Getting the tone right for your business is essential. Your brand’s tone reflects what to expect when customers buy from your company or clients use your services. Whether you’re a small one-man band, or a company with over 100 employees, consistency with your tone is necessary for success online. Getting the tone right can make your content much more readable and appealable to the correct audience. 

It’s not too hard to find your tone; let’s explore the five ways to strike yours right. 

Showcase Your Personality Through Content 

Your brand and the personality behind it are unique, so why not showcase this? 

Interestingly using your personality can help reach the correct target audience. For example, if you work in accountancy, you may wish to convey a profound, matter-of-fact tone with your content. After all, the industry is set by rules, and you are responsible for handling people’s finances, a job requiring strictness. However, if your target audience and usual customers are small independent businesses, co-operatives, and the self-employed, a more relaxed tone may be used for an approachable feel to your business. 

Alternatively, children may be your ideal audience, but the primary source of engagement will be their parents, so striking a tone which appeals to them whilst still being child-focused is key. However, your manner may be slightly more playful if you run a children’s play centre. It will mostly use light-hearted puns and everyday slang, even made-up words.

Essentially, your tone needs to be set depending on your target audience. Consider who you want to attract to your business and how best to direct them. Imagine having a conversation with them face to face and use that conversation as a base for the tone and personality of your business. 

Consistency Is Key for Your Tone 

Once you have decided on the perfect tone for your business, keeping it consistent is vital to keep readers interested and engaged. 

A variation in the overall presentation of the characteristics of your delivery is highly likely to disengage with readers and cause them to lose confidence in the stability of the establishment. 

See what we did there? Basically, if you change your voice, it may put off potential customers as you are blowing hot and cold, and instability equals untrustworthy. Whether blog-writing, posting on your socials or drafting a newsletter, keep everything within the same tone of voice. This will keep you recognisable and keep your company’s followers interested in what you’re up to. 

Which Socials Do You Use Most?

Although you could utilise all the social media platforms to promote your business, the one that your customers use regularly is the one you may consider matching your tone of voice to. Each platform is used for different reasons by various audiences, so finding where your target audience is can be key to promoting your business and styling your tone of voice. 

• Twitter – Worldwide, more men use Twitter than women, and the highest percentage of ages who use Twitter is between 25-34. So, if your audience is within this category, Twitter is a great platform. However, you are restricted to characters, so if your company can condense its information into short snappy sentences, this may help define your tone. 
• Facebook – Facebook is used by more women than men and mostly sits within the 30-49 age bracket. Facebook allows for more characters than Twitter, but avoid using very long paragraphs as it will cause quick disengagement. Instead, grab the attention with links to your other platforms where long-form content can be consumed in the readers’ own time. 
• LinkedIn – This platform should be used for B2B posts and information. Individuals using these websites usually look for network opportunities and somewhere to find a service. If this sounds familiar, then LinkedIn will help propel you. The tone on this platform varies, from tongue-in-cheek to keeping things professional. Returning to the above point, consider who you are trying to reach. 

Essentially if you are predominantly using a particular platform, consider the users and match a tone of voice which will appeal to them. 

Use a Stand-Out Kind of Tone

Although your audience will be the same as your competitors, this shouldn’t mean your tone of voice is. Embrace what makes you different and use this as part of your tone. Researching how your competitors approach their target audience could help you define yours and create a distinctive platform and marketing strategy. The best example of this, which has taken the internet by storm, is the rivalry between M&S and Aldi. 

Their internet “beef” began when M&S sued Aldi for the rights to their caterpillar cake. Aldi took to Twitter to make light of the situation, and the one-sided Twitter war became viral. However, M&S decided not to engage in the joke and kept within the tone of their brand, approachable but classy. This is an excellent example of popularity due to choosing the correct tone of voice. Aldi’s entire marketing is based on daft stunts and public engagement, whereas M&S prefers to maintain a well-respected, tasteful tone. However, if you haven’t followed Aldi’s Twitter account, you’re missing out on some great content. 

Be Real to Yourself

If tongue-in-cheek is not your personality and one you struggle to promote, don’t force it with your business. A forced tone of voice can feel very off through content, and it is clear that it doesn’t represent who you truly are. Authenticity is what will make your tone of voice appear much more natural. 

The same goes for copying content and tone from similar businesses. No one likes a copycat, and if your content is very similar to another business in the field, you may find it difficult to find a natural rhythm. So, remember, it is always best to stick with what you feel most comfortable with, and the tone will flow naturally. The more authentic it is, the easier it will be to keep within your brand’s tone of voice. 

If you are struggling with any aspects of your digital marketing, feel free to contact us, and we will ensure that we get you started. And whatever questions you have about social media, let us know, and we can help.