3 simple ways to elevate your brand’s tone of voice

Have you ever been turned off by a brand you've never even tried? Something about their approach just rubs you the wrong way, but you aren't sure exactly what that is. It may be a commercial or an Instagram post that just simply annoys you to no end. Mystery solved: it's the brand's tone of voice. This scenario proves that how you convey a message leaves a lasting memory. When the tone of voice is successful, it resonates with the right audience, building trust and connection. Developing a tone of voice for your brand can be complex. Layer on a luxury identity, and you'll really need to ask yourself some questions. Simply defining your voice as 'luxury' isn't enough because what luxury means to one person will mean something totally different to another. You'll need to get more specific to reach and connect with the audience you desire. How do you want to sound? What words and phrases do you want to use? These answers need to stem from your brand's values and personality in order to sound authentic — more on that later! If you're looking to elevate your brand's tone of voice to align with the luxury sector, we've compiled three simple ways to get you started. Remain authentic The first step to elevating your tone of voice is truly understanding your brand's identity. When a company creates a message based on its core values and characteristics, it will stand apart and connect with its audience. Take some time as a team and refine your mission statement and brand story on your website. Both of these pages can act as a baseline for employees, contractors, and even customers to start their relationship with your brand. Brand values are more important than ever since our society looked inward and became more aware during the COVID-19 crisis. Studies have shown that consumers now have a more profound concern over sustainability and inclusivity and expect luxury brands to act responsibly. This is where authenticity comes into play. Modern consumers know when a brand is faking it to check a box. And we all know nothing is cheaper than a fake. To ensure this hypersensitive communication sounds authentic, all value-based messaging needs to stem from a brand's core values or origin story. Another critical aspect of authenticity is consistency. A brand's tone of voice needs to match throughout all of its marketing channels; otherwise, people will notice the variation. We understand that social media should be a bit more casual, but all messaging should evoke the same consistent personality. Consumers will catch on if something feels off. So, luxury copywriting should speak with intention, emotion, and authenticity. Listen to your audience Once you've nailed down your brand's unique story and personality, it's time to take a deeper look into your audience. Elevating your voice as a luxury brand isn't as much about using fancy language as it is about sincerely understanding your customer. Once you know your audience, you can speak to them in a way that will resonate with them, which will eventually build trust. For someone to feel comfortable making high-end purchases, they need to believe in the brand as a whole, not just the product, which is done through messaging and a proper tone of voice. A great way to begin this stage is to have your brand's persona at the ready and any metrics you can find from Google Analytics or market research. Next, take the time to truly listen to your audience so you can learn how to speak their language. Look through social media, including tagged photos, comments, and competitor's pages. Take a look at the blogs your audience reads, including your own, and read the comments. If you are an e-commerce company, intently reading reviews of your own and competitors will reveal pain points that will not only improve your messaging but product quality, as well. This will all take some time and extra work, but doing so will enable you to build a deeper connection with your potential customer. Tone it down Sometimes what it takes to elevate your brand's copywriting is actually toning it down. Picture your favorite luxury brands: chic, understated, and high quality. And if you think about it, their messaging is the exact same way. This is 100% intentional. True luxury brands operate on a need-to-know basis in order to remain rare and exclusive. Take, for example, Bottega Veneta, who in 2021 completely deleted their Instagram page to eliminate oversaturation. The Italian fashion label is one of the most successful luxury brands of the moment, but they would prefer to be worn only by those who have discovered them on their own. The high-end consumer is attracted to the rarity of an item, so if your message is loud and all over the place, they will not be interested. Instead, go for concise and composed, explaining what's necessary but never going overboard. You can elevate your tone of voice by finding a way to express your brand's personality through as simple a message as possible. This may be obvious at this point, but please don't push your audience to purchase. Remain polite and never ask them to "buy now". Elevating your tone of voice starts with embracing what makes your brand special to ensure you come across as authentic. Because just like a handbag, no one likes a fake. Learning as much as you can about your target audience and then communicating to them with intention will leave them trusting and ready to invest. And as always, remember to keep it elegant and never push your high-end customer to purchase. If you use these three steps to elevate your copywriting, we're sure you'll succeed in attracting your target audience and turning them into long-term customers. Want to talk more about refining your tone of voice in the luxury market? Get in touch.