We commonly use the phrase โtone of voiceโ to refer to brand voice. A brand usually shows it identity through its logo; brand color; the graphs and graphics it uses and through the way it speaks (brand voice). All of these brand elements should be used consistently for a brand to be seen as trustworthy, credible and familiar.
Uniquely, brand voice is an integral part of a brandโs identity. A company usually have tone of voice guideline which serves as a template for its customer services, social media copywriting, contents, product design and marketing and virtually in all its B2C and B2B interactions. Mastering brand tone of voice is a prerequisite for messaging consistency, effective engagement and to sustain customer loyalty.
The Different Between Voice and Tone
Voice is the sound produced by a personโs larynx and uttered through the mouth, as speech or song; while tone refers to the mood or subtle attributes of a speech. Think about how you speak; you always speak with the same voice but alters your tone bases on whom youโre chatting with and what is being discussed. Interestingly, you will be learning how to master tone of voice for brand messaging consistency, positive engagement and optimal conversion.
A brand voice and its characteristics should remain more or less the same at all times as defined in the companyโs tone of voice guideline.
But the tone that a brand voice speaks could be flexed to take account of different audience and circumstance.
Lessonโs Table of Content
In this lesson you will learn techniques and tools that will hone your copywriting and customer support skills; also includes practical steps you can put to work straight away to improve your copy and make it more concise, persuasive, attention grabbing and engaging; Uniquely, a major take away is tenet on how to master tone of voice, communicate more effectively and scale conversion rate.
1: Write in a Clear voice
2 : Write in a Warm voice
3 : Write in a Knowledgeable voice.
4: Write in a Positive voice
5: Write in Humorous voice.
6: Flex your Tone
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1. Write in Warm Voice
In this module weโll learn to write in clear, straight forward, direct, honest, simple, straight to the pointy or plain spoken.
Youโre in charge, you can drive with the Uber app day or night. Fit driving around your life and not the other way round.
_Uber
Techniques for Writing in a Clear Voice
- Cut Out Adverbs: An adverb is a word used to modify a verb ( to tell you how someone did something). They are mostly over used, and getting rid of them either by simply deleting them or by strengthening the verb they modifies will make your writing clearer and more concise.
The adverb that ends with โlyโ are the most easiest to identified and changed.
For example, change:
โreally prettyโ to โstunningโ
Clear!
- Use Simple Words: If you want your writing to be clear donโt use complicated words when thereโs a simpler alternative that means the same and conveys same message.
Example;
Consumed (becomes) eaten.
Utilized (becomes) used.
Receive (becomes) get
Diminutive (becomes) short.
- Split long Sentences: Long rambling sentences over 20 words are a feature of bad writing. they are confusing and difficult to read; especially online where readers tend to scroll and skim through texts rather than reading through every words.
The easiest way to spot long sentences is by reading out the sentence and when you run out of breathe, its a sign that the sentence is too long. Split it.
Also, to spot long sentences in your copy, use the word count features on your computer or mobile.
When find a long sentence, split it by adding fullstop at a natural point between ideas. Or you can look for connecting words like, furthermore, although, because, also, and, both, first, in as much, etcetera. Using transition words within sentences also boost search engine optimization.
Free Resource: Hemingway editor.
2. Write in a Warm Voice.
A warm voice is the kind of voice used when speaking to a friend. This is another characteristics that is included in a lot of brand voice guideline. This kind of voice is also referred to as conversational, informal, genuine, real, and humane. A warm voice commonly writes or speaks from a first person perspective.
Say bye-bye to your old phone and hello to a new one. You send us your old phone and use it to help pay off your current contract. Sound good? Chat with us to get started.
__Virgin Mobile
Techniques For Writing in a Warm Voice.
- Write in an Active Voice: The active voice describe a sentence where the subject performs the action stated by the verb.
It follows a simple format : Subject โ> Verb โ> Object
With the active voice, the object is acted upon by the subject.
For example:
1a. The award was won by the company (Passive)
1b. The company won the award (Active)
2a. The order had to be cancelled by our supplier (Passive)
2b. Our supplier had to cancel the order (Active)
3a. This project will be finished by us soon (Passive)
3b. We will finish this project soon. (Active)
The passive sentences are more bureaucratic and long, while the active sentences comes warmer and more humane.
- Write in the First Person Perspective : Make your writing feel person by using the first person pronoun. When your write in the first person perspective, it makes your tone warm and friendly. This technique makes your call-to-action stronger and more direct.
But when writing from a third person perspective, you write about your readers as if they were entity separate from themselves, and you write about yourself as if you were an entity different from yourself; which of course is cold, unconnected and weird.
Basically, when you write in a warm tone using the first person perspective, the click through and conversion rate is increased by over 200% than writing from a third person perspective or passive voice.
- Ask Questions : Asking questions prompts people to think about what youโre telling them and how it relates to them, and this technique is a potential conversion boost.
When you ask question in your post it gives some form of punchiness and intrigues, especially as headline. For example; The perfect gift? or an indulgent treat?
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Resource : Otto Voice
This app is especially useful if you can speak very fluently and passionate about a subject, but you struggle to translate that enthusiasm into writing, Otto voice transcription can transcribe your voice into text.
3. Write in a Knowledgeable Voice.
In this module we shall be learning the technique and tools for writing in a way that is knowledgeable and professional. This style of voice is also referred to as trustworthy, business-like, thoughtful and expert. The ideas are the same.
Your copy needs to enhance the professionality of your brand to increase credibility and reader trust.
Example: Shopify brand Voice Guidelines.
- We want our voice to sound like a business mentor with zero ego
- Be real, but not too tough or overly familiar.
- guide, but not handheld or prescribe.
- Be proactive, but not needy or pushy.
- Be dynamic but not scattered or impulsive.
- guide, but not handheld or prescribe.
When you write in a knowledgeable voice, it reeks of professionalism and builds trust.
Techniques For Writing in a Knowledgeable Voice.
- Provide Evidence : When it comes to appearing knowledgeable and credible, having evidence to backup claims is vital. This knowledge can be sourced from Statistics and research results; Testimonials and user reviews; And virtual evidence such as pictures, video or audio.
- Linking Features to Benefit : Linking features to benefits is one of the most powerful copywrite techniques in existence. A feature is an aspect of a product or service, while benefits explains whatโs in it for the customers.
Highlighting the features and benefits of your product most often scale of conversion because the they connect to your readers desire and help customers to justify the purchase.
When you start by stating the features of your product or service, before proceeding to explain the benefits of those features, this technique is a proven way to appeal to the head and heart of your readers.
The great way to identify places in your copy is where you have described the features but failed to link up the benefits is by asking the โSO WHAT?โ as you read through the sentences. For example;
Ecommerce platforms are great ways to take your your business online (So what?) And establishing an online presence is capable of improving your sales performance by over 300%.
- Share Success Stories : Reviews, Case study, testimonials, success stories and customersโ quotes are unbeatable ways to demonstrate credibility. Thatโs because we naturally trust a product or service that appears to have been used and recommended over the ones that lacks social proofs.
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Resource: Hubspot
A powerful and easy to use CRM tool help you with series of templates for collecting customer testimonial, reviews, feedback and also guide you on improving customer experience.
Get Started with Hubspot for Free.
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4. Write in a Positive Voice.
In this module we shall cover how to write in a way that is positive and enthusiasm. This style of writing is also referred to as positive, spirited, inspiring, fresh, dynamic and energic โ the ideas are the same.
Research have shown that framing product and services in a positive tone increases conversion for as much as 50%.
Techniques for Writing in a positive Voice.
- Convert Negatives : Frame information positively; Your readers do not want to hear they are lacking, they want to hear what they can have when they use your product or service.
Nobody wants a negative energy; So rather than describing what isnโt happening, talk about the positive things that could happen. Convert negative statements into positive ones. For example:
Instead of saying โStop losing moneyโ say โSave moneyโ
Convert โDonโt waste your timeโ to โIncrease your productivityโ
Donโt say โAvoid bad reviewsโ but rather say โEarn great reviewsโ.
So this technique is not just about appearing cheap but but rather, it makes good business sense too.
- Solve Problems : As a brand as a big part of your work is to figure out why readers have started to read your copy. why are they on your website, social field, or clicking through your advertisement?. In other words, โwhat problem are they looking to solve?โ
Once youโve identify the problems, your next job is to proffer solution or device ways to solve those problem for your readers. By solving their problems, you are automatically building customer loyalty, it will help you generate more leads and increase conversion.
- Overcome Objection : Why might a potential customer decide not to buy your product or service? Identify those customer โpossibleโ objections and device ways of solving them.
Overcoming objections like solving problems is another feature of a positive brand voice. The trick is to put yourself in your readerโs shoe.
Example: Letโs overcome these customer objections with positive remarksIโm interested butโฆ.Thatโs OK becauseโฆ.1. It might not arrive on time.Next day delivery is guaranteed.2. The flower might make me sickThey are NAFDAC approved.3. Is it really that great a gift?Reviewers love it.4. Its too expensive.You get a recipe book included and a free next day delivery.
5. Write in a Humorous Voice.
This style of voice is referred to as quirky, humorous, witty, fun or playful. The broad idea is that your copy should make people laugh or at least smile.
Sorry bud, something went wrong. Leaf it to us and weโll get to the root of the problem.
The Flower Yard Home.
Techniques for Writing in a Humorous Voice.
- Write Witty Headlines : Headlines and sub-headings or titles and sub โ titles are great places to introduce a little humor. A funny or unusual headings can catch your readers attention, keep their eyes on your copy and intrigue them to continue reading just to find out what youโre talking about. These readers would become returning visitors simply because they enjoyed your humor; and if they are satisfied with your product or service then there is a 70% chance of them becoming loyal customers.
- Introduce the Unexpected : Introducing the unexpected words, pun, and wits is a very clever way to leverage on humor. This allows you to keep your main message clear, concise and friendly.
- Play with Words : Gentle word play is one of the low risk ways of experimenting with humor in copy. The idea is to use techniques like pun, rhymes, metaphor, alliteration, and simile to add a little playfully in a copy.
Play with words, use synonyms to achieve some bits of humor in your copy. For Example,
The word โEatโ could be replaced with these synonyms : Consume, devour, ingest, chew, munch, snack, feast
Bouquet has these synonyms : Bloom, posy, blossom, flowers, bunch, spray, petals, garland.
The best idea for this is to list synonyms of verbs in your copy and see whether there are words in each group that either rhyme or have similar sound in them. Example, munch and bunch.
Use the elegant variation: A technique of using synonyms (mainly by journalists) to avoid tedious use of the same words.
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Resource : Free Headline Analyzer โ helps you write headlines of all kind and gives you tips on how to use it.
6. Flex Your Tone
A brand voice should remain more or less the same all the time, but the tone that the brand voice speaks in should be flexed to take account of different circumstance and audience.
Techniques of Flexing your Tone
- Use Audience Language : Speak in your audience language. To write to different audience, first find your audience segment, then explore the kind of language they do use when talking about your product.
- Lighten up on Social Media : While being more casual and informal in your post on socials, remember that your copy and post should be adjusted on different platforms.
- Understand your Audience : This will help you to know when and how to flex your tone based on interest, age, location, etcetera.
Resource : Buffer
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