Imagine one day you’re making dinner plans with your best friend, and the next day you have a similar conversation with your grandmother. You might suggest pasta for both situations, but will you use the same language with both? Will you address them the same way?
Your identity is the same in both scenarios, but you might slightly adjust your speaking style based on the situation. This is an example of selecting the right tone in a given situation. Ecommerce companies make small decisions like this every day.
Discover how to develop a unique brand tone with tips and real-life examples.
What is brand tone?
Brand tone, or tone of voice, refers to a brand’s communication style and how it expresses its personality in any official capacity—from content marketing emails to social media posts. A brand’s tone can change depending on the situation. For example, a company that typically posts optimistic content might take a serious tone to discuss a setback.
Linguistic choices such as word selection, formality, and sentence structure shape your tone, affecting how customers perceive your written communications.
Brand tone vs. brand voice
While closely related, brand tone and brand voice are not the same thing. In marketing, brand voice refers to your brand’s overall identity, encompassing your brand values and your unique perspective. A strong brand voice reflects your brand’s personality and point of view and, therefore, remains constant. Brand tone can change depending on the situation or who you’re addressing while still being faithful to your brand voice.
For example, the eco-friendly clothing brand Girlfriend Collective has a consistent brand voice that revolves around sustainability, but its tone varies. In its welcome email, the company speaks casually with the phrase, “Trash looks better on you,” followed by a straightforward explanation of the recycled materials used in its clothing as a way to introduce the subscriber to Girlfriend Collective’s personality and values.
Meanwhile, on Instagram, Girlfriend Collective dials up the humor (“Only plastic bottles were harmed in the making of our recycled puffers”) but doesn’t offer additional context, as if talking to a friend in the know.
Factors that influence brand tone
Tone of voice may vary slightly from platform to platform or even within the same platform. Adjusting tone helps businesses craft appropriate messages.
The two main factors that can affect tone of voice are channel and content:
Channel
Brands often use multiple communication channels to reach the widest possible audience. Adjusting your tone of voice to match the style of the platform may help your content resonate better with the segment of your audience who’s active on that particular platform. While an informal tone and humorous content may succeed on TikTok, an inspirational tone might work better for a presentation at an industry conference.
Since your target audience may vary from platform to platform, you might use an informal tone for marketing emails, a conversational tone on LinkedIn, and a humorous tone on Facebook.
Content
Consider the severity and purpose of your message, and make an effort to match the tone of voice to the content. Depending on the subject matter or context, brands may use several different tones on a single platform.
For example, many brands use email and social media for customer service and to connect with customers. In this case, while you may take an absurd and silly approach for your newsletter or social content, it might make more sense to use a more professional and compassionate tone when responding directly to a customer’s frustration with their order.
Examples of brand tone
Tone can be subtle, so sometimes the best way to understand it is through examples:
Heyday Canning Co.
Canned food company Heyday Canning Co. typically uses an enthusiastic and casual tone on its Instagram account. For example, it might use lively copy (such as “SOUP SEASON IS OFFICIALLY HERE!”) to make an announcement.
However, it can also take a more serious tone when the situation calls for it. For example, when the brand discussed the challenges it faced as it tried to develop a chili crunch dumpling, its tone changed slightly. It spoke more matter-of-factly while remaining casual to explain to customers why it decided to hold off on bringing the product to market.
Great Jones
Great Jones is a ceramic cookware company that sells Dutch ovens, sheet pans, and cutting boards in bright colors. On its FAQ page, the brand aims to be informative, but it doesn’t use the same tone for every question.
For the “Is Great Jones hiring?” question, it communicates in a funny, cheeky tone: “We’re blushing!” and “We can promise great office snacks.” But when it comes to its customers’ safety (“Do your handles get hot?”), their brand tone comes across as less casual, showing that they take safety concerns seriously: “We specifically designed our signature handle, which is made of stainless steel, to dissipate heat.”
Death Wish Coffee
Coffee roaster Death Wish Coffee sells mugs, apparel, brewing supplies, and coffee beans with an extra kick of caffeine. Its homepage features punchy, irreverent copy like “Mugs up, mother functioners” and “Coffee that slaps.”
Death Wish’s About Us page balances the brand’s edgy personality with authentic, informative communication about its values. They accomplish this by using a more authoritative tone. While there are still hints of its bold personality, Death Wish Coffee ensures its process and expertise is what visitors remember with this change of tone: “This rigorous process results in a strong cup of coffee with increased aroma and mouthfeel, low acidity, and an extra kick of caffeine. Paired with our Fair Trade and organic arabica beans, you’re guaranteed a bold, smooth and premium cup of coffee every time—because who wants weak, watery coffee?”
Free Worksheet: Brand Storytelling
Use this handy exercise as a guide to help you craft a compelling brand story and build a loyal audience through the power of storytelling.
How to define your brand’s tone for different situations
- Know your voice
- Find inspiration
- Prepare for different scenarios
- Create a tone guide
- Share your tone guide
Defining tone requires a strong understanding of your brand’s identity. Follow these steps to develop your company’s tone:
1. Know your voice
Before you can develop your tone, you must first know your brand’s unique voice. While your brand’s tone will change, it must still remain true to your company’s core personality.
When developing your brand voice, think of your target audience and offering. “If you’re a travel brand talking to parents of toddlers, that voice—and therefore tone—will be distinct from if you’re a fine jewelry brand talking to people making a once-in-a-lifetime purchase,” says Margaret Pilarski, director of brand strategy at the branding studio Outline.
“A good exercise we like to do with clients is to actually think of a real persona that aligns with the brand. Maybe it’s a celebrity or character in a show or movie,” Margaret says. “Now, imagine them in different situations—how do they react? What would you expect from them? On the other hand, what would feel completely out of character?”
For example, what if Mary Poppins—the kind but firm magical nanny—had to deal with an upset customer? She’d likely remain respectful and compassionate but stern if the customer raised their voice. If she suddenly started to yell back or speak in an angry tone, that would feel out of character.
2. Find inspiration
After you define your voice, study other brands with similar personalities to see how their tone shifts depending on the channel or situation. For example, if your brand voice is casual and enthusiastic, you can analyze how a company in or outside your industry communicates when it shares updates about a new product, responds to a customer, or deals with an unexpected situation, like a supplier issue.
You might find it easier to strike the right tone in positive interactions, so looking at examples of tone in more challenging moments can help you understand how your brand can still feel like itself even when the tone must change. This exercise can help you come up with a list of tones that are right for your brand.
3. Prepare for different scenarios
Preparation is one of the best ways to strike the right tone. Knowing what tone to take in different situations—like when there’s exciting news to share, a breakdown in your supply chain, or an upset customer—can help you move more confidently.
Margaret suggests paying close attention to how you communicate with customers. “Especially for ecommerce brands, customer service is a big one,” she says. “Good customer service drives long-term loyalty and spending, but upset customers are more likely to tell others about a bad experience—so one incident can have a massive ripple effect. Knowing how to flex tone as a situation escalates—and making sure the brand has a business policy to back it up—is critical.”
One useful way to prepare for different situations is to draft successful and unsuccessful versions of the same message. “Write something incorrectly to understand why and how to make it better,” Margaret says. You can also study old messages to determine what is and isn’t tonally correct.
While you can’t possibly account for every situation, having a baseline for what does and doesn’t make sense for your brand can provide guidance for especially tricky moments.
4. Create a tone guide
Within your brand guidelines, create a tone guide explaining how your company’s tone changes for different situations. You might provide general guidance based on channel or content, or include examples of what is a successful and unsuccessful tone in hypothetical scenarios.
That said, avoid overcomplicating it. “You know when you’re in a group chat and someone sends a screenshot of another conversation asking, ‘What does this mean?’ and everyone chimes in to decode the vague message or condemn the sender? That’s what you want to avoid,” Margaret says. “The end goal is not to overcorrect and blandify every single thing you say.”
For example, a fitness clothing brand with a daring brand ethos might choose four tones that fit its brand:
| Tone | Meaning | Frequency | Channel(s) |
| Motivational | We’re all about taking chances, and we’re here to encourage customers to do the same. | Frequently | Instagram posts and stories, LinkedIn, marketing emails |
| Casual | Life is short, so we don’t take ourselves too seriously. | Occasionally | Reddit, Instagram posts and stories, marketing emails |
| Formal | When the situation calls for it, we know how to speak in a more professional manner. | Rarely | Instagram comments and DMs, customer service emails |
| Respectful | We always speak to our customers with respect. No matter the situation. | Always | LinkedIn, Reddit, Instagram, customer service emails |
5. Share your tone guide
A tone guide can help cross-functional teams craft on-brand messages with a consistent tone while developing marketing materials, product copy, or other communication.
“Sometimes people will be like, ‘Why do I need a voice and tone guide or a brand strategy deck?’” Margaret says. “One of the best examples is if you’re hiring for your team and somebody is new to the brand, you’ve got this really concentrated amount of information about the brand in one place so that you can speak on behalf of the brand and communicate consistently.”
Make your tone guide available to internal team members as well as any freelancers or contractors who speak on behalf of your brand.
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Brand tone FAQ
What is an example of brand tone?
Tone describes how a brand communicates and expresses its personality. It can change depending on the situation or audience. For example, you might take a funny tone on social media and a formal tone within a customer service email.
What is the difference between brand tone and brand personality?
The difference between brand tone and brand personality is that brand tone changes depending on the situation, while brand personality stays the same.
How do you create a brand tone?
To create brand tone, define your overall brand voice and find inspiration to learn what tones you want to strike and which you want to avoid. Create a tone guide, which outlines how you communicate on different platforms and in specific scenarios.
