The importance of tone of voice in content marketing

The tone of voice, or the communication style a company chooses to adopt to interact with its customers, is given by the sum of the stylistic, linguistic, lexical and semantic elements that determines the perception of the brand by those who come into contact with it.

Defining the tone of voice is therefore crucial to help convey the brand identity, story and personality to a possible audience, so that they can establish an emotional connection and a lasting relationship with the brand.

But how can you identify an overall tone that is consistent and underpins all your contents?

 

1. Target audience analysis  

 

First of all, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of potential customers who might relate to the brand, to create contents that reflect them and meet their needs. 
In this regard, it might be useful to create some buyer personas, or ideal buyers, whose personalities can be defined through research, social media analysis and Google Analytics.

 

2. Analysis of objectives 

 

The way of communicating, to be effective, must also be able to reflect the company's perspective: history and values but also future goals as well as the advantages of its products over those of its competitors.

 

3. Content analysis

 

Before engaging in self-reflection, brainstorming and defining a new strategy, it is important to understand the tone of voice currently used by the company. You can accomplish this through a content audit, that is an evaluation of everything that has already been published, thus outlining which publications have received the most feedback, what ties them together, and how to make them the basis for future work.

 

Our web agency deals with strengthening clients' online presence through the analysis and creation of a recognizable brand identity to start content marketing activities, that is the construction of a universe of content capable of telling the peculiarities of a business. A fundamental part of the strategy is the study and definition of the tone of voice, tailor-made on the basis of personality and goals.

 

In this regard, according to research conducted by Nielsen Norman Group, the tone of voice of any content can be analyzed through 4 main dimensions: humor, formality, respect and enthusiasm.

 

 

• Ironic/irreverent/humorous tone of voice 

 

Those who use this style choose puns and joking expressions as key elements of their communication.

Such as the case of one of our clients working in the restaurant industry who choses to share his menus and handcrafted products with humorous and engaging language. That reflects his personality and the atmosphere you can breathe when you go to his restaurants and outlets.

 

But also of some clients in the travel industry who present their travel itineraries in a humorous way.

 

• Formal tone of voice

 

Formal tone presents complex expressions and sophisticated words, little or no slang.

This dimension lends a sense of professionalism and authority to the brand, which presents itself and its services with an impersonal and scientific approach.

The tone of voice in question has been chosen, for example, for some of our clients who work in the tax, administrative, and economic sectors, but also in the more technical and research sectors. In the case below, one of our clients operating in the automotive sector and targeting a B2B market with tailor-made products, wants to tell its values with a formal tone of voice that focuses on the product's features and technical pluses.

 

 

• Institutional tone of voice

 

Institutional tone of voice is typically used to communicate authority and regard for the public or one's core values.
The Turin National Library website, which we have recently designed and developed, moves in precisely this direction.

 

 

• Evocative tone of voice

 

Instead, evocative tone involves "emotional" communication aimed at touching the reader's emotional chords.

An example is the tone of voice of a well-known jewelry brand we are collaborating with in web marketing, which shares its handcrafted fine jewelry creations in a dreamy language that aims to emotionally engage the user by evoking the worlds that inspired the collections.
 

 

 

Were you already aware of the importance of tone of voice for your brand identity? Would you like to make your content more effective? Contact us, we will be happy to offer you our support!