Demystifying Personal Branding
Within the past decades, personal branding has grown tremendously. Starting with celebrities, politicians, and other influencers and finishing with corporate industries' spokespeople, personal branding is conquering consumers' minds and hearts.
Personal brands are created when one wants to become an authority in a particular industry, publically voice out their message, and engage their unique audience.
The secret to personal branding's growth pace lies partially in a generational shift: GenZers lead the trend of leaving their cookie-cutter corporate lifestyle to pursue dreams of being influencers in the online world. They have less connection to the corporate and more to the human side of the business. They also tend to trust a personal brand for recommendations more than advertising.
There's also a human nature component to the phenomenon: as humans, we like to connect with humans. And we are more likely to connect with a spokesperson behind a company than just a company.
WHY Personal Branding
A personal brand is a new opportunity to grow, connect, voice your message, and more. Nowadays, your online presence is more important than your business card. Your personal brand is vital to you professionally. How you show up for your potential employer, client, or business partner can be determinative.
Your personal brand has the power to show you as an expert in your field and set you apart from your competitors.
It also shifts an accent from sales to human relations, and that's ultimately a trust-building strategy.
HOW to Create a Personal Brand
In any brand-building process, consistency is key.
How your brand looks, speaks, behaves, your brand's message - everything has to be consistent.
Visual identity plays a vital role in your brand's recognition and memorability: both online and offline, the style has to be unique and match across all the brand elements.
Your brand's behavior has to be authentic. You don't want to appear a cliche, but rather a real unique person. In the midst of digital noise, people have learned to figure out and distance themselves from fake interactions when a brand is not true to its values.
Brand Evolution
Like everything in the world, brands evolve over time. It's a neutral fact, and it's to bear in mind. Your brand will grow and mature with your personality.
On the way, you will be losing some of your audiences, as not everyone will agree with the changes to your brand and not everyone will want to continue following you. At the same time, new people will become your ambassadors, as your new message will resonate with them.