Read the accompanying blog post on the 360i blog: Read the blog post here: http://blog.360i.com/social-marketing/brand-social-voice

1. ©2012 360i LLC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Your Brand’s Social
Tone of Voice
How to Create a Unified Voice in Social Media
Rosie Siman, Senior Strategist & Cultural Curator
Read the blog post here: http://blog.360i.com/social-marketing/brand-social-voice
@rosiesiman / rosiesiman.com / thetuesdayten.com

2. ©2012 360i LLC. All Rights Reserved.
2
A well-defined brand voice
helps make content sticky
TONE LANGUAGE
PERSONALITY CONTENT
You’ll want to make sure
you’re authentic – but by
outlining personality traits
and acting more like a person
and less like a corporation,
you’re giving your community
a reason to engage.
It’s not just what you say
and how you say it, but
what you share. Defining
your brand’s social tone of
voice will help set
standards for content
creation and curation.
Snarky Bold Irreverent Your Cooler, Funnier Wingman Style Guru Perky Down To Earth
Tone may change based on
content or audience, but
those changes should be
nuance – An overarching
tone will set the stage of
how you behave.
Personality and tone can be
interpreted differently.
Setting linguistic guidelines
will help all content creators
have specific rules they can
check themselves against.

3. ©2012 360i LLC. All Rights Reserved.
3
How does a brand voice
manifest socially?
Brands, like people, should adjust their voice depending on who you’re talking to and where the
conversations are taking place.
An attitude
A filter
Flexible
Personal style
Unique, but natural
Semantics
A point of view
One part of a bigger picture
Capitalization & punctuation
Accessible
The secret sauce
Representative
Fractured
Fake
Complicated
All-encompassing
A set of words
Pre-approved responses
A Britney medley at a Phish concert
Forced
Rigid
Complete
IS IS NOT

4. ©2012 360i LLC. All Rights Reserved.
4
Start with inspiration
1. A social tone of voice shouldn’t be
a complete 180. Ask employees and
people working with the brand to share
their favorite pieces of existing
communication & those that they
feel are most representative of the
brand – from status updates and
tweets to brochures to internal
employee communication.
2. Look externally and identify
other brands that you feel have
nailed it.
• What elements do you like?
• How is it received by their audience?
• How does their voice change by
platform?
• How do they showcase their brand
personality through language?
3. In social media, it’s important to
act like a person instead of a
corporation. Identify a muse for your
brand – someone you can look to for
inspiration for both personality traits &
linguistic cues.
Have your core team identify inspiration from other brands, but also from within.

5. ©2012 360i LLC. All Rights Reserved.
5
Workshop the solution
How would employees describe your brand? How would competitors
describe your brand? What’s your brand truth?
BRAND 101
Who are you talking to? How does this differ based on platforms? How do
they perceive your brand?
AUDIENCE
What personality traits does your muse have that your brand should aspire
to? How do they change their personality based on who they’re talking to?
PERSONALITY
TRAITS
If your muse is a celebrity, consider printing out scripts from a movie/show
they’ve been in so that people can identify linguistic cues. How does your muse
speak? Does he/she have a catch phrase? Do they use slang or are they a bit
more formal?
LINGUISTIC
CUES
You’ll want at least 3 people and no more than 40. If you have more than 10 people, split into groups
of no more than 10. Guide participation through questions that will provide inputs for a guide.
TIP: Know where you’re going before you get there. Work with your community manager(s) and
strategist(s) to set a tone for the day and to have an idea of the direction you want to go in.

6. ©2012 360i LLC. All Rights Reserved.
6
Creating a guide
Make it pretty.
You’ll want something that community & content managers, and even brand
managers, will want to keep on their desks.
Designate a leader – and empower them.
While many people should participate in the workshop, you’ll want a core team
of 2-3 who will lead the development of the voice and the output document.
1
2
3
Keep it short and sweet.
Give just enough detail for people to feel like they have something to follow, but
don’t overwhelm as too many guidelines can limit creativity.
Include examples.
Develop sample content that’s written within the new social tone of voice. Point
out which personality traits were used and linguistic cues referenced for easy
understanding.
4

7. ©2012 360i LLC. All Rights Reserved.
7
360i is an award-winning digital marketing agency that drives results for
Fortune 500 marketers through insights, ideas and technologies. 360i
helps its clients think differently about their online presence and evolve
their strategies to take advantage of the new world of marking
communications – one where brands and consumers engage in interactive
and multi-directional conversations. In 2010, AdAge named 360i to its
prestigious Agency A-List. Current clients include Kraft Foods, JCPenney,
Coca-Cola, NBC Universal and Diageo, among others. For more
information, please visit www.360i.com or follow us on Twitter @360i.
About 360i

8. blog.360i.com