How To Add A Personal Touch To Your Brand
In the age of social media, you are seeing more and more business owners become more involved in the online presence of their company. I believe that as a small business your personal visibility is important to building and expanding your business. Most people are connected to you because of they have similar traits they can relate to or want to aspire to. They are attracted to your character, personality, your smile, your likability, and your connection to others.
People want to know who they are buying from!
They want to know if you are:
- Authentic
- Sincere
- Transparent
- Reliable
- Trustworthy
This is so important to the success of your business starting out. These traits can affect the degree of your profitability.
This has been something that I myself have had to overcome. I could comfortably engage from a business aspect, but I always left the personal aspect out. If you weren’t in my personal network of friends, you had no clue who I was or what I was passionate about.
I realized that this was something I would have to change. I could no longer be so private, in a public arena.
No this doesn’t mean you have to put all of your personal business out there, but you do have to give a little more of yourself.
So you may be asking yourself how I do this:
1. Be true to who you are
Nobody is asking us to be something we are not. You can be that same quirky person, just learn how to make that work for your business online. The last thing you want to do is deal with the stress and strain of keeping up a persona that’s not you. I recently watched the Netflix documentary “The American Meme” and one of the interviewees mentioned how one of her biggest regrets was not being herself. She is currently making millions being a character she no longer wants to be, but now she is afraid to start over and risk losing her income. Being true to who you are will begin to attract an audience that can relate to your traits and will be more willing to buy, connect, share.
2. Let others know what you’re passionate about and that you are an expert in that field.
Being seen frequently online (and across multiple social media platforms) corresponds with a higher degree of likability for your brand. The more you can captivate customers, provide useful information and remain at the forefront of their minds, the more likely it is that they will choose your product or service and even give referrals.
Also find online communities that discuss topics about your industry and establish yourself (not your business) as an expert in that subject. Facebook groups, Quora, and LinkedIn are just a few places you can get started.
3. Share your story
People love to hear where you have come from and what you had to go through to get where you are now. Shark Tank does a great job of inspiring startups with the individual stories of each judge. You never know how your story can encourage and create a closer connection with your audience. This is something you can simply include in your bio on your website or in a mini-doc style video.
4. Be more visible with video.
People love video engagement and the fact they can get an instant glimpse of your personality. The great thing about video is that you already have the tools at the palm of your hand. Most smartphones shoot up to 4K now and that’s more than enough resolution for shooting videos. Add some lighting and a microphone and you’re all set. The key to being successful with video is being consistent and having good content. Whether it’s once a week or a month set a schedule that you can easily maintain. Your audience will begin to look forward to your videos and will know exactly when to expect them.
5. Customer Interaction
As an owner of a business your time is valuable but remember to always take time to interact with your customers or audience. That means responding to discussion comments on your social media channels. If you are the single owner then this is a given, but if you have a more developed business and do not handle day to day social media activities then it adds a nice touch. I also love to see owners respond to customer issues. It lets them know that you as an owner care about their concerns.
These 5 tips can help your brand tremendously by establishing credibility, trust, and transparency with potential customers. Let us know your thought and experience in the comments below.
