THE IMPORTANCE TO FINDING YOUR VOICE AND TONE IN THE DIGITAL SPACE

"If you’re not using the right tone, chances are you won’t be attracting the right kind of customer, or in a worst-case scenario, any customers."

AUTHOR: Tessa Grimes

Within the communications and marketing space, the words ‘voice’ and ‘tone’ get thrown around a lot and the two are often confused. While it’s true, they exist in the same realm as each other, they’re two quite different, yet equally important, concepts that are crucial to get right within your digital communications.

Firstly, it’s important to define what they both mean:

Your brand VOICE is its overarching personality that it presents to the world. It can often be compared to your brand character and who you are at core of your business.

So, if your voice is brand personality, your TONE is how your voice is portrayed within different circumstances.

Essentially, your voice is consistent but your tone changes.

While your voice can be tricky to find at first, once you have it, it stays the same – that’s the easy part.  It’s recognising when and where to adapt the tone of your voice that can be harder to define.

Your tone changes depending on the platform you’re using and the target demographic you’re appealing to – LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram require very different tones – or if you’re dealing with a satisfied customer or one that might not be.

LinkedIn is predominately for professional networking and needs to have a more serious tone. Facebook can be more conversational and is often utilised to make more of an emotional connection. Instagram is the most relaxed of the three tones and relies heavily on good imagery to sell a brand or product.

So why is it so important to nail these concepts?

If you’re not using the right tone, chances are you won’t be attracting the right kind of customer, or in a worst-case scenario, any customers.

I think about some of the brands I follow on social media like Go-To Skin Care or Ecosa and how their online presence has impacted me and my perception of their brand.

I have purchased from both of those businesses purely based on their online presence. Yep – I had not sampled or personally seen products. I spent good money on them solely on how they presented as a business and the voice and tone they used in their marketing, imagery and when communicating with customers. Even my mattress!

While I didn’t see these products in person, the voice and tone these brands presented to me online built my trust and ultimately won my wallet.

Modern consumers are smarter, more savvy, and are more conscious about where their stuff comes from. While the allure of big retailers and the convenience and cost-effectiveness of fast fashion is still there, almost two-thirds of Aussies are opting to buy local and support small business[1] – so you need to harness what sets apart your small business from the rest and let that guide the voice for your brand.

With online business becoming the new normal, you can’t rely on your physical products to do the talking for you. You have to win customers over through their hearts and minds with an emotional connection – people aren’t buying products anymore; they’re buying your brand. And with nearly every market becoming oversaturated, your voice and your tone need to be at the core of your communications strategy.

So, while yes, it is great to have great products, if you can’t tell their story right then you may as well not tell it at all.

[1] https://www.miragenews.com/australians-buying-local-online/