Voice

What we mean by brand voice:

The authentic personality of our brand

1. What does our brand persona, The Luminary, sound like?

Why do we need this:

A consistent, distinct brand voice sets us apart from competitors, builds trust and familiarity with our customers and eventually leads to long-term brand value.

The Sprout brand voice

Of course, just as in your own day-to-day communication, there are nuances we should be careful to observe:

Bold

Sprout is confident enough in our authority to not mince words. We’re always clear and direct, and we’re not afraid to speak our minds.

There’s a fine line between bold and brazen. We never want to come off harsh or demeaning, or like an attack. To stay inspirational, focus on the positive of what we want others to say/do/think.

Too timid/safe:

“Maybe social is more than a marketing channel”

Too harsh:

“Stop thinking social is just a marketing channel”

Just right:

“Social is more than a marketing channel”

• Be direct and confident
  • Avoid hedge words like “maybe,” “possibly,” “potentially,” “can,” etc.
    • Ex: Sprout can help you xyz Sprout helps you xyz
  • Use strong words (ie. excellent and challenging) instead of relying on weak modifiers (ie. very good and really hard)
• Be honest
• Be concise
  • Omit needless words. Don’t say in ten words what you can say in two.
  • Avoid:
    • Long and/or complex words and sentences
    • Multiple words with the same meaning
    • Unnecessary modifiers
    • Clunky common expressions

Inspiring

We balance our boldness out with positivity and inspiration. We’re not just here to tell it like it is, but more importantly how it could be. Our words should stir hope, excitement, possibility, creativity and innovation.

Keeping our words positive, actionable and active will go a long way in communicating this tone.

Too passive:

“Social is full of untapped potential”

Too negative:

“You’re not using social to its fullest potential”

Just right:

“Unlock the full potential of social to transform your business”

• Incorporate motivational words
  • Accomplish, action, ambition, believe, capable, challenge, commitment, courage, dare, determination, drive, envision, excellence, focus, goals, hope, imagination, joy, mission, opportunity, passion, possibilities, potential, succeed/success, value
• Use active voice and lead with active verbs as often as possible
• Put a positive spin on any perceived negative
• Focus on the desired state

Authentic

Bold and inspiring on their own could lead to sounding too preachy or lofty. Prioritizing authenticity will remind us to stay grounded.

To stand out from the “power words” and jargon pervasive in our industry, we’ll lean heavy into talking like humans. (Just don’t try too hard to sound cool and relatable by using slang).

Too desperate:

“It’s time to make social your bae”

Too markety:

“It’s time to take your use of social to the next level”

Just right:

“Reimagine the role of social in your business”

• Talk with, not to or about
  • Embrace: we, our, you
• Make it personal, don’t generalize
  • Use: names, faces and specifics when possiblee
• Avoid technical jargon and commonly-used marketing phrases
  • Marketing words that have lost their meaning
• Use smaller words
• Keep it conversational
• Avoid slang

Tone

What we mean by brand tone

While our brand voice will always remain consistent, our tone may vary slightly depending on the situation, audience or content type.

By situation:

When Sprout talks to media, we may take a more authoritative tone. More confident, definitive statements, fewer questions, fewer apologies. We want to come off as an expert or leader in our field. No unnecessarily big words here, but calm, clear and concise.

When Sprout posts on social, we can unbutton a few buttons. Here we can be a bit more playful, use emojis, use (some) exclamation points, and be a bit more empathetic and compassionate. Remain confident, but feel free to keep it casual.

When Sprout handles customer issues, we dial up the empathy and compassion. We want to know how we can help them succeed. We talk much less about ourselves and our products and more about their unique challenges. Avoid being overly apologetic, stay cool, calm and confident the whole time. Focus on the fix, not on the fail.

By audience

By content type