How to get the right tone of voice?

Why should you be concerned when it comes to your tone of voice online?

Being online and having the right tone of voice is so important for businesses in the compassionate and emotional space. No one flicks through the Golden Pages or Yellow Pages anymore to search for a business which can help them at a time of need they go online now.  Having an online presence which is searchable online locally and nationally is so important with the right tone of voice, especially if your competitors are online.  When people think of being online they normally think of Google and websites, and then social media. I bet you “Googled” something already today and looked up another business. Having a website is so important as it’s your shop window and gives people an idea of what your business is about and what you offer. Then there’s social media which also has search facilities in each platform. Social media reaches everyone everywhere.  It’s a two way street compared to a website as people will engage with posts on social media and expect the business to reply. 

Having the right tone of voice on both your website and social media  is key. This is especially so for businesses which provide services which are personal and have to have a compassionate and emotional tone of voice. You want your audience to feel they can trust you.

How can you achieve the right tone of voice?

When you speak to someone on the phone or face to face you can pretty much gauge their tone of voice. True? Unfortunately it’s harder to do that in text form. So when crafting a Facebook post, a tweet on Twitter, an email, a newsletter, a blog post or even creating or updating your website this is where you have to work a little harder to ensure you are coming across empathetic and approachable.

You can’t be too formal or too casual. People need to feel that you are transparent, approachable and understand them, and that you can help them. If you are too formal you will come across quite cold-like and then if you are too casual you will appear unprofessional. It’s a real juggling act, but here are a few tips to help you get the balance right.

• Go back to basics and think of the keywords and phrases someone is using to find your services.
• Be consistent across all your platforms when it comes to your branding with words, images, phrases as first impressions last.
• Consider your audience and how they are feeling right now.
• Think like a person rather than a business so that you come across approachable and be seen rather than hiding behind a logo.
• Create and share content such as blogs, videos and images that will help your audience to get to know, like and trust you, and build an emotional connection with you and your staff, so they will feel comfortable when they get in contact with you.

To Conclude…

So having the right tone of voice coming across will give the person who has landed on your website or found you via social media a feeling of trust and confidence that you and your business are the right one for them. This is especially important if the person is emotional and not sure of who can help them. Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you liked this blog, why not check out a few more here. For more tips why not subscribe to updates, tips and more every week sent to your inbox and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter! 

If you would like the idea of listening to a show where they talk about social media for business simply then why not tune into the radio show called “Let’s Get Social” on Dublin South FM every Friday 2pm (GMT time), which I host with the amazing social media strategist Phillip Twyford (aka “The Curly Marketer“), who even throws in the odd terrible social media joke (and yes he does keep trying!). And if you can’t catch the radio show why not subscribe to the podcast on: – Spotify – iTunes – Podbean and the Dublin South FM website so do go check us out!

If you would like some help with social media consultancy, training or enhancement do let me know. I would be so happy to see how I can help you. Take care and stay safe everyone. Thanks for reading!