How to craft a unique tone of voice for your creative or purpose-driven business

Tone of voice is one of those business terms that can sound incredibly intimidating, and it's all too easy just to think "I'll get round to that one day". I mean, does a creative or purpose-driven business really need a specific tone of voice? Do you need to set time aside to write specific guidelines for it, especially when you've got so much other stuff to be getting on with?

Well, even if you're not aware of it, your business definitely does have a specific tone of voice. It's the one you use all the time to communicate with your audience, via your website, emails, social media captions, product descriptions and newsletters. From the vocabulary you use (or don't) to the sentence structure, writing style, punctuation and emojis all add up to create an impression with the people reading them, and in turn influence how your business is perceived.

And yes, it's important. Because words are powerful. When we read something, we're subconsciously making judgements and value decisions about it, whether this is from the words used, the sentence structure or the 'voice' we hear as we read. And with lots of touchpoints to share your written words, it's also important to have consistency for your brand.

As a copywriter who specialises in working with creative and purpose-driven businesses, creating distinct tones of voice guidelines is something I love doing for my clients, and this post is all about breaking down how you can do it for yourself.

Image: Jess Bailey via Unsplash

Why you need a distinct tone of voice for your creative or purpose-driven business

Taking some time to create a distinct tone of voice for your creative or purpose-led business can help you to communicate your values and experience, create an emotional connection with your clients, set you apart from your competitors and ensure consistency across comms. (This is especially relevant if you have other people working for you.)

It has to be authentic to your business, so it reflects your values and your USP, and in turn creates an emotional connection with your ideal client.

When used alongside your visual brand (such as logo, submark, fonts, photos and brand colours), a well-thought-out tone of voice guide really elevates your business and creates a distinct position. Think of it as using your words to set out your stall.

How to create the perfect tone of voice for your creative or purpose-driven business

When working on your tone of voice, there are three steps to work through.

1 Dive into your business

The first thing is to take the time to sit down and really think exactly what it is you do in your business: what you offer and who you're offering it to.

This includes considering:

• Your mission: what you'd like it to achieve

• Your story: why do you do what you do?

• Your values: what beliefs and principles underpin your business?

• Your unique selling points: what sets your business apart from your competitors?

• Ideal clients: who do you want to work with and why? And who do you NOT want to work with and why?

Scribble it all down, whether that's in a spreadsheet, Word doc or jazzy notebook (my preference!). Don't censor yourself – anything you write down here will be really useful later on.

2 Pick your tone of voice dimensions

Now you've had a really good think about your business, it's time to start thinking about how you want to sound when sharing your wonderful product or service with the world, and getting across your mission, your story and your values. Do you want to sound chatty and informal or more professional and formal? Aspirational or witty?

Always keep your ideal client front and centre as you work through this. And using the four tone of voice dimensions can also be helpful. These are:

formal > casual

serious > funny

respectful > irreverent

matter-of-fact > enthusiastic

Your tone of voice might be at one end of these spectrums, or somewhere in between.

If you'd like some more information on this, this is a really great guide to tone of voice dimensions. What it also shows is how changing just a few words really makes a massive difference to your tone of voice.

3 Create your 'style guide' aka vocabulary list

After you've decided on your tone of voice dimensions, it's time to write your house style guide: a list of words and phrases you do want to use, as well as those you don't.

This is something you get a lot on magazines and is something I refer to a lot when I'm freelancing for a new publication. It instantly gives me a real feel for the 'house style' of the magazine and the words and phrases that will instantly be given the red pen treatment by the sub-editor. (And you always want to be on the good side of the sub-editor.)

Creating a style guide may feel a bit overkill if you're a one-person band in your business, but it's incredibly helpful to have them written down as it really crystallises your tone of voice. It's also useful if you end up working with freelancers or VAs who take on some of your written comms.

One tip here is thinking about accessibility and inclusivity. Think about the impact your choice of words can have on people, and consider whether they're making people feel welcomed in your world – or making them feel deeply uncomfortable and excluded. For example, a wedding business should avoid using 'bride' and 'groom', swapping them out for the more inclusive 'couples'. Certain words that have been used historically are now considered discriminatory, such as 'handicapped' and 'elderly'. If your business needs you to use words such as this, do some research to find out what vocabulary is inclusive for these groups.

You can also extend this to things such as how you write numbers, dates and times. Do you write 3rd September, 3 September or September 3? Do you write it as "I have three offices and 12 employees", or "3 offices and 12 employees"? Do you want to use the Oxford comma, or use em dashes or en dashes? Small things, yes, but they all form part of the larger tone of voice picture.

(Me? I use 3 September, and I write one to nine as words, and anything above 10 in numerals. I can't stand the Oxford comma, and I always use en dashes with spaces in between, as em dashes without spaces instantly screams "American!")

Some other points to consider for your tone of voice

• Do you opt for first person ("I'm a copywriter who works with creative and purpose-led businesses") or third person ("Helen Dorritt is a copywriter who works with creative and purpose-led businesses"). The former is more personal, the latter more formal. Think what works better for your business and your clientele.

• Make sure your tone of voice still matches your real world persona and feels like a natural fit, especially if your business is a service-based one built around you. If your tone of voice on your website and on your social media is nothing like the way you speak and come across in person, there'll be a disconnect when people meet you, which could lead to potential clients thinking you're not the right fit for them after all.

• Go beyond words and also consider things such as emojis and punctuation. Do you want to stick to accepted punctuation rules, for example, or bend them a little? I read the other day that the humble full stop is regarded by Gen Z as irritating and potentially insincere. As a punctuation nerd I really struggle with this and quite frankly you'll prise full stops out of my cold, dead hands, but if this is your business audience, it's something you need to be aware of.

• Be consistent. This is part of the reason for taking the time to set out your tone of voice guidelines – to ensure that you sound exactly the same across all your touchpoints, and aren't sending out confusing messages. If you sound really formal on your website but then chatty and humorous on social media, it jars with your audience. That's not to say you can have slightly different balances across different platforms (see below for a great example of this from Girlguiding), but make sure it's overall consistent.

• Once you've crafted your tone of voice guidelines, create a brand guidelines pack that brings together your visuals (fonts, logo, colours), tone of voice and other brand positioning info such as mission statement and values. Having it in one document that's easily accessibly is super helpful, even for solopreneurs. And don't be afraid to revisit it. A tone of voice can grow and change as your business does.

Great tone of voice examples

Monzo: very clear and very accessible

Greenpeace: I like the 'words to use, words to avoid' section

Girlguiding: a comprehensive breakdown of the brand, including a super helpful 'cheat sheet' and how the tone of voice pillars can be adapted for different styles of comms.