth? Would they be a friendly neighbour, keen to lend you their tools? An enthusiastic trainer, ready to spur you on to greater things?
It can help to specify what you’re not, too - warm but not schmaltzy, cheery but not cheesy.
Follow it up with some concrete examples of how it might be used. The personality you’re describing should always translate into what your brand actually does - it has to ring true.
Once you’ve got guidelines for how your tone of voice should be used, it will be easier to stay consistent, even allowing for the flex that’s needed across different platforms like Facebook or TikTok. And your audience will feel like you’re still you.
So it really is important to stay on the right course.
