Sasha has been working in the field of brand strategy and design for 13 years. Her career started in retail development and store design across the United States and shifted to digital marketing and brand development.
This year, personal branding is at its peak in terms of importance. Personal branding has taken off now more than ever as entrepreneurs and creatives are finding the ability to control their narrative to be a tremendous asset to their career endeavors.
While personal branding drives a greater capacity for brand growth and sales, the most significant component of its power lies in the ability to drive trust faster with your audience and stand out more quickly.
The driver behind its importance can be placed in the hiring process. According to Zippia.com, 92% of employers check social media. More specifically, 67% say they use social media sites to research potential job candidates. Believe it or not, 54% of companies have eliminated a candidate based on their social media feed alone.
With such drastic statistics of social media being a representation that dictates your professional endeavors, having a personal brand has become the best way to build. To build a personal brand that instantly attracts an audience and community and drives sales into your business, focus on these five areas.
Target audience + niche
For personal brands, niching down is a great way to scale and expand. Starting in a niche and expanding outwards is our best advice for anyone who gets hives when they hear the word "niche." When building a brand off of yourself and your identity, you want to take up a lot of space in one area. Because you are working with algorithms that will categorize you, you are working against short attention spans and poor memory.
By occupying ample space in one category, you allow yourself to become known for something that helps your target audience remember you and seek you out. On the topic of target audiences, you also want to outline who you are speaking to.
We could case study so many creators and influencers with a primary audience they speak directly to, whether that's college students, entrepreneurs, aspiring life coaches, etc. You want to get specific on who you want to bring into your world. This is so important because it drastically changes the way you speak and the messaging you will use.
If you are trying to target a younger demographic, you can get away with using slang and trends. On the contrary, if you are targeting an older or more mature demographic, you will utilize proper grammar and make better vocabulary choices.
As you settle on your niche and target audience, create content that directly relates to both and watch your community grow.
Dedicate yourself to authenticity
A solid personal brand is one that feels like your long-distance internet best friend. While there isn't a two-way conversation happening, you are so ingrained in their lives that you know all about their spouses, kids, jobs, passions, habits, morning routine, skincare routine, and more. As unhealthy as it is, society leverages social media as an escape, and personal brands have leaned into this to give their audience more reason to seek out their content. What separates an ethical personal brand from a non-ethical personal brand is the lens of content and intention.
Are you someone who likes to empower and lift others, or are you someone who thrives off attention? In personal branding, there isn't a wrong answer, but it will dictate your brand growth.
Ultimately, your personal brand should directly reflect who you are as a person, and the more authentic you are, the better. If you are unfiltered and messy, show up that way. If you are refined and structured, show up that way. The growth will follow.
Create a strategy + plan
A personal brand is still a business and requires a similar strategy. As a personal brand, you have so many opportunities at your fingertips to not only monetize but to amplify your reach in your career or endeavors. With that, your content and your social presence should be strategic and intentional. This goes back to your niche and what you want to be known for. At this point, we now plan how that translates into how you move and operate in this space.
Do you want to monetize your personal brand? If so, how?
Brand deals? Sponsorships? Affiliate marketing?
Do you want your personal brand to act as a resume or portfolio? How will this become visible? Do you plan on collaborations?
Do you want your personal brand to bleed into your business brand? If so, what does that look like, and how will you balance the two?
Create a plan and stay consistent.
Build your personal brand and network
Networking in the personal brand space is the greatest way to build brand perception and visibility. "Your network is your net worth." Going to events, mixers, networking events, or speaking engagements are all goldmines for growing your network. In addition, collaborations and creating connections with complementary or like-minded individuals will help enhance your community and growth.
Networking has become so easy with social media, but if you're looking to take it further and incorporate in-person events, be sure to have business cards if you're old-school like us or a digital business card for our new-era readers.
Engage with your audience
Lastly, one of the most critical aspects of building a personal brand. Engage with your audience!
This is a challenging and time-consuming part of brand building, but it's essential for a personal brand.
Your community is the very reason you have a brand in the first place. Be sure to engage, comment back, respond to DMs if you can, and let your audience feel seen and appreciated by you. Whether it's giveaways, shoutouts, meet and greets, etc. Get engaged with them.
Personal branding can shift the entire trajectory of your career and profession. How you leverage it is entirely up to you, but the benefits are limitless. Focus on being authentic and consistent and see what happens.
Read more from Sasha Monique Lewis
Sasha Monique Lewis, Brand Strategist and Designer
Sasha has been working in the field of brand strategy and design for 13 years. Her career started in retail development and store design across the United States and shifted to digital marketing and brand development. She has helped numerous companies and businesses fine tune their branding, see exponential growth through marketing and improve their organic traffic. Ultimately she's help entrepreneurs find their unique attributes and leverage it. She finds the uncommon denominator in a world full of duplication.
