Apples and Apples: Match your voice to who you are

I've talked a lot, both on this blog and in other venues, about developing your brand's tone of voice and messaging personality. However it's crucial to understand that you can't just pick whatever you feel like.

It's important to know, when you're choosing your brand's voice, that it has to match your actual personality, who you are.

For example, even in the early days of the Mozilla Firefox browser, their messaging was clear about the personality of their business. It was fun, humorous, and human. When a page wouldn't load, you'd get a clear error message saying "Well, this is embarrassing."

It's shows humor, humility, and brings out the humanity behind the big, shiny, digital world. It's easy to think of the internet as a big machine, so this message is a nice reminder to users that there are real, live people behind it all. It also makes it immediately evident that Firefox is a friendly, low-key business.

Now, would this same message work for the bank or financial organization supporting your IRA or big, serious investments? Probably not. As the world changes and becomes a little more laid back about business interactions, there might be a place for this, but for now, these witty, fun tones of voice just don't jive with certain companies or industries. Would you trust the funny, bumbling "oopsies!" guy with thousands of your dollars? Probably not.

It can be a jarring experience to expect one thing from a business and get another. It turns people off and makes you lose potential (and maybe current) customers. If it doesn't feel right or you don't know who you're dealing with, you'll bounce and go to someone who better communicates their values.

If your company culture encourages fun and humor, make that come through in the way you speak with your customers. If you're in a serious business where everything is very structured and to-the-point, your tone of voice should reflect that.

Pair apples with apples, not apples with oranges. Be true to who you are in all your messaging and communications, and it'll all flow naturally!