How can you balance formal and informal language in your brand voice?

The brand voice might the strongest expression of a brands identity and positioning. How a brand looks and the associations an individual has with visual elements is up to interpretation. More then the way and tone a brand addresses consumer at least. Therefore, balancing formal and informal language is not even a question. Building your brand requires relentless consistency. Especially when it comes to brand voice. When determining your brand “How we sound” make sure to formulate wisely. And when in doubt, balance towards the formal versus the informal to make sure you a more safe then sorry. But most importantly, whatever route you choose, stick to that in all possible touchpoints.

My tip? Don’t do it. Decide the relationship your customer has with your brand (a formal one, like a bank, or an informal one, like a supermarket) and stick with it. In German, grammar determines register. IKEA in Germany made a deliberate decision to duzen everything (i.e. use the informal “du” for “you”). (Famous tagline: “Wohnst du noch oder lebst du schon?”). Uptight German jobseekers often wonder if they should use “du” in cover letters to Ikea, and yes, according to IKEA, they should. Such employer branding makes the master brand more meaningful. In daily life, you don’t have a chummy, informal relationship with someone one minute, and a formal, distant relationship the next. That would be flaky and untrustworthy. Stay consistent.

Balancing formal and casual language in your brand voice is analogous to deciding how to communicate with different individuals in your life. When speaking to teachers or at work, use formal language converse with friends and relatives in informal language. It's the same with your brand: use the proper phrases depending on who you're talking to and the situation. It's all about being respectful and friendly, just as in real life. Keep your choice consistent and listen to what your consumers want so you can talk to them in a way that makes them feel comfortable and joyful.

Don't let your brand be schizophrenic. Figure out the brand personality and brand voice. Consistently stick with it in everything you do. Think of Oatly or Liquid Death. They wouldn't change their personality and tone even if they have to convey a serious message. Consistency is key in creating a distinctive brand voice.

Know Your Audience: Understanding your target audience is fundamental. Tailor your language to their preferences. Brand Identity: Clearly define your brand's identity and values. Is your brand playful and approachable, or is it more serious and authoritative? Your brand's identity should inform your language choices. Use Context: Consider the context of your message. Formal language may be more suitable for legal documents or official statements, while informal language can be used in social media posts or engaging content. Empower Your Team: Ensure that your team understands the brand's voice and can adapt it as necessary. Consistency in your team's communication is vital.

I'm gonna go the contrarian approach and say informal, conversational language is the best way to go. Formal sounds inauthentic and has a tendency to sound like 1 to many. There is a way to stay informal and friendly while remaining professional and respectful. Think of it as if your customer is physically in your store. You'll want them comfortable and your sales person to be approachable and not intimidating. And if you listen in to this "store conversation", I'm betting this doesn't sound formal. But if unsure, the only way to do it is to test and learn what resonates the most.

Even though I don't like the idea of treating brands as people, I like to draw a parallel with how we're one person, but we have different tones with different people. I don't talk to my mother the same way as I talk to my buddy from college. But I'm not a psycho, so I'm not two different people with each of them. I adapt a core personality to that person and that moment. In that sense, it's less about what are their needs and expectations, and more about what's my relationship with them and what do I want to accomplish in that relationship.

Yes, you need to know your audience but not in order to balance formal and informal language. Rather, you get to know their problems, goals, and behaviours so WHAT you communicate resonates powerfully. HOW you communicate - your brand voice - is more to do with the identity of your brand than your audience. If I'm a sunshine and rainbows brand, my audience isn't going to be edgy and bolshy. Therefore my brand voice will develop from my brand identity.

Contrarian: Actually, I disagree with the notion that every brand needs to sprinkle in informal language. Some industries and audiences truly resonate more with a consistently formal tone. Know your sector.

I want to get to know my audience inside and out; what content style do they use? What do they respond to? This approach shapes tone and word choices because by speaking their language, both literally and figuratively, it makes a connection and then the voice can be tailored to resonate with different segments.

On the one hand, there is the purpose of delivering the message, which can guide how a message is crafted. But, more importantly, brand voice has to reflect your brand's Purpose -- its reason for being that goes beyond making money, encompassing brand values and social impact. Purpose-driven brands are authentic and credible when all of their elements, from sustainable business strategies to operations to customer marketing to employee experience, bring their Purpose to life in small and big ways. Without that alignment, the brand voice can feel disconnected from what your stakeholders experience and expect.

Historical Reference: Remember when Prince reverted to being called "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince"? That's a striking example of how altering your brand's voice, even subtly, can create a tidal wave of reactions.

This is the reason why it's key to think about both voice and tone - every communication has a different purpose, and those different purposes merit different tones

Purpose is key! If you want to entertain or be playful, get quippy. If you need to demonstrate expertise, elevate the vocabulary. Purpose determines the right tone for the situation; flex the brand voice to achieve the desired outcome, whether that's educating, inspiring, convincing, or engaging the audience.

In an increasingly multimedia world, your brand voice extends beyond the written or spoken word. Consider how background music, images, or video styles in your multimedia content can complement your textual tone. For example, a formal whitepaper may benefit from a professional-looking infographic, while a playful social media post may be enhanced by a catchy tune.

Let's start with a fundamental rule: you have to know who are you talking to. Whether you're representing a financial institution or a beauty brand, your communication style should be tailored accordingly. Additionally, consider the medium you're using. Are you describing product details on an e-commerce platform or outlining the terms of a contract? Finding a balance that caters to the distinct expectations of your target audience is essential to maintain both relevance and professionalism.

Developing key messaging as part of brand strategy is one of the best ways to ensure consistency and being true to your brand, while still having the flexibility to communicate in different levels of formality depending on the need. For instance, your overarching brand tone and personality may be "informative and open", but adjusted slightly to suit different content, platform, target audiences and objectives (e.g. more formal and informative for a thought leadership article, and more on the open and informal side for social media content). Having these approaches defined in a key messaging document allows various internal and external brand communicators to have clarity on how to approach content in a varied yet consistent manner.

Like you (I hope), your brand is a person. And just like you, your brand can authentically show up in different ways in different spaces, and still have that be true to your identity. Just consider the key factors that should influence these: > Where are you speaking? > Who are you speaking to? > What's the purpose of the content? > If this content was seen by a different audience on a different platform, would it still sound resonant to the brand's identity and values?

Context to channel is very important. Understanding the nuances of different channels will help hang your brand language, tone and choice of words to express your brand the most relevant way. Brand codes through visual cues and well articulated (copy) language can land very effectively when paired to the right channel. Consider attention and time spent with channel. How you leverage your brand assets for example with TikTok through video, influencer etc will script much differently than your website or Facebook post.

Your tone of voice is part of how you express your brand. It can be used to your advantage. Thinking of the lidl and m&s spat about Colin the caterpillar, lidl used their challenger brand and consequent tone of voice to run rings around m&s who couldn't even really play where lidl took it - to the court of public opinion ON SOCIAL MEDIA. Virgin did the same with BA when they first started ruffling BA's feathers. Get the tone right and flex it to your advantage.

Two key considerations here: - Too much use of emoji, bold/italic text, headings, etc. can create a poor reading experience, especially for visually impaired users who use a screen reader. - Chasing engagement by using informal language from people of a certain culture or age range, when it doesn't authentically fit your brand and your voice and tone, is a fast track to showing inauthenticity to your audience.

From the Trenches: I once worked with a tech brand that was so engrossed in using tech jargon that their customers often felt alienated. It was only when we introduced a mix of informal explanations that engagement really took off.

Is always important to remember that even things done before are not a certainty. Even huge companies get lost in a tricky concept: the want to define what they are, without accepting what the audience already thinks of them. Effective voices need test and learn because there is no study deep enough to be sure about everything. Is better to go a little off voice and try to push limits that to become predictable or boring to the customer.

I'm going through this right now. Testing tone with the audience is so valuable and by gathering feedback on whether the language resonates and drives the desired actions and outcomes helps find the sweet spot between professionalism and approachability. The tip here is to always iterate to ensure the voice hits the mark.

While maintaining a cohesive brand voice is important, different departments in your organization may need to adapt the tone slightly to fit their specific needs. For example, customer service representatives may use a more reassuring and polite tone, while the marketing team might opt for something more exciting and engaging. Developing a brand voice guide with variations for different departments can ensure both consistency and flexibility.

The more you keep the brand language being used real the more it will allow you to have a balance between formal and informal. Tone of voice should always be friendly where opening and closing can be more informal yet warm. And some formal communication should be set for specific types of communication. Having these guidelines set as part of your brand guidelines can help encourage the balance as to when formal words will be used and where compared to when informal words can be used and how.

Balance formal and informal language in your brand voice by understanding your target audience, adapting your tone to the context and communication channel, maintaining consistency in brand personality, and using a conversational style while ensuring professionalism to create a relatable yet credible brand voice.

1) Personify Your Brand: Treat your brand like a person with a distinct personality. Understand its quirks, values, and aspirations. This will lay the foundation for your brand's unique tone of voice. 2) Verbal Guidelines Are Your North Star: Create verbal guidelines that define the dos and don'ts, preferred vocabulary, and examples for your brand's tone of voice. Adapt the tone to match different touchpoints, like social media, outdoor ads, or website banners. 3) Flexibility Is Key: Understand that the tonality of your brand voice should be adaptable. It will evolve according to the medium or touchpoint. Stay true to your brand's core personality while adjusting the dials for each unique audience and platform.

Balance formal and informal language in your brand voice by understanding your audience and the context of communication. Use formal language for official content and informal language for casual, relatable interactions like social media.