Here’s Why TOV is Everything in Branding Land
Skip this brand-building step and you’re toast. (Burnt toast, to be exact.) Here’s why.
So, you’ve got a bright and shiny business idea. Step one of building your brand starts with developing your Tone of Voice – or as we like to call it: your TOV. We get it: Do you really need a copywriter to do all the heavy-hitting pun-swirling and tone-twirling? By all means, have at it – particularly if you’re a pro-word wrangler yourself. But what if everything could be simple? That’s it – that’s the point.
TOVs: They’re just like us!
Your brand TOV is a multi-faceted beast. It’s not just about sounding clever.org, knowledgeable.pubmed or even kooky.com, and it’s certainly not about copying another brand’s voice. Like dating your friend’s brother’s best friend’s ex-boyfriend, it’s a whole lot more complicated than that. It’s about creating one consistent voice across all social media channels that creates trust (without the pinky promises) and makes your current and future customers fall in love with your brand. (We’re talking big heart eyes here. Huuuge.)
How tone of voice affects perception
While many of us do not like to be perceived, it’s only natural that a brand will be placed under the microscope by its audience.
Yes, Damien, yes.
Your consumers aren’t silly – they know when a brand sounds inauthentic, salesly or when they’re veered into off-brand territory. So, if you’re a fun-loving haircare brand, a sophisticated TOV doesn’t really speak volumes. Or, if you’re a classy law firm, speaking like Gen-Z is definitely not a slay. Ya feel?
The bottom line? Creating your very own tone of voice that reflects your brand (and that is brand appropriate) allows you to shape perceptions, find new community members and help others fall in love with the brand you have spent so long building from freakin’ scratch. Skip this step and you’ll fall into sticky territory – and we don’t mean the yummy peanut butter kind.
*Ahem* Need help nailing your TOV?
We have the perfect people for the job. (Wink wink.)
At Naughty Nancy, we get that words aren’t everyone’s cup of caramel latte. That’s why we’re always pen at the ready – to write cool words and build big, bold and memorable personalities for brands that float our writing coats.
From Tone of Voice & Brand Messaging to Copyediting jobs (you write, we edit), we’ve got the chops to help your brand make its debut, refresh existing copy or take on some fancy-schmancy retainer work. So, when you’re keen to start or shake up your brand voice, we’ll be waiting right here… with mojitos for two. Your move.