What Is Personal Branding? And Why is it so Important to Your Brand?

Personal branding has been an important aspect of marketing since its inception. Even in traditional marketing, being recognised as a brand is key to inspiring customer retention, but in the world of digital marketing, your personal brand is essential.

But what actually is your personal brand and how can it affect your marketing potential? Read on now to find out the answers to these questions and more.

What is Personal Branding?

A personal brand is your brand identity. It encompasses all aspects of how you communicate your brand to the world and should reflect your values and unique selling point (USP) while also targeting your audience.

Brand identity can include everything from your brand colours to the tone of voice you use in written communication to the unboxing experience your customer has when they buy your products. It is multifaceted and inspires an association with your company, so it’s best to get it right!

As your personal brand is a combination of all parts of your business, including the services you provide, your brand personality, and the way you promote yourself, it is a deeply personal part of marketing. Your personal branding should communicate to the world why you’re different from your competitors and why they should choose you.

How to Build a Personal Brand

Building your personal brand may take some time. There are a few steps involved which are as follows.

1. Define who you are: This stage involves thinking about the brand as a whole. What do you want to achieve? What are your values? How would someone else describe your brand? This step should also involve a lot of authenticity. You don’t want to create an inauthentic brand as it is unlikely to align with your true values or resonate with your consumer base.
2. Find your target market: Knowing exactly who you are marketing is going to make branding a whole lot easier. Think about who the individuals are that you want to engage with your brand, and then do some thorough research on what they respond best to.
3. Create guidelines: The next step is to create a set of guidelines for any kind of marketing that is produced by your brand. This needs to include logo design, colour palette, font and typography, tone of voice, and any other visual aspects of marketing that could be included in campaigns, on your website, or any other output by your brand. Consistency is key to good marketing so having guidelines ensures you’re sticking to the same thing every time and building a recognisable brand.
4. Check out the competition: For any kind of branding, understanding your competitors is a really great way to see where you fit into the market, and possibly take advantage of areas that they aren’t targeting. If there is a brand you really admire in your niche, check out what they’re doing to make themselves successful.
5. Don’t be afraid of change: If you’re a new business, then consistency is the number one priority, but as your business grows, don’t be afraid to evolve with your market. If consumer preferences change, you will need to stay up-to-date and relevant for your consumer market.

Benefits of Good Personal Branding

So, now you know how to build your own personal brand for your company, what are you going to get out of it? Developing good branding takes time and effort, but there are a number of rewards in the end, including:

1. You’re trustworthy: A huge aspect of personal branding is giving your consumers a reason why you do what you do–this is why authenticity is key. If sustainability is really close to your heart, and it’s right there on the branding, consumers know you’re intentions and can see you’re making them public. This increases the trust that your brand is doing what they say they’re going to. Nobody trusts a brand that is unpredictable.
2. Increased value: Once you’ve developed your brand, it becomes more recognisable to people and they begin associating with it on a more emotional level. If a consumer can connect on a deeper level to your brand, then its value will increase. This means you can begin to charge more, act as an expert, and create demand for your service. All of these things will ensure you have a higher profit turnover too.
3. Differentiation: When you look at your competitors, it is always a good idea to ensure that you’re not creating branding that looks similar to theirs. You need to ensure that consumers can tell you apart–both visually and ideologically. Good personal branding means consumers know who is who and can choose the brand they know and trust easily.
4. You’re true to your values: If you’ve built your branding on your core values as a company, you’re much more likely to stick to them. This is true authenticity which is crucial for customer loyalty.
5. Increases credibility: A brand that has good marketing and recognisable visuals is always going to be more credible than one that does not. Good branding helps to establish you as a professional business and can ensure you’re taken seriously within your industry.
6. Boosts customer loyalty: Having a loyal customer base is essential to higher profits. If people keep coming back for more, then you’re going to keep making money. So, investing in a professional-looking, recognisable brand that is based on your values can ensure your customers know you and recognise you for what you’re worth.
7. Attracts new talent: Lastly, branding isn’t just about your customers, it can also be about your workforce too. A brand that is well-marketed is more likely to be well-known and well-known brands are often much more attractive to new talent than ones that are not. New talent can help your brand grow and reinvigorate your company when it needs it.

Final Thoughts

Personal branding is key to good marketing. It takes time and effort to create good branding, but the advantages of doing so far outweigh not doing it. Remember to stick to your values and exude authenticity when working on your strategy.

If you’re looking for a digital marketing agency to help you build a personal brand and take your marketing to the next level, then look no further than Rokir Media. With our marketing and advertising service, you can reach new and existing customers, boost engagement, and reinvigorate your brand. Get in touch now to discuss your project.