The Ultimate Guide to Personal Branding in 2023
Whatever we say and do will communicate who we are and what we value to other people. Our brand is an amalgamation of all there is about us. Our Facebook posts, our Instagram stories, our group of friends, our outfits, our blog posts, our choices of words, our logo designs, our intonation — basically everything.
We can ignore personal branding all we want, but it exists. Whether we like it or not, every social interaction prompts people to form opinions about us and box our identity. It is up to us to control the narrative, amplify our strengths, and reduce the noise.
Everyone can leverage personal branding to their advantage: street sweepers, site owners, plumbers, CEOs, stylists, ceramic artists, tech executives, and textile workers. Personal branding can catapult your professional life or social life to your desired goals, be it more sales in Facebook advertising, an increased number of clients, or loyal YouTube followers.
So, how do we make our brand work for us? Let’s get to the heart of the topic and identify first what a personal brand is and is not.
What Is Personal Branding?
Personal branding is the process of understanding your goals and formulating an identity that aims to achieve those goals. For instance, if you wish to attract higher paying clients, it might help to pose yourself as a premium skilled individual with lots of experience and better deliverables. Or, if you want to be viewed as a CEO who is an expert in your field, you might need to publish peer-reviewed articles and present in seminars or conferences about your experiences.
Curation is the keyword. You must carefully curate how you present yourself in every social interaction so that every perception aligns with your goals. However, it doesn’t come easy. You need to see that your language, style, messaging, people surrounding you, and platform of choice correspond to your desired identity.
Personal branding is closely tied to the internet because you can quickly build your presence. Although personal branding happens offline, it is online where it has the most significant impact.
Consider recruitment. According to a Career Builder study, 70% of hiring managers would look up to social media to screen candidates. And unfortunately, 30% of them think it’s a reasonable ground for rejection. Another study on 156 human resource and marketing specialists found that 86% of recruiters would immediately look up a candidate’s LinkedIn profile after receiving the application.
And it doesn’t just happen in recruitment. Personal branding is also for tenured people like CEOs and executives. Remember to these people, their target audience matters a lot. In this study, 82% of consumers would trust a company whose CEO is active on social media, and 43% would consider a CEO’s reputation. This means every CEO should be careful how they present themselves online.
But perhaps where personal branding gets magnified a lot is its impact on social media — from regular users to content creators and influencers.
If you use social media, you know that not everything gets posted. You only choose the ones that will highlight your glamorous life. But for those who want to grow their following and be called content creators and influencers, personal branding takes an arduous and meticulous level. Here, you are your own business. Your personality, body, face, and messages are your products. Therefore, your source of income is dependent on your brand.
Why is Personal Branding Important?
Why go over the hassle of personal branding? Here are some benefits to a well-curated personal brand:
- Credibility and Trust
In an era of rampant misinformation, having a solid personal brand helps establish credibility. People who recognize and trust your brand are more likely to trust your content, advice, or services.
Even if you have nothing to sell but genuinely care about people (like helping them with medical advice), your expert and professional advice will draw more people in. This can foster a culture of trust around your followers.
This also works for freelancers and small businesses. After all, genuine businesses that care for their target audience will create truthful and credible content to amplify their brand. Over time, this personal brand will create trust, and then the purchases will follow.
Professional coaches, content creators, graphic designers, marketing specialists, media buyers, and many more can benefit just by considering working on their brand.
- Career Opportunities
A well-established personal brand can open doors to new job opportunities, collaborations, and partnerships. Employers and clients are likelier to approach individuals with a clear and professional online presence. Nowadays, most recruiters in dominating industries like tech, design, banking, and consulting have been tapping social media as part of their profiling.
Candidates with a more professional setup are more likely to push through to the point that some HR professionals would reject people mentioning drug use and alcohol consumption.
- Networking
Your brand acts as a beacon, attracting like-minded professionals and potential collaborators. It makes you more memorable in networking events and online interactions. Of course, it’s not just buyers or potential employers that are looking at your brand. Even colleagues, clients, and potential romantic partners will judge you based on your online and offline branding.
If your brand is up to par with your expectations, networking in social and professional settings is much easier. Offline, you can control how you look and how you sound. Online is where your work takes place. How you set yourself up will be able to explain your identity to other people. Note that some people consider a digital footprint a deal breaker when dating or collaborating with others. That’s why it’s essential to plan your brand depending on who your target audience is.
- Control Over Your Narrative
Most people don’t understand that whether you care or not, you have a personal brand.
The advantage of those who understand it is that you control the narrative so that it works to your advantage. Otherwise, you might garner negative perceptions from others, which can affect your overall online identity and, therefore, affect how people react and interact with you.
Personal branding allows you to control the narrative around your professional journey. Instead of letting others define you, you get to tell your story your way.
How To Build Your Brand
While it looks easy, building a personal brand doesn’t happen overnight. A good personal brand is a result of continued creation and planning. Therefore, you might need to set up a system or a process that helps you create it in a period.
A personal brand identity that works for you requires introspection, strategy, and consistent effort. We can help you get there; follow us. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you navigate this journey:
Know Your Identity
Before building your brand, you need to know yourself well. Think of it like setting up a shop. You wouldn’t open one without knowing what you’re selling, right?
So, why is this step necessary?
Building a personal brand is a long game. Knowing who you are helps you stay focused. It’s like having a map that keeps you on the right path, even when things get confusing.
Ask yourself:
What do I stand for? These are your core beliefs that guide everything you do.
What am I good at? This is about understanding your primary skills and what sets you apart.
What do I want to be known for? Think of this as your brand’s main message or the lasting impression you want to leave.
Now, let’s talk about your niche. In a world of voices, you must be clear about what makes yours different. By picking a specific area to focus on, you can stand out more quickly.
Take the example of being a “graphic designer.” There are many out there. But if you brand yourself as a “sustainable packaging designer,” you instantly become more memorable. It tells people you have a particular skill and matches the growing interest in eco-friendly solutions.
In short, knowing yourself and your niche is your starting point. The base helps you build a solid and clear personal brand.
Determine Your Target Audience
After establishing your identity and niche, the next step is to identify who will benefit from what you offer. This is about understanding your target audience. It’s essential because your branding should cater to their interests and needs.
Ask yourself:
Who is most likely to need my services or content?
Pinpointing this helps you focus your efforts on those who will genuinely value what you provide. If you’re a veterinarian student, sharing social media posts about animal care or often misrepresented facts can attract pet owners seeking guidance.
On the other hand, as a registered vet professional or researcher, your content might lean towards research updates or breakthroughs in the field, appealing more to co-professionals.
Where do they spend their time online?
Identifying the online platforms your audience frequents is crucial. Platforms like TikTok or Instagram might be more effective if you’re targeting young adults. But if you’re reaching out to professionals, LinkedIn or industry-specific forums might be the place to focus.
Tailoring your online presence to these platforms ensures you reach your audience where they are most active.
What issues or problems are they facing?
Recognizing the challenges your audience encounters allows you to offer solutions. If you’re a fitness trainer, your audience might struggle with maintaining consistency in their workouts.
By providing tips, schedules, or motivation, you position yourself as a valuable resource, helping them overcome challenges.
With a clear grasp of your audience, you can craft content and strategies that align with their preferences and challenges, making your brand more relevant and engaging.
Research Your Competitors
In personal branding, understanding your competitors is as crucial as knowing yourself. It gives you a clearer landscape picture and helps you carve out your unique space.
What strategies are they using that seem compelling?
For example, let’s say you’re a digital marketer. You notice that a competitor frequently hosts webinars, and they get high engagement. According to a study by the Content Marketing Institute, 58% of marketers use webinars as a key promotional tactic, and they’ve found it effective. Knowing this data can help you craft your strategy, too.
What gaps or unmet needs can you identify in their branding efforts?
You might find that while many in your field talk about the technical aspects, few address the challenges beginners face. A HubSpot survey revealed that 63% of businesses consider generating traffic and leading their biggest marketing challenge. By creating beginner-friendly content, you can cater to this significant segment.
How can you differentiate yourself from them?
If everyone in your niche produces written content, consider starting a podcast or a video series. A report from Edison Research showed that in 2021, 75% of the U.S. population was familiar with podcasting, and the numbers are growing. This could be an untapped channel in your industry.
By thoroughly researching your competitors, you understand current trends and spot opportunities to make your brand stand out. It’s about finding the spot between your audience’s needs and what you can uniquely offer.
Create Your Logo
Once you’ve taken care of the behind-the-scenes, it’s time to lend some effort to your visuals. Images and personal branding are closely tied to the point that when you ask people about a brand they almost immediately recall icons, symbols, colors, and fonts. So once you grasp the psychology behind your personal brand, you take care of your visual identity. And where else to start better than the main face itself: the logo design.
You might be wondering why you need to create a personal logo. Aren’t logos just for businesses, corporations, or organizations? But logos nowadays are helpful for professionals, influencers, and creatives too. While your logo is not the end-all-be-all of your visuals, it serves as the anchor on which your aesthetics will be based — or at least be perceived by your target audience.
Don’t worry. Creating logos is not that difficult nowadays. Where it used to be an expensive asset to acquire, now you can create good designs through an AI logo generator for a dollar. Or, with the help of pre-made templates such as those of the BrandCrowd Free Logo Maker, your logo designs will be ready in no time. With beginner-friendly buttons, you can drag and drop and click on certain features to change its look and feel.
And sure, you can have a professional logo design, too. You can try crowdsourcing from DesignCrowd to get the best deals from freelancers and graphic design professionals.
Remember that your logo will be the face of your brand, equal if not more than your face. So take time honing this asset and make sure that you consider these logo-winning features: symmetrical, consistent, simple, legible, and unique. Your logo design can be vital to the success of your brand, especially in the online world.
Remember, your logo should be versatile enough to be used across different platforms, from business cards to social media profiles.
Choose A Name For Your Brand
The next thing on the list is to choose your brand name. You might think, “Wait, I already have a name!” And indeed, you can use your name for your brand.
Using your name is great if you want to establish a personal connection with your audience. When people hear your name, they will instantly associate it with your voice, personality, or looks. It adds a human and authentic touch to your brand, which people always prefer.
However, there are also cases where using a brand name is better.
The first is when your real name is too long or difficult to spell. Take, for example, the famous singer Birdy, whose real name is Jasmine Lucilla Elizabeth Jennifer van den Bogaerde. Or makeup influencer Tati Westbrook, whose real name is Tatiana Aleksandra Krievins. Both used a shorter and catchier name to make it easy for their audience to remember them.
The next is when your name is way too common. Imagine if your name is John Smith or Ann Brown. You will compete with millions of other John Smiths in the world! But if you use a brand name, it can easily make you more distinctive and distinguishable.
Convinced about using a brand name? Create a memorable one with these tips:
Use a descriptive name associated with your niche. This can help you instantly communicate what you can do or attract your ideal audience. For example, you can be “Alex the Logo Master” or “Petite Fitness Guru.”
You can also use a more abstract name whose meaning can still be related to you. An example is Sony. It’s derived from the Latin word “Sonus,” which means sound. It’s an excellent fit for a technology company focusing on audio products.
Shorten your real name or use a variation of it. You can also use a made-up name that embodies the style or identity that you want to portray.
Use a business name generator tool if you’re stuck. This handy tool can provide a name based on keywords related to your brand. You can use the name immediately or spark some creative ideas.
Set A Brand Style
To put it simply, brand style is your brand’s overall aesthetic. It comprises your visual assets such as logo, color palette, typography, illustrations, or photographs.
Your brand style can significantly impact how your audience perceives you, so it’s crucial to choose a style that can effectively reflect your identity.
Let us give you some examples. Handwritten style fonts and photographs full of natural outdoor lighting can make you look more approachable and down to earth. A bold retro logo paired with quirky illustrations and a vibrant color palette can solidify your identity as a creative. A blue and white color palette paired with clean sans-serif fonts can make you look more professional and sharp.
See the difference? Your visual assets can make or break you, especially if you build your brand, so choose wisely. You can also refer to color psychology or read up on various typography styles to make more strategic choices.
We also highly recommend creating a brand style guide, essentially a guidebook or document containing all detailed information about your brand style. List down there your font style, alignment, spacing, and size. Include your color palette’s HEX, RGB, CMYK, and Pantone codes. And so on.
This might seem “extra” to do so, but it helps make all your visual assets consistent. You also lessen the chances of making errors, such as using the wrong font or photography style.
Establish Your Brand Voice
Your brand style is not just limited to your visual identity but also to your brand voice.
If you are unfamiliar with brand voice, it’s the persona you use in all your written communications. It comprises your tone, grammar, word usage, and writing style.
Like how you have a distinct speaking voice and personality, brands have distinct brand voices, too. Ever notice how some come across as more Gen-Z and relatable than others? While some brands sound more corporate and straight-laced? That’s their brand voice in play.
Let’s take a look at Wendy’s. Their Twitter account is viral due to their witty and sarcastic posts. They don’t shy away from making playful banter with their followers and roasting their competitors. They also frequently use memes or pop culture references. This brand voice plays well with their younger and fun-loving target audience.
On the other hand, Apple uses a confident and direct brand voice. If you look at their website or product pages, they tend to use short but bold statements. This is why they sound assured, ambitious, and charismatic. It’s a perfect fit for the world’s most valuable brand in 2023.
Establishing a brand voice is crucial to build your brand identity. After all, your brand voice reflects who you are. Having a set brand voice makes you more recognizable and distinctive.
It’s also your way of establishing a connection with your audience. Your audience wants someone relatable. If you speak the same language or use a writing style that appeals to them, they’ll likely choose you over others.
Your brand voice should be used at all times to maintain consistency. This is true whether you are writing a blog article, creating an FAQ on your website, or writing a Facebook caption.
Determine Your Content Strategy
Your content is the cornerstone of your brand. How you share your knowledge and passion with the world will determine your success. Figure out what kind of content you want and how to share it.
For example, do you want to write blog articles? If you do, do you want to create informational ones or share candid personal stories? How about creating tutorial videos? Or do you prefer recording vlogs about your daily life instead? Maybe you want to create online courses or podcasts to share your knowledge. Or maybe sharing fashion inspiration through Instagram is a perfect content type for you.
As you can see, there are various ways to create compelling content. The key is striking the right balance between creating one you enjoy and one that appeals to your audience.
This is because too much of one thing is wrong. If you pander to your audience too much, you’ll risk feeling burnt out and uninspired with your content creation. But if you don’t consider your audience, you’ll also risk creating content that won’t sell.
Sounds easier than done, right? Here are some more tips to help you determine your content strategy:
Take a deep look at yourself. What kind of content do you want to do? What will you be good at? What unique thing can you offer your audience?
Research your audience. What kind of content do they prefer? What sites or channels do they visit? When are they usually active online?
Once you determine your content type, brainstorm enough topics for a month. This makes it easier since you won’t have to think of topics on the fly. And by preparing a month in advance, you can dedicate enough time to create high-quality content.
Work out a posting schedule. For example, will you be posting a YouTube video every week or every month? Will you be writing blog articles every day or 2x a week? And so on. Different platforms have different publishing frequency demands. Research your platforms to determine what schedule will work best for you.
But don’t spread yourself too thin! While you’ll want to post regularly, don’t create content to post something. Your audience is looking for high-quality and engaging content. It’s better to spend more time creating great content they’ll love instead of posting random, uninspired ones to keep up with your schedule.
Creating consistently great content is a struggle for most people. It’s even more difficult for personal brands as you don’t have a massive team behind you. You’ll have to consider what you realistically can do so that you don’t burn out.
One last tip — prioritize authenticity. Brand building takes a lot of time and effort. But if you create content close to your heart, your audience will appreciate it. People don’t like it if you fake your persona to create content. Just be yourself, share your passion, and you’ll find it a lot easier to build your brand.
Set Up Your Social Media Pages
Did you know that people, on average, spend 15% of their waking hours on social media? An active social media presence is crucial if you want to reach more people and make them aware of your brand.
Make sure to have an account on social media channels where your audience hangs out. It’s also essential to consistently use your brand style on your channels — use the same profile photo, design header images with your color palette and typography, add your logo on all your marketing assets, and write your social media posts using your brand voice.
Each channel has its characteristics and demands. For example, you might find that it’s better to post on TikTok at 1 p.m., or that your audience prefers watching your funny YouTube Shorts instead of your long Facebook videos. Focus on what works best on each channel.
Ideally, you’ll want to be active on all channels, but realistically, it’s better to pick a channel to prioritize. Remember that you’re working on this on your own (or maybe with a small team), so you won’t have the resources or manpower to have a huge-scale social media strategy.
It’s also better to consider your audience when determining your social media strategy. Lifestyle vlogger Emma Chamberlain can create funny and relatable TikTok videos, but marketing guru Seth Godin’s audience probably won’t be on TikTok in the first place.
Don’t forget the “social” part of social media as well. Always respond to your followers’ comments and questions. Engage them through polls or giveaways. Why not try creating community posts that spark a discussion as well?
Create Your Website
No business or brand can succeed without a website. It’s your primary way of making an online presence in today’s world.
A website can expand your reach, make you look more credible and professional, provide more information about you, and be the go-to place to find your content. This is true whether you produce videos, need a place to host your portfolio or create blog articles.
Blogs can also help build your brand identity since you control your narrative. In your blog, you can write about whatever you want. You can create content that suits the identity you want to portray and build. If you aim to be an industry leader, blogs are a great way to share your knowledge and establish credibility.
There are many things to consider when creating your website and blog. First, is the design. 75% of users judge your credibility based on your website design. While 38% of users will stop interacting with a website with a bad layout or unattractive design. Make sure your website is aesthetically appealing and adheres to your brand style.
Next is user experience. People want a seamless and hassle-free experience. If your website takes too long to load, or they have difficulty navigating from one page to the next, they will close your site and move on.
Third is mobile-friendliness. According to MarginMedia, 52% of the users say that if a website is not working correctly on a mobile phone, they assume that the business is not caring enough. With 55% of website traffic from mobile phones, your website must be built for mobile.
If you don’t have any web design experience, don’t fret! You can hire a freelance web designer or check out customizable web builders online.
Create Your Other Marketing Assets
Last but not least is all your other marketing assets. You will need different assets depending on your niche, industry, or platform.
Let’s take a look at social media. There are tons of assets that you’ll need to create depending on the channel that you have. For example, you might need a Facebook cover photo or a LinkedIn banner.
Each social media channel requires different sizes and dimensions. Make sure your images are correctly sized and optimized to ensure that it’s the highest quality. You can also browse our social media image guide if you need a reference.
Consider other assets that you might need as well. Some of these might be business cards, email signatures, online portfolios, book covers, packaging, stickers, flyers, or posters, to name a few.
What’s the most important thing to remember when designing your assets? You guessed it right, it’s to ensure it’s consistent with your brand style.
One example is YouTuber Safiya Nygaard. She favors black and gothic style, along with an outer space theme. If you look at her YouTube channel, Instagram account, and collaborations, you can see that it all consistently matches her theme. This consistent image helped her build a brand identity, so much so that her followers instantly associate anything black and “starry” with her.
Final Thoughts
Whew, that was a long one! We hope our comprehensive guide has helped you in building your brand.
Branding is not just limited to huge established companies but to any individual aiming to leave a mark in the world. Whether you are an aspiring influencer, entrepreneur, guru, or thought leader, a solid personal brand can help open doors and create opportunities.
However, keep in mind personal branding is a long process! Don’t expect any overnight success. Make sure to consistently produce high-quality content and continuously build your brand identity, and over time, you’ll develop as the go-to person in your niche.
And ultimately, we advise you just to be yourself. It might sound cliche, but it’s true! Manufacturing a persona will make it difficult for you to create content and appeal to your audience, as people prefer authenticity. Putting your real personality out there will attract like-minded people, making building real and lasting connections easier.
If you need any branding help, BrandCrowd has got you covered. Feel free to browse our blog for other branding articles or check out our marketing templates such as email signature, business card maker, or Facebook ad maker.
