30: SHAPING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND
Today, arguably more than ever before, building a strong personal brand is a key component in the world of e-commerce. Consumers are on the search for brands they trust and that align with their values so they feel good about where their money is going. Having a strong, well-known brand enhances your credibility with customers, your industry, and the marketplace as a whole. As you build your credibility, you also build recognition, loyalty, and competitiveness. As part of a national consumer survey SproutSocial found that, “When customers feel connected to brands, more than half of consumers (57%) will increase their spending with that brand and 76% will buy from them over a competitor.”
Safe to say building and shaping your personal brand is an exciting and crucial step towards building your profile, business, and future revenues. But before we begin building out the steps to personalizing your brand it is imperative that you define the type of brand that you would like to build. Who is your target audience? What message or expertise are you hoping to share? When it comes down to it, a personal brand is essentially how others perceive you. The work of personal branding then becomes to take control of that perception and shape it into whatever you want.
The most successful brands are those who tell a compelling story, make an emotional connection, or identify and contribute to causes their consumers care about. Once you are able to narrow in on what your brand is communicating, it’s time to better get to know your audience.
What demographics or communities does your brand have most in common with? What is your audience concerned about? What is your audience looking forward to? Can you identify any trends in their consumer habits based on other brands they trust? Ultimately, the better you understand where your audience is coming from, the more effective your brand will be.
Since your personal brand hits a little too close to home, it is useful to get feedback from friends, mentors, colleagues, and others who can provide insight from a different perspective. Ask them what they appreciate most about you or what makes you uniquely you. The more authentic and genuine your brand is the more connected consumers feel to your messaging. Be open to receiving feedback from your consumers as well and incorporating it into your brand. Remember that feedback like this is one of the best ways to grow and sharpen your brand.
Defining and refining your personal brand is a long term process that grows with you. Each person approaches it differently depending on the marketing goals they hope to achieve. However, for me it’s been helpful to remind myself that at the end of the day my personal brand is about me and the inherent value I bring. Social media can often distort our own perceptions of ourselves. Therefore I find it empowering to work on shaping my personal brand to reflect my thoughts, feelings, and values through my own lens.
Whether you know it or not, you already have a personal brand. Anything that you have posted, liked, shared is part of your brand. However, with some strategy and foresight you can shape your personal brand and leverage it to support your work, time, and compensation. This is the start of an empowering and fun experience, so here’s to the start of the next great brand!
