Rami Abughazaleh, from copywriting agency Yala Creative, shares some tips from a writer’s perspective.
- Credibility is key: speak to your audience in a voice they recognize and understand.
- Once you establish a communication style, be consistent. Maintaining a tone of voice builds brand awareness and trust.
Tone is everything
You wouldn’t address a boardroom the way you speak with a street food vendor.
You wouldn’t call a new client the way you call your mother.
You wouldn’t…
Well, you get the idea.
These contrasting scenarios (exaggerated for effect!), illustrate a golden rule of copywriting: when communicating a brand message, be sure the tone suits its intended audience and context.
It may seem obvious, yet this is something many forget in their rush to meet a marketing deadline.
The right tone of voice is essential. But how do you find and maintain that for your brand?
Know your audience
There’s no need to sign up for evening literature classes – perfecting tone is what you’ve paid a good copywriter for.
Professional writers live and breathe language. They notice small, important details in the way copy sounds and feels, the same way an antique dealer can spot authenticity or forgery in a vase or painting. They know when a writing style feels wrong for its audience.
Credibility is vital in marketing, and that begins with a voice your audience recognizes. Readers need to feel they’re being addressed by someone who understands them and their needs.
For that reason, a good creative agency will spend a lot of time thinking about who they’re writing for before beginning a website, ad or brochure. They’ll also get to know the brand’s personality. They may ask you to fill in a brief or questionnaire, or request past materials for review. They will certainly want a good understanding of what makes your market offering unique.
With all that background to build from, a writer can communicate in a way that represents the brand effectively, using words that resonate with the people you want to reach, whether it’s colloquial and edgy, confident and technical or emotive and friendly.
Find your voice, then stick with it
When it comes to copy style, applying it once is simply not enough. Real brand credibility is built with an audience over time.
Consistency across all marketing materials throughout a campaign presents a far more professional image than something that seems cobbled together.
This point is easier to grasp visually – after all, we all notice a switch from blue to red. When brand colors are changed too often and for no good reason, it looks bad.
It’s the same with copywriting. If you’ve established a recognizable communication style and suddenly switch tone, your audience will notice. They may not know exactly what’s changed, but they’ll feel your personality is different.
To present your product or service in a trustworthy and professional manner, copy consistency is key – taglines, phrases and tone of voice should be maintained throughout your campaign.
The takeaway: The right tone of voice is vital to your brand
With all the elements that go into a marketing campaign, tone of voice may be something you’ve considered the least, but it can play a huge role in how your brand is perceived in the market.
Whether it’s through expert use of Arabic dialect, humor, vocabulary or mood, an experienced copywriter ensures your message is pitch-perfect when it reaches outside ears. Entrusting that responsibility to a proven professional agency will help you reap marketing rewards.
You can follow Rami on twitter @RamiAbughazaleh.Opinions expressed in this piece belongs to the author.
