What do you mean by "Brand Personality"?
Part of showing authenticity and differentiating ourselves from the competition is about showing personality. But what does that mean? Is there a particular type of personality you need to show and how do you concoct one that people are actually going to like?
It’s something that a lot of businesses, especially when they’re first starting out, look at intensely but often struggle to convey effectively.
So is it all about informalities and being “down with the kids”?
What happens if you have a more corporate identity and are more comfortable with a more formal tone and language?
Should you be creating dance videos on TikTok and using memes on your social posts?
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It feels like quite the walking over eggshells moment. Trying to navigate the new trends and the buzz terms. It creates a lot of questions and manifests in promotional inertia.
But it doesn’t need to be like that and is relatively simple to solve. Well, getting started on the creation of a brand personality is relatively simple at least. It all comes down to how true it is to the business, your staff, your products and the people you’re trying to attract.
What kind of business do you want to be?
Not all businesses need to be funny, informal and maverick in their marketing but all need to be engaging and feel authentic to its audience.
You will get found out quickly if your external persona does not match your business personality once people start working for or with you.
Just like interacting with people, you can tell when it’s fake. Even if you didn’t spot it initially. It doesn’t take long to start questioning motives when something begins to feel odd. We’re sociable beings and take cues from the environment around us. Usually, if something feels off, it is off. Intuitive, survival instinct that we don’t necessarily need anymore but is still very much part of our psyche.
And it’s the same with business.
Whether you are looking at your commercial brand to attract customers or working on your employer brand to build a talented workforce.
It isn’t always that something is bad about a company, just that it won’t suit everyone. We don’t want all people as our customers or to work for us. And that’s the whole idea behind creating a brand personality. It is to attract the kind of people you want to attract.
Are commercial and employer brand personalities the same?
Internal and external personalities are inextricably linked. They can be slightly different, in the same way that perhaps you are at work and in the pub with your mates, but you’re still the same person. In business, people work with people and if your staff stop believing in the brand, this projects to your customers through small iterations of communications and then your customers start feeling like something is off and question the relationship.
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Appealing to like-minded people is not attracting carbon copies but about projecting shared values, purpose and vision. Reflecting the same attributes and language as your target audience means they can see themselves with the business and would like to be associated with it.
Resonating with an audience
Everyone knows you have to make money, this is part of life but how you make that money and what you do with it, reflects what type of business you are and therefore resonates with the audience you attract.
The environment and sustainability is a hot topic in the world right now (excuse the pun!) so in some cases, it’s important that businesses show that they care too. We’re seeing this in the rise of B-corps and retailers showcasing their green and sustainable credentials.
So when it comes to business personality, think about the target audience you are trying to attract and what values you portray that speak to that profile. Authenticity is key though so avoid giving people the ick by trying to be something you’re not.
Staying authentic
Why are you on TikTok creating dance videos when you’re selling customer service software to tech businesses? Is it part of an employer brand initiative? If so, who is your staff? You could be closing out a whole side of potential workers who find it too jarring.
Did you share a gif with a social media post? Could it be construed in a different way? Does it look like you’re trying too hard? Is it relevant?
Something that can seem to be “just a bit of a laugh” can have wider consequences. And if you make enough of those, consistently and unchecked they can build into a much bigger monster.
You’ll get likes of course but they’ll be polite ones and probably from your acquaintances or those that want your business.
Key takeaways
Not everyone will like your promotion and that’s okay. Be true to yourself, your brand and your audience. Whether that’s internal staff, external customers or perspectives from both. You'll gain better business and market traction by developing your personality that reflects those you're trying to attract. If you're attracting the wrong audience, perhaps you're projecting the wrong personality. Time for a review!
As always with successful marketing, it’s about what you’re trying to achieve and who you’re trying to talk to. Pinpoint that and you'll nail your brand personality to attract the businesses and people you want in your organisation.
If you're looking for help analysing the effectiveness of your brand personality on attracting the right audience to your business or developing one, get in touch with us today.
