Conveying Your Brand Voice Online and on Social Media

A brand voice is made of four distinct parts: tone, language, character and purpose. The first step to conveying your brand voice is to identify what your voice should be like. Define these four items, so you can create a distinct brand voice for your company.

The Framework of the Brand Voice

Tone — Tone is the underlying emotion and feeling behind your communication and the way you deliver your message. For instance, your tone may be direct, honest, straightforward, personal, mysterious, brazen etc. If you’re a medical centre, your tone may be more direct, clinical and official. On the other hand, if you’re a marketing firm, the tone you use may be more entertaining and approachable. The tone you want to create depends on the type of company you run and the type of customers you’re targeting.

Language — Language is the wording and diction you use in your communication. Do you use shorter words, funny and easy to understand or are they complicated, technical and only for people from a specific field? Language may also convey a level of expertise. The use of technical terms words may hint that your company has the necessary experience, while more accessible, fun language can appeal to a broader range of people.

Character — This represents the personality part of your voice. How do you envision your company as a character? Warm and friendly? Authoritative and professional? Smart and knowledgeable? Find the character of your company and convey it through every message.

Purpose — Purpose is one of the critical part of your brand voice. You should have a reason why you’re communicating with your customers. Does your company take on an educational role, does it want to advertise and sell or raise awareness? The purpose will drive every message through your communication.

Using Your Brand Voice

After you’ve settled your tone, language, character and purpose, you can start to convey that voice online. The brand voice should be felt and heard in your web content, blog articles, your marketing material and through your social media. It may even surface in your web design, through the graphics, images and layout you choose.

If your brand voice projects a warm and friendly emotion, then make sure your website reflects that. Use warm tones, appealing imagery and user-friendly buttons.

Your brand voice should set the tone for anything and everything you do online — from the shortest social media post to the longest blog post, your customers should always be able to recognize who your company is and what you represent.