Where can you use a brand tone of voice?

Developing a brand tone of voice is a crucially important exercise for any brand serious about standing out in its market. It ensures your brand has a consistent personality, connects with its audience, and expresses its distinctiveness. But just going through the exercise isn’t enough, unless you put words into action. It’s lovely to have a shiny pdf that sums it all up, but unless you use the brand voice out in the wild, it’s all somewhat academic. So where can you use a brand tone of voice?

Everywhere

In a word, everywhere. Whatever the medium, your brand voice should have the flex to help you stand out. That’s kind of the whole point. There should never be a situation where you say, ‘you know, in this instance we’ll just write what everyone else writes’. A good brand voice will work at every touchpoint, but the important aspect is that the people writing for you not only are immersed in your brand voice, but also understand the way those touchpoints work best.

Website copy

This is the most obvious place that your brand tone of voice lives. It’s what we media types call ‘owned’ media. It’s your space (not myspace – yes, it still exists!) This is where you have the opportunity to control every aspect of the way you express yourself, in every aspect. Not just the homepage but the privacy policy. Not just the About page but the contact page. Nothing is off limits for your brand voice 

Advertising

Advertising is expensive, so it’s worth getting it right. In the highly competitive advertising space, a strong brand voice is your greatest asset. It can help you say anything – even something a competitor could say– but in your own distinctive way. Think about famous advertising and it becomes almost easy for you to write the ads yourself, because their brand voice is so well established, “Red Bull gives you wings”, “Should have gone to Specsavers”, “Heineken refreshes the parts”. They work because they’ve been consistent while often their competitors are bland. Can you name another optician brand?

Social media

This is where the flex comes into play. You need writers who understand how your brand behaves in a medium like TikTok, while retaining its core identity. Sure, TikTok has very different criteria for engagement compared to, say a speech by your CEO. But it should still be recognisably the same brand, with the same core principles, personality, and message. The worst mistake is to misunderstand social media and create dull, overlong content that doesn’t engage. Or, alternatively, imagine that you have to pump your posts full of hyperbole and slang for a perceived younger audience.

Video

Video is increasingly important. Particularly among younger audiences. More and more people are preferring to watch and listen, rather than read. Which means the art of good scriptwriting is incredibly important in maintaining your brand tone of voice. Too often we see videos that brands have farmed out to so-called ‘video specialists’ who give every client pretty much the same solution, in the same (usually quite patronising and basic) tone of voice. It’s shortsighted and ineffective.

We can help (everywhere)

Craft Words have the capability to disseminate your brand voice across all the above channels and more. Our clients find that, once we’ve uncovered their brilliance, and carefully crafted their brand tone of voice, it makes sense to keep our expert writers on to write their comms, whatever the channel.

We offer a leaner structure than big agencies, which means nothing is lost in translation from your brief to the person who is actually writing your copy. You speak to them directly and collaborate on finding the best solution as a team. From your website to your advertising to your social media channels, we can help. We can write your white papers, blogs, speeches, you name it. But crucially, all from a deep understanding of your brand voice and how it’s expressed.

Because the answer to ‘where can you use your brand voice?’ should be everywhere. But always with thought, care, and expertise.

To find out what Craft can do for you, please get in touch.