No, it’s not making sure that you’ve still got your customer service voice on and you’re not getting sassy after that fifth call in a row (that *probably* is a good idea though). Tone of voice in digitalmarketingland is when your business or online presence has a clear, consistent voice throughout all the digital things you do.
Humans love consistency. We like knowing that our daily coffee is going to taste the same, that Home & Away still airs at 7pm, and that when we log on and check our socials, the businesses (and heck, even the individuals) we follow are talking to us in the way we’ve come to expect. The content can (and should) evolve as time goes on, but you really want the tone to stay the same. Think of it this way – it’s probably going to be very jarring if you go to an Ariana Grande concert and she busts out a baritone set.
When you’re a single person doing the posting, tone of voice is generally a bit easier to nail. It’s pretty likely it’s just your own voice edited to fit the social media platform. When you move into the territory of your socials eating up more of your time but you’re not quite at the point of being able to justify employing a new person to manage it, putting a little bit on a few people’s plates can be super helpful, but this is when you risk your tone of voice getting diluted and muddy if you’re not prepared.
If your business has quickly arrived at this stop in digitalmarketingland, making sure everyone is on the same page ASAP can go a long way to avoiding the tone disconnect. Here are some hot tips to help.
- Work together to set a clear style. Who are you trying to talk to, and who do you think your followers imagine when they read your words?
- Use the same terminology consistently. It’s a deadset giveaway if your posts keep flipping between two or more different terms, and it can be confusing to the casual punter.
- Practice! Like anything, if you’re struggling with getting it down, keep doing it. It’ll eventually become second nature, we promise!
Now that you know what tone of voice is, why it’s important and what you can do to make sure your business has it, you’re ready to kill it. If you’re not feeling that confident about it yet though, get in touch with us to have a chat – we can help provide your team with training to get them up to scratch, or, if keeping on top of socials is a bit like mum’s brussels sprouts and nobody wants it on their plate, we can manage it for you!
