Digital Skills - Understand Audience

An introduction to the tone of voice with s ome useful expressions The tone of voice how your business speaks – the expression of your values and identity through spoken and written language. Shortened to TOV. Conversational - This is used to describe a personal TOV that speaks to your audience in an informal, genuine and friendly way, which is especially important on social media. Feed - A list of content relevant to an individual user, that is curated for them by each social platform. It’s often created by gathering a recent selection of social posts from within that platform. Each platform gives it a different name. On Facebook, it is called News Feed. TOV Guideline Document -  A definitive description of what your business’s TOV actually is, and how it should be used. It’s designed to be shared with your employees so all communications from your business are consistent.

Build relationships with your followers Retain your new followers by keeping them interested and engaged. The more you listen to them, the more they will feel valued. Respond to people’s comments on your posts and create your own comments too. This can spark a conversation and engage even more people. For example: Imagine you run a restaurant business. Posting your opening times and prices is not very engaging content. But if you share a new dish, ask for opinions or encourage audience participation through polls, discussions, and competitions, this could lead to a more engaged, and potentially bigger, audience. Make sure to spend time with your online community to gain valuable insights into your audience’s needs and interests. This information can also help you shape your business and the products and services you offer to ensure you remain competitive. Consider your followers as a focus group from which you can gain knowledge that will inform both your business and your soc

Consistency is the key Shifts in TOV can be incredibly confusing for your audience. Once you’ve defined your voice, use it consistently in all of your communications. People need to know what they’re getting from every interaction with you – it’s reassuring and lets them know you’re a reliable business. However, while your TOV needs to be consistent, it also needs to be adaptable in certain situations. For example, you might be a fun, chatty brand. But while you might post something humorous to engage people on social media, you wouldn’t respond to a customer complaint with a joke.