If you want to effectively market your business, create a unique personal brand.
The truth is, every effective marketing strategy begins with a unique personal brand. The reason is, you must control the perception others have of you. And that means you must differentiate yourself to build trust and stand out.
Do I need a personal brand to create an effective marketing strategy?
A question I often hear from both service and product-based business owners is, do I need a personal brand to market my business? If you’ve asked this question, you can be assured that the answer is a resounding yes.
What is your personal brand?
Your personal brand is what other people think, say, and feel about you. It’s the perception they have of you when you walk in a room, when they see you online, or when they consume your content.
Branding encompasses your personal brand and how you communicate what differentiates you from all others in your area of expertise (niche). Your brand identity; color palette, typography, and visual presence, help you become recognizable and memorable. But your personal brand is what makes you recognizable, memorable, and shareable.
The answer to the question, “Do I need a personal brand” is, therefore, not related to creating brand assets. Brand assets will not solely differentiate you from all others in your niche. They may help you stand out when your soulmate clients are scrolling. However, they will not build the emotional connection that differentiating yourself as a personal brand will. Throw your personality into it!
Additional resources for creating your unique personal brand
Since every effective marketing strategy begins with a unique personal brand, it’s important to know as much as possible about creating your unique personal brand. Go back to episode 248 of The Robyn Graham Show for more on content creation to differentiate yourself. In addition, episode 205 for more details on creating a unique personal brand.
Now you’re ready to create an effective marketing strategy
Once you establish your personal brand, you’re ready to begin marketing your business. Marketing is communicating what differentiates you from all others in your area of expertise. When you create your personal brand, you are identifying all of the things that differentiate you. If you doubt you are unique, make a list of all of your experiences, good and not-so-good, and how they’ve led you right to where you are today. Doing so will help you market yourself as an expert.
Every effective marketing strategy begins with your who, what, when, where, and how
To create an effective marketing strategy map out your who, what, when, where, and how. Let’s break them down.
- Who is your soulmate client? In addition, who are you? Both are significant when creating an effective marketing strategy. If you don’t know what differentiates you you can’t effectively communicate with your soulmate clients to tell them about why they should hire you. Likewise, if you don’t know your soulmate client, you won’t be speaking to those people who need your expertise and will want to hire you.
- What are your soulmate clients’ major pain points that you can help resolve? Can you define what keeps them up at night? What are they thinking about when doing the dishes or getting dressed that they cannot solve themselves? But you can and in a unique way. In addition, what platforms are they using to search for the information they need to get the results they want? What platforms are you creating content for? Is there an overlap? What changes do you need to make to reach your soulmate clients? Lastly, what is your price point for your offer or program?
- When are you available to serve your clients? Elaborate on when they need you most and when you learned how to provide the solution they need. Likewise, when have you experienced their pain points yourself? Even more importantly, when and how did you overcome them?
- Where in your journey have you experienced what your soulmate clients are experiencing now – the beginning of your journey or more recently? Where do you serve your clients, in person, online, locally, or internationally? In addition, where will you market to your soulmate clients? Where are they researching to find the solution to their problem(s)? For example, if you are an entrepreneur who doesn’t want to be on social media, where will you share information, on your blog, via email marketing? This is where SEO will become a key component of your effective marketing strategy.
- Why do you do what you do? Is there a reason you help whom you help? Simon Sinek explains using his golden circle that why is more important than how and what. That people resonate more with why you do what you do than what you do or how you do it.
- How do you help your soulmate clients get the results they crave? Do you have a proven method or system? Likewise, how do you do what you do? Elaborate on your background, skill sets, education, certifications, awards, life experiences, and mistakes you’ve learned from, etc. that help you help others. In addition, testimonials help elaborate on how you’ve helped others get their desired results.
Yes, you need a personal brand and an effective marketing strategy.
So, if you are still asking if you need a personal brand, the answer is yes. And even if you are a product-based business, you need a personal brand that will be the foundation of an effective marketing strategy, including your who, what, when, where, why, and how.
Download the free eBook – 10 Strategies to Grow Your Business without Social Media
Learn how to create an SEO strategy to market your business without social media.
