What are the key elements of a brand voice and tone guide?

One thing I love about the art of brand building is this: think about your brand as if it was a real person or character. An entity with a past, a background, a family, a special talent, a heritage, unique personality, style. Someone who has a circle of friends as well as people who don’t vibe and even dislike him/her/it. Someone who grows values over time, who might change appearance over time; and so on. You can basically define all key brand elements with this analogy. But in a much more playful, tangible and meaningful way. ????

Think of your brand voice as your brand’s unique sound. It’s not just about what you say, but how you say it. Your brand voice should always sound the same, and it should match your brand plan. To figure it out, pick a few words that describe how you want to talk to your audience. It could be friendly, professional, funny, or serious. These words will guide how you talk in every message.

Creating a unique identity and striving for consistency is essential when building your brand voice. This contributes to the increased recognition of your brand. It is crucial to investigate several brand archetypes and select the one that best fits the characteristics and attributes you wish to communicate to your target market to build your brand's voice. As it draws on the premise that if a brand matches a brand archetype's posture, tone, and manner, it may easily connect with its consumers, clients, and audience because people "understand" the archetype unconsciously.

Defining core brand values succinctly is essential for authenticity. In a short sentence or a few adjectives, distill the essence of your brand's principles. Simplicity ensures clarity and resonance, enabling your audience to readily connect with and understand your brand's ethos. This concise articulation facilitates exploring varied communication approaches while maintaining coherence with the brand's core values.

A strong brand voice is not about adopting a generic or inauthentic style; it's about authentically reflecting the brand's core identity and personality. It should be consistent across all marketing materials and touchpoints, ensuring that every interaction with the brand feels cohesive and aligned.

To add, and go deeper on this, and important thing is to understand platform, and what type of tone that platforms communication style requires. TikTok versus Instagram versus Facebook group versus LinkedIn are all very different, while also being similar that they are all social media platforms. Each one does need a specific type of tone as well as creative style, that will produce results for the brand. Being channel dependent is not great, and also being able to re-purpose across platforms is a big win for most brands. We can allow for faster, iteration, one piece of content, being powerful across multiple platforms, and speed of deployment.

I think the tone can be tailored to suit the channel, but the personality remains consistent due to the archetype. When it comes to communication, it can be helpful to view your brand as a person (the archetype). For example, think of you as a person when you interact with others. Your underlying personality stays the same, but your speech can change depending on the situation. You might speak more informally and relaxed when talking to a friend than when speaking with a professor. Now, transfer this idea to the archetype and the different situations.

In my experience, failure to adapt your branded voice can lead to misalignment with audience expectations, reduced engagement and a negative brand perception. Inconsistent or mismatched tones risk eroding trust, credibility and missing opportunities to effectively connect with your audience. Adapting your tone appropriately is crucial for maintaining audience engagement, building trust and conveying messages effectively.

A brand doesn't demand strict consistency; coherence is the priority. It doesn't have to repeat the same message relentlessly. Like people, a brand can assume different roles for diverse audiences while staying true to its core values. Indeed, showcasing various facets of the brand contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of its essence. This insight underscores the importance of flexible brand expression while preserving authenticity

I have always found that not providing clear examples and guidelines in your brand voice and tone guide can lead to inconsistent communication across content types, risking misinterpretation of your brand voice and difficulty for collaborators to align with your brand standards. This lack of direction may result in unintended messaging, ineffective content creation and a weakened brand identity, impacting audience connection and brand perception negatively.

Guidance: yes. Corsage: no! Just like you can not describe a real person’s way of talking with one standard scheme. One talks differently with grandma, coworkers, boss, neighbor, kid, dog, self… ;)

In my experience, unless you join an organisation with a refined and curated brand with a tone and voice. You will learn as you go. You must stay positive and open-minded to try.

Your brand voice and tone guide isn't a one-time creation; it's an evolving document requiring regular testing and refinement to align with brand goals and engage your audience effectively. To refine it, gather feedback from your team, customers and stakeholders. Monitor content performance and communication impact by employing tools like surveys, interviews, analytics or social listening to collect insights and data. Then use this data formatively to improve your marketing efforts.

I think it is vital to have an expiration date. Please do not take it literally! Every so often, you should audit the voice and tone to see if it is still relevant. Some brands have audience shifts, and brands/products change over time.

Brand changes, new product launches or shifts in brand positioning, may necessitate reviewing and updating your company's tone of voice. If your target audience undergoes changes or expansion, adjusting your tone to better connect with these shifts becomes important. Regularly monitoring content performance serves as a crucial indicator; a decline in engagement, relevance or resonance might signal the need for a tone update. Typically, conducting a review once or twice a year is a good starting point. However, flexibility is key—be prepared to update more frequently if significant changes occur within shorter timeframes to ensure that your tone consistently reflects your brand's objectives and effectively resonates with your audience.

Once you have spent valuable time and money in crafting your brand… stick to it! Don’t let it rotten away in your drawers. Have it displayed openly; use it in briefings, enquirer it when your agencies have delivered creative concepts; use it to train your community peeps. Keep playing with it in busy biz life - as if your brand was present.