We’ve looked at how to use hashtags on social media, how I came up with some spooky Halloween social media content & how lying gets you nowhere in business; now it’s time to look at how Tone of Voice can help you write engaging social media posts.

What is Tone of Voice?

“I don’t like your tone” “How about now?” my dad would say, as he would alter his voice to be high pitched. Making your voice higher in tone isn’t what Tone of Voice means in marketing terms (but it does make me laugh). In Marketing, Tone of Voice means figuring out the best way to communicate with your audience. A good tone of voice separates your business from your competitors. It’s about figuring out what you want to say and how to say it best.

The best way to get tone of voice across really is through your copy (if you don’t know what copy is, it’s text/writing). To really understand copy, I think it’ll be best to go through some examples of other peoples work and some of my own.

How others Tone of Voice

Let’s look at two different drinks companies as some successful tone of voice work that I really enjoy. Oasis & Innocent both have very strong tones of voice when it comes to the way they write their marketing & advertising copy. Oasis is very literal & no nonsense way of writing in their advertising e.g. “Advertising doesn’t work on you. Celebrate this fact with a tasty drink.” & “Please don’t stand in front of this poster. It cost a lot of money.”, whereas Innocent’s tone of voice is very approachable, friendly and funny e.g. “The fruit, the whole fruit, & nothing but the fruit” and my personal favourite is “Stop looking at my bottom” which is written on the base of most of their products.

They both sell drinks but both do it completely differently. Both do this because it distinguishes itself from one another. They have both been able to grow their audiences because they’ve separated themselves from their competitors. The way they write copy resonates with their audience, whether it be Innocent writing ‘don’t look at my bottom’ on the bottom of their bottles, or Oasis poking fun at the use of celebrities in advertising, in an advertisement. So when it comes to writing your own copy, remember to write in a way that resonates with your audience.

How I Do It

For our clients on their social media, I also like to use tone of voice to add character to their social media posts.

For our clients at Market Weighton Mortgage & Risk Solutions, I like to use a friendly, understanding and family-orientated tone of voice as this resonates with the target audience of the company. Here are some examples.

One example are my posts for Wall of Sound. Using ‘,eh?’ and ‘cheers’ instead of thank you is a lot more personal and local.

Another example would be the work we did for Beetlebank Farm on their social media accounts. I used lots of emojis to bring the copy to life, along with questions to engage the audience.

To Conclude

Using these tips can help you set your business apart from your competition. Don’t forget that actual people will be reading what you’re writing, so be genuine. The trick to is to be consistent with the way you are communicating so that your audience begin to recognise & look out for your posts.

P.s. I also have a personal pet peeve of ALL CAPS and over punctuation (Like this!!!!!!???????……..) so try to avoid doing this please. The world thanks you.

Illustrations by @not.a.dick