Personal Branding: What is it? 5 Tips on Strategy & How to Nail it

Your brand is your YouSP (USP)!

Personal branding is more than just one of those entrepreneur jargon terms – it’s an incredibly powerful tool, and done right, it can shape how potential clients perceive you in your professional life.

Whether you’re a freelancer, business owner, or working your way up the corporate ladder, your personal brand is the way that you are going to stand out in this crowded market. With today’s growing competition and saturated online market, it’s crucial to set yourself apart and create a brand that is memorable, strong, and leaves a long lasting impression.

But what is personal branding? How can you design a personal branding strategy that not only reflects who you are but also sets you up for unimaginable success?

In this blog, we’ll explore the idea of personal branding, provide you with five doable tips to develop your strategy, and guide you on how to truly nail it!

Ready to build a brand that truly reflects you and your values?

Let’s get into it!

 

What is personal branding?

A personal brand is an epic tool in helping you stand out from the crowd.

Personal branding is the method of proactively managing and promoting your own professional identity and reputation.

Nailing down your personal brand involves defining and communicating your unique value proposition, skills, experiences, and values to create a distinct and memorable image in the minds of others. But it’s also – PERSONAL – it’s about showcasing exactly what your brand stands for and why someone might connect, buy or hire YOU!

Women in the professional space need a personal branding strategy in order to stand out from the crowd. Especially in male-dominated industries, unfortunately it takes double the time and resources to get seen.

Not to panic though, we’re here to help you!

 

Why is personal branding important?

Whether you’re building your own business or striving to work your way to the top of the corporate ladder, personal branding has more of an impact than you think. According to studies, 77% of consumers prefer to purchase from a brand they recognize.

Thinking about going for that high-paying, career-defining role? Well, according to Career Builder, 70% of employers use social media to screen candidates before hiring. That means your values, your interactions with other entities, and how dedicated you are to your work will be seen through social media by potential employers.

Think about the difference it would make for a hiring manager to look at your accounts and see a professional, consistent, clear, and value-driven personal brand that shows them exactly who you are as a person.

On top of this, according to Linkedin, 85% of professionals believe that networking is essential for career success. A Nielsen report found that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from individuals over brands, even if they don’t know them. What does this mean? These days, consumers trust people over brands. It’s time you take advantage and present your personal brand as expert, trusted, and reliable.

 

Personal branding for women

Why is personal branding so important for women? Personal branding is particularly important for women because of numerous reasons (that I’m sure we’ve all faced) related to career advancement, visibility, and overcoming gender bias.

 

Personal branding as a woman can help you:

1. Become more visible in a saturated market
2. Get you more recognition across platforms
3. Protect your reputation
4. Build your credibility and authority within your industry
5. Showcase your professional values
6. Proactively manage your professional image
7. Open doors and find more opportunities
8. Become more confident!

 

What does personal branding do for you?

Creating a unique and unbreakable personal brand can:

1. Enhance your visibility
2. Build credibility with your brand
3. Help retain clients and attract new ones
4. Facilitate networking
5. Build relationships
6. Increase influence with views
7. Set you apart from competition
8. Boost online visibility

 

Personal branding on social media 

You know when you see someone on social media and you feel like you know them from the vibe they give off?

What do you want people to feel, see, and remember about you when they see you on social media? Down to earth? Knowledgeable? Confident? Here’s some tips for the main platforms.

LinkedIn

Personal branding is the most important place to make sure you have a really strong personal brand. Personal accounts perform far better than company profiles, usually down to higher authenticity and trustworthiness, Not only that, but LinkedIn’s algorithm favours posts over company pages.

Here are some beginner tips on how to take advantage of LinkedIn for your personal brand:

1. Optimise your profile in line with your brand. That means a professional headshot for your profile picture, an eye-catching headline, a great bio that matches your TOV (Tone Of Voice), and links to any websites and blogs. Fonts, icons, and TOV, all need to be consistent.
2. Use keywords. When writing things like your about section, make sure to include keywords. For example, “Marketing expert with over 20 years of experience in Google Ads”
3. Leverage LinkedIn’s unique features. Whether it’s stories, LinkedIn Live, or the average daily post, use LinkedIn’s tools to increase users’ interaction with your personal brand.
4. Continually update and refresh your account. Use LinkedIn analytics to monitor your profile’s performance and adjust it to continually optimise your activities.

Instagram

Here’s some quick tips:

1. Optimise your profile in line with your brand. That means your profile picture, username/handle, bio, and links to any websites and blogs. Fonts, icons, TOV (Tone Of Voice), all need to be consistent.
2. Offer valuable content. Make sure that your content is relevant to your brand and industry, offers something unique to users, and stands in an area of authority. Try building a content calendar to keep yourself organised – don’t forget to consider what you want to write about & why (align with your values).
3. Leverage Instagram’s unique features. Whether it’s reels, highlights or shopping tags (for products & ecommerce), use Instagram’s tools to increase users’ interaction with your personal brand.
4. Track & update. Make yourself familiar with Instagram’s analytics to see what performs well and what could be improved.

Facebook

Here’s some quick tips:

1. Optimise your profile in line with your brand. That means your cover photo, contact details bio, and links to any websites and blogs. Fonts, icons, TOV (Tone Of Voice), all need to be consistent.
2. Create a company page. You can use the “about” section to talk all about your personal brand and your values. This is your chance to introduce yourself to potential new clients/customers.
3. Content consistency. Keep content high-quality, and relevant, and post consistently.
4. Engage with your audience. Respond to comments and join related groups where you can share expertise and offer support.
5. Leverage Facebook’s unique features. Whether it’s Facebook live, shorts, or stories, use Facebook’s tools to increase users’ interaction with your personal brand.

 

5 Tips on Personal Branding Strategy

Creating a strong personal branding strategy is crucial for standing out in your industry. When you’re investing time and money into a strong networking regimen, it’s important that you’re squeezing the most out of every impression.

 

1.  Understand your unique value

What are your USPs (Unique Selling Points)  as an individual? What sets you apart from the crowd? This part takes some introspection. What do people say about your brand? You want to position yourself as someone who can solve the problems that your demographic has. Try to come up with 4-5 USPs, refine them, and use them to create your personal brand.

 

2. Consistency

What do you want people to feel, see, and remember about you on social media? Whether you’re aiming to appear down-to-earth, knowledgeable, or confident, your social media presence should reflect your personal brand.

A few tips:

1. Define your personal brand. What is personal branding? Why is personal branding important?
2. Develop a cohesive personal branding strategy. Make sure it outlines your goals, target audience, and key message.
3. Keep a unified visual identity. Use all the same branding materials across all platforms. That means using the same profile photo, colour scheme, fonts, and design elements.
4. Consistent messaging. Maintain a cohesive personal brand across all platforms. Ensure your visual and messaging consistency extends to Instagram, Facebook, and any other social media channels you use.
5. Regularly update your brand. Regularly update your personal brand to reflect your new achievements and skills.
6. Work on and improve from feedback. Try getting advice from an expert who can give you a professional outside perspective.

 

3. Networking

Building and engaging with your network is one of the most important ways to stay active and be seen as prominent in your industry. As well as other people in your industry, surround yourself with other mentors, allies, and a network that supports and champions you. As a women-led business, make sure you also engage with women-focused professional groups and communities (not necessarily in your niche) to build meaningful connections.

 

4. Be confident!

People struggle to believe your expertise and experience if you seem to lack confidence. When you are building and carrying out your personal branding strategy, speak confidently about your accomplishments, and be proud of your contributions. Let your achievements shine. If you’re not feeling too confident, think about ways to increase your confidence and have the self belief to succeed. Check out Limitless Confidence for an easy to follow build-your-own-confidence programme.

 

To wrap up

We hope you’ve got enough to go on to start brainstorming your personal brand strategy! To conclude, building and maintaining an effective personal brand that truly reflects you and what you stand for can open many new doors to opportunities that align with your values, as well as helping you stand out in your professional life.

By following these tips and consistently applying them to your personal branding strategy, you can create a powerful and impactful presence in your industry.

Ready to build a brand that truly reflects you? Let’s get started!

We are experts and we help women of all industries and backgrounds develop a personal brand that truly reflects who they are, the way they want it to.