Tone of voice
Tone of voice is how a brand's writing sounds to the reader: how formal or casual, serious or light, warm or matter-of-fact it is. Nielsen Norman Group defines it as "the author's feelings towards the subject, as expressed through the writing itself". A brand keeps one voice, and adjusts its tone to the reader and the moment.
Also called: brand tone of voice, tone of voice guidelines
What are the four dimensions of tone of voice?
Nielsen Norman Group describes tone on four scales: formal or casual, serious or funny, respectful or irreverent, and matter-of-fact or enthusiastic. Every piece of writing sits somewhere on each scale. A cyber incident notice should be formal, serious, respectful and matter-of-fact. A team news item in a client newsletter can be more casual and a little funny.
The scales make tone something you can agree on and check. "Friendly but professional" means different things to different people. "Casual, serious, respectful and matter-of-fact" gives a writer something to test a draft against.
Does tone of voice change how customers see you?
Yes, and trust matters most. In a Nielsen Norman Group study of 100 US users, people rated sample website text written in different tones for friendliness, trustworthiness and desirability. Trustworthiness explained 52% of the variation in how willing people were to recommend the organisation. Adding friendliness explained only an extra 8%.
In the same study, casual, conversational and enthusiastic samples scored best overall. Trust drove recommendations, though, so a friendly tone works only when it also sounds competent. Clients trust an MSP with their systems and data, so sound sure and clear first.
What does tone of voice look like for an MSP?
The voice stays the same across every message. The tone moves with the situation. Here is how one MSP's tone could change across four common messages.
| Message | Tone | Sample line |
|---|---|---|
| Outage notice | Formal, serious, matter-of-fact | "Email is down for all users. We are working on it and will update you by 11:00." |
| Client newsletter | Casual, warm | "This month we tested every client backup. Here is what we found." |
| Price increase letter | Respectful, direct | "From 1 April your monthly fee will be [new fee]. Here is why, and what does not change." |
| LinkedIn post | Casual, confident | "Most phishing emails we saw this quarter came from real supplier accounts." |
How do you write a tone of voice guide?
Pick three to five traits, each with what it means and what it does not mean. Mailchimp's style guide uses short lines such as "We are plainspoken" and "Our humor is dry." Microsoft's style guide uses "Warm and relaxed", "Crisp and clear" and "Ready to lend a hand", and says it adapts its tone "from serious to empathetic to lighthearted" to fit the customer. For each trait, add a sentence that fits and one that does not, plus a short list of words you never use. Then give the guide to everyone who writes for you, including any AI tool.
How Yori helps
In Yori, the AI marketing assistant for MSPs and resellers, your voice lives in a Brand Profile, set on five dials from 1 to 10: formality, technical depth, warmth, directness and authority. Add the Brand Profile to a project, and every chat and Service in it writes to those settings, so a newsletter and a battlecard sound like the same business. The dials set one voice for the brand. To make an outage notice more formal than a newsletter, say so in the chat, then edit the draft in Canvas.
The free trial has 25 one-time credits, needs no card and expires after one month. Pro is £49 a month with 25 monthly credits. Start the free trial, set your voice in a Brand Profile and run the Email Service on your next client update.
Often confused with
- Brand voice
- Mailchimp's style guide says: "You have the same voice all the time, but your tone changes." Voice is the brand's personality and stays fixed. Tone is how that voice adjusts to the reader, the subject and the moment.
- Style guide
- A style guide is the document that sets the rules for writing and design, such as spelling, headings, capitals and how to write dates. A tone of voice section is usually one part of it.
Questions
What are examples of tone of voice?
Nielsen Norman Group's four scales give the common examples: formal or casual, serious or funny, respectful or irreverent, and matter-of-fact or enthusiastic. A sample tone for an MSP might be "casual, serious, respectful and matter-of-fact".
What is the difference between brand voice and tone?
Voice is who you are, and it stays the same everywhere. Tone is how you adjust that voice for a particular reader or moment, such as more serious in an outage notice and warmer in a newsletter.
How do you describe your tone of voice?
Use three to five traits, each with a short explanation, a sentence that fits and a sentence that does not. Place yourself on the four scales: formal or casual, serious or funny, respectful or irreverent, matter-of-fact or enthusiastic.
Why does tone of voice matter in B2B?
Buyers judge whether to trust you from how you write before they meet you. In Nielsen Norman Group's study, trustworthiness explained far more of users' willingness to recommend the organisation than friendliness did.