How to build a personal brand to generate more sales

A personal brand is exactly what it sounds like, it’s promoting yourself over the business. It’s your brand, not the company’s.

Your personal branding may well be linked to a business but essentially the branding is headed by a face, a figure. Think of Richard Branson, we all know him as the owner of Virgin because he has built up his own personal brand over the years.

With the right personality, branding and strategy this can help generate more sales and revenue for the business.

In this post we will show you how you can build your own personal brand to generate more sales.

How is a personal brand going to increase my sales?

There are several ways in which building a personal brand can increase sales. One of the biggest reasons is that the target market sees a face, a human, instead of a business or corporation. This makes it easier for them to relate to your messaging and values. They can get to know you, not only as a real human, but as the face of a company. The more they start to recognise and like you and your values, the more likely they are to spend money with your business.

When it comes to personal branding they aren’t simply investing into a company, they are investing into you, the face of the brand. Need more facts? According to IBM’s study, leads generated through personal branding through such platforms as social media are 7x more likely to convert than any other leads.

Also, 78% of sales people who use social media outsell their peers.  This shows how powerful personal branding can be and just how much it can transform your business.

How to build a personal brand

There are several different factors to consider when you are thinking about how to build a personal brand. We will go through some of the key steps below.

Do your research first

Just like you would carry out market research before creating your marketing strategy you should carry out your own research first. Start by looking at some personal branding you admire. Consider how they market themselves and how they connect this with their company brand. The research stage is very important as it will give you an idea of others’ personal brand strategies to help you build your own.

During this stage look at current trends linked to your industry and try and find influencers that match your target audience to see what they are doing now.

Consider your qualities and values

Once you have completed your research to a thorough level start thinking about yourself and what you bring to the company.

Consider your key qualities and values and see how these connect with the company’s values. Your values will make up a large portion of how you build and promote your personal brand.

Live your brand

One mistake many people make when building a personal brand is to separate their personal and their work life. The clue is in the name, personal. This type of branding isn’t about just your company’s values or ideals.

This is about you as a person, so any values you promote in your branding, make sure you show these everyday and live it. Whether these are leadership qualities, being more environmentally friendly or being a role model, a mentor. When it comes to personal branding all eyes are on you, so you need to show these qualities throughout life.

Create a personal brand strategy

Similarly, to any marketing plan the trick is to build a strategy. Think of all aspects from how you are going to market your personal branding efforts, which platforms you are going to use, what media and what level of interaction you are looking for. All these will help when it comes to implementing a plan for your personal brand.

Be consistent

If you want to raise your personal brand awareness you need to ensure you are being consistent both on and offline. This is very similar to living your brand. If you show consistency through appearance, communication and position, it will be easier to raise your brand awareness.

Consider if you have a catchphrase or motto you use a lot. This is a great way of utilising consistency across all platforms and beyond. Through repetition (without over saturating your communications) you will stand out more and it will be easier for your target audience to relate to you as well as improving recognition.

Tell a story, and then let others share it

When you are selling any product or service you are often telling a story and personal branding is no exception. Make sure your storytelling skills are up to scratch and ensure you are clear in your communications.

Remember, your target market wants to know why they should buy from you, what they are getting out of it and why you are the face of the company. By nature, we are all inquisitive so make sure you answer any questions your target market may have. Alternatively, set up your platforms to allow communication with your target audience, so they can ask the questions directly.

Once you have told your story it doesn’t stop there. The key to strengthening and growing any brand is extending your reach. PR is a great way to expand that potential reach, and this can be through media outlets telling your story or simply other clients.

As Jeff Bezos puts it “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room” and this couldn’t be truer. If you can get to the point where other people are telling your story for you then the potential for extending your reach is endless.

If done correctly, personal branding will not only potentially increase sales but could help raise brand awareness for the company as well as you.

With over 13 years’ worth of experience, we understand the importance of branding both on a company and personal level. We have a wealth of experience when it comes to building up brands, creating strategies and executing plans. From SEO to social media, we can support you in all things marketing.

Contact us today to find out how we can help create or develop your own personal brand.