Brand Voice vs. Brand Tone: What’s the Difference and Why It Matters

Most business owners think brand building is about logos, colours, and fonts. Well, these things matter, but they’re just a small part of your brand. Real brand building goes deeper. What’s under all the pretty features? What’s your brand’s personality like? These questions may sound odd because your brand doesn’t walk on the street and meet people, but it does, in a way. Every time you post on your social media, run an ad, create a landing page, or send an email, your brand is speaking to your target audience. 

This is where building your brand personality becomes crucial. All the bigger established brands have one thing in common – they all have a distinct personality. A brand persona is the result of strategic planning and consistent choices of presenting itself. 

What’s the Difference between Brand Tone and Brand Voice

Think of your Brand Voice as its personality. It serves as a foundation for everything you do. On the other hand, brand tone is how you express that personality. It can shift based on context, situation, and audience. Your brand’s voice and tone are the heart and soul of your brand. Together, they serve a shared purpose: to make you appear relatable, reputable, and unique. They shape how your brand feels to your target audience and play a crucial role in making you unforgettable. 

How to find your brand voice: A step-by-step approach

Your brand voice is not something you decide on a whim. It’s your brand personality coming to life. And it will stay. In the world of short attention spans, your voice needs to be distinct enough to stand out and worthy of attention. 

Here’s a simple approach to finding your voice:

1. Start with understanding your audience: If you have no idea who you’re talking to, your message is irrelevant. Dive deep into understanding your audience. Who are they, what do they like, and how will they like your product or service? Pay attention to what they enjoy watching/reading. 

2. Establish your brand’s personality: Every brand has its personality. It can be friendly, formal, serious, instructive, or funny. Decide what yours is.

3. Stay true to that personality: Once your personality is decided, stick to it. 

4. Be sure how you’re perceived: Do competitor analysis and see where you stand among your competitors. 

5. Tell your story: People love brands that are humane and have a story. Tell it confidently. 

6. Be consistent all the time: Make sure your messaging remains the same across all your marketing channels for your customers and potential customers.

Getting the tone right for every piece of content that you produce for your brand is a matter of trial and error. But it’s a fun process, too. Your brand voice is constant, but you can play with your brand tone based on the context. If you decide your brand voice is humorous, you can tweak your messaging and add a little bit of humour in everything you put out. For example, when creating a landing page, it should be convincing yet can be funny. If you’re making a social media post about product benefits, you can be quirky in the caption. This way, your audience knows it’s you talking, just in different ways. You can A/B test multiple variations of your tone and see what your target audience thinks.

Why does brand tone and brand voice matter

As you now know the difference, you can think of voice as the anchor of your Brand personality, and so tone should be crafted with that particular voice in mind to resonate with readers. Together, they strengthen your brand’s appeal to your target audience. You should work on fine-tuning your brand voice sooner rather than later. Invest time researching your brand identity, producing high-quality and relevant content, and testing it with your target audience. When done right, you can create a brand that your customers will come back to again and again. With authentic connections and increasing organic traffic around your brand, your products/services are more likely to be welcomed and happily received.