Messaging and tone of voice (rather like marketing and business development) are terms often used interchangeably, and incorrectly. The other day a client told us they didn’t understand what the terminology meant in a messaging strategy, and we had to hang our heads in shame. For an agency that spends a lot of time translating legalese into plain English, we had failed.
This article sets out to explain, simply and practically what the difference is between messaging and tone of voice, and why you need both.
The short version
Messaging is the what, why and who. Tone of voice is the how.
Both should work together. But if you get one without the other it is likely that the content you produce will fail to do what it needs to, both internally and externally.
What’s a messaging strategy?
A messaging strategy usually covers three things: who you’re talking to (audience), what makes you different (positioning), and what you actually claim to offer (key messages or pillars of content).
Your audience isn’t just who’s reading your content. A good messaging strategy goes deeper than that, including information on what they weigh up before trusting one firm over another, and where they go looking for that information in the first place.
Positioning is what actually makes your firm different, so the content doesn’t read like the other thirty firms saying the same thing.
And key messages are the specific claims you make about what a client gets, translated into their terms. Not “we provide commercially focused advice” but “we give you clarity so you can make better decisions.”
Where does tone of voice come in?
There is, of course, a fourth element – tone of voice.
This is the part that explains how you need to communicate to engage the audience (and respond to the different places they’re reading your content), position yourself correctly (so as to articulate what makes you stand out), and communicate the key messages (so the audience really understands and wants to work with you, because they can see the value).
Most firms treat tone as the finishing touch, the bit the branding agency adds once the rebrand is already signed off. Often it’s rolled out with creative visual work, rather than the messaging elements it needs to make it relevant. Having been sent dozens of these so-called tone of voice guides, we often think that this ‘not completing the whole job’ is a large part of why so many tone of voice guides get written, distributed, and then quietly ignored.
We’re saying you need to think about both messaging and tone of voice
Think of it this way. Messaging is the script. Tone of voice is the actor’s delivery. Get the script right and direct the wrong delivery, and you’re still snoring your way through the Greek play at KCL.
Consider this example. A call comes into reception at your firm. “Mr Brown isn’t available at the moment, I can take a message” isn’t wrong. It’s just lacking any sense of humanity and what the caller actually needs to hear in that moment. “Alex Brown is in a meeting right now, can I take a message and ask him to call you, or is there anything I can help you with?” says the same thing. But the delivery means it has a completely different impact with the end audience.
Here are two scenarios we see often.
Scenario 1.
A firm invests properly in its messaging. Audience mapped, positioning sharp, key messages tested and agreed by the partners who have to stand behind them. But the tone of voice never gets the same attention; nobody works out how any of it should actually sound. What comes out the other end isn’t wrong. But it’s clunky. Ok, it’s technically accurate, on-message, and covers every point in the strategy document but the result is tumbleweed blowing down the road. The thinking is there but the delivery hasn’t caught up with it, and marketing ends up rewriting the same sentences every time they go out.
Scenario 2.
The reverse but equally problematic. A firm goes through a rebrand. The branding agency delivers a polished tone of voice guide alongside the new logo: a handful of adjectives, some example sentences, a short do’s and don’ts list. It looks the part. But there’s no messaging strategy underneath it, so the team knows how they’re meant to sound and not what they’re meant to say. The guide sits in a folder with nobody using it, until a copywriting agency asks for it and then politely and respectfully rewrites it to include a bit more information.
Neither firm has a finished (or ultimately applicable) strategy. One has the argument without the voice to carry it. The other has a voice with nothing underneath it to say.
Does this really matter?
We’re not going to pretend that there aren’t agencies out there that charge a lot of money for so-called strategies, that have little practical application. But in our experience, having a solid, practical messaging and tone of voice strategy will underpin everything you do content-wise. It will impact on the line a partner uses in a pitch, in whether your directory submissions sound like the same firm as your website, in whether a new hire can write a client email that sounds like you within their first month or their first year. It’s the missing piece that links up marketing with business development, in many places.
Strategy and tone of voice aren’t two separate projects. They’re two chapters of the same document.
If any of this sounds familiar, it’s worth considering which half you’re missing before you write another word of content. Our Messaging & Tone of Voice Strategy looks at both your messaging and how it’s actually being applied, and tells you which one needs the work. And then we can help to do the job properly. Contact us if you’d like to talk it through.
