The tone of voice of my brand
Most companies focus on creating a powerful visual identity, but many forget an important detail, which is to create a verbal identity in line with your company.
After creating a unique identity and defining a brand personality, it is necessary to consider the way in which this personality will be transmitted.
The answer is: through what you show (visual identity), what you say (verbal identity) and what you do (brand behavior).
However, in this article we will focus on the voice of the brand, the forgotten in most brand strategies and no less important than the image, as it plays a very important role in creating a strong brand, since these details are what allow it to differentiate itself.
Evidently, companies that lack a verbal identity reflect it in a weak communication, without hook, without creativity and without coherence if we relate it to their visual identity.
What is the verbal identity of a brand?
Have you noticed how differently a businessman speaks than a hippie or a cholo? It is true that these are very extreme examples, but what I want to imply is that the way of speaking says a lot about someone.
The same is true for brands. That is why verbal identity is a branding tool that allows a brand to convey its messages in a strategic way, aligned with its value proposition and personality to build the right perceptions that it wants its audience to perceive and associate with it.
In short, it is how a brand should express itself.
Among its benefits is the ability to differentiate from the competition, be consistent with the brand strategy and thus avoid giving wrong messages that are not in accordance with its values and attributes. Having a verbal identity will improve brand positioning and reputation, and of course the connection with your target audience.
So it is well worth contemplating.
How is the brand voice created?
-
Message matrix
First of all, we must have a message matrix, which is a guide with which we define what we tell each of our audiences. (target audience, ideal customer, team, board of directors, suppliers, press…) to build the perception of our brand that we want them to have.
This serves to provide the brand with content, to tell its why, its promise to make the world a better place, its attitude and personality, how it sees life and what it proposes to us.
For example, a list of main and secondary messages can be prepared for each type of audience.
With the message matrix, the key is to define the key ideas to be conveyed.
The final copy will be determined by the time and medium in which it is to be launched.
In other words, it is not a matter of listing messages that sound good, but of defining what we expect others to understand from those messages.
In this way, everyone who has to communicate something about the brand will be clear about the ideas to be conveyed.
Very important: thinking about how we are going to communicate is not enough.
We have to think about what we want others to understand, not only from our objectives as a company, but also from the specific context in which our audiences find themselves (according to their needs, motivations, desires, expectations…).
-
The voice
Now that we know that voice is the verbal extension of brand personality. Or to put it more simply, the voice verbally conveys what the brand is like.
Imagine the brand as a character. What would it be like if it was a person? would it be flamboyant or discreet? Then how would it speak? would it have a thin or rough voice? would it be velvety or shrill? would it be husky, squeaky or seductive? would it be childish, youthful or mature? would it have any particular accent? The more clearly a brand’s personality is defined, the easier it will be to define how it expresses itself.
-
Tone
We call tone the way in which the brand expresses itself according to the environment or situation in which it finds itself.
The voice must always be the same because it is the one that communicates your brand personality, while the tone adapts.
The tone is made up of the words and expressions used: does he insult? does he insult? does he use crutches? How does he express himself in a sad situation? There is a tone for each particular situation.
To choose the right tone of communication for each situation, always think beforehand:
What is the ultimate goal of this communication, i.e., what do you want to achieve?
Here are some examples of targets for your verbal identity.
- Inform
- Arousing curiosity
- Teaching how to do something
- Entertain/Entertain
- Excite
- Sell
- Thank you
- Calming an angry customer or user
- Empathize with a customer or user to make them feel heard and cared for.
- Recognizing a mistake…
Depending on this objective, the tone of the communication may be:
- Professional
- Corporate or formal
- Informal
- Nearby
- Humorous
- Demonstrative
- Explanatory
- Testimonial
- Informative
- Emotional
- Intriguing
- Humble
- Empathetic
- Conciliator…
So you have to understand what the situation is like, know who the brand is targeting and the medium in which it writes or speaks.
All these elements that include the voice of the brand must be defined in the verbal identity manual, which must be proposed by all the people working in the company.
Why? Because the voice should always be the same and you should not risk letting everyone communicate and express themselves in their own way. 
