The importance of personal branding in the world we live in is actually kind of crazy. There are hundreds of thousands of influencers that work remotely through social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and even YouTube. Anyone who owns a business needs to understand the importance of personal branding because even though it looks fun and easy, it is very difficult and time consuming. It is an actual business even though the influencer might seem like they are creating beautiful content effortlessly. This blog post will cover what a personal brand is, the skills you need for your personal brand, and how you can build your own personal brand. Let's get right to it!
Personal Brand
Blue Focus Marketing defines any brand as "the sum total of the entire customer experience, the collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer." Your brand is defined by any and everything that comes to your customer's mind when they hear your name. For example, Amazon's brand is highly focused on their prime service, Walmart on their lowest prices, and Apple on their beautiful simplistic designs.
Skills You Need
As you are building a personal brand, you need two sets of skills. Soft skills and hard skills are two different types of qualities that you have, which can be highlighted in your brand. To succeed, you need both and not just one over the other! Here are some examples of what each type of skill actually is:
Soft Skills Hard Skills
- Having charisma - Ability to use a program like Microsoft Office
- Being open and approachable - Ability to analyze reports like revenue and finances
- Being empathetic - Management skills
- Adaptability - Presentation skills
- Communication skills - Technical skills
How to Build a Personal Brand
Scan your environment: Understand the industry trends, get to know your competitors, and figure out which skills you need to be successful.
Create your brand value proposition: What is the benefit to your audience and why would they care about you? You can build a brand value proposition by answering these questions: Who are you? What do you stand for? What are your beliefs and values? What are some of your traits? What makes you YOU? What are you passionate about?
Position your brand: What will your audience think of your brand and why are you unique?
Know your brand's story: Your story needs to be something that you can live by, literally. As a personal brand owner and an influencer, your audience needs to understand your story clearly through your content.
Develop a content strategy: Understand how you can reach your audience and research what kinds of content they like so that you can ensure you are providing that type of content.
Develop a content distribution strategy or a media plan, then measure your results: You can use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to grow your personal brand and to reach an audience who might be interested in what you do. Always remember, that quality is more important than quantity. So, start with one platform, then grow into the other ones that might benefit your brand.
I hope that this blog post helpful for your personal brand and as always, you can contact me with questions or topic requests on my instagram @miss_feyza.
Good luck!
Feyza