Five Key Characteristics Of Great Branding

With the rise of social media we are building our personal or small business brand with every interaction we have. This means that it is even more important than ever to be clear what your own brand. You must not leave it to chance for others to create for you by forming their own impression of what it is.

Your personal or small business brand tells people who you are and what value you bring to the world. In effect it’s your reputation and therefore it’s essential that you take and maintain control of it. That applies whether you’re a growing small business, a job hunter or someone who interacts a lot with others online.

Let’s take a look at 5 key traits that your brand needs to have in order to be stellar!

1. Consistency

Everything you do or say should be consistent with your brand image. You will then become known for what you do and say and your aim should be to not stray too far from it. When you are consistent, it leads people to think that you’re reliable, and this in turn helps to establish your credibility. If you are perceived as inconsistent, then this creates a real disconnect that’s not in the least bit conducive to creating and promoting your brand. As an example, if you are a keen promoter of start up businesses and then you start being negative about them with even one message or tweet you can quite easily undo all the work you have done to create your brand.

Do remember though that while you should aim to be consistent, your personal or small business brand isn’t static and it should and will evolve over time.

2. Uniqueness

Uniqueness is a key trait because your brand needs to set you apart from others. However, you shouldn’t try to force uniqueness by trying to be something that you’re not. Instead, take a close look at your natural qualities which are unique to you. In other words don’t create it; discover it. What are you passionate about? What is it that you are especially good at? What is it that makes you different? Look for those things that you don’t see in others that can set you apart.

3. Personality

It has been shown that the “personality” of a business brand is often more important to its’ fans than its’ actual products or services. This is no different when it comes to your personal or small business brand. Let your personality come through as much as possible, especially when it comes to interacting with people online. Most people want to be seen as a friendly, generous and helpful. One way in which to allow your personality to come through is to spend time connecting with others who you admire and learning from them.

4. Memorability

In many ways memorability is possibly the most important trait needed for personal or small business branding. You might be the world’s greatest blogger or tweeter, but if no one remembers your name 5 minutess later, then your branding has failed. You should aim to highlight a small number of attributes or skills that you have and don’t try to be master of all. Then those things that you or your small business really excel at will become linked to you in the minds of others. Stand out from the crowd in a positive and inspiring way and it will help to make you a leader rather than a follower.

5. Clarity

Ensure that everything and anything you produce shouts what it is you do, what value you offer, and how you are unique. Don’t make people have to stop and think about it and don’t be too subtle. Tell the world what it needs to know about you in as few carefully-chosen words as possible. But let me add a note of balance or caution – if your twitterstream is all about you then you will quickly turn people off. What you want is to be of interest to others so that they are retweeting you! That comes from showing that you are of interest but above all from being interested in others.

Branding for individuals and small businesses is a relatively new concept.The best way to work on building and promoting your brand is to watch and learn. take the time to identify those who brand themselves well and follow them. Study what they do and learn to do it yourself. You want to pay close attention to the way in which their words and actions are consistent, clear, unique, personal and memorable.