Personal branding is the impression and feeling you will leave your audience with. Having a strong and impactful personal brand will shape your identity from those impressions.
According to HubSpot, “brand identity is made up of what your brand says, what your values are, how you communicate your product, and what you want people to feel when they interact with it. Essentially, your brand identity is the personality of your business and a promise to your customers.”
Here is what the foundation of a strong and impactful personal brand should feature:
A focus on what your purpose is
The most successful and impactful brands are very specific with their mission and vision. They identify what their business, expertise area, or passion project is, and they stay focused with the consistency required to promote themselves successfully, their business, or cause.
The more committed and focused you are with your purpose, the easier it is for your targeted audience to identify who you are with your niche.
Here’s how to do this
Identify one to three things you are enthusiastic about that you feel you can represent well with knowledge and passion.
For example, I’ve worked in the marketing field for more than 10 years, and I’m very passionate about informing audiences about elements of the area where I’m knowledgeable.
I’m also passionate about personal development, so my branding on Medium focuses on writing about marketing and personal development skills I have gained over the years.
Why it’s important
Without focus and purpose, there is really no direction your personal brand can go in and that is detrimental to your success.
An authenticity that tells your story
Authenticity is a vital ingredient in the strategy of a brand. It’s important to create a connection with your followers. The most extraordinary relationships come from human emotion or mutual interest.
One of the most successful ways to build your personal brand is by telling a story. Sharing a personal or professional narrative is an effective way to create a connection with your audience.
Here’s how to do this
Be honest with yourself. When you’re genuine and truthful with your audience, it will be easier to maintain your personal branding image and presence.
Why it’s important
Followers need to feel connected and apart of your world. And if you’re not willing to tell your story, then you’re going to lose an audience.
A unique one-on-one experience with your audience
There’s only one of you and potentially a million other individuals who are supporting you. Everyone wants to feel a one-on-one connection with those they admire. So it’s essential to personal branding to create an experience for your followers where they feel like they have a personal relationship with you.
The fastest and easiest way to create a unique one-on-one experience with your audience is to have an active social media presence. Tailor your social media posts to allow your followers to feel like they’re the only ones in the room.
Here’s how to do this
Ask yourself how you feel you could open yourself up on social media without sacrificing certain areas in your life that you want to keep private.
One of the most popular ways to create a personal experience with your audience is by sharing pieces of your personal life. Maybe you can share photos of special moments with your family or a video of an effective workout routine you enjoy.
Regardless of what you decide to share, make sure you take the time to interact with your audience when they comment on your posts or anything you are tagged in.
Why it’s important
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos once said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
Going out of your way to create a unique one-on-one experience with your audience will build powerful and impactful connections. It will also establish trust. These feelings and emotions will be what bring people back to you time and time again.
Consistency with your purpose and presence
If your personal brand represents a business, a specific niche or cause remains consistent with your strategy of what your mission and vision are.
Personal brands can evolve, but it’s also important to remain consistent with your presence. Make sure you post regularly on social media and interact with your audience.
Here’s how to do this
Remember what the one to three topics was that you built the purpose of your personal brand around. Stick with those elements for consistency, so people remember why they follow you and for anyone who is seeking you out for those specific topics.
For example, if you’re an expert in fashion design and regularly post on social media about fashion trends, don’t decide to branch out and be an expert on sports and offer your opinion on the industry’s latest trends.
Also, to make sure you’re consistent with your social presence, develop a content calendar that aligns with your purpose. Post daily, weekly and monthly to your social media channels and regularly engage with your audience within your social channels.
Why it’s important
By remaining consistent with the topics that you represent, you will become a trusted source of information so audiences will seek you out.
Being active on social channels will help build your following and grow your personal brand and business. Having a large following will also help solidify you as a trusted source, and more followers will seek you out.
Examples of strong and impactful personal brands
Having a strong and impactful personal brand is all about clearly portraying your message and having the right positioning and influence that touches an audience.
Here are some examples of strong and impactful personal brands:
Chip and Joanna Gaines — Magnolia
From humble beginnings of flipping homes and running the Little Shop on Bosque in Waco, TX, to having their own hit television show Fixer Upper on HGTV, the power couple have built an empire focused around the home.
They’re responsible for a resurgence within their community with the development around the Silos in Waco. The renovated area features shops, restaurants, and so much more. It’s become a destination for so many of their fans.
They’ve brought their home goods, and famous “farmhouse appeal” to the world with the Hearth and Hand collection available through Target and have moved onto developing their own television network.
Chip and Jo are both marketing and communications graduates of Baylor University; they are masters of personal branding and very careful with the causes and products they attach themselves to. Their message centers around kindness and making an impact.
You won’t see the two attach themselves to anything politically; however, you will see them get involved with social issues because of their Magnolia Manifesto of kindness and acknowledging that “we are made better when we all work together.”
They tackled social change and involved their entire family with Emmanuel Acho’s Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. And while their business suffered damage during the winter storms in Waco, TX in February 2021, they focused on getting help for their fellow Texans who were suffered from water shortages and power outages.
Their ultimate connection to their audience comes from their social media interaction and allowing fans to into their home to be apart of their family through personal photos and stories.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary started his career by creating content to promote his family’s retail wine business. From there, he grew into an entrepreneur, investor, and CEO of multiple media businesses.
He offers business and personal advice — continually putting out inspiring and powerful content on hustling and being conscious of work-life balance.
He always is ahead of the curve with new technology and advises his followers on how to leverage new mediums in the marketing field successfully.
Whether it’s connecting with followers through social media channels or his various podcasts, his success stems from the connections he has with his audience through mentoring them.
LeBron James
LeBron is a successful basketball player in the NBA. Whether or not you follow sports, chances are you know who he is.
His social media following has allowed him not to attach his identity to a team, but as an individual player. His branding worked so well he landed his special: “The Decision” when he announced the team he would be signing in 2010.
What makes his personal branding genuinely successful is the good he’s been able to do with local charities that he’s passionate about. The LeBron James Family Foundation focuses on the importance of education and “invests its time, resources, and attention in the kids of LeBron’s hometown of Akron, Ohio.”
Want to develop a communication skill set that will put your life on a whole new trajectory? Click here to subscribe and grab my FREE Effective Communication Techniques that will place the world in the palm of your hands.