Have you ever talked to someone who had the wrong tone of voice for the words they spoke? They might be saying they are ‘okay,’ but their voice tone and body language give the impression that they are not okay.
In verbal communication, this is a very common thing. How we say something changes the meaning of what we say.
When it comes to the way you write your blogs and website content, there are a lot of voice tone mistakes that can cause a disconnect with your readers.
What is Voice Tone in Content Writing?
Just like with spoken words, your writing voice, and tone matter.
The right voice tone in your written content will help to humanize your brand and naturally build trust with your audience.
Think of it this way: in your verbal conversations, you have the same speaking voice, but your tone changes.
You might use one tone when you’re out to dinner with your closest friends, and a different tone when you’re in a meeting with your boss. If you’re excited, you sound different than if you’re trying to be sincere.
Your writing has these different tones as well, and you have to be aware of whether you are using them effectively.
How to Find The Voice Tone for Your Brand
Most businesses start boring and generic. Most of the time, they will copy the general voice tone of their competitors. While this can be a good starting point, but it won’t help you stand out in your market and industry.
To customize your business’s voice tone, ask yourself:
‘What is the general feeling of my brand?’
Every brand has a feeling to it, and it largely depends on the marketing team to shape and hone that feeling into a specific, consistent voice.
Here are some typical voice tone types that can help set the vibe of your business.
Personal
Humble
Clinical
Elitest
Honest
Direct
Scientific
Technical
Start with one particular voice type, and from there, you can add to it over time.
Next, you can begin to add in some extra elements:
- Are you more formal or casual?
- Do you use complicated words?
- Do you use slang?
- Do you use emoticons in your social media, blogs, and emails?
- Do you have your terms or acronyms that are used by your audience?
- How do you use punctuation?
- How do you use humor?
Three C’s That Help with Written Voice Tone
To help you refine the voice tone in your content writing, either for your blog, social media posts, or website landing pages, here are three tips that can help.
And conveniently, they all begin with the letter C:
1) Culture
What does your company stand for? Or stand against? What makes you different from all the other businesses who are after the same audience? The unique qualities of your people and your mission make your culture special, and these should become a pillar of developing your voice.
2) Community
Listening to your customers can reveal how your community speaks. It can also help you talk to them more naturally. You can use their specific language and meet them on their terms.
3) Conversation
Personality and authenticity are vital to growing your voice tone. What do you want to add to the conversation? As you think about what you can offer your customers, you’ll start to see a better picture of where your voice might fit.
Using a Voice Tone Style Guide
Once you have a rough idea of the kind of voice tone you want in your written content, it’s a good idea to make it into a style guide.
A style guide is simply a list of Do’s and Don’ts that your writing team uses when writing anything on behalf of the brand.
An excellent example of a great style guide is Mailchimp. Here are a few basic elements of Mailchimp’s writing voice and style guide.
- Use the active voice. Avoid passive voice.
- Avoid slang and jargon. Write in plain English.
- Use positive language rather than negative language.
As you can see, this style guide still leaves a lot of room for creative freedom but gives a few ground rules. As time goes on, you can keep refining your style guide, but the earlier you create it, the better you will tighten down your written voice tone.
Writing Tone Develops Over Time
Remember that your written voice tone will continue to evolve. Just like a band will find it’s own sound as it performs more, your business will be the same in your written content marketing.
You can’t expect to have the perfect tone immediately. You will likely start off copying others, and slowly develop your own.
The key to success is simple: Keep writing, and keep experimenting.
Try new ideas and see how they resonate with your audience.
As the legendary copywriter John Caples once said, ‘Try something new, and keep what works.’