How a personal brand can benefit your business

Let's say you've created the perfect product. We hired an excellent marketer, so all advertising needs were fully addressed. You have perfect value for money. But the market is oversaturated, and you no longer have the tools to leave your competitors behind. How to influence a client’s opinion and convince him to choose you? There is one secret weapon that kills on the spot - it is a personal brand.

Personal brand is a public and recognizable image of a person who is associated with a specific company. Most often this is the owner, director or chairman of the board. This is an image, intentionally or unintentionally created in the information space, which evokes certain emotions in people.

To make it easier to understand how important a personal brand is in business, here are specific examples:

1. When your car breaks down, you ask your friends for the contact information of the repairman, not the workshop.
2. When you get sick, you look for recommendations from a specific doctor, not a clinic.
3. When you want to order a cake, you find out from your friends the contacts of a trusted pastry chef, and don’t just go to the pastry shop in the next house

When we want to receive a service and be sure of the result, we always look for a specific specialist. People are accustomed to knowing and trusting a specific person who is behind a beautiful sign and logo. This is why a personal brand is so important and can equally enhance your company’s reputation or destroy it in one moment.

One of the striking, albeit controversial, examples of a successful personal brand is entrepreneur Oleg Tinkov. The businessman’s public statements sometimes led to reputational scandals and losses, but it is difficult not to admit that it was largely thanks to Tinkov’s fame and “closeness” to the audience that his business became so profitable.

In order to successfully build a personal brand, you need to develop a specific strategy.

Defining the goal

This is the most important step. Ask yourself the question: “Do I need a personal brand and why?” Many entrepreneurs deliberately remain in the shadows, not advertising their identity and not personalizing their business. You must understand that publicity, in addition to its advantages, will also bring great responsibility. Are you ready to monitor your image 24/7? If yes, then you can move on to the next step.

Analyzing ourselves

Quite a difficult stage. You need to honestly answer yourself which aspects of you are advantages, and which qualities you need to work on. To begin with, we recommend playing on your advantages, making them public, but it is better to avoid demonstrating your weaknesses. In the future, you will have to make a lot of effort to minimize your shortcomings and make them least noticeable.

Choosing your target audience

It is impossible to please everyone, so the target audience must be determined as accurately as possible. Based on this analysis, the entire further strategy for developing a personal brand will be built. Determine not only your target audience, but also all its features - pains and problems, habits, interests, even communication style and slang.

Developing a line of behavior

This stage follows directly from the previous one. Determine how you communicate with your audience. You can be cold and distant, emphasizing expertise. You can be “your guy” - post memes and use obscene language. Or be an ideal correct person, avoiding negative emotions. But be sure to focus on what is closest to you. People must trust you, which means it is important to avoid pretense and hypocrisy.

We monitor the regularity

For your personal brand to work, it is important to monitor the regularity of your contact with your audience. Use various platforms and tools: social networks, publications in magazines, regional and federal television, public actions and events. Based on your budget and capabilities, but don’t settle on just one tool.

Content construction can also be systematized to extract maximum benefit and avoid mistakes. We recommend relying on Dilts' pyramid of neurological levels:

Environment. Share with people what surrounds you. Your home and interior, stylish images, travel photos, favorite pets.

Actions. For example, morning jogging, yoga classes, handicrafts or drawing. This also includes your public appearances at events as a speaker.

Opportunities. Tell us about your professional achievements. Share news about developing new products, receiving awards and accolades, professional training and advanced training.

Beliefs and values. Don't be afraid to demonstrate your attitude to public events, but try to avoid harsh emotional overtones. Show your audience empathy and involvement, for example through participation in charity events.

Identity. Showcase your individuality and humanity. Share joyful events or experiences, talk about difficulties or ask for advice. Don’t strive to seem ideal, become closer to your audience, sharing their problems and failures.

Once you have determined a strategy for building a personal brand and have begun to work in this direction step by step, analyze your results to ensure there are no common mistakes.

1. Incorrect definition of target audience
If the popularity of your business has not grown over a long period of time, perhaps you have incorrectly identified the group of people you need to target.

2. Inconsistency of behavior with your target audience
It is important to understand the thoughts and views on life of your target audience in order to speak the same language with them.

3. Development of only a personal brand, without mentioning business
Don't forget that the purpose of a personal brand is to promote your product. Share business news, show how much you love your work, and instill the value of what you create through personal example.

4. Expecting instant results
Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Personal branding is certainly very effective as a marketing tool, but it requires a lot of time and regular action.

5. Lack of system
It's like in sports: without systematic action there will be no result. Touch your audience every day, look for interesting news, be honest and frank, and then the result will not be long in coming.

Undoubtedly, having a personal brand is what distinguishes a modern successful business. Like anyone marketing tool, it requires creativity, regularity and effort. If you don’t know where to start, how to find out your target audience, what strategy to choose, then we recommend contacting consultation to professionals. Our marketers will help you determine the vector of development of your brand - both personal and business. If you avoid mistakes and create the right image, then the publicity of an entrepreneur can multiply profits and ensure the success of the company.