Category: Communication

Give Your Brand a Personality

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People seek relationships with one another, and yes, with brands. Your brand’s personality is an important part of what will make people engage or ignore you. Spend time to define a personality for your brand that will resonate with your target audience and you will position yourself for social media engagement.

The most successful brands use a variety of ways to connect with their audience, just as there are many dimensions to person-to-person relationships. These brands also portray human personality traits within their communications.

Brand Personality Is Good for Business

Whether they realize it or not, a person’s connection to your brand is driven by how they feel about your brand.

Studies show that the attractiveness of a brand’s personality significantly affects word-of-mouth advocacy. The more attractive your brand personality is, the more customers will recommend your products/services to their friends, families, and associates.

There are other reasons why brand personality is good for business:

  • Builds sustained relationships with your audiences by forming an emotional connection to your brand
  • Communicates the positive traits of your brand in a relatable way
  • Differentiates your brand from your competitors

Bring Your Brand Personality to Your Social Presence

Now that you have taken time to define your brand personality, you need to let it shine in all your social media activities. Social media channels are designed to cultivate relationships, so it is the perfect venue to help people to get to know you.

Share Your Point of View

Tell people what you think and how you approach problems and opportunities. Let them know where you stand. Opinions and outlook are a central part of personality, so you need to let them shine. People won’t be able to decide if they like you, if they don’t know where you stand.

Tell Stories

Stories use simple words to present ideas, feelings, and concepts. Storytelling can capture your audience’s attention and strike an emotional chord, which is unparalleled when it comes to building strong customer relationships.

Any Topic that Showcases Your Personality Is Relevant

People have a wide range of interests. Embrace that. Don’t stay overly focused on core brand messaging. Be willing to comment on whatever you know is on the minds of the people you want to connect with.

Be funny for no other reason than to engage. Share your reaction to news events or historical milestones. All personalities are multi-faceted. Make sure your brand personality is not one-note.

5 Places for Content Inspiration

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A blog is a great way to share your thought leadership and provide fresh content for online marketing. But writing blog posts can be a chore! If you are looking for some content ideas, this post is for you.

Get Content Ideas from Blog and Social Media Comments

When I am running short on ideas, I take a deep dive into my recent content posted at this blog and on social media. I look for likes, shares, and comments as a hint that the topic was of interest to my target audience. Comments are gold – they are rare, but they almost always tell me what’s top of mind and important to readers.

Ask Google

I’m a long-term fan of Google Alerts. I set up alerts for keywords and let Google email the latest relevant content. Couldn’t be easier.

When I know what basic topic I want to cover, I start with a Google search. The best intel comes before I hit enter.

Google will offer suggestions on what to search for as I type. These are based on actual searches people have completed recently. Not only do I get links to places where I can research, I get topics that are currently of interest to real people.

Google also offers common questions related to the topic and related searches. Lots of options from one search!

Learn and Share

I get a lot of content ideas from professional development events. Some ideas come just by scanning the topics being offered.

Once a week, I try to participate in a webinar. This gives me a deeper dive into a topic that can turn into great content.

Conferences are a larger investment of time and money, but can be very inspirational. I am always sure to keep the program from a conference. The topics give me ideas for posts and also ideas for people I can tap as guest bloggers.

5 Quick Topic Ideas for Business Bloggers

  1. Tap into the news of the day. What is in the news today related to your industry or topic. Use a Google search to see the latest headlines. Write about your take.
  2. Get inspired by questions. What was the last question you were asked by a client, prospect or peer? Chances are more people have the same question. Answer it in a post.
  3. Revisit the basics. Cover your products and services. Don’t assume your readers know or remember.
  4. Invite a guest blogger. Ask someone who is influential in your industry to share their take on a current topic.
  5. Share a client success story. Tell a story about how you have served a client and the benefits to both organizations.

Bonus tip: Look at this calendar of remembrances and holidays for more great content ideas!

Tell Your Professional Story on LinkedIn

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Your LinkedIn profile is an opportunity to tell your professional story. This is valuable in the job you are in, as it lets customers and potential customers understand your value. It is also helpful if you are looking to change jobs, as recruiters use LinkedIn heavily to look for and vet potential candidates.

Your profile should change as you reach milestones in your career. It should also change as your list of key accomplishments grows. At every stage, you need to make sure your profile is forward thinking and builds the case for the next job you want to have.

Following are some thoughts for each stage of your career. Note that if you have 30 years as a plumber and are working to build a career in fashion, you should create your profile using the guidance for the years of experience in the field you want to be in.

Before you dive in, you will want to refresh your list of the keywords that are most relevant to your profession and your immediate goals. The words and phrases that represent the most important skills do change over time.

1–3 Years of Experience

At this point in your career, highlight your enthusiasm for the work you want to do, your engagement within that field, and your abilities to organize, problem-solve, create, execute, etc.

Include pictures of yourself at industry events. Include any relevant projects, presentations, and other items related to your interests and industry of choice.

Share and comment on current articles or conversations related to the field. Follow relevant companies and influencers.

4–7 Years of Experience

Now it is time to remove details about your schooling and work experience that is not directly related to the work you want to be doing. It is no longer relevant that you flipped burgers to help pay for college, unless being a fast food manager is your career aspiration.

Focus on your experience, work products, and proven skills. Highlight these in your profile headline and summary, as well as in the most recent role in your professional experiences section.

Keep in mind that past positions are hidden away with a “see more” option and most people won’t bother to click this. Your current job description is central to your profile so make sure it communicates loud and clear about who you are and your value.

Keep it all short and easy to scan. Lengthy paragraphs won’t get read on LinkedIn or anywhere online.

8–15 Years of Experience

Tell your professional story in terms of your leadership ability and your specialized skills. Promotions and job offers come to people at this level who won’t need a lot of training and who have a healthy, relevant professional network.

Drop old work samples in favor of fresh items that show what you are doing today and reflect the next level that you want to achieve. Keep building connections with influencers.

Publish articles on LinkedIn that are relevant to your field and demonstrate your thinking as a subject matter expert.

Ask for recommendations for people in your focus industry or field. Recommendations speak to your professional value, but they also demonstrate that you are active and connected. Take time to identify the best people to make recommendations and ask them personally, either by phone or email.

16 and More Years of Experience

Make sure your profile tells a cohesive, compelling story about your skills, experience, and professional passion. Drop items that are not central to who you are and what you do now.

Focus on sharing your thought leadership in posts to groups, in comments on posts created by others, and in long form articles on LinkedIn. Be the leader that you are.

Want more ideas about marketing yourself and your business on LinkedIn? Read my post with marketing tips on LinkedIn.