We’ve all heard that one before – probably when we were younger, right before we got sent to our rooms for delivering some ‘constructive feedback’ on family dinner. It’s usually a not-so-gentle reminder that words can hit differently depending on how they’re delivered.

“It’s not what you said. It’s how you said it.”

Because what we’re actually talking about here is ‘tone.’ 

In the world of business, ‘tone’ is so often referred to as this intangible thing that’s hard to define. But it can be defined… And if you’re a business that’s looking to find, mark out or re-establish its place in the world, it’s an incredibly important thing to define – and in detail.

Get your tone right and apply it consistently across all your brand and marketing touchpoints, and you’ll see three key results:

1. Your brand and content will become instantly recognisable and feel authentic.

2. Your customers will trust your voice – and the actions you’re asking them to take.

3. Your business will build stronger, more meaningful connections with your target audience.

And when recognition and trust come together, you create a solid foundation for achieving your business goals and driving future growth.

So what actually is ‘tone,’ or ‘tone of voice’

As we’ve already established, tone isn’t so much ‘what’ you say – although that of course is part of it – but rather ‘how’ you say it. And this largely comes down to three things – vocabulary, cadence and emotion. Each of these factors plays a critical role in shaping how your message is received by your audience.

1. Vocabulary

The words your business chooses to use say a lot about who you are, where you’re from and what you believe in. They also say a lot about who you’re talking to, so they should be chosen carefully. Strike a balance between using words that both reflect your personality and mirror your customer’s language and you’ll start building authentic connections naturally.

“Where do we want to be in the next five years?” is a great starting point. From there, consider, “What words should people associate with us to help us get there?” Once you have that clarity, you can dive deeper into defining the language you want to use and make your own. 

2. Cadence

Cadence is about the pace of your voice. Are you confident and assertive and therefore do you use short, powerful, statement-like sentences? Or are you a tad more playful, and therefore do you mix it up and break some rules to show you don’t take things too seriously?

Your cadence should come from your brand’s personality. And your brand personality should ultimately come from your overarching business objectives. Where are we starting from? Where do we want to go in the next five years? What does our brand need to be to get us there?

3. Emotion

Emotion is arguably the most crucial of the three pillars, as it focuses on how you want people to feel about your brand. And unlike the other pillars, this one is more about your audience than about you. 

(Creating detailed audience personas is an effective way to define who your audience is, what they value, and how they prefer to communicate. From there, you can determine the level of emotion that will resonate best with them.)

For instance, there’s little value in crafting lengthy, emotive stories if your audience consists of data analysts or accountants and your product is a data-driven solution designed to help them make faster, better decisions. That’s not to say they don’t enjoy a good story – they likely do – but in their professional lives, they deal with hard facts. Their decisions are typically grounded in logic and practicality.

In this case, your communication – or your tone – should be simple, direct and free of fluff. Give them the information they need and step aside. 

On the other hand, if you’re a developer targeting local authorities or housing associations, your communication will need a different approach. While you’re speaking to decision-makers within a business context and need to prove you’re the right choice for the development opportunity, your work also impacts the end user – the community that will live in and benefit from your project.

Here, there’s a powerful story to tell – a story of community, family, and lives well-lived. What does that vision look like? Connecting with this shared vision on an emotional level can set you apart from competitors and create a lasting impact.

Ready to find your tone?

There’s a point to all this, and it ties back to something Friedrich Nietzsche once said: “We often refuse to accept an idea merely because the tone of voice in which it has been expressed is unsympathetic to us.”

When we say the right things to the right people in the right way, our ideas are more likely to resonate. They’re accepted, embraced, and acted upon. And for a business, that’s not just reassuring – it’s genuinely exciting. 

So whether you’re a tech company, a housing developer, or something different entirely, if you’re looking to define your tone of voice, connect authentically with your audience, and set your business apart from the competition, we’re here to help. 

Reach out today. And together we’ll craft a tone that speaks volumes.