Identify your business tone and voice
One of the biggest challenges in building a site is to make sure the voice and tone reflect the business owner. Every company, large or small, over time builds a relationship with its customers. In real life, the quality of that relationship is sustained by the employees who interact with the customer. In the digital world, that relationship is much more oblique. The content becomes a proxy for the company’s staff.
In real life, voice and tone are easily identified. The business owner hopes employees always greet customers in a friendly voice and with a smile. But they may have just broke up with their girl friend, or had a disagreement with the boss. They may be quiet and distracted or the could be indifferent in tone and body language. How do you communicate voice and tone in the digital world?
About tone and voice
On the web, voice represents the personality of the business, while tone represents the mood or attitude of the business. It may be easier to understand by looking at a few examples. Compare The Guardian to The Sun. The New York Times to the New York Post. Or think of the different ways you might write an academic paper, an informative blog entry, or an e-mail to a friend.
Your company’s voice
Your company’s personality is expressed through your voice and tone. Your voice expresses your basic personality – confident, practical, trustworthy, etc. Your tone can change depending on what we’re writing about. Tone expresses the mood or feeling of the voice – it can be friendly, reassuring, excited, etc.
You can use your voice and tone to differentiate your company from your competitors and personalize the customer’s experience. Everyone who writes for your company needs to keep your voice and tone in mind so that your messaging is consistent.
Keep customers’ attention
Keep your voice consistent. Use active voice and short sentences. Create a sense of vigor and action.
Your customers
You need to identify your user audience and understand what they want from you. Generally, most users are task-oriented. They’re looking for specific information.
Encourage action
Each area of content should encourage the user to do more by providing links to relevant, but possibly tangential, content.
© 2012, Brian Phelps. All rights reserved.
