What comes to mind when you think of companies like Fenty Beauty? Most likely, you immediately think of Rihanna, the dynamic founder whose personal brand is seamlessly intertwined with her company’s identity. This powerful connection is a prime example of personal branding—a concept that goes beyond just the product to encompass how your skills, personality, and experiences shape how people perceive you and how you market yourself to the world. Effective personal brand management is crucial in crafting and maintaining this image, ensuring that every aspect of your professional presence aligns with your core values and strengths.
But what is personal branding, and how can you use personal branding to stand out? Keep reading for the 4 steps you need to create your personal brand.
1. Find Your Audience
When building your personal brand, it’s essential to figure out your audience. After all, how will you know how to brand yourself if you don’t know who you are catering to?
For example, a budding graphic designer might want to target people who create content or other graphic design pages, while someone who works in marketing might want to target specific goal companies they want to work for.
To figure out your audience, a good trick is to try creating buyer personas. To create a buyer persona, you should imagine a fully fleshed-out character who fits what your target audience would be. Everything from their age, name, profession, and even what this fictional person likes to do in their free time is important to figure out when creating a persona. The more detail you have, the more you will be able to segment your audience to target them more effectively.
2. Supercharge Your Social Media
In modern-day, having social media is almost a given. However, seeing as 70% of recruiters report to using social media when screening job candidates, it’s clear that cleaning up your socials is an essential step as a working professional.
Social media can also be a huge positive as well. With the ability to connect with so many people at your fingertips, you can create relevant content and meet professionals in your field in a way that was never possible before.
3. Create an Elevator Pitch
Being able to explain who you are, what you do, and why people should be interested in you is an essential step to building your brand. Whether you are at a virtual networking event or a job interview, having a succinct and captivating elevator pitch will set you apart from the rest.
Be sure to highlight actionable achievements and measurable metrics to show the person you’re pitching to that you mean business — and that you can put your money where your mouth is, so to speak.
4. Network, Network, Network
The importance of networking cannot be overstated. However, with so many people currently in a work-from-home situation, networking is starting to look different than it used to. From remote networking events to Zoom happy hours, networking is an important step you should be taking to elevate your personal brand and your career.
A great way to network is to find a mentor. However, it’s important to be continually building you relationship with them as well. You should aim to connect with your mentor around once a month to check-in and see how things are progressing. Your mentor will likely also have some great connections that can help you advance your career as well.
In an age where so many things are uncertain, being sure of yourself and your brand is a good place to start. Building your personal brand can expand your job opportunities, build trust with your audience, and elevate your offerings as an employee or job candidate.
