How To Define Your Brand’s Tone (Plus Why Its Important)

Updated March 26, 2025

Tone of voice is an aspect of communication that companies can use to build brand identity and improve communications.

A company’s brand voice communicates its purpose to its customer base and can attract new customers.

You may benefit from understanding how to use language to communicate effectively with potential customers and use tone to expand in your market and strengthen relationships with your customer base.

In this article, we discuss what tone of voice is, types of tone, why it’s important for businesses to focus on and how to define your brand’s tone of voice in five steps.

What is tone of voice?

Tone of voice is how you use words and phrases to make an impression on your audience.

For a company, tone of voice allows it to communicate with its clients through the content it writes for its marketing. For example, if a company’s marketing language is often funny or uses slang, the public may have an opinion that it’s a fun company with which a younger audience can identify.

If the marketing language is more serious or focused on playing on customers’ emotions, then the public may associate that company with compassion or trust-worthiness.

Marketing teams can use the tone of voice to target their customer base and create an image of the company through more than just the content they put out. Your audience can understand the goal of your marketing materials through your tone.Related: What Are Brand Dimensions? Definition and Benefits

Why is tone of voice important?

Using a tone of voice that appeals to your market can make your outreach to customers more effective across all your marketing materials, from advertisements to informational brochures and website pages. Here are some benefits of focusing on your tone of voice:

Gives your brand a personality

Giving your brand a recognizable voice can humanize your company. When your brand’s voice resonates with your target audience, they may feel more eager to trust and support it. Figure out what personality your target audience would identify with and how you can express this through your brand’s message.Related: Brand Personality vs. Brand Imagery: A Complete Guide

Makes you unique

Having a distinct identity in your brand voice can help make your messaging more immediately recognizable to your audience. It can also help your message stay in the minds of the potential customers you’re trying to reach. These can be powerful tools when you want to appear unique from your competition.
Related: Definitive Guide to Brand Competition: Types, Examples and Tips

Personalizes your marketing communication

Customers may be more likely to be satisfied with marketing materials or automated messages if those messages carry the same emotional resonance that talking to a person would. Your customer may feel more comfortable moving through your workflows if they feel like the communication they’re receiving is personable. A more personable tone often encourages a customer to move through stages of the sales process on their own, reducing the need to nurture every lead.

Creates consistency

A consistent tone of voice across your marketing materials can help your audience build trust in the company.Your marketing materials are a large part of the communication that a customer has with your company, and they may be more willing to trust the legitimacy of your business if they know what to expect from you. Defining your brand’s tone of voice is a good way to ensure that all content stays consistent.Related: How To Improve Brand Consistency (With Definition and Steps)

Focuses your brand identity

Identifying your own brand voice can also make space for your company to focus on what its mission and purpose are. You can learn about what you want your business to be when you’re trying to understand how you want it to be presented to the public. Focusing on a smaller audience that may respond to your tone of voice also helps ensure that your marketing team doesn’t waste time trying to attract all consumers to the brand and focuses only on who the products can help.
Read more: How To Build Your Brand Identity in 5 Steps