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Start using language and messaging to craft a "tone" for your shop that speaks directly to your customers, with specific-to-resale examples
Now that you have all of the values that drive your brand in mind, you can use them to talk to your ideal customer.
What’s an ideal customer, you ask? Go read our Finding New Customers series, then come back here.
We’ve already covered using insights to talk directly to potential customers — and now we’re going to dig a bit deeper on how to translate that to tone, which is a key part of brand voice.
Your brand voice is partly yours — that’s where your mission, values and unique selling proposition come in — and it’s partly theirs (your customers!). As much as it’s an extension of you, it’s also an extension of your customers' personalities and values.
We use the information we developed through our customer persona to determine the language style and messaging that would most appeal to our prospective customers.
In the world of branding, "tone" refers to the emotional quality, attitude and style of communication that a brand uses to engage with its audience.
It's like the personality of your shop shining through ALL of your communications. That’s not just social media. It’s promo emails, newsletters, captions, listing text, blog posts, website copy, even the way you speak to your audience when you’re casually hopping on a Facebook Live or a Whatnot sale.
Tone shapes how people perceive and connect with your shop.
Imagine your shop’s brand is a person at a social gathering. Just like the partygoers have distinct ways of expressing themselves — maybe there is the jokester, the “mom” who is taking care of everyone, the socially awkward one, the one who knows everyone who walks in the room — your shop has its own unique way of speaking and interacting. That’s tone.
Whether in paid ads, organic social media posts, customer support interactions, the way you speak to others in the industry, or any other form of communication, your brand's tone creates a consistent and memorable impression that sets you apart in the minds of your customers.
Customer persona: Professional woman, mid-30s, works in a corporate setting but kind of hates it because she’s actually an artist. Looking for workwear that makes her stand out and express her personality.
Brand tone: Irreverent, fun, bold (everything that your customer is in her personal life). Gently dragging corporate life.
Examples of how to apply:
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Continued from above
Customer persona: Collector of Canadiana antiques, 50s something, considers themselves a bit of a historian, spends weekends at the cottage with their family, dreaming of retirement.
Brand tone: Knowledgeable, relatable, down-to-earth, aspirational. Lots of research and facts.
Examples of how to apply:
It’s a delicate balance to ensure you’re still yourself (something that is important especially on social media) while carrying a brand tone that may not be exactly aligned with who you are as a person.
For example, if you’re a 50-something selling antique art but your customers at markets actually tend to be 25-year olds who are super into the antique art trend, you may need to find the balance between your tone and theirs.
They might call a piece of art “slay,” but you wouldn’t, and it wouldn’t be natural for you if you don’t use the word yourself.
In that case, still try to put them first when communicating. Why is your product important to them? If your customers are young, think about the niching down test from our Finding New Customers articles.
They might want that antique art because it’s more affordable and they’re on a tight, student-that-just-graduated budget. So you can speak to them that way:
Listing: “Cover your bare apartment wall with this 1981 signed poster print…”
Email subject line: “Affordable antique art: Shop our 30% off sale”
Social media idea: 3 ways to make antique frames warm up an empty wall
Market sign idea: Ditch the dorm-room look with antique art prints $10 and under
The point is, knowing as much as you can your customer will help you speak to more of them, consistently across every single channel you use to communicate.
As you talk to customers, over time you’ll find their preferences change — especially as the market evolves.
Consider a yearly check-in with yourself about your brand tone. Think about who your customers are, who your followers are, who the people you engage with in your selling environments are. What do they want right now? Update your personas and tone accordingly.
Experiment with different messaging approaches to see what resonates best with your customers.
When someone feels like you are speaking directly to them, they will usually take the time to tell you! Then do more of that.
Next up, we’ll cover how to build brand pillars and content ideas.
Have questions about brand tone? Let us know in the comments!
