No surprise then, that the default position on this high-priority sort of project is looking for outside help. Outsourcing your tone of voice to an agency gives you access to experienced people and a proven process. In theory, that leads to a tone you can feel confident about – one with an external, expert seal of approval.
But, as you might expect a freelance copywriter to suggest, that’s not your only option.
Why you might need a tone of voice agency
From an established tone of voice agency (or just a more general branding house), you can expect a ready-to-run process that’s already been road-tested across different clients. That’s a huge benefit if you’re looking for speed and scale. The more people in the team, and the more structured the approach, the faster you can theoretically go.
At the same time, all those extra people – the copywriters, sure, but also the creative director, artworker, and so on – all bring a new perspective and their own creativity. I’ve worked on agency tone of voice projects where the best idea came from the account manager. An agency can often rally everyone together to throw their ideas into the mix (for better or worse), even if you end up throwing most of them away.
And, of course, there’s the fact that no tone of voice is an island. Everything happens in context. Whatever your tone of voice ends up being, it needs to work in close harmony with the rest of your brand, from your logo to your art style. A powerful way to lose any confidence from your customers is a mismatch between the way you communicate and the other elements that convey personality. If you have the most playful logo in the world but the most technical approach to your copy, you may as well not pay for either. Consistency is key.
In summary: A tone of voice, brand or design agency is the default for many projects. You’ll get a strong diversity of opinion and perspective, delivered through a structured process, from the same people who can tackle the visual side of a brand. It’ll be expensive.
Why you could use a tone of voice copywriter
Most freelance copywriters have dabbled in tone of voice; many of us do it regularly and for big-name clients.
The vast majority of the average copywriter’s tone of voice projects will be delivered through and in-partnership with an agency. You pay your agency, they in turn get a freelance copywriter who’s hopefully a specialist with some tone and guidelines experience under their belt. So, if you’re concerned about tone of voice project costs, there’s definitely a case for skipping the middleman.
Even the most affordable tone of voice agencies need to cover bigger costs than your average freelancer. That extra cost comes with some benefits in terms of resilience, capacity to scale up, and the assurance that comes from a bigger team.
If you can find the right freelance copywriter, though, you get the advantage of someone taking real ownership over your tone of voice – a more personal, boutique way of working, where one individual guides you through the process.
When I worked with Vitabiotics to define their updated tone of voice, it was me and the leadership. No layers of back and forth, no complexity. Even better, they were able to keep me on-board to check internal content for tone – a vital way to help everyone adopt the new guidelines, which is the whole point of the project.
In summary: When you work with an agency, there’s a good chance you’re ultimately getting a single copywriter anyway. If you’re lucky, they’re a freelancer with strong tone of voice experience. Going direct to the source could get many similar tone of voice agency services, potentially with a more personal touch.
When you can craft your own tone
Finally, there’s the lean, mean way of doing things: put your own tone of voice together at a fraction of the cost of outsourcing.
For small businesses and unfunded startups, this isn’t a bad idea. If you’re a team of one or two people, you don’t need to worry about consistency in the same way as a global brand with hundreds of people writing comms, copy and content every day.
That’s not to say there isn’t value in articulating your tone of voice and writing it down. But the stakes are lower in terms of consistency – although they’re probably higher in terms of competition.
Without a big, established brand behind you, tone of voice becomes a powerful way to stand out and command attention. I’m reluctant to use such a hackneyed example, but that’s why Innocent sold so much blended fruit and, more importantly, became the lazy copywriters go-to tone of voice example. They used their insight into the market to make tone their competitive edge.
In summary: Not everybody needs to pay for a comprehensive tone of voice project. Not everybody needs to define their tone of voice at all. But, if you decide to go your own way, expect to invest some time in understanding what’s important and how a successful tone of voice works. Hey, it just so happens I can help with that…
The Tone of Voice Toolkit: how impactful brand voices are built
The more you know about tone of voice and the traits of successful projects, the more you can make an informed decision about the approach that’s right for you. That’s why I decided to write down everything I know about tone of voice in a book: The Tone of Voice Toolkit.
Across two parts, it’s a practical look at:
- Why the right tone of voice is uncovered, not invented
- The step-by-step approach I use on tone of voice projects (that’s also worked well for the agencies I support)
- Why most tone of voice guidelines are overwritten and underused
- How to write strong guidelines that actually drive adoption and consistency
The Tone of Voice Toolkit is coming soon. In the meantime, you can register below for updates when it’s available.
Need more help? Get in touch to discuss your tone of voice project.
