Part 1: Voice & Tone in Business Content
Brand voice and tone simply refer to the WAY you communicate.
Huge emphasis on “way,” because it’s not just the words you use. It’s not a list of brand rules. It’s more… emotional… than that.
Brand voice is the personality behind your communication. It’s the recognizable way your business sounds.
Brand tone is how that voice changes depending on the situation.
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The easiest way to explain voice is through three very different brands that essentially offer the same type of product: media entertainment.
1. Disney Channel
2. Comedy Central
3. Hallmark Channel
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What is brand voice?
It’s a personality thing.
When you think of Disney Channel, you might think kid-friendly, uplifting and lighthearted. There are certainly vocabulary patterns associated with the larger Disney brand (“magical” being the obvious one). But if someone asks what you think of Disney Channel, you probably don’t start listing the words they use.
What you really end up doing is describing how they make you feel. That's brand voice at work.
For example, you generally know when something “sounds” like Disney vs. Comedy Central.
Comedy Central creates a completely different feeling in their content marketing. Funny, quirky, sarcastic, sometimes crude and very much intended for adults. Its content often gives you an intuitive sense that you shouldn't take everything being said completely seriously.
And then there’s Hallmark Channel.
Heartfelt. Dramatic. Earnest. Life is full of turbulence, people have feelings about it, and there's a pretty good chance things will work themselves out by the end (or maybe not, could be a tragedy).
These three examples fall in the same broad product category; most of us don’t simply think of them as a product, we think of them as personas. In this case, three completely different personalities.
☝️That’s voice.
What is brand tone?
It’s a circumstantial thing.
Brand tone is what happens when each of those brands has to communicate in different circumstances.
When Disney reports an earnings drop or layoffs, you don’t feel like this turbulent news “must be” about Hallmark.
If Comedy Central writes about the passing of a team member you don’t think, “must be” from Hallmark.
If Hallmark posts a funny exchange between cast members, you don’t think “must be” from Comedy Central.
A warm, approachable business can still send an overdue invoice. A lighthearted brand can still communicate something serious. A sophisticated brand can still make a joke.
Circumstances change. But your underlying personality? That should never disappear from your content.
Why voice and tone matter in business content
Defining your brand voice and identifying the right brand tone for your business content isn’t just about branding, it also shapes the customer experience.
How do you want people to feel when they interact with you? What do you want them to expect from you? How should your communication feel when things are going well… and when they're not?
And perhaps most importantly - when you need something from your customer, client, colleague or business partner - will the way you communicate feel consistent with what they already know about you and make it easier for them to act? The way you communicate influences the response you get.
All this to say:
Defining your brand voice and learning how to adjust brand your tone isn't just a branding exercise. It's part of how you do business.
Stay tuned for Part 2 where I’ll share some tips on how you can define and actually apply your brand’s voice and tone to your own content, including a helpful AI prompt to get you started!
Reach out anytime if you or your business could use help defining your voice, refining your messaging or applying it consistently across your content.