It is no secret that content plays a significant role in search engine optimization.
Copywriting helps brands convey their story, provides them an opportunity to strategize with valuable keywords, and also enables them to earn trust and loyalty among potential customers.
However, content is not enough on its own to make you successful and help you build lasting relationships with your customers.
In reality, it is your brand’s tone of voice that resonates with your target audience.
According to reports, two-thirds of customers worldwide say that a brand’s tone of voice enables them to establish an emotional connection to it.
Think of it as, if your content is the “what,” then your tone of voice is the “how.”
The tone of voice is how your message (content) sounds to the readers.
In verbal communication, this is conveyed through intonation and pitch.
On the contrary, in copywriting, you depict your emotions through your choice of words, font style, and punctuation. That’s what evokes a response from the readers.
When it comes to SEO copywriting, knowing your target audience inside out and using the tone of voice they can relate to in your content is necessary.
Why Tone of Voice Matters So Much in Online Content?
The tone of voice molds the overall feel of a particular message, and it is specifically crucial online.
Curious why that is so?
Well, here’s the thing: tone of voice affects your brand in numerous ways. Let’s take a deeper dive into that now.
#1 Consistent Tone of Voice Helps Establish Your Brand Identity
When you think about your favorite brands, there is a good chance that their logo or tagline is the first thing that crosses your mind, isn’t it?
But imagine all that is gone now, and all that’s left is their messaging. Would you still be able to recognize those brands?
The tone of voice plays a significant part in establishing brand identity.
When your content is written in the same tone of voice consistently, it starts reflecting your brand’s image over time.
And that is crucial because consumers want to purchase from authentic brands.
By creating a unique tone of voice that’s exceptionally yours, consumers will be able to distinguish your brand from the competition thus, improving your chances of generating more sales.
#2 Consistent Tone of Voice Prevents Your Messaging From Becoming Rotten
Have you ever eaten stale chips?
They are hard, tasteless, and certainly not pleasurable.
And the same stands true for your content as well.
Simply because you are a professional organization does not mean your content needs to be stuffy necessarily.
Relax a little and use your unique tone of voice to develop an exceptional writing style that readers genuinely enjoy.
It is more fun, memorable and will leave a positive, long-lasting impression of your brand.
#3 Consistent Tone of Voice Builds an Emotional Connection
The primary goal of your copywriting is to elicit a response from your readers, right?
Using the right tone of voice, you can evoke various emotions in your audience.
Now, this is essential because most purchase decisions are “literally” driven by emotions.
How your prospects are feeling is way more influential than how they are thinking. And we are not just saying it. This is backed by research.
So clearly, a brand that establishes an emotional connection with the audience and writes with authenticity is more likely to be successful.
#4 Consistent Tone of Voice Gives a Competitive Edge
Content that is written with a consistent tone of voice is more captivating to read.
It helps make visitors stay a bit longer on your website, persuades them to click through more of your pages, and leads to more conversions.
Needless to say, these are all great for your SEO as well as the business as a whole.
Unique, consistent, and memorable messaging will distinguish you from the competitors.
Prospects will like your messages better over theirs and will therefore keep returning for more.
5 Steps to Get Your Brand’s Tone of Voice Right
By now, it must have become evident that your brand’s tone of voice is crucial when it comes to SEO copywriting.
However, the question is: how do you start fine-tuning it for your brand?
Let’s look at five steps to recognize your brand’s tone of voice and use it to generate more sales.
- Pick From the Four Dimensions
The following are four dimensions of the tone of voice in which we can characterize copywriting:
- Formal vs. casual
- Respectful vs. irreverent
- Funny vs. serious
- Enthusiastic vs. matter-of-fact
These dimensions help make tone profiles simpler for a company’s online presence, and each of them is bookended by two extremes.
You could either make one of the two extremes your tone of voice or choose a tone that lies somewhere in the middle. Or you could even merge some of these to develop a more exceptional tone of voice.
This is a good starting point to set you on a messaging path that resonates with your target audience, irrespective of what tone you pick.
- Lay a Few Guidelines
Consistency is the key to a powerful tone of voice.
Stay on target by laying a few guidelines for your copywriting.
You need to think of these:
- Vocabulary: what words will and will not be allowed
- Grammar: use the correct form of tenses, adjectives, verbs, etc.
- Syntax: how you will start and build your sentences
- Punctuation: how many exclamation marks are “too many?”
A great activity is to think up three words to describe your brand and then allow those adjectives to lead your style of writing.
For example, if you describe your business using the words “friendly,” “lively,” and “positive,” then your messaging should be welcoming and buoyant.
Setting some guidelines will enable you to deliver unique messaging consistently.
- Get the Inside Scoop From Your Customers
If you face difficulty recognizing your brand’s tone of voice on your own or feel a disconnect between your brand and audience, the best thing to do is reach out to your customers.
Since they are the ones who engage the most with your brand, surveying them will help you get a better sense of how your brand is perceived outside.
You can ask your customers to pick from a bunch of adjectives or provide them with unlimited options to describe ways to make your company better.
Whatever way you choose, you will obtain some useful insights that will allow you to understand how you can improve your brand’s tone of voice to connect with your audience on a deeper level.
- Scope Out Your Competitors
In essence, tone of voice is about using a writing style that is unique to your business.
So clearly, you will not want to imitate what others are already doing.
However, you can surely take some inspiration from observing the way your competitors handle their messaging.
A quick keyword search on Google will provide you with a list of all your competitors. All you have to do is go to their websites and examine their content.
Observe how they handle aspects such as vocabulary, humor, punctuation, metaphors, and sentence structure in their writing.
Learn from things they are doing well, and also note down the ones you think you could do better than them.
Use this information to create a tone of voice that works well for your business and produce content that resonates with your target audience.
- Write for Your Target Audience
It is crucial to use a writing style that is unique to your company, but you must also take your target audience into account.
Think about who you are writing for exactly.
Is it for corporate employees searching for expert information or for tech-savvy youngsters who respond nicely to GIFs?
Every customer persona is unique, which means each of them requires a tone of voice that addresses them on a deeper level.
See how they talk on sales calls. Go through their comments on social media platforms. Read their responses on email.
Decode how they communicate and utilize that intel to mold the tone of voice you use to get in touch with them.
Wrapping It Up: Define Your Brand Using Your Tone of Voice
Your unique tone of voice gives a better sense of who you are as a business.
How your SEO copywriting makes your audience feel defines your personality and directly impacts your brand’s success.
Look closely at who you are as a business and how you want your readers to perceive you through your writing.
Building messaging that is consistent and unique to your brand will distinguish you from your competitors in the minds of your customers, establish long-lasting relationships with them, and help drive your business’ success.
By now, you must have understood why the tone of voice matters so much in online content. With all this information at your disposal, you can go ahead and identify and perfect your brand’s tone of voice.