A great Tone of Voice (ToV) can be a powerful differentiator. Yet few startups spend time intentionally developing theirs.

The result? A bland and generic brand voice that fails to make a lasting impression. If you’re unsure what that means, bring to mind the last time you landed on a website using words like ‘seamless’ or ‘user-friendly’.

Tone of Voice is about more than just adding a smiley face to a social media post. It’s how you show that you truly speak the language of your audience. For startups, it can be the difference between a fleeting visitor and a die-hard fan.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to develop a unique tone of voice, adapting it for different purposes, and then codifying it into communications. 

What is Tone of Voice? 

Tone of Voice is the unique way you communicate with your audience. Simply put, if messaging determines what you say, tone is how you say it. Together, they make your brand both memorable and persuasive. 

Having a brand voice is important for startups because it:

1. Influences brand perception & engagement

2. Makes complex concepts more digestible

3. Builds trust and loyalty 

4. Increases buyer confidence by establishing authority 

5. Inspires action, which drives conversion

Defining Your Tone of Voice 

Before you fall into the temptation to make [enter your favourite brand] Klarna’s ToV Guidelines your own (even though they’re brilliant), remember that innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower. As an early fin-tech disruptor, Klarna’s ToV became a differentiator because it stood out against the previously formal tone of the banking industry. 

Here are some pointers for how to identify your style.

1. Level with your audience

Your brand voice should show that you genuinely get your audience. Busy C-Suites? Keep it concise. Junior HR assistants? Adopt a friendly and helpful manner. There is no one-size-fits-all, so your communication style will either include or exclude segments. Make sure you do it consciously. 

Ask yourself:

• Are they Boomers or Gen Z?

• Digital natives or curious laggers?

• Generalists or specialists?

• Americans or Europeans?

If you’re in B2B, you’ll likely need to tailor to several different stakeholders and audiences. Consider their unique needs carefully. 

2. Identify your principles

Whether you’re aware of it or not, you’re likely to have principles – underlying truths, beliefs, and mental models - that guide your way of operating. Jot down what they are. Then reflect on how they translate into your writing.

Klarna, for example, are:

• Offbeat optimists: They understand that money can be a heavy topic. So they strive to brighten up everyday money matters for their users by using a friendly and helpful ToV.

• Strikingly relevant: Klarna believes they can make things better. This means they speak with confidence and aren’t afraid to express their PoV.

• Straight up: Klarna’s ToV is intentionally clear, human, and relatable. This is because they believe it should be simple for people to get the info they need.

Once you’ve outlined your core beliefs, consider what they’re not. In Klarna’s case, they’re not Gloomy, Divisive or Arrogant. 

For a head start, list your top 3 company principles and their impact on voice in this table:

3. Fine-tune your tone of voice 🎻

A tried and tested exercise used by tech giants like Google is a brand personality slider. It can be used as a decision-making factor by positioning your brand in extremes. The way it works is simple:

1. Identify the key personality traits that are relevant to your market, audience and industry

2. Create a series of sliders representing opposite traits e.g:

   • Playful ←→ Serious

   • Approachable ←→ Exclusive

   • Emotional ←→ Analytical

   • Bold ←→ Subtle

3. Gather input: have everyone mark their positions on the slider, and then reach consensus. Strive to be on either end of the spectrum for at least a couple of traits. 

At Arcane, we like to add a fourth dimension to this exercise:

4. Fine-tune your spectrum of tones for different:

   • audiences

   • channels

   • scenarios

For example, you might want to use more humour on social media but keep to the point in your Product UI.

Codifying Your Brand Voice 🧑🏻‍💻

We are nearly there, so hang tight. The final piece of the puzzle is contextualising your ToV guidelines. Your team is likely to write a ton of copy each day. Practical examples shed doubt and bring your rules to life. 

This can be done by clearly outline:

• Dos and don’ts

• Instead of… We say…

• Specific scenarios

In addition to Klarna’s long list of practical examples, they use an impactful prompt as their guiding star: Can we say it more clearly, confidently, or delightfully? 

Using AI for Brand Consistency

There is no secret that consistency is key to building trust. A recognisable brand voice creates a sense of familiarity and reliability, which in turn, establishes a strong connection with your audience.  

This is easier said than done. The average B2B marketer churns out over 18 posts per month on LinkedIn alone. That’s without accounting for email marketing, product copy, and long-form articles. 

Thankfully, AI can now assist with both writing content and keeping it on brand. Arcane’s ToV feature, for example, uses advanced voice analytics to understand a brand’s or person’s unique tone and then applies it to all posts created within the platform. 

Conclusion

It’s crowded out there, folks. A strong, consistent ToV helps you stand out and build an emotional connection with your audience. Take the time to develop, A/B test, and refine it. Develop clear guidelines which are easy to apply, and utilise AI to keep your tone consistent. At Arcane, our brand ToV is Authentic, Supportive, and Insightful.

How did we do?