The world of marketing has been around for a long time, and, with it, the concept of businesses honing an identifiable, eye-catching brand to help promote their business. Most people can spot that giant, yellow “M” made out of French fries from a mile away and know that it’s McDonald’s. It’s easy to spot an Apple product among other brands due to its signature symbol of an apple with a bite taken out.
Signature colors, symbols, and slogans are what most people think of when identifying a business brand. In the age of social media and influencers, however, has come the launch of personal branding.
What is personal branding?
Personal branding is the branding an individual uses to promote themselves or their small business/freelance service. This can be anything from the colors and fonts on someone’s resume and business card to the color palette of their curated Instagram feed. Fonts, colors, and even logos and monograms are often how people promote themselves and help their expertise or their small business stand out among others.
Why should individuals use personal branding?
If you own a business, your personal brand is important due to your visibility as the head of a business. But personal branding is not just for CEOs and small-business owners. Individuals seeking to work freelance, start a blog, get into speaking gigs, or publish a book also need to establish personal brands. When it comes to a world of profits, you are essentially one tiny business that markets itself to clients and employers. Having a defined personal brand makes it much easier (and more efficient) to get started and get your foot in the door.
Why should businesses use personal branding?
Especially as para-social relationships with influencers and brands alike have become the norm, the term personal branding has also started to refer to the values and standards held up by an individual or business. Consumers want to know that their hard-earned money is going toward an entity that acts responsibly and does some good in the world (or, at least, doesn’t continue adding to the problem).
Corporate use of social media means that businesses have a much wider set of potential consumers from around the world and within differing proximity to the company itself. These consumers use these social media channels to communicate with each other—and the business itself. With more information and a larger communal impact than ever, consumers have placed more pressure on businesses to not only be straightforward about their practices and values but to ensure that they’re ethical in the eyes of their consumers.
What does personal branding look like?
On the surface, personal branding takes a very similar form to business branding. Designers are tasked with selecting a color palette, font style, and logo for a seamless brand across ads, websites, and social media. A gym, for example, may choose bold, bright colors to show consumers that they’re a fun and positive place to workout in. Sleek lines and a neutral color palette generally speak to luxury or minimalistic brands. However, personal branding goes further than just color and aesthetics.
Having clear access to your business’s mission statement, values, and practices (think fair trade and ecological standards) is a great start. Consumers often view businesses that hide these in dark corners of their website (or don’t talk about them at all) as trying to hide poor ethics.
You can also use social media to show off your values. You can do this explicitly with graphics and carousels, or simply show how you or your business interact with the surrounding community. Do you have partnerships with other small businesses? Can you be found at events in the area? Snap pictures any time you’re out and about to show what you’re interested in. Also, remember that consumers can often see your posts and posts you’ve liked, commented on, or shared, so make sure those align with your brand as well.
The bottom line:
Branding is the core of any marketing strategy. At the end of the day, just being knowledgeable about what your brand says about you and how it reflects your values is a great step toward generating a reliable and loyal consumer base. These consumers don’t just buy your products or utilize your services—they enjoy working with you. And that’s a great step toward a better business and a better community.
Speaking of personal branding, you can check out our personal values, or you can check us out on social media using the buttons above.
