Getting public relations right is always difficult. You never quite know how to present yourself or get your side of the argument across. The basic problem is that it is hard to view yourself from the outside. While it is easy to form instant opinions on other people, applying that same approach to yourself is more difficult. It’s all so psychological!
Fortunately, there are some tried-and-tested ways to set your brand narrative and prevent inside or outside forces from derailing it. Once you have a strategy in place, you can proceed more confidently and get more of the results you want (and less of those you don’t).
Start By Knowing Yourself
The first step is to have a few honest conversations about who you are with yourself. Probing to unearth your strengths and weaknesses can be an excellent way to know where you stand.
Begin by reflecting on your values. Think about what’s important to you, and how that differs from other people on social media or in your industry. You want to know what motivates you and have a baseline for how you will react in specific situations.
For example, if you believe in honesty, think about how that might inform your brand. It could affect how you communicate with people and the daily decisions you make.
You might also have pragmatic values. These will influence how you operate and how others perceive you. If you’re someone who gets things done, that’s important to know. Also, consider your skills and passions. Are there any areas where you can marry the two? Personal brands that understand where they are competent are more likely to avoid bad publicity.
You could also think about your experiences and what makes you tick. Knowing your psychological strengths and flaws can enable you to see blindspots and deal with issues in your personality that might affect your brand narrative adversely.
Understand Your Target Audience
The next step to setting a personal brand narrative is understanding your target audience. You want to know who you are trying to reach and what interests them. If you know your audience, it is much more straightforward to craft a singular brand narrative. You don’t want to be in a situation where your output conflicts with what your customers can absorb.
For example, some people with personal brands speak at a graduate level when their audiences need something simpler. Going for the high-level approach seems like it communicates expertise, but it generally leads to confusion. What you want to do is tailor your message for the best communication possible. When you know what the people who follow you want, you can do that better.
Focus On Why You Do What You Do
Proactive PR is all about focusing on the “why” behind everything you do. It’s a sort of justification for the effort and helps to avoid cynicism and scepticism toward your brand.
Today’s consumer is becoming more discerning about brands. Decades ago, people would trust the big names. However, that’s no longer the case. Many customers are willing to probe deeper and do their homework about companies to learn more about them. That’s why having a raison d’etre is becoming so much more essential. You need to make it seem like you’re doing something that benefits the world and society.
But what does that look like in practice? It starts with crafting a narrative with an emotional connection. You want to prove to people why you do what you do. It shouldn’t be about money. Instead, you want to connect with them on a personal level, providing a justification that makes the world better in some way.
In the industry, this approach is called “aligning values.” Customers should feel like they are moving the needle when they come to you. Companies do this in all sorts of ways. Patagonia, for example, invests in reusable clothing that fights throwaway fashion. As a personal brand, you can do this by talking about issues that your audience supports or simply stating where you stand on them.
Once you have your why, you’ll discover that you start attracting certain types of people toward you. Bringing people on board begins to feel more straightforward because everyone tends to agree.
Outline Your Problem-Solution-Benefit Framework
The next step is to outline your problem-solution-benefit framework. You want to drum this into people so that they have a clear idea of your story. Let’s say, for instance, you’re a fitness instructor who helps people lose weight. The problem-solution-benefit framework should be:
You have a body you don’t want
I have a fitness business to help you get there
You will feel amazing once you go through my program
You can run through this framework for any business you operate. Crafting your narrative is an excellent way to create a kind of “hero’s journey” narrative that will enable you to appeal more to customers and show them how they will succeed after using your help.
Be Authentic
During this process, you need to be authentic. People want to connect with real people, not slick marketing messages or endless rounds of sales pitches. To be authentic, you need to be genuine in your mind. What you are doing should matter to you personally.
You should be able to feel this instantly inside yourself. The knowledge that what you are doing comes from the heart helps you set a personal brand narrative and draw people in.
If what you are doing isn’t authentic, your audience will detect it. There’s a world of difference between someone passionate about a personal brand project, and someone who is just out there to make a quick buck. People can feel it.
Don’t Brag
Even if you have achieved incredible things via a personal brand, avoid the temptation to brag. You need to walk the tightrope between sounding full of yourself and displaying confidence.
If you have achieved something, flex it in a way that people notice, but don’t go on about it all the time. While you may have done something extraordinary, keep it in the background and use it to supplement your problem-solution-benefit framework. See how you can tie it into a broader narrative or objective.
Avoid Overselling Yourself
You also want to avoid overselling yourself. While making your abilities sound compelling can work, you want to prevent your brand narrative from turning against you. If you can’t deliver on your promises, people will notice, and you’ll lose credibility.
Overselling yourself is a common mistake because the marketplace in most industries is so competitive. You want to show people you can do things better than others, and often that means making grandiose promises.
Don’t take this approach, no matter how tempting it is, unless you have something that can really solve the problem. Instead, be humble and authentic in what you can achieve. People will trust you more and you’ll find that more people want to follow you.
Even if your solutions aren’t quite as exciting as other people in the industry, you can still make slow and steady progress using this method. If you have a great solution, be clear and precise with what it offers. Don’t hype it up too much. Lower expectations and then over-deliver.
Don’t Get Involved In Negativity And Drama
Another thing you’ll want to avoid is getting involved in negativity and drama. You don’t want arguments to tarnish your brand image or distract from your message. When you allow fights to break out, it does your personal brand harm. People focus more on the controversies and issues than they do on the solutions or messages you want to convey.
Instead, you’ll want to focus more on being inspirational, even if people are bringing you down. Concentrating on the power of your solutions or the benefits they’ve provided real people can help tremendously. If you see a negative comment or two, ignore it. Avoid the temptation to respond, no matter how inciting it might seem.
If you see the same comments cropping up all the time, deal with them in a post or video. Address the community’s legitimate concerns without succumbing to the temptation to get into a fight.
Be Consistent
Finally, if you want to get your brand message across and avoid negative publicity, be consistent. Avoid chopping and changing because it can confuse people. Look at your website, social media pages, and physical branding. Check that they all complement each other and look and feel the same. Ensure your brand voice is identical across properties.
The most straightforward way to do this is to be yourself. Communicating in your unique style prevents anything from feeling forced. The more consistent you are, the easier your personal brand narrative will be to interpret. You’ll find that people just “get it,” and don’t need you to hold their hand every time you want to introduce them to something new.
In summary, setting a consistent personal brand requires having an effective framework in place and avoiding negativity. You want to be a solutions-focused and inspirational force.
Getting public relations right is always difficult. You never quite know how to present yourself or get your side of the argument across. The basic problem is that it is hard to view yourself from the outside. While it is easy to form instant opinions on other people, applying that same approach to yourself is more difficult. It’s all so psychological!
Fortunately, there are some tried-and-tested ways to set your brand narrative and prevent inside or outside forces from derailing it. Once you have a strategy in place, you can proceed more confidently and get more of the results you want (and less of those you don’t).
Start By Knowing Yourself
The first step is to have a few honest conversations about who you are with yourself. Probing to unearth your strengths and weaknesses can be an excellent way to know where you stand.
Begin by reflecting on your values. Think about what’s important to you, and how that differs from other people on social media or in your industry. You want to know what motivates you and have a baseline for how you will react in specific situations.
For example, if you believe in honesty, think about how that might inform your brand. It could affect how you communicate with people and the daily decisions you make.
You might also have pragmatic values. These will influence how you operate and how others perceive you. If you’re someone who gets things done, that’s important to know. Also, consider your skills and passions. Are there any areas where you can marry the two? Personal brands that understand where they are competent are more likely to avoid bad publicity.
You could also think about your experiences and what makes you tick. Knowing your psychological strengths and flaws can enable you to see blindspots and deal with issues in your personality that might affect your brand narrative adversely.
Understand Your Target Audience
The next step to setting a personal brand narrative is understanding your target audience. You want to know who you are trying to reach and what interests them. If you know your audience, it is much more straightforward to craft a singular brand narrative. You don’t want to be in a situation where your output conflicts with what your customers can absorb.
For example, some people with personal brands speak at a graduate level when their audiences need something simpler. Going for the high-level approach seems like it communicates expertise, but it generally leads to confusion. What you want to do is tailor your message for the best communication possible. When you know what the people who follow you want, you can do that better.
Focus On Why You Do What You Do
Proactive PR is all about focusing on the “why” behind everything you do. It’s a sort of justification for the effort and helps to avoid cynicism and scepticism toward your brand.
Today’s consumer is becoming more discerning about brands. Decades ago, people would trust the big names. However, that’s no longer the case. Many customers are willing to probe deeper and do their homework about companies to learn more about them. That’s why having a raison d’etre is becoming so much more essential. You need to make it seem like you’re doing something that benefits the world and society.
But what does that look like in practice? It starts with crafting a narrative with an emotional connection. You want to prove to people why you do what you do. It shouldn’t be about money. Instead, you want to connect with them on a personal level, providing a justification that makes the world better in some way.
In the industry, this approach is called “aligning values.” Customers should feel like they are moving the needle when they come to you. Companies do this in all sorts of ways. Patagonia, for example, invests in reusable clothing that fights throwaway fashion. As a personal brand, you can do this by talking about issues that your audience supports or simply stating where you stand on them.
Once you have your why, you’ll discover that you start attracting certain types of people toward you. Bringing people on board begins to feel more straightforward because everyone tends to agree.
Outline Your Problem-Solution-Benefit Framework
The next step is to outline your problem-solution-benefit framework. You want to drum this into people so that they have a clear idea of your story. Let’s say, for instance, you’re a fitness instructor who helps people lose weight. The problem-solution-benefit framework should be:
You can run through this framework for any business you operate. Crafting your narrative is an excellent way to create a kind of “hero’s journey” narrative that will enable you to appeal more to customers and show them how they will succeed after using your help.
Be Authentic
During this process, you need to be authentic. People want to connect with real people, not slick marketing messages or endless rounds of sales pitches. To be authentic, you need to be genuine in your mind. What you are doing should matter to you personally.
You should be able to feel this instantly inside yourself. The knowledge that what you are doing comes from the heart helps you set a personal brand narrative and draw people in.
If what you are doing isn’t authentic, your audience will detect it. There’s a world of difference between someone passionate about a personal brand project, and someone who is just out there to make a quick buck. People can feel it.
Don’t Brag
Even if you have achieved incredible things via a personal brand, avoid the temptation to brag. You need to walk the tightrope between sounding full of yourself and displaying confidence.
If you have achieved something, flex it in a way that people notice, but don’t go on about it all the time. While you may have done something extraordinary, keep it in the background and use it to supplement your problem-solution-benefit framework. See how you can tie it into a broader narrative or objective.
Avoid Overselling Yourself
You also want to avoid overselling yourself. While making your abilities sound compelling can work, you want to prevent your brand narrative from turning against you. If you can’t deliver on your promises, people will notice, and you’ll lose credibility.
Overselling yourself is a common mistake because the marketplace in most industries is so competitive. You want to show people you can do things better than others, and often that means making grandiose promises.
Don’t take this approach, no matter how tempting it is, unless you have something that can really solve the problem. Instead, be humble and authentic in what you can achieve. People will trust you more and you’ll find that more people want to follow you.
Even if your solutions aren’t quite as exciting as other people in the industry, you can still make slow and steady progress using this method. If you have a great solution, be clear and precise with what it offers. Don’t hype it up too much. Lower expectations and then over-deliver.
Don’t Get Involved In Negativity And Drama
Another thing you’ll want to avoid is getting involved in negativity and drama. You don’t want arguments to tarnish your brand image or distract from your message. When you allow fights to break out, it does your personal brand harm. People focus more on the controversies and issues than they do on the solutions or messages you want to convey.
Instead, you’ll want to focus more on being inspirational, even if people are bringing you down. Concentrating on the power of your solutions or the benefits they’ve provided real people can help tremendously. If you see a negative comment or two, ignore it. Avoid the temptation to respond, no matter how inciting it might seem.
If you see the same comments cropping up all the time, deal with them in a post or video. Address the community’s legitimate concerns without succumbing to the temptation to get into a fight.
Be Consistent
Finally, if you want to get your brand message across and avoid negative publicity, be consistent. Avoid chopping and changing because it can confuse people. Look at your website, social media pages, and physical branding. Check that they all complement each other and look and feel the same. Ensure your brand voice is identical across properties.
The most straightforward way to do this is to be yourself. Communicating in your unique style prevents anything from feeling forced. The more consistent you are, the easier your personal brand narrative will be to interpret. You’ll find that people just “get it,” and don’t need you to hold their hand every time you want to introduce them to something new.
In summary, setting a consistent personal brand requires having an effective framework in place and avoiding negativity. You want to be a solutions-focused and inspirational force.
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