Why personality is your brand’s best asset
Why do you connect with your loved ones? Usually, because of their winning personality, right? It’s exactly the same principle when it comes to connecting with brands.
Take a second to think about some of your favourite brands. Why do you like them so much? Probably because they’ve succeeded in connecting with you on some level. And they’ve done that using their brand personality.
“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
People buy people
Yes, it’s a cliche but it’s true! 64% of people surveyed by Sprout Social said they want brands to connect with them on a personal level. For many people, it’s not enough to be a faceless organisation anymore. You have to get stuck in - whether that’s on social media, email or advertising campaigns.
If your top ranking executives aren’t playing a part in social media these days, it’s enough to put people off. Your customers want to know what you stand for, not just the corporation. This is just one reason it’s so important to identify what your values are early on. It’s no good churning out the same old generic ideas - what really matters to you and why should it matter to other people?
What makes a good brand personality?
Authenticity is key
Your customers can smell fake a mile off. This is just one of the reasons it’s worth putting in the work on your brand identity early on. So much so that for 86% of customers, authenticity is a key factor of whether they choose to interact with a brand or not.
If you start putting content, products or services out there that aren’t a true reflection of you, trust me when I say that your customers will see through it pretty quickly. You want your brand personality to be consistent.
When you put the work in here, that’s what will help you to...
Make it memorable
I’m not saying everyone has to be the ‘disruptor’ but you want to try and come from an angle that will make you stand out from your competitors.
Having a consistent and identifiable brand will help you to make your mark on your customers. You want to make it as easy as possible for them to find you and connect with you time and time again.
Getting your brand personality across.
Clear guidelines
It won’t be any surprise to you that my first recommendation is making sure you have clear brand guidelines. These are the foundations of your brand and will influence everything you put out there into the world.
You’ll know exactly how you speak to your customers, how you talk about what you do and how to connect on mutual values. And remember, guidelines are adaptable. If you find that your personality is changing as you grow and evolve, make sure to keep your guidelines up to date. That way, anyone who joins your business in the future knows how to represent your brand authentically.
The same goes for your visuals. It’s not always about your personal taste. It’s about finding that happy medium of what’s authentically you and what’s going to relate to your audience the best. Once you have these in place, make sure you have clear guidelines on how to use them to create a consistent brand story across the board.
Know your story
Your customers want to know what matters to you. If you can articulate your story in an engaging, authentic way, it gives you a great jumping off point.
Be careful though. You want to be able to tell your story in a way that helps customers connect with you and understand why they need your business in their lives, not necessarily dates, times and specifics that don’t tell them how you can improve their lives in any way.
Knowing who you are as a brand is one of your biggest superpowers in business. Don’t underestimate the power of clarity for your customers. They want to engage with a brand they can rely on. Create that consistency and trust with a fully formed brand personality.
Need some help finding out who you are? Let’s work together.