Marketing Tip Tuesday: Watch Your Tone
Hi everyone, and welcome to the second week of Marketing Tip Tuesday!
Today, let's talk a bit about tone and the different ways that you can use it to effectively market your brand.
Before we start, it's important to note the difference between tone and voice - they may seem similar, but they're not interchangeable! Voice will be covered more in a separate post, but for now just think of it as your brand's "personality".
Now, let's consider the different tones of voice that we encounter in our daily interactions with others: upbeat, quiet, humorous, angry, etc. A lot of these tones that we convey to each other can also be conveyed by your brand, when creating content and interacting with your target audience on social media. Punctuation serves as a key way to represent your brand's general tone.
As our reliance on and familiarity with technology has grown, so has our understanding of the way that punctuation and emoji usage (or lack thereof) play a part in interpreting someone's tone and intentions. This is especially true of younger generations - so if you're marketing to Millennials or Generation Z, keep this in mind!
A great example of this shift in our understanding of tone is the case of when and how to use periods. Traditionally, a period has simply signified the end of a sentence or thought. Nowadays, it's not always that simple. When it comes to drafting copy, creating a caption, or responding to a customer, the decision to use a period (instead of an exclamation point, for example) can be the difference between sounding curt and apathetic versus enthusiastic and helpful.
Let's say a customer messages you on one of your platforms (we'll go with Instagram for this scenario), and asks you if you still have a certain item in stock. Check out the difference in response:
- "Yes."
- "Yes!"
It seems like a tiny, almost-insignificant detail, doesn't it? But if you compare the two answers, the second option presents itself as a more engaging response. (Note: we would recommend giving more than a one-word answer if a customer asks your brand a question, as it shows that you've put in effort to respond to them. Ex: "Yes, we do!")
Of course, as important as it is to understand the power of the period, it's also crucial to remember that it's absolutely fine to use it in moderation. For example, in a paragraph of copy, it would look quite silly to end each sentence with an exclamation point - as no one truly speaks that way in real life. Instead, as a general rule, it's a good idea to have a mix of both punctuation marks interspersed throughout your text. If you're giving general information in your text, consider an enthusiastic beginning, a good-natured conclusion, or a point of emphasis. By varying the punctuation, your brand will sound less like a corporation, and more like a person.
The next time that we talk about tone, we'll be diving into how to make your brand sound more humorous versus serious, (traditionally) feminine vs. masculine, and more. For now, hopefully you have a better understanding of how simple punctuation can drastically alter your brand's tone when interacting with customers!
Have a fantastic week!