.arketing communication is not a joyful creation. Brands that want to win the hearts of customers must speak with a consistent voice that is attuned to the sensitivity of their target group. We explain what tone of voice is and how to create it.

What exactly is tone of voice?

In short, tone of voice is simply the brand’s communication style. However, in the case of brands, the issue of style is more complex than in the telegram blast case of people. The playing style of a footballer, the creative style of an artist, or the style of a “TV personality” are usually the result of natural predispositions filtered through experience.

A brand is not born and does not mature with a tone of voice by itself.

It must be created, implemented, and then consistently applied. More precisely, this must be done by people associated with the brand. This is not easy, because each of us has our own communication style. When building a brand style, you have to (although not always) hang up your own style to achieve a coherent effect in teamwork.

Importantly, the brand’s communication how well you meet user needs style may – and to some extent even must – differ slightly depending on the channel (as discussed below). However, it should not deviate too far from the key assumptions of ToV.

What constitutes a brand’s tone of voice?

Tone of voice is the way a brand expresses its personality in interaction with its audience. It includes both the content and form of verbal communication, and to some extent non-verbal communication. Tone of voice includes:

choice of words and style of language

– e.g. expert, colloquial, humorous,
the brand’s relationship with the customer – e.g. partnership, mentoring, friendship,
the spectrum of emotions created – e.g. joy, excitement, desire for security,
coherence of the message – this is a “meta-component” that combines the remaining elements into a coherent whole.

The above list can be nuanced

For example by expanding it to include cell p data values, types of published content, length of messages, use of graphic symbols such as emoticons, etc. In each case, however, it is about consistent principles of using language. In fact, every person with average cultural competence understands this intuitively: we speak differently to a friend. Differently to a client, differently to an older person, differently to a younger person, etc. – adapting the communication style to the specifics of the recipient, and sometimes also to the circumstances.